Monday Aug 26                                               Sunny & warm                             Clearwater/Gold Pan P.P., BC

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Last week we spent a couple of days at Paul Lake Provincial Park, high up in the hills north of Kamloops. We had an enjoyable stay. The afternoon of the second day, Jen wanted to "walk" to the beach which turned out to be a ¾ mile downhill walk one way! I knew Jen's chair would struggle coming back up the hill, even more so as the tread on the solid rubber tires on her wheelchair were "shredded". I guess the 2+km trek on the gravel trail at Myra Canyon a few days ago didn't help.

So yours truly walked back up to the campsite, hopped in Alfie, and drove down to the lake to rescue Jen.

Friday, after breaking camp in the pouring rain, we headed to Clearwater, BC to visit with our friends, Jan & Dave. We'd left our patio mat with them earlier in the Spring. No time like the present to go retrieve it!

We had a great visit over the weekend.

So this morning it was time to head closer towards Hope. There's a provincial 

park just south of Spences Bridge—Gold Pan—that we are heading for today. 

We stopped and made a coffee at a pull-off just south of Barriere where we 

read this sign...

We reached Kamloops, climbed the ginormous hill out of town, and stayed on 

Hwy 1 heading west towards Cache Creek. Jen took some pictures along the 

way of the scenery and Kamloops Lake.

Hwy 1 twists and turns along its path to the coast. Sometimes it's hard to remember that this is the Trans Canada Highway; it is so rough in spots.

  

We thought this looked like a old west ghost town and by golly that's how it was signed.

We bought some ice for the cooler in Cache Creek then continued our journey south toward Spences Bridge. About 7 miles south we turned in to Gold Pan P.P.

​   

This small 14-site campground is right on the Thompson River. We snagged #7 which has to be the best site of the bunch. Our neighbours on one side are a couple of hundred feet away, and on the other over the rise.

Here comes the Rocky Mountaineer with 9 dome cars in the middle of the train.

Many years ago, the two major rail lines in Canada, ran on their own track–CN on the east side of the river; CP on the west. Nowadays, CN and CP share the trackage, so trains use the CP tracks heading south into the lower mainland while trains heading east use CN's. It's all to do with grades–CN's are less severe than those of CP.

   

If you're going to stay at Gold Pan, you have to love trains...and trucks. There are lots of both!

  

In the morning, we'll head back to Spences Bridge, grab a coffee, and check our email—there is no cell service at Gold Pan.

  

See you in the morning.