From Crowsnest Vineyards Guesthouse to Valemont BC via Kamloops

Yesterday's ride after breakfast at the Mountain Dinner from Keremeos to Kamloops along Hwy 3 to Princeton and then the 5A took me through one of the places north of Merritt that had recently been struck by one of those devastating forest fires.  The area affected extended for many miles on either side of the highway.  I can only imagine how terrified the property owners felt as the flames approached.

It was another hot day and I arrived at the Double Tree Hotel right in the centre of the city of Kamloops.  I had a great steak dinner with a lovely glass of BC Merlot at the Mittz Kitchen and then wandered over to the Waterfrront Park to admire the flowers and take in some of the Music in the Park programming.  There was a really good blues band on the bandshell stage and a fair size crowd listening on the lawn in front of it.


Two boys playing in the water at a boat launch area. Who could resist?

Or who could resist buying these amazing BC cherries and stopping to have some at this same spot?

These beautiful roses were in a bed at the Riverfront Park in Kamloops.

This is the North Thompson in Kamloops with the bridge that I would ride over the next morning as I continued me journey north.

I had the hotel breakfast buffet and headed out to Valemont along Highway 5. From Barriere you could really smell the smoke and from Clearwater north it was difficult to make out the tops of the mountains on either side of the road because of the smoke which is covering all regions to the east of where major fires are still burning. This is what the view looking north from Clearwater looked like at around 10:30 this morning 

This is a picture of the North Thompson river a few kilometres further north.

Already at Blue River where I stopped for a burger at The Grill in the Sandman Hotel the mountains begin to re-emerge from the smoke

And by the time I arrived in Valemont where I will be staying for the night you could see some hazy blue sky and white clouds above the mountains; and even small patches of snow in the elevations.

I must say that the roads I have traveled on in BC are very well maintained. The frequent double and passing lanes, along with the generous, as high as 120 KPH in some places, make getting from one place to another extremely easy in the summer.  I imagine though that things slow down a bit on the sections in the mountains in winter. 

I have now reached the northernmost point of my trip. Tomorrow I point the bike east and begin the return trip. What an amazing country we have!