Today was rough! I got up this morning to the sound of rain hitting my window. To make things worse, the temperature dropped over night to 40 degrees Fahrenheit and with all the layers of clothing I was wearing I felt like the “Michelin Man” on my bike. It was hard even to turn my head.
Going up to Whistler was easy as road was in perfect condition and at times expanded to 4 lanes. Maybe the Olympics had something to do with that? But when I continued to Lillooet things changed. The road was in desperate need of repair and changed at times without warning into a section of dirt road (wet!). As if that was not difficult enough to maneuver, the road navigated through the Cascade Mountains with inclines of up to 13% and curves to match. The bridges crossing the river below had decks made out of wood planks witch turned slippery as soap when wet. When I finally arrived in Lillooet, I was exhausted, cold and miserable. Luckily the town hosted a wonderful little café and after some ho homemade soup, an egg salad sandwich and a blueberry pie the world looked much better.
30 more miles through the cascades and the road got a lot better again. As the mountains subsided I traveled on a high plateau with scenery similar to Upper Michigan, low growing evergreens with a lot of bogs. I stopped for the night at a town named 100 Mile House. During the gold rush supply camps were established along the Cariboo Wagon Road and named after their distance from Lilloet (Mile 0). As the gold rush subsided, ranchers began to settle the surrounding area. Today 100 Mile House is the dominant community in this area with a population of about 20,000. And yes you guessed it, other towns on this road are called 60 Mile House, 105 Mile House and so on…
On the way to Lillooet.
I think this was the first time that a landscape scared me. These mountains are so steep and inhospitable. The weather just added to the ominous scene.
Reservoir close to Lillooet.
Water fall cascading down the steep cliffs.
Where is the sun?
Shell approved house paint!
The local Laundrymat in 100 Mile House.
The most current edition of NG available at the laundrymat (Nov.1979). The advertisements in the magazine were the best part.
Hey Matz,that sounded like quite a ride! I'm glad you got to Lillooet okay. Those 13% inclines would have scared the hell out of me.
ReplyDeleteI was checking out the Cascade Mountains on Wiki and was amazed at the sheer number of parks and wilderness places that exist. One can literally spend an entire summer just exploring the Cascades alone.
Your photos are incredible Matz. Really enjoy them.
Look out for any active volcanoes:>