We left Kelowna and Norm’s sister and brother-in-law
and headed back toward the good ole United States. The town of Hope, B.C. was
one more stop along the way. There was
yet another section of the Kettle Valley Railway that included the Othello
Tunnels that we thought we might ride, and something called Hell’s Gate of
which I knew nothing about ( but sounded up our alley ).
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| Beautiful mountain views at Wild Rose RV Park in Hope, B.C. |
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| Norm and I both agree that British Colombia is as beautiful as Alaska, and much easier to get to by RV from the lower 48 |
The mountain passes are becoming less nerve-wracking
for me, or perhaps today Norm took them a little slower, but regardless of the
reason, the scenery was awesome. Who
needs Alaska when British Colombia is just as rugged? And closer.
Certainly, if you are driving there.
As we drove up to Wild
Rose RV Park, it appeared in the middle of two highways as well as two
railroad lines! Oh, No! In a perfect world, we would try to look at
Google Earth to see where each campsite is relative to highways and train
tracks. But making reservations for 179 nights, we just didn’t take the time.
Upon check-in the lady assured us the train is quiet (
they all say that ) and it wouldn’t be a problem. We were only staying two nights, and hey – getting
any sleep is over-rated, isn’t it?
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| Downtown Hope had these incredible wooden sculptures that were among the winners of the previous International Wood Carving competitions, which would be fascinating to see. |
Well, we were pleasantly surprised that these trains,
which you could see right from inside the RV were, indeed, almost silent!
After we set up camp and took our daily nap we were
refreshed enough to go check out the Visitor’s Center. I wanted to bike the trail the next day, but
since we haven’t hiked much lately ( which is Norm’s favorite activity ) we
thought we would pass on yet another rail-trail. The person at the visitor’s center mentioned
a beaver pond so we headed out to find a beaver for Norm’s bucket list.
The weather was lovely as we explored the different
short trails looking for the elusive beaver.
It wasn’t nearly “dusk” when they are more apt to be seen, so we headed
out to take the approximately 2 mile walk to see the Othello Tunnels.
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| The Othello tunnels were built between 1911 and 1916 to complete the Kettle Valley Railway. Now it is a lovely place to enjoy with family |
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| Seven tunnels pass through these solid granite mountains |
The Othello Quintette Tunnels were built through
solid granite between 1911 and 1916 over the wild Coquihalla River to complete
the Kettle Valley Railway. The building
of these tunnels were another amazing feat considering the impossibly tough
terrain, the remoteness of the location and the very basic equipment available
over a hundred years ago.
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| The wild Coquihalla River was raging below the bridges between the tunnels |
Norm and I have seen quite a few tunnels recently, so
we weren’t as awed as the many families there were. The raging river below was pretty awesome
though.
It was growing late, so we headed back to camp.
Monday,
June 12th 2017
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| "Hey bear!" The woods were lovely, but the bear scat found on the trail confirmed they were in the area. A little scary. |
Today was hike day, so after doing a little research
we found a hike that promised the best views.
So that, of course, means “up”.
We packed lunches, bear spray and back packs and headed out.
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| After reaching the top of the "hill" I decided to be a little silly taking this selfie. |
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| I had seen pictures of beautiful people doing yoga poses while hiking, so I thought I would give it a try. Certainly not pretty, but my balance is top notch! Not bad for 62! |
It was a nice little hike, but not our favorite since
a lot of the trail was wide enough for a truck.
We like to feel more in the wilderness, although I am always on the
lookout for bears. I don’t enjoy how uneasy
that makes me feel, particularly when we come across bear scat (poop) that confirms
that they are indeed in the area. I don’t
think Norm gets too concerned. Perhaps after my reading him about the recent
deadly bear maulings in the news, he will help me make more noise on the trail.
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| With moss of different types were covering most trees, which gave the area a eerie feel. I could not believe Norm noticed this shovel tucked in the notch of a tree. So odd to find it so deep into the woods. |
We ran into another couple from Germany with their
infant baby while hiking and although they, too, saw the scat they didn’t think
the bears were really there. Huh? Where
did they think it came from? I don’t get it- they seemed like intelligent
people…..
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| I found this picture on the internet depicting just how big and damaging this landslide was. It took out the highway and an entire lake below. |
From there we headed toward the Hope Slide which is
where one of the largest recorded landslides occurred in Canadian history. Back
in 1965, in the wee hours of the morning, the 16 year old route 3 was closed
when a huge slab of rock broke free from the face of Johnson Peak resulting in
the Hope Slide. The slide forced so much
debris it traveled 180 feet up the mountain on the opposite side of the
highway! The resultant debris was 2
miles wide and 260 feet deep. It completely wiped out a lake and unfortunately
killed four people.
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Unfortunately, the clouds were low ( and we were so high in elevation ) that most of the mountain where the slide occurred could not be seen when we were there. We waited for a while for the clouds to pass, but no such luck. Note the lines I drew guessing where the mountain is behind the clouds.
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Unfortunately, there were low clouds that obstructed
75% of our view, and the light drizzle combined with cold temps chilled us to
the bone as we peered up the mountainside.
We had our lunch in the car in hopes the clouds would move. We called it
a day, and drove back to the campground.
The area here is just breathtaking. The rushing Frazier River and mountains with
sheer cliffs rising up beside it.
