Alternate Plans
So after all the fiasco of the road washout and a couple of more hours
lost time, we regrouped and changed our plans again. Clearly, Blue Earth
Provincial Park was out of the question. What do we do now?
Looking at the maps, we decided to head directly to Kelly Lake (Downing
Provincial Park). This meant getting back out on Hwy 1 and heading
towards Lytton, and passing through Spence’s Bridge up to Cache Creek
and jumping on Hwy 97 to Clinton BC. It was a long haul, but we’d be on
hwy and moving faster.
All is well. Hmm... Not quite. As we made our way back to Hwy 1 and
began heading north, we encountered signage stating road repair ahead. A
little farther on we see that there is a one lane road near Jackass
Summit. It seems that the Nicomen River Creek bridge crossing was wiped
out due to the extensive floods, snow and rain we had this year. Signage
indicated up to a 2 hour wait with restrooms available on the side of
the road for those in need. A pilot car was to guide us for several
kilometers past Jackass Mountain. Sigh?!? More delays. I figured we’d
roll into camp at midnight at this point.
One Lane Bailey Bridge on Hwy 1. (not my photo ref: https://canada.constructconnect.com/?p=256502)
Fortunately, the wait through the re-construction zone wasn’t as bad as
initially thought. After we got past Jackass summit, we made our way to
Lytton and could see the smoke from the fires on the west side of the
Fraser River by Lytton. Unknown to me, the entire area from Lytton
though the Thompson River valley had burned last year. I was saddened to
see all the devastation as I rode through this area. It is still a
beautiful ride and very scenic, but the loss of the green trees was a
bit much for me to digest. As I was shooting video, I have no pics of
this section of the ride.
We rode through Spence's Bridge up to Cache Creek, making good time along
the way as traffic was light and the sun was starting to set. I
personally got into a grove, a “zen-like” state of mind as the sun was
setting over the mountains and the shadows began to take hold in the
valleys. We arrived at Clinton, fueled up and headed out to Downing
Provincial Park (Kelly Lake). Upon our arrival, I was surprised to see
this remote campsite full. We were able to secure the last camp slot. In
my past travels, I have only seen a couple of others camped in here. So
I was a bit surprised. My alternative plan was to ride up a bit beyond
Kelly Lake and in the valley there is some dispersed camping by another
lake. That would have been fine by me and maybe a better alternative.
But we were here now and it was 8:00 and we were losing light fast. So
up with the tents and we made dinner, tucked our bikes in for the night
and went to bed.
Stay tuned...
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