Van Isle to Kamloops via DRZ400

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

Hi all, i know i promised new RR's months ago, but ive been too busy riding!!! Im going to start posting this one, and i'll be adding bits every few days.
This time I rode from Victoria BC, and ended up in Kamloops, completely by mistake!!! I really had no plan, except to find some more desert scenery and hit a bit more offroad than the last ride report...

I left Victoria about 1030AM and managed to avoid the onslaught of Labor Day traffic in Colwood. The weather is perfect,and the skies are blue.

It is so rare that I actually stop at these rest stops, because i'm on this road so much, but I figured I needed a shot for the trip! The lighting could not have been better!

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

Lotsa people out, Summer is Finally here in BC!!!!

Its always fun listening to the noise of the bikes against steel walls!

On the 12:45 from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay, and it is HOT!! it hasn't hit much above 25c this year in Victoria, so this is real nice!

Vancouver looms in the distance.... I'm glad im not riding thru town on this ride. It's no place for a DRZ!

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

Yep, our boats are gettin' old!

Starting up the Sea To Sky (Highway 99). This turned out to be some of the most fun 4 lane highway i have ridden! it gets even better after whistler and Princeton. It gets much tighter, and keeps you real busy shifting gears and braking. Loads of fun!
How do you pronounce the 7 in Squamish???


The Chief

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

There were two other dual sporters i'd seen on the road a few times since the ferry, and I met them both in Pemberton at a gas station. each of us thought one was with the other, but we were all solo. We all took a break and exchanged stories, and decided to ride together to the other side of the mountains and camp out. Daylight was burning, so we wanted to get away from the mountains and into the arid lands of Lilloette.


There's always time for a runaway lane though! I was in the back coming up, and lost momentum, because it was so dusty, i couldn't see the ruts and rocks. Dumped twice trying to get going again, even with help! Its a bit of a challenge with luggage!
Our friend on the KLR also dumped his brand new machine going down,and it got its first scrapes on the left cowl! Just broken in, i say! Poor guy, it was his first dirt experience! he took it well, and in all fairness, the stock KLR tires ain't that great offroad!

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

I forget the name of the lake, but there is a fairly significant hydro dam at the end of it.

Now we are entering the rain shadow. It is getting warmer, The trees are less and less, and sagebrush is starting to make a presence.

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

Its real warm out, but Its getting dark, and in Lillooette, the gas pump bears the mark of the Devil!!! How fitting.... Do we go and check out the bar, or does the bar come to check us out?? Time to find a camping spot!

We find a nice gravel pit and set up camp. There is but one dead tree from which to salvage firewood, and it starts like match sticks.
I've found camping off of vancouver island to be way easier sleeping than home. I guess it's because the land is so much more open. For some reason I feel safer with a longer line of sight. On Van isle, there are so many big cats, that I rarely get a good nights sleep. Back in July, I was riding down Mt. Washington, and half way down, a cougar ran across the road 70 feet in front of me! That was the third one i have seen in my lifetime. One time camping by bicycle, I got stocked by one in the middle of the night!!!
I slept well here. There were no twigs cracking, no bears crashing, just crickets....

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

Even in this warm climate, mornings are brisk, | guess its the time of year, but i'm guessing we are at some altitude too, because I notice my isobutane stove takes twice as long to boil water. A beautiful sunrise to start the day, and its time to pack up.

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

But there's always time to play in the dirt before we go!! Eric from Smithers likes a challenge, and tries to ride a loose gravel ledge on his KTM! It was so loose, the only safe way out was for me and Chris from Vanderhoof to help slide the bike down the bank and push it out. The big boxes really helped with this!

[what broke now]

I guess I should pay attention... Here I am telling you how to get to Pemberton on the other thread...

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

On the road to a small place called Pavillion. Eric has been on this road a few times, and knows a backroad from this little hamlet to Clinton. He was taking a dirt road from there to Williams Lake, and then on to Smithers. We were parting ways very soon, as Eric was doing dirt northbound, chris was taking the highway after a bit of dirt, and I was heading east into the desert.

Finally off road!!!



This part of the province goes from lush green valleys, to desert in the rain shadows, and back again within a few short kilometers! the mountains are warm, and the valley bottoms are surprisingly cool and refreshing.

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

After riding the 30k of dirt switchbacks and trail towards Clinton, Eric parted ways and headed north on his dirt trail to Williams Lake. Chris and I decided to get breakfast in a small cook shack in town. Simple, cheap, good food, and lots of local folkel hanging about. It was one of those places where everyone looks at you as you enter! No worries,It was friendly enough. I grew up in a small town, so I know it's always interesting when travellers show up. Chris was heading north now, so we said our goodbyes, good luck, and safe journey, and got rolling on our separate ways. It was real fun riding with such like minded people! I hope to meet them again some day.

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

Going south on highway 97, I'm heading towards Cache Creek, and It's getting hotter and dustier. I hit some dirt trails between Cache Creek and Kamloops.





Deadman Cache Rd.

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

And hotter

And Hotter!

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

Something Green!!!

[Tropic-Of-Canada]

Nearing Deadman Vidette Rd.


Lookin' for the Castle Rock Hoodoos