Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Lopez Island WA to Wells Gray Country,BC


 
September 18th is when we left Lopez Island.  We had planned on staying only until the 15th but we just couldn't bear to leave the sunshine and beautiful campsite behind.  Our original plan was 3 day on Lopez then head over to West Yellowstone and Hebgen Lake so that Jim could enjoy some fly-fishing.  Since we extened our stay on the Island we couldn't see driving 1400 miles round trip to West Yellowstone and only get to spend 3 days there.  So we made the decision to head to British Columbia.  Jim remembered there was some good fishing around Well's Gray Provincial Park so we set the TomTom driving directions and headed North.
 
Once we entered Canada at Sumas we headed East on Highway 1.  Our first stop was at the Hope Visitor Center.  We both loaded up on travel brochures, maps and regional magazines. In talking to the guide , she suggested we stay on Highway 1 since it was more scenic than Highway 5-the Yellowhead Highway.  I'm glad we took her advice, the road followed the wild Fraser River through Fraser Canyon and up into the Gold Country.


 
When we stopped to take this picture there was a couple in a Mustang Convertible taking the same pictures.  We started talking to them and found out they both decided to play hookie from work,put the top down and take a ride up the canyon along the river-our kind of people !




 
We were right along side the Rocky Mountaineer-a ride to Banff and Jasper on this train is still on my bucket list.  We waved at the conductor and passengers and enjoyed the view as much as them. Later on we caught up with them in Kamloops.



 
We fell for the "Best Burgers in the West" sign outside of town and went in search of Hungry Herbie's.  Were they the best? No,but they were pretty good and the fries were crispy and delicious.


After driving into Clearwater, the entrance to Well's Gray, we decided it was too late in the day to drive another 90 minutes to get to a campground we weren't  sure about yet.  So we spotted this one just outside of Clearwater and decided to stay here.  Note to myself,when traveling in Canada,make sure you make the ATM stop before you get to the campground because they don't take checks !  You should have seen Jim and I going through our pockets and my purse to come up with the fee that night. Our first stop the next day was the ATM in Clearwater.


Campsite #17 at North Thompson River Provincial Park-great view over the river and the pit toilets and water faucet were right across from us-it's the little things that make us happy when we don't have electric or water hookups !




Autumn has arrived in British Columbia-this is a beautiful campground but if you stay you will be subjected to occasional train sounds as the Canadian Railroad is directly across the river from the campground.  Jim found the sounds soothing, I didn't even notice them since I was totally mesmerized by all the stars that were out that night.
 

We talked to the Park Ranger at night and she filled us in on the park, the 2 black bears that wander through the park, and the weather and how hot it has been this year.  Everyone was worried about the fire danger.  We actually only had 1 campfire while in Canada and that was our last night at Fawn Lake.




 

Back on the road again after spending the night of September 18th at this park-headed to the ATM and then the Fly Shop-we have our priorities straight.

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