Forest devestation...

I understand the topic of the Pine Beetle is always in the news, however, maybe there should be more said and done about this little beast. We drove from Harrison Hot Springs to Salmon Arm today and saw first hand the destruction caused by the beetle. un-real. There are places North of Merrit that could be considered total-loss. Complete tracts of land that are colored orange. If this was a forest fire that was causing the same degree of destruction, it would be considered Armageddon, I am sure. What happens now, when the needles fall off, the root systems rot and we are left with the unstable surface layers? On TV we see cataclysmic floods and landslides in Indonesia, India, etc. Is that what we are headed for? Or does the water cycle cease and we end up in true deserts with dunes and sagebrush? Wow.


I took this photo in Kamloops. Every pine tree in this already fragile eco-system has been killed.

Closing the circle...

On our journeys I always note where we are closing the circle. Something as simple as driving to the store one way and coming back another, and the moment we cross our own previous path we have closed the circle. Some Journeys take longer than others to close the circle.

We are driving towards Princeton on Sept 1, and we happen across the campground we stayed at on the first night of our honeymoon. Instead of continuing our journey eastward on that occasion as planned, we had to double back to Princeton as my truck broke down and we had to go back and fix it. We then took an entirely different route from Princeton up to Prince George. As we drive toward the campground the significance is not lost on us that we are closing a circle that was opened 11 years, 2 months, and 7 days earlier. That was the longest enduring open circle in Traci and my history. The coolest thing is, it has opened an entirely new circle for Andrew.

Speaking of spooky..

Last night was a gooder. We were already feeling uneasy with the place we were staying at. Kind of a Hansel and Gretel 'what the heck is this place' feeling. 2 nights ago we heard all kinds of noises from outside, but didn't really check them out for fear of what we might see. The Harrison Springs RV resort is almost a different planet for us. The office is made of tasty candies, but I'm sure it's a trap. there are 12 or so Camper trailers in the REALLY creepy part of the campground that are not occupied.... anymore. *screecsreescreeescreeee*

I took the donks for a walk this morning and Kenickie got a little slug stuck to his back so i 'flicked' it off him. It stuck to my fingernail. yuck.

Everything is just so bloody wet. We chose a site that looked really grassy, but it was just sticky. The place stunk like mold and feet.

Traci and Andrew just stayed in the Camper the whole time and I only went out to water the dogs.

So, anyway, more about creepy. We go to bed knowing something was trying to steal stuff out of our campsite the night before, so we both sleep with one eye open. There were all kinds of noises in the night, however at about 4am we heard our little dog cage rattle. First of all, yikes. Traci asks if I heard that. I am sitting bolt upright in bed, so yes, yes I heard that. I crawl out of bed and slowly crank the blinds open, almost wishing I am not going to see any thing.

you know when you are driving late at night, feeling really tired, and all of a sudden you see eyes in the ditch and you get that massive pump of adrenaline and you almost have a heart attack?

When that giant skunk bolted across our campsite right below the window I just about shit myself. He ran across and went under the camper right below me. I had no clue what to do. Traci must have heard my heart beating because she asked me what it was. All I hoped was that the furnace didn't kick in and freak the skunk out. That'd be all we need.

"uh, travel club? yeah can you send a tomato truck out to hose our camper down?"

The skunk moved on as I had cleared the campsite of any bait last evening, so he went on a tear ripping open the garbage cans on the site for the next hour.

We left first thing this morning. We got to Merrit and were never so happy to see dust.

Walkin'...

A nice day for a walk...

Tidbits... and misc pictures

• We had a Visitor on Harrison Hot Springs. A Raccoon (we think) tried to steal the dogs blanket that we had outside. It was pulled through the wire fence in 3 different places.
• Near Manning Park we were following a very slow group of cars led by a Toyota Yaris, Traci says "I think we are going so slow because of that 'Yugo' up there". Hehe, Hey Yaris owners, my wife thinks your car looks like a Yugo!!


• We were in the Mall parking lot in Chilliwack. There was a guy coming toward us in a wheelchair....... He had no legs....... My truck is named Lt. Dan....... yeesh.


• We were going to stay up in Sasquatch Prov. park, but we changed our mind and stayed in Harrison proper. good thing, cause, holy crap is it spooky up there.


• We went to Minter Gardens. Nice place. I bought some very tasty looking 'homemade cream and butter fudge" Yum!! I took a bite as soon as we got on the highway, YUCK it was moldy and slimy gross. I still cringe when I think about it. *gag* It got spit out onto the TransCanada Highway.


• It was raining in Chilliwack, but I looked toward Vancouver and there was blue sky so I said. "It's raining here but the coast is clear" heh. I like figuring out original catchphrase meanings by accident.


• The rainforest is wet.


• The sun sets early in the mountains.

Here is Suzzane and Brad, they keep their own very interesting travel blog here.

Here is our Home sweet away from Home!

And my left foot 200' above the Cascade falls 2km North of Zeller.

NO National Park!!

Signs everywhere along #3 from Keremeos to Hedley Reading simply "No National Park". I read recently in Canadian Geographic magazine that the Government was considering a plan to make Canada's only true desert from Osoyoos to Hedley the newest National Park. It seems as though the native population have taken up issue regarding land rights and compensation if the park does go ahead. Here is a great article on the FOR side of the argument.

How many ecological zones can a person drive through in one day?

Lots, lots is the answer.

From Christina Lake to Harrison Hot Springs there are the ever present up and downs of the mountains, however add in some very significant eco-region changes and you have south and southwestern BC. Christina Lake is not-quite arid Boreal forest and that gives way almost immediately to a very desert like Grand forks. The North facing slopes are all very forested, yet the South facing slopes are all grassland with spotty areas of ponderosa pine. There is a mountain pass to go over to get to the towns of greenwood, midway and Rock Creek. This was quite a pretty valley drive with few highlights, but plenty of scenery.

From Rock Creek we drive straight up initially, finding our first true switchback high above the Kettle River valley. We then keep climbing. I know this seems to be a recurring theme of this trip, however the climbs and dives seem to get more and more extreme the closer we get to the coast. I understand now why Vancouver and Victoria are such popular retirement communities. It's because no one wants to drive back across the mountains.

Anyway, we drive up and up and up, all the while the trees are really starting to give way to more grasses and open spaces even at elevation, giving us a taste of what is to come in Osoyoos. What it didn't prepare us for is the road down into Osoyoos. 650m down a series of switchbacks in 18km. you can see the valley during the entire descent so it is really hard to keep and eye on the road, our fellow travellers and the 20km/h switchbacks. Once down in Osoyoos it is ripe with the smell of burning brakes from all the minivans carrying way to big of trailers down that hill. good times.

We stopped for a takeout subway lunch in Osoyoos and enjoyed the relative calmness of the downtown core. The lake is so weird as the desert starts right at the edge of the water. It just isn't normal looking.

From Osoyoos, we head up the bloody hill again! We see a really cool spot called spotted lake, it is spotted from all the minerals pushing out of the hills. It's pretty neat.

After spotted lake, we are in for another treat, a very leisurely drive into the Similkameen River Valley.

Irrigated lush in the bottom of the valley and high mountain desert everywhere else. There are a few wineries here, but none that I had heard of (i am not a connoisseur, so there are many I never heard of) Traci and I say we should stop and get a case of wine, however Andrew is finally asleep and we would only be buying a case to say we bought one at a winery.

The Drive from here to Princeton is very uneventful, as more and more Long weekend Monday travellers join us on the road, we slow considerably, but since we are still on holidays we just relax and enjoy the scenery.