Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada
July 22, 2019
From Wells Gray Park we needed to start making our way back towards Vancouver. We had a flight already sorted now, out of Vancouver to Bangkok on the 25th. We needed make sure we were back in Vancouver in time to sell the van back to Jim, sign it over to him, cancel our insurance policy etc. It was a sad time indeed as we have enjoyed it so much here and we wanted to squeeze one more last big thing in before we bid our farewell to Canada.
South from where we were to Kamloops then West to pick up Highway 99 was the route we decided on. It seemed to have the best scenery and most interesting things to check out along the way so off we went.
Cache Creek was out first little stop off for an hour just a few hours drive from Kamloops. It’s a tiny little town but they have a really cool tourist centre that is done out like an old diner and then next door is a genuine old diner called Hungry Herbie’s Drive-In that we had to check out. We have been looking for an old-school diner like this the whole trip and Herbie’s was the ideal opportunity. We grabbed your standard burger and fries and enjoyed the surroundings of your typical North American checkered floor and Juke-box diner experience. It was a great way to spend an hour and break up the days driving and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
From Cache Creek we briefly picked up the Caribou Highway North then turned South West on to Highway 99 towards Lillooet. This part of the drive was spectacular. It’s the Northern start of the Sea-to-Sky Highway that eventually takes you into Vancouver and it was immense scenery for the rest of the day. Beautiful pristine tarmac snaking it’s way through a narrow leafy valley before meeting the Fraser river where the valley slowly morphed into a hugely wide and deep impressive gouge in the landscape. It was absolutely massive. We could see the railway line snaking it’s way through the valley hundreds of feet below us to the right, with the opposite side of the valley miles away.
The road through was narrow with nowhere to pull over for us to stand and fully appreciate the view or to get any photos, but the drive through this section was incredible. We weaved through little tunnels, hugged the side of the deep ravine and climbed our way steeply up the side of the valley and then back down until eventually it leveled out and the two valley sides were low and only separated by the river at the town of Lillooet.
After quickly popping across the small bridge over the river into town and grabbing a few beers for the night we drove the short distance out of town to Lillooet BC Hydro Rec site. A brilliant site in a great location considering it is free. Simply grab one of the slips of paper at the notice board, fill in some details about yourself and your vehicle, pop it in the box and grab yourself a camp spot for the night. The place is great and well known for the “Wood man” that comes round on a night selling pre-cut logs for just $5. It was to good to turn down and after getting to know our Canadian neighbours a little better I was soon trimming some of our logs down into kindling thanks to the loan of their axe. I really should have bought an axe on this trip. Should have paid a bit more and bought my mountain bike earlier, should have stumped up the bucks and bought an axe, should have bought a big camping knife….the list goes on, but hey we have managed just fine and hardly ever gone without a fire or anything we have needed for the matter.
It was a lovely night spent at this spot. Glorious evening sunshine until it disappeared over the hill opposite and just a nice friendly feel about the site. A good craic on with our neighbours who were retirees now spending their days driving around Canada and enjoying these free spots and it was just generally a very pleasant time.
The next morning we headed off further down Highway 99 towards Joffre Lake. After stopping off to check our some hot-rods that we spotted at a carpark just a few miles from the camp site we must have only drove another hour or so before we spotted a beautiful little clearing just off the road next to a river. We had hardly covered any distance at all but the spot was too good to turn down. We still had a couple of days left to see Joffre Lake and make it back to Vancouver and with not long left in Canada we decided to park up, enjoy our day at a lovely quiet wild camp site and kick back next to the river.
It was a great little day. Nobody else around us at all, just nature and tranquility. We couldn’t have asked for anything more, we didn’t need anymore. This was more than enough for us to enjoy one of our final days in Canada and that’s exactly what we did. Sat among beautiful wild nature enjoying each others company and a roaring camp fire on the night.
The next morning we were up early and pushed on to Joffre Lake and what a great day that was. Joffre lake, or lakes to be exact are a serious of 3 lakes sat on different tiers with the highest one located at the bottom of a spectacular glacier. With the glacier feeding all 3 lakes they have that beautiful turquoise colour that we have seen so many times in Canada. The trek up is quite a decent size with a fairly high elevation and we knew we would be treking for a good few hours if we were going to take in all 3 lakes and make it to the top.
The first lake was fairly average, still a beautiful colour and you could see the glacier high up in the distance but we didn’t hang around long before pushing on to the second lake. An hour or so later we had climbed continuously higher and higher, along the side of the cascading creek until we arrived at the middle lake of the three. This lake was stunning. An amazingly pristine colour and with the glacier not far now the backdrop was stunning. We sat and enjoyed our packed lunch here and rested up for a while taking it all in before heading up the final climb to the upper most lake.
The final climb wasn’t very long at all but was fairly steep. Eventually it leveled out and the last lake came into view. Despite being even closer to the glacier this lake didn’t have the same magical view and feel that the middle lake did but it was certainly still beautiful all the same. It was nice to have made it all the way up. Not a huge hike but still steep and long enough to get a sweat on for a few hours.
After hanging around the top for half an hour we started our descent. Taking in the middle lake again for one last time before eventually arriving back at the base and back to Buddy.
The last few hours of the day were spent driving and searching for somewhere to stay for the night. We pushed on a bit further to cover some more ground along Highway 99 and had heard of a free spot just past a town called Pemberton. Unfortunately after driving for an hour or two it became apparent that the GPS co-ordinates we had been given were totally wrong and no camp spot was here at all. It was a flat bottomed valley and being flat it was all used as farm land. We didn’t fancy turning into some field only to have a crazy farmer come at us with a blunderbuss so we had to turn around back to Pemberton and pick up the Highway South again.
Eventually we came across a free spot that wasn’t far off the Highway. Nothing spectacular just a free spot on a gravel track with enough twigs and logs around to get a fire going.
It’s been a great few days and now we only have another few couple left before we hit Vancouver and the end of the Canadian camper-van adventure. I just hope the last day or two is a good one to see Buddy off in style.
