On another weekend excursion as we move ever closer to the reality of fall and the much-anticipated winter excursion. This time back to Jasper again for the third time already this fall. Weather reports were for rather poor weather, but it turned out to be not that bad at all, if you don't mind some clouds! Then on to Valemount to visit a friend. I thought maybe it would have developed a lot of new tourist facilities, etc, but it looks pretty much like I remembered from quite a few years ago. Then I decided to return via Highway #5 and Kamloops instead of re-tracing my route back through Jasper. I used to travel this way to the coast and to Seattle a lot when lived in Jasper. It was nice to see the road again and to look at some of the big forest fires that have ocurred there over the last decade. Thanks to my Backroads Mapooks, I decided on a sidetrip from Little Fort. I crossed the river there and followed the east bank of the North Thompson river down to Barriere. I thought there would be a bridge there, but there was the smallest ferry I have ever been on! It was more or less a deck over two pontoons, and much to my surprise, it was powered by a little wee outboard motor - and the river's current. Mine was the only vehicle on board - full capacty might have been two vehicles (!). Half way across the river, the outoard ran out of fuel, so we were stranded till the operator got a 5 gallon jug of gas and re-fueled it! The route was more rustic than expected and ran along Dunn Lake - which features a forestry campsite and a resort.
Made it into Kamloops in the early evening to the first cell coverage my Roger's phone could muster - since Jasper. Also good wi-fi in front of the Future Shop - and good Google Earth coverage to boot. Hooked up my satellite dish to catch the latest episode of 'Plucked' on CMT - which will feature my friend Lisa Hewitt in the next few weeks. It is one of those talent shows where the winner goes on to get a recording contract or a video or something.
Not bad weather here either, but fall is definitely in the air.