We woke to a dreary wet and cold morning with low cloud and snow on the mountain sides just above the village. I had looked on the BC driving conditions web cams and seen that there was quite heavy snow on the mountain passes north of Whistler on the road we would be taking to Kamloops.
It appeared the roads were open and so at 10.30am we headed off. Bob and Thelma took Kenny and DeeAnne to see their building plots just above Whistler whilst we drove about 20 miles north to the town of Pemberton where I fueled the car up. What pleasant surprise to see that diesel here in Canada is about 40p per litre cheaper than in the UK!!
As I finished filling the car Bob and Kenny drove up and so all three cars drove north on highway 99 heading for the town of Lilloet about 100kms away. The road rose quite quickly in a series of hairpin bends and as we gained altitude the snow started to fall, Quite soon we were driving through a landscape blanketed in deep snow. Fortunately the road was kept clear by snowploughs and gritting.
We reached the summit at just over 4,000ft and descended through some truly magnificent scenery of high mountains and ice covered lakes.
We stopped by one lake where we took these photos of the cars and me throwing snow balls. Oh, to be young again!!
Shortly after we reached Lillooet, a small mining town, and then the landscape changed from one of dense pine forests to a quite dry and arid cattle ranching area.The drive continued through areas that had been quite severely burnt by forest fires.
Bob, who was driving in front, pulled over to the side of the road and pointed towards a dead tree and there, at the very top, was this magnificent bald eagle.
The remainder of the 300km drive to Kamloops was in wide open countryside with little traffic. It was all on wonderful roads. Driving through the town of Cache Creek we saw this unusual looking motel.
We reached Kamloops at about 3pm. Our hotel, the Plaza Heritage, was built in the early 1920's. It makes a real change to the rather sterile atmosphere of many modern hotels.
Walking around Kamloops.
The weather here is quite nice. The temperature is 12 degrees and the sky is clear. Gone are the clouds and rain of Whistler. Let's hope it stays like this for our drive north to Jasper in Alberta.
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