DAY 41 - 46 ~ ALMOST BACK TO THE USA (June 41 – July 2)

We now head inland to the center of British Columbia and into civilization.  We no longer have almost 24 hours of daylight.  It gets dark around 9:45pm (real dark) and stays dark until around 6:00am.  Maybe I’ll finally see some stars. 

We will be traveling on the Yellowhead Highway and then onto the Caraboo Highway.  Both these highways are still 2 lane roads, but it is a level and smoother ride.  The mountains are still in view, but we are no longer driving through forests and brush. We now see small towns and open fields with grazing cows.  I don’t think we will see any more Black Bear walking across of the highway or any other wildlife. 

DAY 41 – 43 ~ SMITHERS, PRINCE GEORGE, & CLINTON  (June 27 - 29)

The next three days were overnight stops.  These three cities were bigger cities, but had nothing exciting to visit or explore.  We did unhook in Prince George because there is a Costco here and we needed gas and supplies. The other two cities we did not leave the RV park.  We relaxed, read, did laundry, updated the blog and watched TV.

DAY 44– 46 ~ HOPE  (June 30 – July 2)

This is our last stop in British Columbia and Canada.  We will be here for two days and 3 nights.  Hope is located at the joint of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers.  Its history begins in 1808 when explorer Simon Fraser arrived in the area that is now called Hope.  The Hudson Bay Company created the Fort Hope trading post in 1848.  In 1858, the area was transformed by the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.   

    

In 1991 Hope embarked on a mission to become the chainsaw carving capital.  Today there are over 50 carvings on display throughout the community.

    

Fraser River

Nearby, in the town of Chilliwack was one of our favorite botanical gardens; MINTER GARDENS This will be our third visit to these gardens.  I think it is as spectacular as the Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island; but on a smaller scale.  

    

The garden is a family run operation and “The dream was supposed to last forever”.  Sadly upon our arrival in Hope we found out that Minter Gardens, after 33 years, closed their doors in October 2013.  Due to bad weather and lack of interest from the young people, attendance dropped dramatically over the past few years.  The family could not keep the garden running.  The above pictures were taken on our last trip in 2009.   These gardens is our only reason for staying in the area.  So this may be our last visit to Hope.

    

Another favorite site is the Othello Tunnels at Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park.  These abandoned railway tunnels are now a hiking trail along the Coquihalla River where you can view the river raging between the steep canyon walls. The five tunnels were built through solid granite cliffs between 1911 and 1916 to complete the Kettle Valley Railway.  This railway was closed in 1959 due to constant washouts, snow, and rockslides.

THE HOPE SLIDE is the largest landslide in Western Canada.  49 years ago on January 9, 1965, the collapse of Johnson Peak sent tons of rock, mud and trees hurling down onto the floor of Nicolum Creek valley burying part of the highway plus a lake at the bottom of the mountain.  It also buried 3 cars killing the four motorists in those cars.  Two of the motorists were never found.  The force of the slide caused the debris to wash up the opposite mountainside before crashing back down into the valley.  Can you imagine the noise that landslide must have made.  There is a belief that the Hope Slide was triggered by an earthquake.

Next stop; Hello USA, good-bye Canada!