Jasper

I arrived home today after 12 hours on the road. 

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words so for my last entry for this road trip I shall post a few pictures I took on my way home.

Thank you for following along. I love doing the blogs. 

Until the next one, which should be another road trip in July,

BLou. 

Rocky Mountains.

Today has been, for the most part, an uneventful traveling day. I drove through Grande Prairie which has grown exponentially since I briefly lived there over 35 years ago. I did not stop but continued on to Grande Cache where I tried to get in touch with my nephew and his family but they may have been one of the hundreds of families that were out picnicing, camping, or just frolicking in the warm summer air, enjoying the first day of summer.   This is a photo taken at Grand Cache. 

I am currently in a lodge nestled among the trees at the edge of the Rockies, just outside Hinton, Alberta. I was lucky enough to get the last available room.  The setting is beautiful and the views of the rockies breathtaking. I had intended to be back home on Sunday but I don't drive long distances well so I shall take an extra day and spend some time in Jasper tomorrow. 

I shall now go to my room (WiFi works only in the lobby) and pamper myself and relax. I don't know where i shall spend tomorrow night. 

Enjoying my road trip

BLou

Dawson Creek

I was thinking that my trip to this point could have been called "Gold Trails and Ghost Towns" but Bill Barlee has the rights to that title. I got to visit Horsefly, Likely, Quesnel Forks, and Barkerville - all part of the Cariboo Gold Rush and all so full of interesting history. 

I arrived in Dawson Creek yesterday where the gold is found in the influx of workers in the oil and gas industry. Accommodations are scarce here so thankfully I was offered my own guest 'cottage' in the form of  an RV.  It is also busy here with tourists wanting to drive the Alaska Highway and Dawson Creek is mile zero.  All tourists stop at the sign to have their photo taken here. 

Melinda and I went into a unique art gallery today which was built in an old grain elevator with a ramp that circles around, featuring art installations along the way. 

The highlight was the drive we took to Bear Mountain Wind Park where there are 34 energy producing turbines that produce power. They were massive and looked rather alien in appearance and

they had a gentle but eerie sounding whirrr. 

There were some spectacular views from Bear Mountain and the view on the ground took my breath away. That was my view of Riggs, Melinda's dog. Isn't he a beauty!  

We stopped at a small lake called Radar's Lake and watched the loons diving for food and listenened to the red winged blackbirds singing their songs and observed the thousands of tadpoles that would soon be big enough to join in nature's chorus. 

Many thanks to Melinda and Rob for being perfect hosts. Tomorrow I begin my return trip home. 

Barkerville

My last trip to Barkerville was in 1975 and I remember nothing about it other than the church that I saw when I first entered the site.  

Because I spent so much of the day going to Likely and Quesnel Forks I didn't get to Barkerville until 5 p.m.  At this point the site was closing to the public (usually open 10 'til 4) so this ghost town was indeed a ghost town.  The only people on site after hours are the overnight guests (there were 7), three hosts and security.  The site had an eerie feel about it. 

My room was in 'Kelly House' and I stayed in the "white room".  The house was unpretentious and small but my room was quaint and cozy.  The only disadvantage was the shared bathroom but it was worth it to spend a night in Barkerville. 

This morning I awoke early and walked the streets of Barkerville in the crisp morning air before leaving for Dawson Creek. It was possible to look into many of the buildings and it was great having the place to myself. I met only one other guest out for a morning walk. 

On my drive out of Barkerville I saw two deer, two moose and one rabbit. I drove in to Wells and it looked like a place to spend some time in but for today I was too early and shops were closed. Maybe another time.  

After a another day of driving I have arrived in Dawson Creek. The drive for the most part was not very picturesque but the Pine Pass had some spectacular mountain views. 

Good night from Dawson Creek, mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. 

Likely and Quesnel Forks

After a breakfast of fruit, yogurt and a fresh blueberry scone, Steve took me out to visit the horses and walk with the dogs.  Healthy breakfast in a pastoral setting with horses and dogs...... By the way, Steve paints and gives the majority of the proceeds from his sales to the Diabetes Foundation, so how could I  refuse. 

I then drove to Likely, which was likely an hour drive, a good portion of which was on gravel roads. It was worth it to see the gem that is Likely at the end. It is tiny and charming and right beside the Quesnel River.  The population is only about 300 but add a hundred or so from miners that work in the area, both from mining companies and from placer mining. 

There is a restaurant/pub in town that sat empty and for sale for ten years. A retired couple from Williams Lake bought it this year and it is now open, and where I had lunch.  It is old and dated but so very inviting and (can I use the word again?) charming.  The bottom photo is of the pub.

I then took a narrow, gravel, deserted road into the woods to check out Quesnel Forks. Quesnel Forks is a mining ghost town. When most of the miners left, it was the Chinese that stayed until 1950.  It was creepy, because I was the only person there and it is so isolated. I got out to look at the cemetary but did not want to wander too far from the car due to the good possibility of bears. I had already seen a bear on the road just outside of Likely. 

I have only seen the one bear but one is enough and then i saw this sweet little fawn along the drive to Likely. 

The day doesn't end there but this post does. I will give Barkerville a separate post.  Tomorrow I drive to Dawson Creek. 

😊

Horsefly

Several years ago CBC had a radio show that mentioned Horsefly and Likely. I do not remember what the show was about, I just liked the names of those two towns and thought I should like to go to them.

Today I drove to Horsefly, apparently so named because of the pesky horseflies that greeted the miners back in 1859. The Horsefly River was the site of the largest gold strike in the Cariboo. 

Today there isn't much there:  a general store, a community hall, a pub, a school, but there is the river and Horsefly Lake which attract tourists.  It is quiet there and very peaceful. 

I had dinner in Horsefly where I bought food from a roadside cart and ate sitting by the river at a picnic table with a local guy named Bob. Bob was born in Horsefly and plans to live all his days there. He said he was 40 but looked much older with his greying hair and missing teeth. Twice a day he eats a mushroom cheese burger from the local cart and laughed when I asked if he ever cooked. 

The food cart was operated by a woman originally from Trinidad/Tobago but had moved her family to Horsefly from Calgary to give her children a better life.

I enjoyed the drive today. It has been many years since I traveled this way and loved the landscape around Kamloops and north.

I am staying in a wonderful Bed and Breakfast in the country, just ouside of Williams Lake called Juniper Trails. There are three resident dogs and three guest rooms which are named after the dogs:  Molly's Rest, Chase's Place and The Duke's. I am staying in Chase's Place and here is a picture of Chase. 

It has been a long but very satisfying day. Tomorrow the first destination will be Likely, followed by Barkerville, where i was lucky enough to get a B&B right on the heritage site. 

Goodnight

p.s.  No horseflys or mosquitos in Horsefly.