Over the Mountains to the Interior

30 Sep '07 1:13 am

Again Gordon, your photos tell the story of this beautiful place so perfectly. It really makes me long to see it for myself someday. You never know, with the climate change you mentioned, all of us southern states people may be wanting to immigrate to BC. How's that for a scary thought?

30 Sep '07 10:02 am

Hi< Liza!

Thanks for the encouraging comments on my latest batch of pictures! I think that the reason why there are so few trees in that area is because of a lack of water. The entire area is in a rain shadow caused by the high mountains, which block the rain clouds. The soil is actually quite good, as things grow lushly when water is supplied.

Watch for the last set of pictures to come later tonight!

Cheers!

gordonf

30 Sep '07 5:07 pm

Hi, all! Here are the final two pictures from my trip to the Interior. It was getting dark when I took them, so I must apologize in advance if they seem a bit dark!

I'm already looking forward to next year's trip for more pictures!

Cheers!

gordonf

1 Oct '07 4:14 am

Hi Gordon and thanks for bringing us along for the trip. I remember the Fraser river valley. When I finished my school in 87 Lia and I and Kalle went on a month long road trip. We got as far north as Jaspar and seem to remember going through a good sized town called Kamloops (sp?) near (or maybe in) that valley. It really is a very rugged looking area carved out by the Fraser river. I remember we camped in a Provincial Park toward the Southern end of the valley before driving to Vancouver.

So, you're thinking of moving to a more arid region? That sounds adventurous. I graduated high school in 71 so I wasn't driving or on my own during the 60's. Still I did get caught up in the mystique. I wore paisley shirts and had a nehru jacket in high school. I remember when my family moved to the San Francisco in the middle of high school listening to the Iron Butterfly's "In a Goddadafeeda" (stictly phonetically spelled, the song and the all the incense back then has blocked out its spelling). I lived through the 60's but the closest I got to commune living was a shared house in Oakland in the early 80's. It was fun for a couple years but then I started wanting my own place.

I think we all are chagrinned to realize how old we look on the outside to others when the view from the inside has changed so little to us. Still it was good to get the portrait of you with Joey. I'm glad you took him with you. You have a good eye for finding interesting nature where you go too. Thanks for the photos!

Okay, now I'd better get my grades entered before my brother and his famiily comes over so I can enjoy them more.

Take care, Mark

1 Oct '07 11:27 am

Hi, Mark,

Yup - I'm a wannabe back-to-the-lander!! And you were right about Kamloops - it's the largest city in the Thompson valley (and it has grown a LOT since you were there!) - the same valley where the town of Ashcroft is located. Ashcroft is farther west and south than Kamloops is and I think it's a much older community.

Today, I'm researching "rammed-earth" building for homes. On the one hand, I hate the idea of leaving where I am, but on the other hand, the word is out that within 10 years there may be very few trailer parks in B.C. due to changes in the regulations that make it much easier for owners to redevelop them. Lots of them are being cleared and having condominiums built on the land. I figure that if that's the case, perhaps I should think about moving on sooner, rather than waiting for the axe to fall and the value to drop on my current home! Better someone else than me, eh? (Isn't that selfish of me??? Rolling Eyes

)

So, since I'm retired and haven't unlimited money, perhaps a commune might be the way to go. At least I wouldn't NEED a job, so I could devote my time to raising chickens or goats (love them both!!) and in so doing, help the community. We'll see!! I've done some of those things before and liked it, so, as long as I have water and internet, I guess I could get into it again!

Anyway, g'bye for now!

gordonf

1 Oct '07 11:57 am

Much the same has happened here,Gordon-on the coast.It used to be that Kiwis could just put up a tent anywhere by a sandy beach,or build a little shack -called a 'bach'. But the developers have taken the land and are building enormous steel and glass structures for the rich,and the Kiwi laid-back lifestyle is disappearing.
Your trip has been such a delight to follow and a tempting thought to us all I think.I have had Canadian brochures for a few years and pored over them-the choice is to travel by train or bus over the Rockies.Which would you recommend ?
Dixie.

1 Oct '07 12:12 pm

Hi, Dixie -

Well, it depends on how much time and money you have and what you want to see. There are the regular "Via Rail" passenger trains, which I've been on and liked, there's the super-deluxe "Rocky Mountaineer" trains, which are more like being on a cruise ship on land, and then there's the bus. You can get travel passes for the bus (Greyhound Bus Line) which allow you to stop over to visit the places along the way, which the trains don't allow. Of course, then you might need to stay in motels (or even camp if there's a camp ground nearby, and there usually is).

If I remember correctly, on the Via passenger service, there's one direction in which you go through the mountains at night, which isn't very good if you want to see the scenery! So you'd need to check on that.

The Rocky Mountaineer service, I think, has 2 trains, one which follows the traditional Fraser Canyon route from Vancouver, and the other which takes more or less the route that I just followed through Whistler and Lillooet. I saw the train when I was in Lillooet. On that route (which I took many years ago), there's at least one place where the train track is 1 mile above the Fraser River, and when you look out the window, all you can see is air and the tiny, tiny river far below! Spooky!! I sat on the other side of the train!

All three of these companies have websites, so it shouldn't be hard to get prices, etc.

And let me know when you come - maybe we can get together, even though I'm pretty far from Vancouver!

Cheers!

gordonf

6 Oct '07 1:21 am

Hi Gordon!

At last I've found the time to download and study all your pics, and what an interesting trip! Some random comments: I didn't realise that you use km in Canada - I thought the American influence was so strong you were stuck in miles ... Embarassed

sorry

The layercake mountain doesn't show at all in the thumbnail - and is spectacular once one has enlarged! Some scenes could be in many parts of South Africa - I think particularly of Lilooet 1, which you describe as 'typical'; I had never thought there might be similarities, mainly I suppose because I never realised how arid parts of Canada are. As for your sagebush: scientific name, please! It is gorgeous and I WANT it, if only to recommend to friends in drier parts. However it would add a nice twist to the dry-climate garden I want to establish for my sister's 50th in 3 years time...

Thanks again for the interesting post!

6 Oct '07 4:30 pm

Hi, Jack! Thanks for the comments; yes, it really IS amazing how much parts of our countries look the same! Of course, then there are the many very different parts!

The sagebrush that I mentioned has many varieties, some of which are Artemesia rigida, Artemesia rockii (I think), etc. Some are taller than others, but all have similar yellow flowers and pungent, sagey odour. They were a very useful plant to the aboriginal people for religious ceremonies, and still are used in that way. I don't think, though, that they were used for food like the other sage (Salvia). Unfortunately, though, overgrazing by cattle have caused sagebrush to take over large areas that used to be covered with various grasses. To further show their drought tolerance, the annual rainfall in the Ashcroft area along the Thompson River is about 8mm. Here in Campbell River, we can easily get 80mm in one day! But then, we're on the windward, ocean side of the mountains and Ashcroft is on the other side in the rain shadow.

As for Canadians using the metric system, we've been using it for at least 20 years now. I remember when we changed from Imperial measurement and teachers were instructed not to mention Imperial measures any more. Parents hit the roof!! They complained that they could no longer help their children with math and just refused to understand the much easier system of multiplying by 10, just as we have always done with money. I now think in metric just about all the time, except for gasoline mileage, where "miles per gallon" still means more to me than "litres per 100 kilometres"!

6 Oct '07 6:59 pm

Thanks for the response, Gordon! I thought it must be either Artimesia or Helichrysum - the two dominant yellow-flowered grey-leaved drought-tolerents in SA. Do you also get native Helichrysum in Canada? Here too over-grazing has such results.

As for metrication, monetary metrication happened here in my first year at school, so I escaped the complications of pounds shillings and pence, never mind guinees. Other followed in about year 5, but I too have never quite adapted to one thing: human length in meters. Strange isn't it!

Over the Mountains to the Interior

More wonderful scenes

Hi, Liza!

Final Pictures

Finally a chance to catch up!

Oh. . . the 60's!!!

travelling

Cdn. Rockies

Picture show

Sagebrush

Metric sages