Winter Driving ~ Thompson Canyon ~ Fraser Canyon ~ BC

We love rv’ing and the time has come for these Canadian Snowbirds to head south for some sunshine.  Not that we don’t have some wonderful winter weather at home, but we also like to enjoy the winter weather that doesn’t include cold temperatures and snow.

Climbing into the clouds at Kamloops Lake, BC

We seem to be getting more snow than we’ve had in recent Decembers so the road conditions might be an issue.  New tires were on the list of purchases this year and they were a good idea, even for local driving during the time leading up to leaving for the trip. There were many snowfalls and some mild days.  This photo has dirt on the windshield showing what kind of roads we were travelling around Kamloops.

Winter roads near Cache Creek, BC

The challenges of winter driving can be a bit intimidating and watching the weather forecasts and road reports for a couple of weeks before departure day is typical at this time of year.  We’d enjoyed our travel through the Thompson and Fraser Canyons last year and decided we’d go the same way this year, too. 

The Thompson River

The roads are definitely winter conditions but have been well sanded and the temperature seems to be kind enough that we’re not seeing a lot of ice on these roads.  Most of this day of travel, the coldest temperature we noticed was -2C (28F). 

River, Highway and Train tracks

The Thompson River meanders through the valley, CN and CP Railway tracks frame on either side of the river and Highway 1 follows along on the snow covered hillside.  Three different routes for transportation are seen here. The contrast of the snow is showing off some of the geography we may not normally notice and creates some great photos.

Thompson River at Spences Bridge, BC

As we pass through Spences Bridge, we follow along at river level and see fisherman throwing their line from the cold shoreline.  The Thompson River at Spences Bridge is a big fishing draw for Steelhead in the fall.  Steelhead is a rainbow trout so they migrate to saltwater from freshwater streams but return to those freshwaters to spawn. 

Whitewater in the Thompson River, BC

Fresh snow on these rocks in the river is pretty rare to see so the camera is busy catching what photos I can as we drive by.  All of these photos have been taken as we drive so I get what I can and although I am not going to get prize winning photos, they still may show the beauty of our drive.

Leaving the Thompson Canyon, BC

From here we begin to climb and can see some promising blue sky up ahead. The sun has been trying to peek through some of the clouds and makes the snow sparkle and shine.   This just makes the day even better!  Nothing like blue sky and sunshine as we head out on a great RV holiday!

Lillooet Range in the distance

And look at the view we get as we come around a corner and get to the crest of the hill before reaching Lytton.  The Lillooet Range Mountains are covered with snow and with the sun shining, they look spectacular.    

Near Hell's Gate on Fraser River in BC

This part of the trip was so pretty with all the snow laden trees lining the highway.  The sun has managed to keep the roads bare, although not quite dry but with the temperature just above the freezing mark, we are travelling on great roads. 

Highway 1 - the road leads to Yale, BC

Once we pass Lillooet, BC, we are now following the Fraser River as it meanders its’ way to the Pacific.  We pass through Yale, BC, which has some great history, as does the whole Fraser Canyon.  Click here to see more of the history of the Fraser Canyon.

Dark clouds loom over Hope, BC

As we approach Hope, BC on Highway 1, we see the clouds ahead are low and make the day dark and dreary, we now know we chose the right route.  We have just enjoyed driving through the beautiful Thompson and Fraser Canyons with spectacular sights and sunshine. The roads were good winter conditions and the roads ahead are going to be just fine.

The travel time for this trip that took us into Aldergrove took 5 hours from Kamloops, so that is a bit longer than taking the Coquihalla.  We parked in our daughter's driveway for the night and left early the next morning to travel through Washington State.  I will post some photos from that drive soon.

Fraser Canyon ~ Highway 1 ~ BC ~ Canada

We love rv'ing but winter travels can be treacherous in typical winter conditions.  Our options to travel south from Kamloops, BC include a few different routes but due to the recent snowfall warning for the Coquihalla Highway, we chose to travel through the Fraser Canyon.  It had been several years since we'd used the route, especially during the winter but the road conditions sounded good.

The Fraser River arrives in Lytton, BC

The Thompson River flows into the Fraser River at Lytton, BC where the Thompson Canyon meets the Fraser Canyon. The Fraser River continues through the beautiful canyon named after it and is the longest river in BC.  It runs from the Fraser Pass to Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains travelling 1375 km (854 mi) into the Strait of Georgia at Vancouver, BC.

Cloud formation in the Fraser Canyon

We only had a bit of blue sky to enjoy but the dark clouds made great paintings on the canvas-like sky with enough brightness to create reflections on the hood of the truck.  We enjoyed dry roads for most of our trip through the Fraser Canyon other than some wet spots from recent rain but we had mild temperatures that prevented any ice from forming on the road.

The snow level sits high above the railway

There had been snowfall overnight but the snow level was high above our roads and the railway that runs on either side of the Fraser Canyon rocky walls.  Early transportation through the Canyon before 1862 was on a narrow mule trail, so named as there was only room for one mule. The Cariboo Wagon Road was an improvement in getting through the canyon and was built by 1865.  Sections of that trail were destroyed when the railway was built as there was not enough room on parts of the terrain for both. 

The center of the Fraser Canyon is Boston Bar, BC

During the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush 1858-1860, the canyon between Boston Bar and Spuzzum, BC was called Big or Black Canyon.  The ‘black’ may be due to the color of the rock cliffs when they’re wet.  When the CP Railway was built in the 1860’s, this construction cut off road access to Boston Bar and Lytton except for a difficult wagon trail.  We’ve come a long way since then.

The China Bar Tunnel in the Fraser Canyon

There are a total of seven tunnels that we pass through on our travels through the Fraser Canyon.  The one closest to Boston Bar is called China Bar Tunnel, named after an old mining area. It is a curved tunnel that is the longest of them all at 610 meters (2000’) and one of North America’s longest, the Yale Tunnel is the shortest one at 57m (190’).

Hell's Gate in the Fraser Canyon

At Hell’s Gate, where the canyon walls are about 1000 m (3300’) high, there is an Airtram that operates April to October that will take you on a ride down the canyon walls to see the Fishways, which opened in 1945. Previous to the Airtram opening in 1971, there were trails leading down to the river and I remember making that walk down with family in the early 1960’s.  If memory serves me right, there were no others on the trails that day, it wasn’t an easy trek back then!

Hell's Gate Tunnel

The construction of this portion of the Fraser Canyon Highway was a very tedious and difficult job and was considered a great engineering feat. It began in the late 50’s and I remember traveling through here as a young one and having to pull over to allow traffic to pass by before it was all completed in the mid ‘60’s.  The roads were narrow dirt roads and two way traffic and that made it a scary trip at times, especially when there was big construction equipment using most of that road.

The north side of the Fraser Canyon approaching Yale, BC

We have crossed the Fraser River on the Alexandra Bridge and we now follow the river along the north side.  The Yale Tunnel is the last one we pass through as we approach Yale, a once thriving town during the Gold Rush days. The canyon between Spuzzum and Yale, BC is called Little Canyon because it is the lowest part of the Fraser Canyon.  This is also where the steamboats were able to navigate to from the coast before the river became too difficult to continue.  

The Fraser River at Hope, BC

We’ve now reached the end of our travels through the Fraser Canyon when we reach Hope, BC, which is 108 km (67 mi) from Lytton, BC.  The small town of Hope, nestled in the surrounding mountains, is the intersection of 3 major highways.

We had left Kamloops by midmorning to avoid icy road conditions and were very happy to have also been able to not have any rain or snow to contend with, we really couldn't have asked for better winter road conditions and we're ready to continue onto some sunny places. 

To learn much more of what the Thompson and Fraser Canyons have to offer, have a look at 
www.travelthecanyon.com  .  They're a wonderful source of information.

Bridge River Valley, Lillooet, B.C.

Baldheaded eagle at Bridge River's mouth

We left the RV in Cayoosh RV park and headed out to enjoy the scenery up the Bridge River Valley. Bridge River Road (#40) winds north along the west side of the Fraser River. Just before we crossed the Bridge River bridge, 6 km (3.5 miles), from Lillooet, we stopped on the side of the road to see the bald headed eagle as it watched for fish coming from the Bridge River into the Fraser River. He sat there for a very long time. We didn’t get to see him catch any fish, but I have no doubt that his patience would pay off.

Bridge River north of Lillooet, B.C.

The Bridge River Valley is spectacular. There were very few deciduous trees so I wasn’t seeing many fall colors other than some areas close to the river, and we were high above that river, but it was still an incredible sight as we climbed the hill. There were many years of mining but there was also the Bridge River Hydroelectric Development. It was once the largest power project in B.C. From its completion until WAC Bennett Dam on the Peace River was developed, the Bridge River Power Development provided the bulk of the power supply for the Lower Mainland and even down the Puget Sound.

Windy #40 road hugs mountainside

For the more adventurous RV’ers, I would suggest Hwy 40 (considered a secondary road) from Lillooet, BC into Gold Bridge, BC, 47 km (29 mi) is a great trip. I’ve only travelled partway up this road, and that was without the RV but K has had to pull the 5th wheel into Gold Bridge for work and I can only say I am glad I was not there for that trip. The part of the route that I did see was absolutely beautiful, but the roads……… there were parts that were very windy and narrow. There are wide spots to pull over and let someone go by but it reminded me of when I was a young girl (very young) when we travelled to Vancouver, BC through the Fraser Canyon during road construction and we would have to pull over on a wide spot to let oncoming traffic pass by. It is the same on Hwy 40 in some spots, you must drive with care and watch for oncoming traffic. Logging trucks use this road as well, caution is needed.

Horseshoe Canyon

Many years ago during the gold rush days, there were some hydraulic mining operations done in this area and Horseshoe Canyon is one of those, it may have been the largest operation of that time. We parked in a pullout on the southern edge to get a good view and it is quite amazing to see. This was also referred to as Horseshoe Wash in days gone by. The picture shows an RV down by the river and I wonder……..are they panning for gold?

Bridge River in the shadows of the great mountains

This drive along Hwy 40 made me think back in time. There are some homes through the valley but there are also some old homesteads that had been abandoned a long time ago. The history of this valley is very rich and there had been some thriving communities during the mining days of Bralorne and Pioneer. Those gold mines closed down in the early ‘70’s and now logging is the main industry. I didn’t get up to see that part of this incredible valley yet but I hope to do that some day. There are some great pages on the web that will tell you all about this valley’s history, and some beautiful pictures, as well. e.g. www.bcadventure.com/murphys/gold/river.htm

RV'ing in Lillooet, B.C. in Fall

For the Rv’ers who wish to see more of the beautiful British Columbia mountain scenery, they should take Hwy. 99, which leaves Hwy. 1 just north of Cache Creek and drive 73 km (40 mi) from the Hat Creek Ranch into Lillooet, B.C. It is becoming an easier drive with the new road improvements being made and the beauty of the area is so well worth the drive.

The CN bridge over the Fraser River at Lillooet, B.C.

Lillooet, B.C., Canada was originally known as Cayoosh Flat, named after the cayuses, which are Indian ponies. It was renamed in the 1860’s in honor of the Leelwat First Nations living in the area. Lillooet was founded as Mile 0. It was the start of the wagon trail leading into the Cariboo area during the goldrush days, and many areas are still called by their distance between Lillooet and their location, e.g. 100 Mile House, being one of the larger named for their distance from Mile 0.

A beautiful totem pole at the Lillooet Museum

Lillooet has a very interesting history and their museum is full of archives and stories that it is a must-see while in the area. One story that I found to be a great one was the arrival of camels in the area. During the goldrush days, one enterprising man of the area decided that he should use camels as pack animals so purchased 23 of them from San Francisco for $300 and had them shipped up to Lillooet. This turned out to be a bad idea, as their soft feet couldn’t take the terrain too well, but their foul breath and bad tempers made them too difficult to use. The herd soon diminished but they were honoured by the local townfolk many years later when the new bridge leading into Lillooet on Hwy 99 was named Bridge of 23 Camels.

The view across the Fraser River from the RV park

Cayoosh Campgound & RV park is located at the end of the Bridge of 23 Camels and where the Seton River flows into the Fraser River. It was a great place to stay for our visit there and that was during the cool October weather, but it looks like an even nicer place to visit during the summer months. It has many amenities for camping and RVing and nice pull thru’s for the larger RV's. There weren’t many RV’ers there in October but the park did remain open later in the season for the construction men who were working in the area. They’re normally open Apr. 1 to Oct. 30.

Rail shuttle service to Seton Portage awaits

Lillooet is located on CN Rail lines but regular service was discontinued a few years ago. The Rocky Mountaineer Train passes through Lillooet, and what a beautiful trip that would be. They do have a rail shuttle service operated by Tsal’alh Indian Band which links Lillooet with Tsal’alh and Seton Portage, a great alternative for taking the road, which can prove very difficult at times and possibly closed during winter snowfall.

Dusk in Lillooet, B.C., Canada

Lillooet has many things to offer those that wish to spend some time in the area. The jade is of great interest to the rockhounds. There is great fishing, rock climbing, hiking and so much more. Those interested in bird-watching will enjoy the local populations of their feathered friends. Their cultural tours are something else to check out. But if all you would want to do is enjoy the incredible scenery, there is lots of that, too.