Wednesday 24 August
After a day of traveling we arrived in Vancouver yesterday. Today the city is on the program. Bought a day ticket at the subway station and off we go. First stop is the Elisabeth Park. Pretty okay park, but great to watch the hummingbirds flying around. In Vancouver Center we walk towards Chinatown and admire the local Chinese culture. From Chinatown to Gastown. On the way we drink a lemonade. The clientele consists mainly of the homeless. Remarkable. We walk on. Tents along the road, with crack pipe and all. Junkies that are completely out, the community center, the methadone bus, rehab center and coffee shops. The better neighborhood. A completely different world in Gastown. Cozy shops and restaurants. A steam clock is the main attraction. Then to Waterfront, where we take the Seabus to the other side of the harbor. Grab a terrace and watch downtown on the other side of the water. At the station the bus turns out to be broken, the door won’t close anymore. The driver arranges another bus that finally starts after 10 attempts. A round through Stanley Park along the coast, beautiful views of the marina and the city and the feet in a bit of the cold water.
Thursday. Pick up a car at the airport and east from Vancouver. One big traffic jam to Hope, an old mining town. The wooden church from 1861 is the top attraction. A lady likes to tell us about the history and we can look inside. A few hours later we are at Kelowna via a floating bridge.
Friday. On the navigation to Myra Canyon, just outside Kelowna, the road winds into the mountains. We find a parking space and have breakfast on a flat rock. At the end of the gravel road is a parking lot and here the trail starts over the old railway through the mountains. The advantage is that everything is flat or only slightly rises. The trail runs through the pine forests and the temperature is fine, early 20C. An oncoming cyclist screams ‘snake’ and we just see a dark striped snake of half a meter from the path going into nature. After 20 minutes we reach the first wooden railway bridge. The path crosses it, just like us. Several high wooden railway bridges follow with beautiful views over the valley. Along the way many squirrels and ground squirrels. Along the path in the bushes a deer with a calf. In the big bend a steel bridge high above the river. A little further we eat something at one of the bridges. Here a ground squirrel comes cozy on my lap to beg. He even tries to open the backpack. We walk back and have lunch around 1 pm. In the afternoon, to the beach along the lake. There is quite a bit of wind and that is allowed, given the temperature of 38C. The water temperature of the huge lake is unexpectedly pleasant.
Saturday, we set off and at Vernon we visit the fruit farm annex historic village street. Funny and the apple pie is quite nice, the coffee, well… not really. Then continue towards Revelstoke. Just before Revelstoke we turn right to the south and after 15 km we reach our goal, a parking lot in the woods. Here we walk for a minute to get to the Sutherland falls. Impressive water feature rushing down. Back to the car and to the hotel in Revelstoke. A ski village in itself, the hotel itself, with a ski lift and bars. Quite fun and a nice room with a view of the mountain.
Sunday morning after breakfast in the car and the first stop at Giant Cedar Boardwalk. The trail is closed due to fallen trees. Apparently they had time to make and place large picture boards and a closed entrance door, but no time to clean up the trees. Shame. We do see a glimpse of the large trees and then continue. Stop 2 is Rogers Pass, actually a parking lot with plaques about the construction of Highway 1. We follow the 1 further and at Golden the Hwy 1 appears to be closed. We can take a detour via the 95 and 93. To Field is now 240 km instead of 60 km. The better detour. The environment here is also very beautiful and we follow the crowd that also detours. At Marble Canyon we stop and take a walk along the deep canyon where the water rushes below. The path crosses the gorge several times and provides beautiful pictures. Apparently the gorge has been wearing down for millions of years to become this beautiful natural phenomenon. At Field, a road worker stops everyone to tell that the 1 ahead is closed. It’s also on the signs, but apparently he likes to have a chat. A little further we leave the highway and park at Emerald Lake. A beautiful blue-green lake with mountains around it. Beautiful views and a good time to stretch your legs. Also nearby is a site of fossils from the Cambrian. A plaque bears witness to this.
