Thursday 21st June - National Aboriginal Day

Inukshuk

During the next part of our trip, Whistler to Calgary, we did not have any pre-booked accommodation & just booked into motels or the like as we arrived at any one particular place.

Leaving Whistler we saw the first Inukshuk of many that we would see on our travels. Inukshuk is an Inuit word meaning "In the Spirit of Man" The structures have many different meanings: a signpost for travellers/a place where food has been stored/a memorial or as a hunting aid. It is seen as a symbol of friendship.

We travelled along Highway 99 towards Lillooet passing through Pemberton, picking up Highway 12 to Lytton. Not far out of Pemberton we had to stop the car as a group of horses were crossing the road, We were amazed to see that one horse seemed to have taken on the role of "supervisor" standing, watching and waiting until all the horses had got safely across the road before moving off itself. Part of this journey was along the Cariboo Gold Rush Trail and the streets of Lillooet are very wide to allow the ox-wagons that worked this road to turn round.
The journey from Lilloeet to Lytton is not for the feint of heart, especially if you are a passenger! It is a 65km/41mls drive on a road that hugs the mountainside, twisting and turning on what seems like a narrow ledge and all the time the mighty Frazer River rages far below.There had been an "above average" rainfall in parts of British Columbia and the river certainly looked menacing as we clung to this ledge!

Viewing stop

Mighty Frazer River

We lunched at Lytton in the Towne Deli, a kind of local diner with black & white floor tiles and formica tables. A town of only 1,200 residents, we soon became the objects of people's curiosity and after leaving the Deli we ventured to Suncatcher Crafts for home made ice creams. Eating these in Pocket Park, no more than a square with 2 or 3 benches, people were coming up to us and wishing us the time of day. (The park was opened in December 2011 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of he founding of British Columbia)   We learned that most of the menfolk work on the construction of the hydro-electtic plant and that winters can be very harsh with 7ft of snow.Companies, based here launch trips up and down the Frazer & Thompson Rivers.

Lytton Village office, library & court house

Churh at Lytton

 Continuing our journey from Lytton towards Hope, now on Highway 1, we were on the opposite banks of the Frazer River to the railway. We marvelled at the long trains, sometimes 140 containers, clinging onto the mountain side and then disappearing in the tunnels. We passed Nation communities and several tribal artists carve soapstone from traditional quarries nearby. (Nlaka'pamux Nations)

Sadly, we didn't have the time to stop off at Hell's Gate, where on average 850,000 cubic metres of water blasts through a space about the width of a city street every second.Apparantly in 1913 a Canadian National Railway construction crew touched off a landslide that choked the river and blocked the salmon run. Fish ladders were built but the salmon runs are still less than one third of what they were.
As we continued to make reasonably good timing we decided to have one long day of touring which would give us a more relaxing time on the following day. So we motored on to Princeton rather than staying the night at Hope as originally planned. 
We stayed at a Welcome Vantage Inn and ate at diner just out of town - where deer come over the road to eat and use the water fountain!
This is where we decided that "changing for dinner meant going out in sandals rather than trainers"

The day was one of a very long drive but once again such diverse scenery. 

On the balcony for a well deserved rest.

The poppy was one of 4 that represented the motel's garden.