Hope again (II: Hell's Gate )

A few kilometers north of Alexandra Bridge is another spot that I've passed by numerous times and  this time made an effort to see. Hell's Gate Airtram.  It's a cable car descending over a very narrow part of the Fraser River (Because it is so narrow and it still has to convey all the water, the river is VERY DEEP here: I seem to remember something like 100 m) Check their website (link above) for more info about the fish ladders built by US & Canada in the 40s (?) in order to bypass the rock slide caused by railway engineers in 1913 that made the river almost impassable for salmon, etc etc. The entrance price of ~$20 is cheap compared to the ride up Grouse Mountain. The ride is shorter than the Grouse Mountain ride but it is spectacular, the walk over the bridge down there is cool too, and the other tourist concessions down there are not quite as tacky as the stuff at Capilano Suspension Bridge, which I once had the misfortune of crossing with some visiting German tourists.

Bridge over troubled waters ...

One doesn't have to take the cable car ;-)

At the time I was dismissing these tourist-ready installations as stuff that was way below me, but two years later I am happy that George insisted on these pictures.  (How did I get so high in years while remaining so low in wisdom?)

Hope again ( I: Alexandra Bridge)

In the past, Hope was the beginning of a trip to Dawson Creek, or on the return journey it signaled HOPE of being back in Vancouver soon.  Both of these meanings are gone these days, since Dawson Creek ceased being the residence of my grandparents and since I am no longer hoping of returning to Vancouver sooner than later.  Hope has become a refuge from the noise, pollution, and pandemonium of Vancouver.  And it is performing this role rather well.  The surroundings are beautiful and largely unspoiled.  Be it the Othello tunnels or the 'flea-market' in Yale that I can never drive by without stopping (5 DVDs for $5!); the time here seem to lag 10 to 20 years behind.
The tourist prospectus in the hotel room carried a picture of Alexandra Bridge on its cover.  I've driven by there many many times, but never had the time to stop (or so I thought at the time), so this time I'm taking the time to look for the 150 year old bridge over the Fraser River.

Supposed to be downhill of the railway tracks!

Train bait (and it worked ;-)

downhill of the trees?

There she is !

The view upstream

The salmon fishery is closed and I guess these guys check whether that's being followed

the view from below

When approaching the railway line on my way back up, I though I heard a strange noise ...

Good thing I didn't put my ear on the track !

New Westminster? (A matter of taste)

You'd think that a city right by the river could exhibit only charming attributes.  At least I thought so. But it's amazing how industry, a major rail yard, and a Harlem-like street life can make you think otherwise very quickly.  It is not often that I interrupt a smoke-break on the street outside a non-smoking hotel after two short drags, because I feel really uncomfortable standing on that street, as happened just outside the Met Hotel in New West.  Separated from that part of the town by the railway line is the Inn at the Quay, which is quieter and offers these views:

Alex Fraser Bridge downriver

Seagull in river mud

tug boats

paddle wheeler!

The Trestles at Myra (Again ;-)

August 26 to 28, 2012, I stayed in a B&B in Kelowna and took an old bicycle (ask Jeremiah what happened to that bike) over the 18 Trestles and trough the 2 tunnels of the old railway track in Myra Canyon.  I liked it so much that I reserved the B&B for the same two nights in 2013.  And here I am, riding a new bicycle over the trestles ;-)

The bike ride is ~ 12 kms each way, i.e. 25 kms in total. But it is FLAT!  If you want to avoid multitudes of extended families with babies in bicycle trailers clogging the trestles, try to do the ride before 11am.  You'll get to enjoy the remoteness of the place.  If some of the blackened trees make you think of forest fires, you are a good observer.  A large part of the mountain was victimized by a forest fire 10 or 20 years ago, and that fire also consumed the original wooden trestles.  What one rides over today are replicas built by volunteers for the greater good of cycling ;-)

The following two pics prove that this trip is also good for child inside the man ;-)

Time's a wasting, but unfortunately no waist ;-)

In the afternoon, I couldn't resist getting my feet wet at the beach in downtown Kelowna.

young seagulls

The natives are friendly

Othello and the Quintettes

No, it's not a new band referred to in the title, but some old tunnels close to Hope ;-)
Leaving Hope and heading up the Coquihalla Highway one quite early encounters an exit called Othello. Not the only exit or landmark bearing a Shakespearean name, but to my knowledge the only one leading to railway tunnels right by the river.
Once you've found the parking lot, be prepared for a lot of GREEN!

In case you are wondering: You're in the valley of the Coquihalla River:

After a bit of river valley, one sees the first of the tunnels (there are 5, as the name suggests ;-)

Between tunnels 2 & 3 (or 3&4?), the track crosses the river on a bridge. The sun wasn't hitting the rocks in the water yet, so the pictures are not as amazing as last year ;-(

There is HOPE (there really is ;-)

So tired of Vancouver's mad rush of tailgating just before noisily passing on the left or the right, just to be further ahead in line at the next red light (which won't be more than 45 seconds away), I am driving further and further into 'the countryside'.  By now I have discovered that large parts of Surrey & Langley are just vast expanses of car dealerships ( Creeping along the Langley Bypass in heavy traffic and seeing only car dealerships along the sides of the road is one of the most depressing things I've witnessed in a looong time).  After passing through the stretch between Mission and Maple Ridge last year, I am staying far away from that too.  What was a beautiful drive through the country only 20 years ago, now is a crawl through an exhaust-laden maze of bypasses and gas stations.  The Fraser Valley has become a giant strip mall !  Looking at 'camp grounds' in Cultus Lake, I had to laugh it was so sad.  In a forest that looked a little like it was located right below a Tunguska event (not many lateral branches on those 'trees'), tents and cars were crammed together on a barren forest floor like sardines, only separated by those 'trees'.  I was never really a 'camper' but I used to be neutral on the subject.  But how anyone would even consider pitching a tent RIGHT NEXT to their car's hood, and within 2 meters of their campground neighbour's empty beer cans, is beyond me.

So I am driven even further away from the city.  To Hope.  But not to Hope proper; a tiny bit outside of Hope. The Hope Holiday Motel & RV Resort. Sounds fancy but isn't. But the smallish rooms in small wood structures set right against a mini version of the Chief in Squamish has all the stuff I want and can't get in Vancouver. It is set back 2 blocks from the 'major' road, the Hope-Flood Road.  The mountain including Sasquatch Caves starts right behind the bathroom window. TV, coffee maker, fridge, microwave are all there.  A friendly Asian manager makes you feel welcome. On this rainy afternoon, he offers to uncover the swimming pool if I feel like a dip. All this for a low price you can only dream of in Vancouver.

And the distance from the road is doing its magic: I haven't slept this well in a long time ;-)

A note added a few days later:  on the return trip from Kelowna to Vancouver, two noses independently judged that the area of 'fresh air' ends somewhere between Hope and Chilliwack.  To spell it out in sad detail: Taking a car from Hope to Kelowna, one can actually smell trees, soil, cow manure, etc etc, with a few short interruptions (i.e. Merrit).  On the way to Vancouver, this abundance of smells vanishes between Hope and Chilliwack, to be replaced with what Vancouver calls air.