[A/S] TWIMC - BC Kaslo to Abbottsford

["Sandy Noyes" <boojum@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Folks -

You must be tired of my writing about how beautiful BC is, but it is
that beautiful; no, it is more beautiful.  The ride from Kaslo to
Abbottsford just underlined it.

I left from the Schroeder Creek Campground north of Kaslo about 8:00,
got through Kaslo by 8:30 and was on the road.  Nelson by 9:30 and then
on west on Canada 3.  If I have not stressed that this is mountainous
country yet, let me start now.  Sheesh, there are some real mountains
here.  And while the general direction from Kaslo to Abbottsford is
down, there are some might rises along the way.

From Kaslo to Osoyoos is pretty much all the same beautiful green
mountains that the Kootenay is.  Just great, huge mountains rising up
through the firs into granite peaks dusted with some snow and sometimes
swathed in clouds.  Just plain huge mountains, and lots of them, too.

It changes at Osoyoos.  The town itself is in a valley that I descended
into saying over and over again, "I am sure am glad that I had the
exhaust brake installed."  The diesel engine has almost no braking
power in itself so a butterfly valve is inserted just after the turbo
in the exhaust line and blocks the line. Just like the old "potato in
the exhaust pipe" trick from some of our youths.  The effect is that
the engine can be used to slow the truck and trailer rather than having
to ride the brakes.  This means that you will have brakes that work
when you get to the bottom of the hill.  They won't be burning.  But,
my exhaust brake has been funny lately and drops out or doesn't engage
all the time.  I was able to jiggle it so that it did engage.  What a
relief.  

So, Osoyoos, is this resort town at the end of a long descent out of
the BC mountains.  It looks like Utah.  Semiarid with a lake in the
center of town which extends to either side of town and is lined with
resort motels and folks walking alongside them.  It was quite warm,
too.  Lots of fruit orchards on the way in to town were offering their
apples, peaches, berries, cherries and so on.  It was amazing to see
after driving through miles of cool and misty mountain forests.  I
tanked up with gas as it was about 230 miles from Kaslo and took off
for the last 150 miles.  That was back up into the mountains.

This time the mountains were like the ones in Western Oregon: high
desert.  The western mountains have milked the clouds of their rain so
the area is arid.  Up and down through this for 50 miles and then
through Princeton, the hangout of Bill Milner  -- see the movie "The
Grey Fox"  --  the man who is alleged to have invented the phrase,
"hands up."  He is also alleged to have been about the most courteous
holdup man since Robin Hood.  Then on and on, up and down, jiggling the
exhaust brake and cursing the manufacturer and so on until I got to
Hope where Canada 3 meets the TCH, the Trans Canada Highway.

What an inspiration!  There ares some roads in BC that are pretty much
flat.  The first I had seen in all the time I have been here.  Even
better, some even sloped in the direction I was going!  Talk about a
change of fortune.  The road from Hope to Abbottsford is amazing again.
 It should really say "Very Beautiful BC" on those license plates.  It
is so green on the descent into Abbottsford to make an Irishman
envious.  I cannot think of the French painter known as Le Douanier
(The Customs Man) because he worked for French customs, was it
Rousseau?, who had a painting with some 40 shades of green.  BC beats
that, baby.  It is just a fantasy sliding down the hillsides on the TCH
along the Fraser River Valley towards Abbottsford and, eventually,
Vancouver.  The greens are the entire spectrum; every possible shade is
represented.  And with the light in the west as I dove west, ducking in
and out of the shadows made the apparent range of greens even greater. 
As I got closer to Abbottsford the land levelled out and the Fraser
river started into wide meanders with marsh lining parts of its banks. 
I am sure the wildfowl is abundant in the migratory season.  Along with
the Fraser river is a canal.  If you like water and boats I would think
this place would be great.  But I saw very few boats.  Around
Abbottsford the reason is that the river is too treacherous.  There are
hidden dangers under the calm surface which makes boating only for the
knowledgeable.   Upriver in Chilliwak there is boating and fishing, but
not around here.

All in all, the trip across Canada has been great.  The trip through BC
has been a revelation.  I have never ever seen so much beautiful
country in one place.  I would say that if you have to choose between
seeing some other place and BC, go for BC.  I have not regretted one
moment here.  The folks are fine, the scenery is great and with the
exchange rate it is cheap to be hear.  I just paid CDN$56 for two night
in a beautiful campground set up very nicely, honest 30 amp service,
good water pressure and nice management. That is less that US$20 a
night.  The same thing would be US$30 in the US.  Now if I can just
find those Hudson Bay blankets.

L8R


Happy Trails.