Across British Columbia

After leaving the Rocky Mountains, our next big destination is Vancouver Island. But on the way there, of course, we didn't want to completely leave the area behind and spent three more nights in British Columbia. But after Valemount, there was a lot more area (and occasionally a few bears). We drove for hours along Highway 5 towards Clearwater, which was now, believe it or not, almost 30 degrees, and apart from forest and river, there wasn't much to see. Eventually, our heads were so hot that we took the first exit after hours in Blue River and finally found some relief in the local Eleanor Lake. The combination of good weather and the feeling of finally being able to travel to our liking made our travel hearts beat faster. The first destination was Clearwater, which also had a beautiful lake where we spent the evening and started the new day. To explore more of the area, we drove to Wells Gray Provincial Park the next day and were able to admire several impressively deep (high) waterfalls, including Helmcken Falls, which plunge 141 meters into the depths, and had a nice chat with a German couple. The park is definitely recommended and underrated. There is a lot of untouched, wild nature and hardly any people around. After the hustle and bustle in the Rocky Mountains, it was a very welcome change.

The destination for the day was Kamloops and here we expected a completely different landscape. It suddenly became very dry and our sleeping spot was in the real 'outback'. The next day, we woke up with almost no visibility and heavy haze everywhere. In the 'outback', it had a certain appeal, but it felt strange to us. After a short research, we found out that massive wildfires were raging in northern British Columbia and the smoke cloud covered the entire south, enveloping everything in haze with hardly any visibility. We spent this day with organizational tasks, including laundry day once again. Now, the Sea to Sky Highway route lay ahead of us, but due to the current conditions, we didn't expect much from it at least on that day. We could hardly see the mountains along the highway. Accordingly, we drove a long distance on this day and snacked on poutine in the Wild West (Lillooet). We will probably reach Vancouver Island much earlier than planned. Nevertheless, we found a great camping spot at Joffre Lake, cooked by the idyllic lake, and spent the evening there.

There, in the early morning of the next day, we spontaneously went on a morning hike to Middle and Upper Lake. Finally, we were able to walk in the snow again, at least partly ;-) The hike was really beautiful and felt great in the morning. Full of energy, we continued along the Sea to Sky Highway, leaving the Olympic ski resort of Whistler out of the picture because of the excessive parking fees, and instead stopped to admire two impressive waterfalls along the way. And before we knew it, we were in Horseshoe Bay and decided to spontaneously take the ferry to Vancouver Island. Spontaneous ideas are always the best - well, almost always. Our timing wasn't quite optimal, because the long weekend was approaching and there were A LOT of cars waiting in line with us. After hours of waiting in the car queue (there is definitely something better to do :D), we finally boarded the ferry at twilight. And what happened to us on Vancouver Island, you will find out in the next post.

This one has become a bit shorter, but we want to make a separate post for Vancouver Island.

Stay tuned and have fun reading and looking at pictures. We look forward to hearing from you. Greetings and kisses