Pete celebrated his birthday morning with an early start from Sun Peaks and then cyling around Kamloops while the garage fitted a new transmission sump and selector shaft seal.
Thankfully this was being done under warranty, agreed by the garage in Jackson Hole who’d done the original job. Pete was content and chose a Safeway doughnut (a whole 89c) for his birthday treat while I eyed up lavish birthday cakes – shame he didn’t fancy one.
Our friends from Whistler were on holiday at Green Lake, just 2 hours away so we decided it would be great to see them and worth the drive in the opposite direction (NW instead of the intended E). They greeted Pete with a scrumptious chocate cake and a candle on an IPhone (too much of a fire risk to have all those candles).
The lake was gorgeous and we had a great couple of sunny days playing in the lake with the girls in the float tube and Rubber Duckie. The dogs loved it too.
We also had a walk in the drizzle and a play on our mountain bikes too. Also the girls taught us how to do Canadian S’mores – because toasted marshmallows aren’t naughty enough on their own!
We said our goodbyes to The Rowes and headed East to Wells Gray Provincial Park. First a stop at 100 Mile House for groceries and a cake ready for my birthday (not leaving that to chance).
We got a fright when Fred wouldn’t start. We figured out he didn’t think he was in Park due to the gear selector. Hmm, watch this space. We visited four beautiful waterfalls – all special in their own way with an overnight stay at Pyramid campsite.
Poached eggs for my birthday breakfast, gorgeous waterfalls and lots of chocolate cake – what a perfect day! The van wouldn’t start a few times so back to Kamloops we headed and the garage fixed the issue in no time. Fingers crossed, that’s the end of the issue.
So onto Shuswap Lake. We stopped at Pebble Beach for cake and wine and parked up along the shore for a beautiful sunset. What a great birthday!
The next morning I had a one mile swim in the lake in the sunshine before a torrential rain shower. Off we headed towards the Rockies. We reached Revelstoke for lunchtime and checked out the ski resort – not a lot of hiking or biking trails in the summer but looks great for winter. Then we bought an annual National Park Pass at Revelstoke National Park and drove the Meadows in the Sky Parkway up 26km (with 16 switchbacks) and walked up to the Summit Fire lookout and through the sub-alpine meadows in full bloom. The flowers against the mountains and lakes was just breathtaking.
We also went to look the historic Nels Nelson ski jump which was used from 1925 to 1971. Amazing!
After dinner on a picnic bench overlooking Revelstoke we pressed on to Canyon Hot Springs, but $40 plus tax for the campsite plus $12.50 for the hot springs was too much. So we headed into Rogers Pass to find the provincial campsites. The first one was closed for construction work and the second one at Loop Brook was full. It was pretty late by this point and dark so we headed up the road and found the trailhead turning area was big enough to park in. We couldn’t hear the road or the trains, just the rushing of the river next to us – just perfect!
