The Kindness of Strangers and other adventures...
It’s strange how sometimes the most inconvenient of circumstances sometimes bring the most interesting experiences.
I drove out to Whistler. I took the ferry in the morning and made it to Whistler by mid afternoon. My intention was to hang out with my friend Mark, then head to Kamloops up highway 99. A trip that would take about 3 hours… maybe slightly less, then from there, head North towards Jasper on Highway 16.
Mother Nature had a different route in store for me. While eating dinner at Mark’s place, I caught a glimpse of the first bit of news I’d seen all summer. A huge forest fire in Lillooet. Curious, I looked it up on the map. Apparently, my intended route was heading straight into a massive forest fire. Not good. With the help of Mark’s friends, we called the highway line to see if the highway was closed. As of that evening the highway remained open.
My trip was still a go.
I set my alarm for 7 and was on the road by 8am. Heading towards a massive Forest fire… After an hour of driving I hit Pemberton, just down the road from Lillooet. A big sign announced the highway closure. I head into the nearest gas station to ask for directions.
The conversation went something like this:
Me- I saw the sign, the highways closed, is there anyway to get to Kamloops?
Lady - You’re going to have to go back to Vancouver and go around
Me - so there’s no other way?
Lady - there’s a big forest fire, it’s all over the news
Me- so no back roads then?
Lady - It’s a BIG fire
Me - So the only way to Kamloops is to go back to Vancouver
Lady - It’s a FOREST fire, the ROAD is on FIRE!
Me - So I have to go back to Vancouver then?
Lady - Yes
Me - No other way…
Lady- NO!
Another lady comes into the store
Other Lady - is there any other way to Kamloops?
First Lady - The only way is to go back to Vancouver
Other Lady - what about this side road?
First Lady (obviously getting annoyed, probably because of me…) - It’s a BIG FIRE, it’s all over the news, all the roads are closed, they’ve evacuated the town and surrounding area. There is NO other WAY, you’re going to have to go back to VANCOUVER!
Other Lady - Okay…. (though probably a little shocked about the outburst)
At this point I leave, realizing I probably have to back track 3 hours to Vancouver and from there it’s going to take me another 4 hours to get to Kamloops.
So I head back and wake Mark up again as I pass through.
Head back through Vancouver and get lost… things are so much more complicated now that I’m using a map and not a GPS to navigate. Outside of Chilliwack there’s a giant traffic jam. While traffic was stopped I get out, and grab my crochet. I haven’t made a lot of progress on the sweater I’m working on so it was nice to get a couple of rows in while traffic was stopped.
I continue to drive through smoke and haze, apparently because it’s so dry in BC there are a bunch of forest fires burning and the sky is filled with smoke because of them. You could actually smell the burning in the air.
Because I hate backtracking, I took the Trans Canada highway from Hope to Kamloops. It’s a little slower, but it’s very scenic. I was surprised at just how different the terrain was from highway 5 which I took on the way out. Highway 1 takes you through a much rockier, but much drier, more baron landscape. It was very bizarre with all the baron rock, and burnt/dead pine and some brushy area. In contrast, highway 5 takes you through much grassier, pasture lands and pine stands.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I drive through Kamloops, and continue north towards Jasper. It’s already late, so I grab a quick dinner at a roadside diner and keep going. As it’s getting dark, I find a campground on the Thompson river. But all the campsites are taken. I drive around the site twice, and realize this might be a night I have to sleep beside the highway…. But a group of girls wave at me, and tell me I can hang out with them and that they love dogs.
So I stayed with them. They even offered me dinner, but I’d already eaten. They were super nice, in their twenties, on the last day of their road trip to Vancouver Island. They were heading back to Edmonton in the morning. We chatted, I made them tea, and went to bed. If there hadn’t been a fire ban in effect, it would have been a nice night for a campfire.
So the next morning we all had breakfast and I left them as they were putting the last things away. I actually met up with them again just outside of Jasper. They were in line behind me at the front gate. I waved from the car.
It’s so much colder here in Jasper than it was in Victoria. It’s so cold I can see my breath, whereas the weather on Vancouver Island was unbearably hot.
So that’s where I am now. I’m going to spend tomorrow hiking, maybe go for a dip in the hot springs, walk on a glacier and head back to Banff in a day or two. From there, the bad lands in Drumheller, and then back through the prairies.
I drove out to Whistler. I took the ferry in the morning and made it to Whistler by mid afternoon. My intention was to hang out with my friend Mark, then head to Kamloops up highway 99. A trip that would take about 3 hours… maybe slightly less, then from there, head North towards Jasper on Highway 16.
Mother Nature had a different route in store for me. While eating dinner at Mark’s place, I caught a glimpse of the first bit of news I’d seen all summer. A huge forest fire in Lillooet. Curious, I looked it up on the map. Apparently, my intended route was heading straight into a massive forest fire. Not good. With the help of Mark’s friends, we called the highway line to see if the highway was closed. As of that evening the highway remained open.
My trip was still a go.
I set my alarm for 7 and was on the road by 8am. Heading towards a massive Forest fire… After an hour of driving I hit Pemberton, just down the road from Lillooet. A big sign announced the highway closure. I head into the nearest gas station to ask for directions.
The conversation went something like this:
Me- I saw the sign, the highways closed, is there anyway to get to Kamloops?
Lady - You’re going to have to go back to Vancouver and go around
Me - so there’s no other way?
Lady - there’s a big forest fire, it’s all over the news
Me- so no back roads then?
Lady - It’s a BIG fire
Me - So the only way to Kamloops is to go back to Vancouver
Lady - It’s a FOREST fire, the ROAD is on FIRE!
Me - So I have to go back to Vancouver then?
Lady - Yes
Me - No other way…
Lady- NO!
Another lady comes into the store
Other Lady - is there any other way to Kamloops?
First Lady - The only way is to go back to Vancouver
Other Lady - what about this side road?
First Lady (obviously getting annoyed, probably because of me…) - It’s a BIG FIRE, it’s all over the news, all the roads are closed, they’ve evacuated the town and surrounding area. There is NO other WAY, you’re going to have to go back to VANCOUVER!
Other Lady - Okay…. (though probably a little shocked about the outburst)
At this point I leave, realizing I probably have to back track 3 hours to Vancouver and from there it’s going to take me another 4 hours to get to Kamloops.
So I head back and wake Mark up again as I pass through.
Head back through Vancouver and get lost… things are so much more complicated now that I’m using a map and not a GPS to navigate. Outside of Chilliwack there’s a giant traffic jam. While traffic was stopped I get out, and grab my crochet. I haven’t made a lot of progress on the sweater I’m working on so it was nice to get a couple of rows in while traffic was stopped.
I continue to drive through smoke and haze, apparently because it’s so dry in BC there are a bunch of forest fires burning and the sky is filled with smoke because of them. You could actually smell the burning in the air.
Because I hate backtracking, I took the Trans Canada highway from Hope to Kamloops. It’s a little slower, but it’s very scenic. I was surprised at just how different the terrain was from highway 5 which I took on the way out. Highway 1 takes you through a much rockier, but much drier, more baron landscape. It was very bizarre with all the baron rock, and burnt/dead pine and some brushy area. In contrast, highway 5 takes you through much grassier, pasture lands and pine stands.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I drive through Kamloops, and continue north towards Jasper. It’s already late, so I grab a quick dinner at a roadside diner and keep going. As it’s getting dark, I find a campground on the Thompson river. But all the campsites are taken. I drive around the site twice, and realize this might be a night I have to sleep beside the highway…. But a group of girls wave at me, and tell me I can hang out with them and that they love dogs.
So I stayed with them. They even offered me dinner, but I’d already eaten. They were super nice, in their twenties, on the last day of their road trip to Vancouver Island. They were heading back to Edmonton in the morning. We chatted, I made them tea, and went to bed. If there hadn’t been a fire ban in effect, it would have been a nice night for a campfire.
So the next morning we all had breakfast and I left them as they were putting the last things away. I actually met up with them again just outside of Jasper. They were in line behind me at the front gate. I waved from the car.
It’s so much colder here in Jasper than it was in Victoria. It’s so cold I can see my breath, whereas the weather on Vancouver Island was unbearably hot.
So that’s where I am now. I’m going to spend tomorrow hiking, maybe go for a dip in the hot springs, walk on a glacier and head back to Banff in a day or two. From there, the bad lands in Drumheller, and then back through the prairies.
posted by Sarah at 2:50 PM
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