Cache Creek, BC

This morning Fred and I separated. He is going east to Jasper and Banff while I am going south. Anyone watching his GPS tracker will not be following me.

I rode down 97 to Cache Creek. Mostly the road follows the Fraser River. This is an historic route that provided for the fur trade and then the gold rushes. There have been a few. There are towns along the way that are named after way stations on the wagon and stage roads. There was a way station or road house every ten or so miles and they had imaginative names such as ”Hundred Fifty Mile House”. Vilages built up around the stations, some of which are now towns. There is a dude ranch at 108 Mile House. The road is now measured in kilometers.

The Fraser River valley begins well treed and mountainous. Gradually it becomes arid. Here at Cache Creek the valley looks like the US Southwest. The slopes are covered with sage brush.

It is very dry here and there are over a hundred wildfires burning in the area right now. The air has been filled with smoke from about Williams Lake. I should mention that Route 37 was closed yesterday at the north end due to fires. We made it past the area with hours to spare.

97 is quite a bit busier than any of the roads I've been on recently. Perhaps ome of the traffic is due to Canada's three day weekend.

I do prefer to ride alone. Now that I am back in civilization it is safe enough.

I failed to mention that, when we stayed in Tok the second time we stayed at the Thompson Motorcycle Campground. For motorcycles only, it has a communal gas grill/stove and a sauna. No running water or electricity, though. It was the nicest campground that I stayed in. A dry, perfect night didn't hurt.