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Whistler BC to Moondance Bay Resort BC - 9,157 kms

Jul 22, 2014

The thumbnail is our first shot of the day, a fuel stop at Pemberton after going to 2 non-existent fuel stations in Whistler and surrounds, the planners are obviously moving such distasteful things away from the population. Already seeing great snow capped peaks and the sights just kept rolling out from there. Snow capped mountains, rugged rocky canyons and sheer mountainsides, desert like canyons and ranch land as well as dense forest from sparse and dry to dense and lush green and water water water. Cascading down mountainsides and galloping along creeks and rivers into lakes of all description. We also saw lots of high country boggy marshland with small and large lake areas before we got in this evening. And the roads! They were just spectacular, the surface was excellent to good and when not excellent just a bit bumpy and corner after corner after corner all with steep cambers for draining snow and sooo good for bikes, not to put too fine a point on it, a bit over 300kms of bliss! Aaahhhh. But, now to some of many shots of the day.

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Yep, more great snow to be seen in the distance so a comfortable temperature to travel.

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And Lakes, one of many, we chatted with a couple from Arizona having coffee in their camper here.

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And they aren't called the Rocky Mountain's for nothing and this is a pathetic example compared to what we have seen but it is a case of so many shots (so few places to safely stop) and lots of kilometers to cover so limited time and a strict timekeeper in Normie John.

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Just before our lunch stop in Lillooet traffic was stopped while 3 helicopters worked as a team to lay cable for the hydro plant. Very impressive. Norm shot this one....well with the camera.

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And this is a shot of either Lilloolet Lake or Seton Dam (not sure which but assume dam as they have had submarines diving to do surveys) and check out the train line which winds it's way along the shore to the right hand side. Mainly freight these days but there is a one carriage passenger train used for leisure things but which also brings children to school in Lilloolet. There used to be a 3 hour trip around the mountains and they boarded in town from Sunday night until Friday afternoon but now they commute each day. Also, around the corner heading up the dam is a corner called Dead Mans Corner after a train derailed and plunged to the bottom. Apparently the owners got a whole lot of experts in who said it couldn't be raised as it was too deep but some farmers and loggers sank heaps of 44 gallon drums then pumped the water out and replaced it with air and raised the engine. Ha ha, love what is possible when practical people get a chance to do things. Also handy to talk to locals as you might have guessed and we get to do that a lot on the bikes.

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This is a shot looking downstream from the dam and you can see salmon spawning pools which have been built to help the salmon get upstream to spawn.

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This is a little bit of the canyon wall in an area called Marble Canyon. There was a massive quarry just past here. Don't know that it was marble but the colour in the white stone looked very impressive.

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A shot of the General Store, restaurant, gift shop and admission gate at Hat Creek Ranch.There were camp sites, spots for RV's and caravans, play sites for kids, a circular sale yard and opportunities to do 'real ranch things'.

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A shot from the Moondance Bay Resort across Bridge Lake and this is the pontoon the owners were rescuing when we arrived as it had come adrift......going on the very un-truckie knots on the rope now on it the same thing could happen again.

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And finally, the view from our cabin. The fire pit would be fun except there are no fires allowed in the open at the moment as the fire risk is extreme. There is a fire currently burning to the east of the ranges in Washington State (USA) south of here which is the worst in history with 1 life lost and over 150 homes. We have been keeping a close eye on this in our travels but thankfully smoke has been our only issue.

Bits and Bobs:

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We stopped for a break and an ice-cream (delicious) at the Hat Creek Ranch and this was a great photo on the veranda of an olden day version of a road train at the Ranch in years gone by. En route to Barkerville. Awesome.

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And continuing with awesome, there was a bird feeder on the veranda and it might only be a silhouette shot but I got my shot of a hummingbird. Yay. Still have to work on the squirrels though got one last year so forget that, but they are slow compared to the chipmunks we encountered on the Needles Highway in Yellowstone. We will see.

Last Night's Accommodation:

Crystal Lodge, 4154 Village Green, Whistler BC VON 1B4

A nice room but small. Lots of wardrobe space for bulky snow items and shelves but struggling for space to open out 2 suitcase's. No matter, we weren't in the room for long. The Village had a great atmosphere and it is right in the heart of it so ideal location. On site gym and pool and discounts available at lots of shops on site. Parking available at a reasonable cost but not locked up so glad we had our disc brake locks. Staff great and there were more expensive options re rooms but we didn't want them. On site restaurant but with a steak worth $39.00 we figured we would eat out and we were literally a few metres from heaps of eating choices. Found a great pub with excellent restaurant meals. Spoilt for choice. Reasonable value.

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