Centreville, BC

Sept. 29

As in the Road to Mandalay, the sun did, indeed, come up like thunder this morning, making it over the top of the mountain by about 9:30 a.m., but it is still too cold to work comfortably outside. Last night it was well below freezing, but the previous night it dropped to around 15 °F. At that temperature, with no heat in the trailer during the night, there was some ice in our water lines, and the gray water tank froze. That was only the first of the day’s calamities. Maggie’s small portable washing machine froze solid (it lives outside) and when the problem was traced to the water pump, we were able to thaw it with the hair dryer.

However, with an electric heater in the trailer, which we had forgotten about, and the well pump, plus a few assorted lights, the generator could not cope with the load, and one of the two house circuits blew. Since the wiring is definitely non-standard, we had to wait until Bob came home. He did eventually get to the root of the problem, and in typical Yukon fashion he didn’t correct it – he got around it. By then the well pump was delivering copious quantities of air, which meant that when he took the pump apart, he found that the leathers were shot. During the resultant family conference the suggestion was made to try reversing the leathers, which while unorthodox, at least got water flowing again. Hopefully, it will last until I can mail him new leathers from somewhere in the south (of BC, that is).

These repairs were made after a delightful $100 dinner with candles, wine, and a beautiful seven-pound steelhead, which provided more than enough for everyone to have large second helpings as well as for today’s lunch. Steelhead to me, not being a connoisseur, is paler in colour and flavour than coho, and more like Atlantic salmon. Bob got a pair of these from a local Indian acquaintance in exchange for a gallon of maple syrup. The second one will probably remain frozen outside now until they can use it in the next week or so . . . their propane fridge was taken south with Maggie’s parents for repair.

The fourth calamity of the day was the felling of a large cottonwood that was leaning over the diesel shed. We used the truck and a rope in an attempt to drop it where we wanted it. But it unfortunately fell and locked onto the branches of an 85-foot poplar, which meant that the poplar had to be taken down also. Although we tried, the truck was unable to influence the direction of the two together, and they came down across Maggie’s nicely fenced garden, absolutely demolishing two sides of the fence. But there is all winter and next spring to repair that.

Last week when Bob was out on the grader he came across a young moose, radioed his superintendent with location, course and speed (of the moose). The fellow came out, located and dispatched the beast, so we have been dining on moose steak, moose stroganoff, etc. for quite a few meals, and tonight it’s roast moose. Wine is much cheaper in Northern BC than in Ontario, and we’re wondering if that is compensation for living in this part of the world!

Our latest grandson, Erik, is very healthy, hero-sized and so far has only peach-fuzz on top. He weighs about 20 lbs, smiles a lot, loves to be outside in the cold and studies the clouds and rustling leaves intently.

He eats and fills his drawers constantly. The cat seems to be a little jealous, but the dog is fine; he just goes over occasionally and cleans Erik up.

Delightful as are many of the aspects of living here, it is more complicated and definitely not for the faint-hearted. So being in the latter category, we will take the chance that Hwy 37 will not be too muddy. We figure on two days to Hwy 16, and then two or three days to the Kettle River Campground. We will be without electricity for the next week or so, and wanted to start this letter before setting out. Don’t know where it will get finished.

Chilliwack, Oct. 9

When we left the Cassiar area on Friday, Sept. 30, we proceeded south on Hwy 37 to the Yellowhead Hwy 16, a run of 700 km. There are a few paved sections, but it is mostly well-maintained gravel and passes through some of the most spectacular scenery in the country. It seems to be little known, and does not yet appear on all maps, so it is very lightly travelled, especially at this time of the year. There are government campsites and rest stops galore and many natural but unorganized stopping places. We enjoyed every bit of it, even though we did pick up a lot of sticky mud underneath both truck and trailer. But it started to rain shortly after we joined Hwy 16, which removed most of it. We thought that was nice timing.

That Friday night we stopped at Kenasken Park – there was one other camper only – beside the very calm waters of the lake, and didn't even hear so much as the cry of the loon. The following evening we stopped at another Provincial Park, and since the water is turned off for the season, there was no charge. Mornings now are below freezing. Sunday night we stopped in Prince George, then continued east on Hwy 16 to Tete Jaune Cache rather than heading south on the Cariboo Hwy. From T.J.C. we turned south, which led us to the headwaters of the North Thompson River. This is the route that the Overlanders took in 1862 in their final dash to get to the gold fields in Barkerville. Most did not make it, and it's easy to understand why. Later the Canadian Northern Railway laid their tracks down this valley, supposedly because of its easier grades. Be that as it may, the scenery boggles the mind, and I see that Lois has made a note that we will have to return this way some day.

Monday night saw us in a Provincial Park in Clearwater, again in a beautiful setting. We did have to listen to the rumble of long wheat trains going down to Vancouver – music to the ears of prairie farmers, and a small price for us to pay for such beauty.

On Tuesday we continued south via Kamloops and thence southeast past the old historic O'Keefe Ranch to Vernon and Kelowna. On this latter stretch of road we thought we'd "had the biscuit" when on a long sweeping curve to our left, an idiot came barreling towards us, tires screaming, and at such high speed that his tires appeared to be pulling off the wheels. He did make it past us, as well as the cars behind us. About a half hour later came the ambulance at about the same speed.

At Kelowna we headed east out of the Okanagan on Hwy 33, past Carmi – a railway ghost town – and Beaverdell to the Kettle River Campground at Rock Creek. Here we met friends and spent a very pleasant day and a half with them before they had to head south. We went east and north to Nakusp on the Arrow Lakes and up to the hot springs, staying overnight in their campground. The hot pools, one at around 105° F, and one at around 109° F, were enjoyable – not as hot as at Liard, but well patronized.

These long, thin lakes that lie in the valley floor between mountain ranges – Upper and Lower Arrow, and Slocan and Kootenay Lakes – are interesting when you consider the challenge that they presented to builders – first of railways, and later, of highways. In some parts, the mountainsides are so steep and precipitous that it was impossible (or impractical) to try to build a rail line through. So they built barges to connect the ends of the rail lines, and transported rail cars from one end to the other of the lakes. The remaining stern wheelers have been pulled up on beaches where they remain as relics of a by-gone era. Highway 6, north of Castlegar, starts to rise rapidly at one point on a vertical rock face, which had what appeared to be a drop of about a thousand feet, the road being literally carved out of the mountainside. It narrowed to one lane for a length of about 2 km – so narrow that I wondered whether the trailer would get through. It reminded me of the famous painting of Simon Fraser and his party trying to get down through the Fraser Canyon on planks hung by ropes from high up on the rock face. He made it. And so did we. A small car meeting us would have had to back up to one of the small passing places where it was possible to make a bulge in the road. The speed limit was posted at 15 km/h, and we did meet one car. Incidentally, we weren't "exploring" this time – we were on a paved and numbered highway.

As in other parts of the country, there is so much to see here, other than what the tourist is steered to on the Trans-Canada Highway. This southeastern part of BC is certainly full of pleasant surprises. We have been in this area a few times in the past, but there always seems to be a road we missed last time, and when we get on to it, it always seems to lead to another. Of course, one needs time and an RV to be completely free of reservations and hookups.

We are only limited, we find, by the need to occasionally locate a dumping station, and if we're careful we can go nearly a week without one.

Another delightful aspect of course is the season. May and June are great months – but with bugs – which can limit one's enjoyment. July and August are great for kids and swimming, etc., but also cause very overcrowded campsites. However, September – and we don't yet know how far into October – seems to be the best from all standpoints. No bugs, even in the north; no kids, and very uncrowded roads, parks and campsites, as well as less extremes of heat. Perhaps one of the compensating factors of the "golden years."

Anyway, getting back to the Nakusp Hot Springs campground, on Friday morning I had to scrape about 1/4" of frost off the windshield before continuing on Hwy 31A past Zincton and Retallack (old mine sites) to Kaslo and Ainsworth Hot Springs (closed for the season), and on down to Nelson. Thence via Trail on the Columbia River, and back to Rock Creek for the night, arriving in Chilliwack on Saturday via Osoyoos and Keremeos – past their many fruit stands with their delicious varieties of fruit. We've been doing a lot of munching since.

There have been relatively few mechanical problems since leaving Watson Lake. We discovered and corrected a problem with the trailer battery not charging as we travelled. One of the truck tires loses its pressure overnight, probably has a piece of shale from one of the roads stuck in it, but our small battery-operated air pump is handy for getting the pressure back sufficiently for a day's travel, saving a lot of wheel changing. So we are coping.

On the whole however, I must say that novices like ourselves are discovering the hard way that our run-of-the-mill travel trailers is not designed to stand up to much travel, unless on smooth freeways, and/or for short weekend trips It does particularly poorly on gravel roads. So, a word to the wise . . .

Until next time.