Road Trip – Rivers, Creeks & Lakes

Oct 19/20 – Time to take the new car for a drive. This wasn’t the first for this fall but the first with the new car. Usually all our travels are point to point to do stuff. This time we just had a potential route in mind but no real destination or things to do along the way (this was a first for us). The weather forecast wasn’t great with rain and wind for the coast. We decided to head up Hwy 99 through Whistler, Pemberton and Lillooet and then think about finding a place somewhere between Lillooet and Hat Creek or maybe make it to Clinton. And on Sunday head back on Hwy 1 through the Fraser Canyon. We packed tent, sleeping bags and firewood to be able to just crash anywhere but secretly I was thinking we probably end up in a motel. The car fit all the stuff we needed, including a big box full of fishing gear in case we would stop in on the way back on Sunday. So much about our plan.

We didn’t get started all that early since we went to order winter tires first. We hit the road around 10:30AM. It was raining lightly when we left but as we drove past Horseshoe Bay the rain had stopped. By the time we hit Squamish there were a few sections of blue sky. Diamond Head looked just beautiful but that wasn’t on the list for the day. And the sun didn’t really stay either. We did make our first stop before we even got to Whistler though.  Brandywine Falls, it’s only a short walk but the falls and views over Daisy Lake are worth the stop. And we got to see a couple Pika but they were very shy.

Entering Howe Sound

Quick stop at the Tantalus viewpoint

Brandywyne Falls

Daisy Lake & Black Tusk in the distance

Shy Pika

We continued on through Whistler towards Pemberton to have lunch. But even before we got there, we made another stop. Nairn Falls. Neither Jeff nor I had ever been there. It’s an easy walk to the falls, although longer than Brandywine (3km return) right along the Green River through the forest. Fall was in full force – a few nice colourful deciduous trees and tons of mushrooms. From tiny to large and I must have taken a picture of every single one on the way out. It was fun. The falls themselves are quite spectacular as well. Not as tall as Brandywine but just as powerful raging down over a couple drops through a tight little canyon. There are a couple viewing platforms but I would have loved to explore beyond those. Unfortunately, since we only expected a walk, we didn’t put on any good shoes and sandals are no good for scrambling in the forest. Nevertheless it was a beautiful walk.

Green River

Fall Colours

Mushroom heaven

Nairn Falls – upper falls

Nairn Falls – upper pool

Nairn Falls – lower pool

Missed one on the way up 🙂

Really nice little walk

Click here to hear the falls roar

By the time we got to Pemberton it was already 3PM and way past lunch time. So we had an early dinner instead. Unfortunately our little cafe we had in mind was closed due to some Hallmark Christmas filming going on in town. But we found another nice place to eat at but it took quite a bit of time. Hence we didn’t start on the part I had been looking forward to the most, the Duffy Lake Road, until 4PM. On top of that the weather had deteriorated and clouds had finally caught up with us from the coast. As we gained elevation leaving Pemberton, the clouds got closer and closer to the road. No views whatsoever and near the top it actually started to snow on us. We missed out on all the big mountain views I had hoped for (one more reason to come back here soon) but we did get lucky as the snow stopped by the time we started to follow Cayoosh Creek on the east side of Duffy Lake. We pulled off on the first little rec side we could find, Roger Creek, to have a closer look at beautiful Cayoosh Creek. And we decided to stay there for the night. We explored the campsite for a bit and spent a couple of hours around the campfire – good thing we brought plenty of wood. The clouds started to disappear and we could see stars sparkling through above us from time to time. Magical. To my surprise, we weren’t the only ones staying the night. But the site were far enough apart that we neither saw nor heard much of them.

Close to Pemberton – One Mile Lake

Mt Currie

Near Joffre Lake – SNOW!

Camp for the night

Along pretty Cayoush Creek

I expected it to rain over night but it stayed dry. We didn’t quite wake up to sunshine but the clouds had moved up quite a bit higher and we could see mountain tops. The headache that had plagued me the day before was finally gone and I enjoyed the drive even more. The fall colours seemed a lot more vibrant that day. We stopped at a few more places along Cayoosh Creek. There were quite a lot of small rec sites that are probably packed all summer long but were almost deserted right now. The new car felt great on the windy road and the drive was just as much fun as the scenery was spectacular – until we almost hit a bear! Neither Jeff nor I expected bears to still be around but there he was, walking up the highway, hardly noticing that he had almost been run over by an Audi A4 Allroad. We turned the car around and found a spot to pull over hoping to see the bear vanish into the bushes. But he didn’t. 3 more cars had to slow down and drive around him. He kept walking up the road right towards where we were parked. We had stayed in the car to not spook the bear unnecessarily and so he walked right by the car. I mean right by the car. The right thing probably would have been to honk or make noise but with the engine off nothing works on those modern cars. And instead of continuing up the road the bear decided to check out the car. Looked over the hood and came around to the other side. I am sure he would have tried to poke the car but Jeff finally started up the engine which cause him to run off – not far, just across the road where he started to continue walking up the road. I could not believe it. This was not normal bear behaviour as I have experienced before and I have had my share of bear encounters. I wasn’t nervous for us but for the bear. He was too used to humans and cars, maybe he even was fed out of a car before, to not be a danger to himself and others. Eventually he walked off the road ahead of us. At least I think he did. We made sure to take off to not give him the opportunity to come back for a second look. In hindsight I know it was wrong to stop but we were quite far away when we did and based on previous encounters gave him plenty of space to avoid us. But then it is fall and bears are getting ready for hibernation. Maybe he was just desperate to find some food … we did have some bread and muffins in the car which he could have smelled. Still feel guilty about having alter a bears behaviour by being there.

Day 2: A bit better mountain views

Another stop along Cayoosh Creek

Cayoosh Creek way below

Traffic Alert!

Here he comes

Thinking about getting off the road – at least I hope so

Hwy bear video

A bit rattled by the encounter we continued on. We stopped at Cayoosh Point to take in the views of the creek way below us and the mountains around us, spectacular to say the least, before dropping down into Lillooet to have breakfast. Not sure why but for me going out for breakfast is the highlight of all our road trips :-). Here we had to make a decision. Continue going north on Hwy 99 to Hat Creek or head south along the Fraser on Hwy 12. We picked the latter, not only because it was the shorter route but also because it was a new route for us. And the drive was really nice, overlooking the Fraser the whole way but with more picture stops than the canyon drive on Hwy 1. At some point the hwy narrowed to a one lane road for a couple hundred meters right along a cliff. There were a lot of rocks on the windy section of road. Pretty cool. We also found a little made up gold rush camp. And instead of signs telling you to stay out they had a sign inviting you to enjoy it just not destroy it. There were faces all over the trees watching you – very cute. Thanks Dave & Bev whoever you are.

Cayoosh Point

Hairpin

wroom

Lillooet way below

Seton Lake

Breakfast In Lillooet

Hwy 12

along the Fraser River

Steep

windy

narrow

A glimpse of the sun

Experience the drive on Hwy #12

Eventually we made it to Lytton and I would have loved to extend the trip forever but it was time to head home. So instead of going north up the Thompson – towards the blue sky – we headed south along the Fraser – into the rain. And rain it did heavily for a while. Lucky for us, it lessened around Boston Bar and I convinced Jeff to do a small detour. We crossed the Fraser to explore Nahatlatch Provincial Park, taking the new car onto dirt road :-). For years we have been driving by here on our way to the Cariboo and I always wanted to explore Nahatlatch but there never was time. Now we made time. It may not have been the nicest weather for taking pictures but it was well worth it. Car handled the wet dirt road without a problem – sure the quattro helped. Mind you, we were the only “luxury” car on that road. Everyone else was in trucks or SUVs. The drive to the actual park took a bit longer than I thought but definitely a nice area. Once in the park there are quite a few rec sites along the lakes and we stopped at a few to soak in the beautiful views despite the clouds. At the last stop we decided to have lunch, overlooking Nahatlatch Lake, hiding from the light rain under some large trees. Piece and Quiet!  I loved it. Definitely on the list to explore more in the future – but that list is getting pretty long :-).

Lytton

Fraser ferry in Lytton

Hitting the dirt road

Nahatlatch Provincial Park

Spring salmon

Found another one 🙂

“Off road”

Lunch spot

Hwy 1 – heading home

This pretty much marked the end of the trip. The drive back Hwy 1 was uneventful and wet. A much enjoyable fall road trip in the new car – I see more to come… Although this was not our first fall trip this October.