Clearwater

Canada

September 2006
3 days

Clearwater via Kamloops
3rd, 4th and 5th September 2006.

Jon Wrote:

So to pick up from the last update (which was a while back!) you'll remember we were driving out of the oh so perfect village and top ski resort Whistler.

Our aim today was to drive all the way to Clearwater. As usual we headed off around midday because we no longer seem to be able to get up before 9am! God help us when we have to work again!

We drove and drove, taking turns to pilot or navigate, once again in awe of the beautiful scenery. If you're not careful you will simply stop to take photos every 5 minutes and if it wasn't for the wrist strap on Sarah's camera I think we might have lost it doing 100kph whilst taking a quick shot out of the window.

After only an hour of driving heading east across British Columbia you could feel the lushness starting to recede and slowly being replaced with a more arid type desert landscape. We've noticed hundreds of dead trees on our journey..... and have been informed that this can be due to forrest fires, lightning strikes or a deadly beetle that is killing trees all over Canada. Luckily the dam things seem to be everywhere so no wood shortage just yet!

The car was hungry so we stop for gas and can feel the difference in the heat now which is slightly more intense, compared to the fresh sunshine and breeze of Whistler.

By 6pm we are still a long way off Clearwater so decide to check out the desert oasis town known as Kamloops.... Driving in to this area we see more ranch land and horses and the greens have now faded in to the more orangy red colours of the mountains and rocks..... We check out a few motels and find a nice clean one for $60 with bathroom and TV which is very cheap and suited us fine...

Our night in Kamloops was a short one.... heading out for beer and burgers and then we slipped in to the towns small casino. No poker tables here, but we watched people play black jack for an hour before I decided to stick $20 on the roulette wheel.... we played for an hour and a half and turned it in to a $15 profit which all helps!

Up and out in the morning to finish the drive to Clearwater.... En route we drive through a town called Barriere which is full of cowboy types and more and more ranches and horse owning yokels..... Its Sunday and there are banners up all over talking about today's Rodeo Show... so we make a random decision and go check it out.

See the photos for Clearwater and you'll see some of these cowboys getting bucked and tossed around by some wild horses.... It was really impressive to watch and to think these guys do this for a living whilst most of us sit at a desk made me think what a different world they lived in.... Some came through the dangerous event unscathed whilst others limped off holding their bruised arms and ribs.

As well as bucking horses they had other events such as riding a horse whilst chasing and lassoing a small calf. The poor little thing was brought down in seconds, whipped upside down onto its back, and before it could say MOO its hind legs were tied up and bound to one of its front legs.... rendering it useless..... They were scored on their speed and some could do this in under 10 seconds.

Other cowboys chose the harder challenge of chasing a full grown bull on horse, speeding up along side it and then quite stupidly just hurling themselves off at high speed and trying to grab the bull by the horns and bring it down to the ground... crazy lads!

Anyway it was a great and unexpected afternoons entertainment and we got to Clearwater by dinner time finding a hostel all to ourselves in a farms back garden within Wells Grey Park. Having this cabin to ourselves was great so we stayed two nights and for the first time cooking our own dinner as until now we've been eating out every night!

Before dinner we shoot down to a deserted laundrette just out of town as we had already been wearing underwear inside out to get two days out of them - YUK!. Its such a ghost town that we make the most of this opportunity and strip in the corner. We each sat wrapped in a towel whilst every piece of clothing we owed spun around in front of us, just like the Levis ad only I have a better physique! lol.

A full day in the park allowed us to see several very beautiful waterfalls, and at dusk we headed up to the top of the river to observe a rare event. Salmon on this river swim over 600kilometres when they get old in a last ditch effort to return to their spawning ground. They swim upstream but the river has many small waterfalls and at this lookout point we could sit and watch the poor fish try with all their strength to jump up the waterfall but sadly to no avail.... its hopeless but they try and try... check out the one photo we got!

Driving back we spotted deer at the roadside, so kept our speed reasonable as we had seen hundreds of skid marks already on our travels. Each one tells a story of a driver being caught out by some animal crossing the road unexpectedly. Some of these skid marks are massive and veer off in to the verges which make me laugh for some wicked reason and I sort of wish I could touch them and see the event that caused these rubber marks and the expressions on the drivers faces... Maybe I'm strange like that... :o)

We made it back safely for pasta and corn cobs! Yum!

After a good nights sleep we started our next leg of the journey heading towards the next legendary ski resort of Jasper.

The story continues....