Marble Rocks
Museum at Clinton
Farmall tractor, Museum at Clinton
Bridge Lake
Tree felled by beaver, Bridge Lake
After yesterday’s day of mostly rain it was a delight to be greeted at breakfast time with blue skies and sunshine, albeit somewhat intermittent.
We left the lumber town of Lillooet and followed the Fraser River northwards through winding ravines to Pavilion and then we headed east to meet up with Highway 97 that is a major northern arterial road in Canada.
Our mid-morning coffee stop was in a pretty but small town called Clinton where we spent a good deal of time visiting the local museum. This was a wonderful collection of memorabilia from the early 20th century through to the 1950s. There were old gramophones, typewriters, antique bottles, enamel advertising signs, early farm equipment and much more. There was an old shed set up as a highly realistic blacksmith’s shop and other displays based on the gold-mining days. The museum was well worth visiting.
We then followed up Highway 97 and then turned off onto a minor road that passed through plateau country where forests and lakes were abundant. At Bridge Lake we turned into a reserve area on the side of the lake (Lac des Roches) for lunch. In delightful sunshine, on the edge of the lake we had our lunch and relaxation prior to commencing the final stint from Little Fort through to Clearwater.
The scenery along the way was amazing with high mountains on one side of the road and expansive lakes or wide glacial rivers on the other. This magical combination was at its best with the weather getting warmer and warmer as we proceeded.
The final part of our journey into Clearwater involved a 10 km descent from 1350 m altitude down to 400 m. The road was very good although steep for a prolonged distance. For trucks that might have had failed brakes there were escape roads every two kilometres or so.
On arriving in Clearwater we became confused as the town is in two distinct parts and these are separated by a kilometre. We had no idea as to where to stay but an ‘on the spot’ decision led us to a motel conveniently located in the upper half of town.
A trip to the supermarket meant we had sufficient supplies to provide ourselves with a healthy cold meat and salad dinner meal in our motel room.
We then managed to contact Norm Gregory in Devonport via Skype and wish him a happy birthday. It was great to hear from him and to hear all his news. We’ll look forward to catching up with him on our return.
Tomorrow we plan to visit the nearby Wells Gray Park Reserve which is reasonably close by and then spend the afternoon driving the four hours through to Jasper.
Today has been a magic weather day and the scenery in this region of the Rockies is stunning!!