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Published: September 21st 2009
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Even though today was primarily a travel day (360 miles) I still managed to make several scenic stops and even had a couple of mini-adventures. It was raining when I left Quesnel (Miata top up) but it quit after about an hour (Miata top down for the rest of the day). It was mostly sunny all day with high temps in the mid-70’s; perfect convertible weather! I even had to change into my shorts this afternoon; something I haven’t done in about three weeks.
When I reached Prince George yesterday, I turned south on Highway 97 to Quesnel and I continued south on 97 out of Quesnel this morning. This is the same highway that becomes U.S. 97 and travels through central Washington and Oregon and down into California. Just as in Washington and Oregon, Highway 97 in British Columbia is a very heavily traveled route with lots of trucks and I have not enjoyed driving on it. Fortunately my itinerary for today included a detour off of Highway 97 so that I could spend most of the afternoon driving along a quieter highway that parallels the Fraser River Canyon into Hope, BC.
The Fraser River is narrower than
the Columbia River, but the Fraser River Canyon is just as beautiful as the Columbia River Gorge. In fact, the canyon often looks even more dramatic than the Columbia River Gorge because it’s so narrow and the mountains on either side are so high. AND you’re not driving on an Interstate highway through the canyon; you’re on a beautiful, winding road that follows the contours of the river below. It was a great drive! (much better than Highway 97!).
The Fraser River reaches its narrowest spot at a location called Hell’s Gate. There they have a cable tram that descends sharply from the high bluff on the east side of the river to a much lower section on the west side, crossing directly over the narrow rapids of the “Mighty Fraser”. It’s pretty cool!
When I arrived at my B&B (very nice!) in Hope, BC (also very nice!), the proprietor told me about a nearby walking trail that traverses through four old railroad tunnels that were blasted out of the mountains above Hope. The tunnels are not very long and they are located very close to each other, so as you pop out of one tunnel you get
a dramatic view of the river below and the canyon walls above and then you go into the next tunnel. The section between two of the tunnels is traversed via the original railroad trestle that sits high above the river. The entire series of tunnels is probably less than half a mile long and the whole trail is just amazing! It’s impossible to take a single photo that captures the experience of being there.
I can’t get the Internet service to work at this B&B, so I’ll have to wait until I get to Ellensburg, WA tomorrow night to get this blog posted.
Almost home!
Jack
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