Tuesday found us back on BC Hwy 97 towards Vancouver. Prince George to Vancouver is about 500miles (800km) about 1/2 of that is on Hwy 97 and the other half on Hwy 99.
Diane had been having some ploblems with her computer so we stopped at Staples in Quensnel for repairs and spend the rest of the day and over night there. We were told to go to The Wee Chippee for all you can eat fish and chips. Cod, Halibut or Salmon all you can eat, we left there stuffed at a cost of $30 for both of us. Almost make a person want to live there. Next morning computer working fine we are back on the road to Williams Lake, its a real nice modern busy town with a Dairy Queen convienently located by the highway.
The early settlers here measured the distanced they travelled and marked stopping spots by miles travelled so now towns are named 70 mile house, 86 mile house, 100 mile house and so on. I guess that was easlier than thinking up an original name.
Past the town of Clinton we find Hwy 99 and turn SW towards the coast and Vancouver. We soon enter the dry interior. Protected from the Pacific Ocean by the Coast Mountains this area gets very little rain, in the low area near Lillooet the annual rainfall is about 2inches making it a desert.
The Cayoosh river flows through this area on its way to join the Frazer R.
The river provides irrigation to the area and with the abundant sunshine and warm winters it is a big ranch and fruit growing area. You can clearly see the irrigated areas.
Across the river you can see the road ahead, lots of twists and turns and ups and down.
This lake is formed because of a log jam on the river, the jam has been there for many years and makes for a beautiful view. The road finally takes us to Whislter, the home of the downhill events for the 2010 Olympics. We took the lift to the top of the mountain.
In open chairs like this one, the base is at 2130 ft and the top of Whistler is 7160 feet and the top of Blackcomb is 7347. The area was first conceived as a bid for the 1968 Olympics then when the bid was withdrawn the plan went ahead and it is a beautiful town with a well layed out plan. A pedestrian mall meaders through the village with a abundance of shops and eateries.
The view from our ski lift.
That's Diane's hand holding on, almost bent the metal bar. Its only about 600 feet to the ground.Our ticket included a ride on the PEAK2PEAK. Its a 2.73 mile/4.4km ride from the peak of Whistler to the peak of Blackcomb. It has a unsupported span of 1.88miles/3.024km and rides 1427 feet/463 m about the valley floor.
This is the valley below, you can see a part of a gondola in top right of picture
The support cables
The payoff, totally awesome views.
The black dot in the middle of the picture is our shadow.
The info. Pretty inpressive enginnering
From the top of Whistler. There are over 200 ski runs on these hills making it the largest ski resort in North America, nearly 50% bigger that its closesr competitor, it covers over 8000 acres and can move 66,000 skiers per hours on the lifts.
The dam from 1400 feet above
The village of Whistler from the 7000 feet up.
This is the valley below, you can see a part of a gondola in top right of picture
The support cables
The payoff, totally awesome views.
The black dot in the middle of the picture is our shadow.
The info. Pretty inpressive enginnering
From the top of Whistler. There are over 200 ski runs on these hills making it the largest ski resort in North America, nearly 50% bigger that its closesr competitor, it covers over 8000 acres and can move 66,000 skiers per hours on the lifts.
The dam from 1400 feet above
The village of Whistler from the 7000 feet up. We leave Whistler late in the day and stop in Squamish. On Sat is the annual bike race from Vancouver to Whistler, called the sea to sky race. It is about 125 mile and mostly uphill. there are 7000 cyclist on the road and the highway is mostly blocked off but to was amazing to see that many people on bicycles on the road.
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