The last blog post of any trip I have done has always been written several days after I return home and this post is no exception. However, this time I have to roll two days into one entry because the last day of the trip with Jim was a short run from Vernon, BC to Kamloops, BC, a distance of slightly more than one hundred kilometres straight up Highway 97 to the Trans Canada Highway. From the junction it is a relatively short run west to the Old Shuswap Road then to Jim's house.
We settled in to our motel on Saturday afternoon after finding one that didn't require us to sign away out first born and take out mortgages on our houses before we could get a room. Not more than forty-five minutes later it began to rain but the shower was of relatively short duration so Sunday morning dawned bright, sunny, and warm for the final portion of our journey.
We arrived in Kamloops shortly after 11:00 a.m., unloaded the bikes and enjoyed the air conditioning in the house before heading to Costco where Jim bought a pizza, some New York strip loin steaks, and some ribs. The 'girls' (Jim & Sue's Schnauzers Molly and Maggie) greeted us when we arrived. They are extremely affectionate dogs and they love being with people. They also have wildly different characters. Molly, at thirteen, is much more reserved and ladylike. She calmly awaits to be scratched or petted and she eats her food very daintily. Maggie, at three, on the other hand is pushy, wolfs down her food and pushes her way to the front even when I pet Molly.
Molly, Jim & Sue's ladylike Schnauzer
Upon returning to the house I got out my iPad and sat at the island in the kitchen asI checked out the email that I had ignored for several days. Maggie raced over to me, put her front paws on my leg and watched what I was doing. I thought nothing of it until she started pogoing on her hind legs trying to see the screen. That's when I figured out that she wanted to see the computer so I tilted the screen so she could see. She was very attentive but when I moved the screen she began to jump again.
Maggie, the iPad obsessed Schnauzer with her favourite toy.
When Sue arrived home from the lower Mainland I tld her what had been going on. She told me that she usually pulls up a chair so Maggie could jump up, sit there and watch YouTube videos. She loves videos of - you guessed it - schnauzers. Sometimes she even tries to touch the screen with her nose to get closer. Later in the week I posted two videos to YouTube. She loves them and I think she actually recognizes herself on the screen. She loves watching the computer so much that at one point she was outside and saw me using the computer so she began jumping up and down on her hind legs. Molly, on the other hand, could not care less about the computer. I guess the younger generation is just more technologically knowledgable than the oldsters.
On Sunday evening after having some pizza, Jim and I had a taste of the single malt scotch he had bought at the Duty Free. The Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban was very smooth and it demanded that we taste it one more time. At least.
Kamloops Lake, west of Kamloops, BC
View north over Kamloops Lake
The ride to Cache Creek was a straight run with some stops to view the beautiful scenery across Kamloops Lake. On the west side of Savona, BC, I could see the tourist train, The Rocky Mountaineer, as it made its way to Vancouver along the CN tracks along the Thompson River then along the Fraser River to Hope where it would make the final run down the Fraser River to the main terminal in Vancouver. The train's paint scheme is beautifully designed and from a distance it is quite striking.
The Rocky Mountaineer on CN tracks on the north side of Kamloops Lake
The Rocky Mountaineer
The length of this train is testimonial to the popularity of this journey
Head end power on the Rocky Mountaineer.
Head end power has no problem pulling this train.
Dome car on the Rocky Mountaineer
A variation of the Rocky Mountaineer dome car.
The highway to Lillooet runs through Marble Canyon and several First Nation reserves before dropping down to the valley, crossing the Fraser River, and entering the town before striking south and west and climbing several hundred metres to cross the Coast Range one last time. Of the four mountain crossings I made on this ride the mountains here were most impressive, climbing to the sky with many of them still cloaked in snow. The road clings to the sides of the mountains with dropoffs a regular feature. If one went into a corner hot and overshot the curve, he might end up several hundred metres down the side of a mountain and not be found for a very long time. It pays to ride carefully in these mountains..There are very few straight stretches between Lillooet and Birkenstock Lake. This part of Highway 99 is a rider's paradise if you're into throwing your bike through continuous curves.
Riding along Crown Lake
Cayoosh Creek just before it joins the Fraser River
View west from a viewpoint just east of Lillooet, BC
View to the northwest from a viewpoint just east of Lillooet, BC
The Fraser River near Lillooet, BC
Mountain view near Lillooet, BC
View to the north from Highway 99 south of Lillooet, BC
Cayoosh Creek which flows from Duffy Lake to the Fraser River.
Typical sight along Highway 99 south of Lillooet, BC
The section of Highway 99 that runs between Lillooet and Pemberton, BC is called the Duffy Lake Road. Over the last several years the highway has been improved over much of its length and has been turned from a road with broken pavement and generally rough conditions into a very good motorcycling highway. South of Lillooet I pulled over to take a photo when I met a family from Devon, England. The two sons who were in their late teens, were on a road trip with their mother. In the two weeks they had they were planning to drive to Kamloops, up Highway 5 through Clearwater to Tete Jaune Cache then east to Jasper. From there they would turn south and drive the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise and Banff before doing more exploration of the area. It sounded like a trip of a lifetime for them.
Highway 99 runs along Cayoosh Creek for a good distance and crosses it in several places. The creek runs fast and it is almost entirely composed of rapids so any view of the creek is also a view of white water. It is quite a spectacular piece of river.
Cayoosh Creek
Cayoosh Creek
Duffy Lake lies about halfway between Lillooet and Pemberton and provide some of the best views along this highway. It is surrounded my mountains, some of them snow capped and the end of the lake has a large log jam at the entrance to Cayoosh Creek. The water here is a beautiful blue colour and is very clear, having come from the snow melt in the mountains.
Log jam at the north end of Duffy Lake
View to the south over Duffy Lake
View to the south over Duffy Lake
From Pemberton to Horseshoe Bay the highway becomes a lot more 'civilized' with very few low speed curves, and some car drivers tend to drive accordingly. I'm fond of the saying, 'Stupid should hurt,' and some of the drivers I saw on this section of highway are in for big hurts.
From Whistler south, this section is called 'The Sea to Sky Highway', and it deserves the name. closer to Whistler snow capped mountains appear aound every curve, and south of Squamish, the Stawamas Chief, a huge batholith reaches several hundred metres into the sky and is a favourite destination for extreme rock climbers. 
Creek south of Whistler, BC
Creek south of Whistler, BC
Mountain view along the Sea to Sky Highway
Mountain view along the Sea to Sky Highway
Mountain view along the Sea to Sky Highway
Howe Sound, south of Squamish, BC
Howe Sound, south of Squamish, BC
Further along the highway and the CN Railway track crowd the shoreline at Britannia Beach, a community which was established early last century to mine the copper which was abundant here. The railway used to be the provincially owned British Columbia Railway (BCR) until the 'Liberal' government under Premier Gordon Campbell sold it to CN under conditions which are still unknown. Our present premier was involved in the decision and when two of the premier's assistants were found to be guilty of passing along information to the highest bidder, the province paid their approximately six million dollar legal bills and despite calls for an investigation, the powers that be, in what many suspect to be a rather successful attempt to protect themselves politically, have resisted any attempts to get to the bottom of the matter.
CN tracks with the old mill in the background, Britannia Beach, BC
Old mill at Britannia Beach, BC, now the BC Mining Museum
CN trackage at Britannia Beach, BC
Arriving at Horseshoe Bay, I was just slightly early for the sailing as the workers had already begun to load cars onto the ferry. I was one of the last five bikers aboard and two cyclists were forced to turn around and ride onto the lower deck. The ferry was as tightly packed as I've ever seen it and I was lucky to make the sailing. At the tollbooth when woman in the tollbooth began to charge me for the ticket I reminded that, although she'd never know it, I'm officially a 'geezer', having attained the venerable age of 65 years on June 29th. Her response: 'But are you a BC geezer?' to which I handed over my driver's license.
The ride was uneventful and on the Nanaimo side, I pulled in to get some gas and then roll on to Courtenay where I filled up with the least expensive gas of the whole Canadian portion of the ride. Then it was last forty-five kilometres home to Campbell River.
I never cease to be amazed at the beauty of this country, no matter where I go. Whether it's the Rocky Mountains, the Kootenays, the Prairies or eastern Ontario. I'm not a fan of the ride from Kenora to Sault Ste Marie although others may be. Many parts of the western United States are comparable and seeing them from a motorcycle is a complete sensual experience as you feel the wind, experience the smells of fresh cut hay, canola fields, farms, the smell of the the land after a rain, the sea coast, lakes and rivers, as well as diesel fumes and other less pleasant smells. Colours seem more vivd from the top of a motorcycle and the sound of that big twin engine ticking away for hour after hour is somewhat soothing. Not only is it a privilege to see much of this land, it is also a joy to see it from a motorcycle when you are riding with a good friend or friends.
I don't know how much longer I have to keep riding but I plan on taking advantage of every opportunity to go touring before I'm too old to be on two wheels. Then it may be on to a trike!
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