I beat a fairly hasty retreat from the Lower Mainland area, as there are just way too many people there!

As I was not in much of a rush however, and the weather was good, I decided to take the scenic Fraser canyon route north from Hope as opposed to the more ususal Coquihalla (toll road) route.


I haven't been on the road lately and remembered it as being congested with trucks and RV's, single lane hills etc. But I found it to be very enjoyable, with very little traffic, lots of passing lanes, and great views of the mighty Fraser river - still at flood stage. Looking at some of the huge rapids and gorges, I marvelled at how some of the early explorers and settlers must have felt as they ran head-long into some of these places with no way to stop and marginal ability to steer! Yikes!

The road has lots of interesting tunnels as it winds along the banks of the river, most of them
built in the late 50's or 60's - you can see the dates in some of the photos. As always, you can click on an image for a larger view. Even so, all the photos on the blog have been reduced to 25% of their original resolution.


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The railways run along both banks of the river as well, in some equally precarious locations. I wish the companies would get together and share the tracks ( one line in each direction!), instead of trying to force their own trains down the tracks in both directions.














After I got clear of the canyon in the Kamloops area it was time to seek out a scenic campsite, so I headed off on a forestry road to a high viewpoint over Kamloops Lake. It is across the lake from Savona, and after I had set up there and set Harley out on his leash, I realized that I had camped here before - exactly three years ago to the day! It looks like the pine beetles have been here, though, and a lot of the trees have died since.


















Here is a picture of the same spot from three years ago. (Note the green trees)















Just 10 days till I am off again! Off to the Merritt Mountain Music Festival
Click on the link for more info. The festival does not officially start till the 12th of July, but we typically arrive around the 9th or 10th, and camp for several days in a 'lineup' to get in form for the main event, and ensure good campsite selection when they do open the gates. So far, I have been unable to get any decent wi-fi signal from the site. I wish they would install a temporary system like they do for cell phone service during the event. Maybe my new wi-fi antenna will be able to sniff something out? There must be a big RV with satellite internet somewhere there?

Holy Cow! Look at these new readers!
A few days ago it was
Camberwell, Victoria, Australia
Trk, Burdur, Turkey

Today it is

Auckland, New Zealand
Caulfield, Victoria, Australia
Lima, Peru