On the road across BC

Driving through the interior of BC has been a brutally HOT experience. For those of you perhaps more familiar with Canada's wider known reputation as a cold country, this statement may come as a bit of a paradox. But trust me, no matter where in the world you are, 38 degrees celsius is pretty damned hot.

The drive took us from Whistler through Lilooet, best known to generations of Canadians older than me by Ma Murray, a spitfire newspaper woman who was regularly featured on some of Canada's biggest nationwide debates. We camped at a FREE spot owned by BC Hydro called Seton Lake, just on the outskirts of Lilooet, and sat around wilting in the stifflingly dry heat. Cold beer helped, but the swim in the lake turned out to be the best way to cool off. The lake was so unbelievably clear you could see to the bottom without the help of a snorkel mask if you didn't ripple the surface by thrashing around too much. Such a treat to swim in such beautiful water.

One thing we noticed as we carried on driving to Kamloops was how dry and desertous the mountains there seemed to be. But despite the dry terrain, water is still abundant throughout the landscape; rivers and lakes of the most glorious size and clearness.

The heat mixed with the dry landscape meant frequent signs along the highway and notices at campsites reminding us not to start a campfire; there is a ban all through BC at the moment thanks to the extreme forest fire hazard conditions and the many forest fires we witnessed already burning away. At the top of Whistler, even, on a paved beer patio, the guy at the table next to us was told he couldn't smoke a cigarette outdoors because of the ban.

When we woke up in our gratis little spot in Seton Lake, the air was thick with dispersed smoke from three distinct fires we could see burning. All day and all night the helicopters were flying back and forth overhead with buckets of water in an attempt to douse the fires before they wiped out entire mountainsides. An area warden came to let us know that a very large male black bear was in the area of the campsite and panicking from the fires, so if we were to see him to get in our van and stay there until he passed by. I kind of hoped to see him before we left, but we didn't.

The evening in Kamloops was spent reconnecting over too many drinks with my cousin, Brendan, and some of his friends. It was a helluva fun night, and we drove away the next day a bit tired but in the mood to drive. Thanks, Brendan! I hope you passed your exam the next morning.

The Yellowhead highway is a pretty, smooth little road that runs north from Kamloops to Jasper. The landscape changed from dry and hilly to lush and mountainous as we drove further northwards. It was a longish drive, about 5 hours, but I put the van in cruise control, turned on some music, and just sat back and steered and watched the scenery go by. After a quiet night spent at Valemount, a wee town at the north end of the Yellowhead in a valley surrounded by, you guessed it, mountains, and where I also managed to find some nicely paved back roads to take Betty the Road Bike out on for an hour, we are ready to hit Jasper.

There are so many other parts of BC out there to explore, particularly further south in the Okanagan with its wineries, orchards and lakes, and the Kootenays with its quaint artsy towns and outdoor playgrounds, but I've spent several summers and winters in these areas over my life,and I feel not only familiar but at home in them, so I figured I'd use this trip to see another part of this massive province. I still haven't seen it all, but I'm satisfied for now. And that about wraps it up for BC; 1/10 of the journey crossed.