May 13th, 2024 - Skihist Provincial Park in British Columbia

We woke to cloudy skies - Bummer..   I did a trip into Chilliwack to break down some money and for fuel.  Before we left, I ordered Canadian money from Wells Fargo and I received mostly $100 bills.  So I needed to get much smaller bills plus coins for laundry and filtered water.

The fuel prices are..well..shocking!  I paid $1.79 per liter which equals $6.81 per gallon.  With the current exchange rate, that brings it to $4.95 per gallon - US.  (Deep breath as I filled the tank!)

Back home, Andy had everything packed up so we hooked up the truck and away we went.

Along the Fraser River Canyon:

The first of the seven tunnels of Fraser Canyon:

Information on all the tunnels can be found here: https://explorenorthblog.com/the-highway-tunnels-of-bcs-fraser-canyon/

The lower Fraser Canyon is very narrow.  It supports a road, the river, and two rail lines - Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway.  

We are following the train - or maybe they are following us:

Many trees destroyed by the mountain pine beetle:

And many areas destroyed by fire:

The view from our window in the truck:

Going to the other side of the Canyon:

This area was devastated by fire in 2021:

We made our way to Skihist Provincial Park north of Lytton.  This park just opened after those fires in 2021.  We found a spot that overlooks the canyon and settled in. 

Our view - WOW!:

The fire did not go thru the entire park.  It was stopped about half way up the mountain (the campsites weave their way thru the mountain).

Life is returning:

The campground host stopped by and we chatted for a while.  He hosts here in the summer and winters in Arizona.  He is from the area so told us a lot about the history and about the fires.  So sad.

The sun came out, we put out chairs and enjoyed the rest of the day. 

We closed out the day, enjoying a campfire and cooking steak and potatoes over the fire!

What a great day.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 96 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Canada - British Columbia: Bridal Falls Road; CA-1

Since this is such a nice place, we decided to stay for another day and explore so stay tuned and enjoy today.