Lillooet to Lytton

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Hi Blog!

Yesterday, we drove down from Williams Lake to Lillooet. After leaving Highway 97, we followed Highway 99 west. This road goes by many names - Fraser Delta Thruway, Sea to Sky Highway, Squamish Highway or Whistler Highway. No matter which name it goes by, the road is spectacular.

The first part of our drive took us down Marble Canyon. The canyon's name comes from the brilliant colors of its limestone walls. We then followed the Fraser River until we reached Lillooet. We camped in the Cayoosh Creek Campground.

For our coffee walk this morning, we walked down to where Cayoosh Creek joins the Fraser River.

Salmon have returned to the Cayoosh Creek, so there are a number of bears in the area. Luckily, they are Canadian bears and don't usually wake up until after 11:00 a.m. We had the creek to ourselves.

The weather this time of year is very changeable. One minute sunny, next minute we are being soaked. Because of the sun and rain, we were able to catch this faint rainbow.

Once we finished our coffee, we decided to walk into town for a refill and some breakfast. We stopped at the entrance to Lillooet to read all the historical markers. We really liked this little rock garden with the salmon and sturgeon playing among the rocks.

This photo is actually a photo of a photo. Note the "You are Here." That's where we were.  Our campground was on the far side of the river to the left of the bridge.  Town was in the upper right of the photo.  The Fraser Rivers runs across the center, and Cayoosh Creek enters the Fraser River from the middle-left of the photo.

We stopped for breakfast at the Rugged Bean Cafe. We still had some time to kill before the Visitor Center opened at 10:00, so we walked down to the the Miyazaki House. 

During World War II Lillooet’s only doctor passed away and Lillooet was left with no option for health care. Mayor Artie Phair met a man in the Japanese internment camp (yes, Canada interned the Japanese too, at the demand of the U.S. in exchange for the Yanks' agreement to defend the West coast of Canada) named Dr. Miyazaki. Dr. Miyazaki happened to be a medical doctor but he was not allowed to practice due to the internment. When Artie returned to Lillooet, he wrote a petition, which the town’s people signed, to have Dr. Miyazaki and his family taken out of the internment camp and brought into his home.  When the government approved the petition, Dr. Miyazaki moved into what is now known as the Miyazaki House. He became Lillooet’s new doctor and started making history.

After gathering lots of local information at the Visitors Center, we stopped at the local sporting goods store to stock up on fishing tips and local flies. We finally made it back to the RV around 11:00. After walking Baxter, we packed lunch and drove down Highway 12 toward Lytton. 

Highway 12 follows the east bank of the Fraser River on the western flank of the Clear Range for 39 miles. All along the drive, we had spectacular views of the Fraser River Valley. We even managed to catch a glimpse of a couple of female bighorn sheep.

Lytton is located at the confluence of the Fraser River and the Thompson River. The big brown river coming down the center of the photo is the Fraser. The clear blue-green river entering from the right is the Thompson. The two run side-by-side for almost a mile before they mix together.

After lunch, we headed down to the Public Gold Panning area along the banks of the Fraser River. The sandy banks towered high above us.

Before walking down to the beach, we decided to hike across the CN footbridge. Just as we arrived, a train had passed, so we thought we had plenty of time to get across and back again before the next train.

This was our view up the Fraser River.

This was our view down the Fraser River.

The footbridge was completely enclosed.

Just as we began our walk back across the Fraser, we noticed another train was approaching.

Because the tracks cut off our exit from the pedestrian bridge, we had no choice but to stick it out as the train rumbled by. Luckily for us, it wasn't going very fast. Nevertheless, it was still unnerving to be standing less than six feet from a speeding locomotive.

Once the train passed, we set about seeking our fortune in gold!

After trying a couple likely spots, Dave found an area marked off by a previous prospector. We may have found one little fleck of gold, but the jury is still out. However, we did find 15 cents in change left by the prior prospector, so we figure we are ahead of the game.

With another sprinkle cloud approaching, we decided to wrap up our prospecting and head back to Lillooet. Just before we crossed the bridge into town, we stopped at the Fort Berens Winery to sample their wines.

Back in camp, it was time to relax and enjoy a day well bibbled! 

We have several more days here and hope to get out and explore more. Cheers!