What, no bears? - Canadian Rockies Road Trip Aug/Sept 2019 - Day 4

[pinkrose]

Index is here

Day 4 – Wednesday 28th August 2019

Vancouver - Kamloops

So today we were collecting our hire car and setting off on our journey towards the Rockies.

We were awake at 7am so by the time we had gotten dressed, had breakfast and packed we were ready to go by 8.45am but weren’t supposed to be collecting our car till 10am. We decided to set off to Avis anyway rather than hang around the hotel and it was a ten minute walk to the depot on Hornby Street.

We arrived at the store and stood waiting by the desk as we were instructed to do the day before. However, a rather rude staff member asked us what we were doing and when we explained she told us we still needed to join the normal queue. Fortunately it wasn’t too busy so we got in line and waited our turn – so much for Avis preferred. We were soon served and then we just had to wait briefly for our car. We went downstairs to the garage to find we had been allocated a Dodge Charger. An elderly Australian couple who were also in the garage told us they had originally been allocated this car but felt it was too big for them and they weren’t used to driving on the right. We were quite happy with it having driven cars in Florida before.

We headed out of the garage and drove the short distance back to our hotel to collect our luggage and then, after checking out, we were on our way at around 10.15am.

Our first overnight stop was at Kamloops. During my research at home I had decided we would follow Highway 1 all the way to Kamloops rather than taking the shorter route on Highway 5. I had read Highway 1 was the more scenic route. The Dodge Charger had a built in Sat Nav so we programmed in Bridal Veil Falls (my first planned stop on the route) and set off for Highway 1. There was some traffic early on due to roadworks and an accident but once we got further out of Vancouver the traffic started to flow smoothly. We pulled off the highway at a service station and picked up sandwiches, Pringles and water for lunch then headed off again.

We reached the car park for Bridal Veil Falls and then followed the signs to the base of the Falls. The sign said it was a 15 minute walk to the Falls. It was an uphill climb and steep in places so I had to stop a couple of times but we managed to get there quicker than the 15 minutes suggested. This was our first trail but I don’t really count it as such as it only took us about 5 - 6 minutes.

The Falls were stunning and definitely worthy of the name. We later learned that Bridal Veil Falls is a common name for waterfalls and there is another one on the Icefields Parkway but it’s nothing like this one. DH is not one to comment much but even he was impressed so I was glad I had planned it in as a stop.

It was here that we had our first experience of the Pit toilet. If you’ve ever been to France you’ll probably already have an idea of what this might be and, yes, it’s basically a building that has a hole in the ground with a toilet seat over it. There was toilet paper and there was hand sanitiser but a nose clip would definitely have been worth investing in.

We came across several of these during the holiday. Some were very nice buildings and one even had a clear roof so you could look at the sky! However, this was the one and only time DH used one. After this experience he vowed never to use one again. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that luxury so encountered many including the ones with VIP’s attached (ventilation improvement pipes) but I can’t say they were any better. I soon developed a strategy for getting in and out as fast as possible. As the Gypsy guide says “for men they are an inconvenience, for women they are a commitment”.

We ate our sandwiches and then set of for our next stop – Othello Tunnels in Coquihalla Provincial Park. We found the turning off Highway 1 but it was then a fair way off the highway to get to the tunnels and there were some serious potholes in the road (we had declined the additional cover for flat tyres). Once we reached the car park a level pathway took you to the tunnels.

In the early 1900s, the Canadian Pacific Railway decided a route was necessary to link the Kootenay Region with the British Columbia coast. The railway was built over three mountain ranges. In the Coquihalla Gorge the river cut a 300 foot deep channel of solid granite. A straight line of tunnels were built through it now known as the Othello Tunnels.

One of the tunnels was particularly dark and you felt the temperature drop rapidly as you walked in. We spent around 30-40 minutes walking through the four tunnels, taking pictures and looking at the gorge and then returned to the car and re-joined Highway 1.

I had planned to stop at Hells Gate but, as we approached, we noticed we were not allowed to cross the carriageway to the entrance on the other side of the road. We then saw a road sign which said it was 1400m (1.4km) to the turn around. By now it was 3.15pm and we knew we still had over 200km to go to get to Kamloops so decided to press on to Lytton where we thought we should stop and fill up as the petrol gauge was now showing we were half full.

By the time we reached Lytton I was desperate for a comfort break (this is a theme of mine!) So we stopped at a Bowling Alley that was on the side of the road. It looked deserted but I went inside and they very kindly said I could use their toilets. We then drove to the other side of Lytton to fill up. By now it was 4.30pm and felt quite warm. A local told us it was over 30c. We put $30 CAD of petrol in the car and bought a couple of bottles of water then drove to a viewpoint where you can see the Fraser and Thompson Rivers converge. It was amazing to see the two different colours of water together.

We pulled back out onto Highway 1 and drove straight through to Kamloops. It was a long drive and there were occasions when we were the only car on the road in either direction. We arrived at our hotel at 6.35pm so had a quick tea and crashed in the hotel room.

[jocat]

You made some lovely stops on the journey to Kamloops. I’ve never read about those tunnels before.

[smedley]

The stops look really lovely

Edited to add, we experienced the pit toilets in Yellowstone national park this summer. I only used one and vowed never again. 🙈