From Smoke to Revelstoke

Day 3 August 17th

Another travel day, leaving Whistler and heading to Revelstoke BC. Up and out early am as smoke had started to settle into Whistler and the AQI was creeping up. Not a fun drive with smoke in the air and a very twisting route with log trucks bearing down on us (and not 100% sure what the speed limit was). Our thoughts were with the many wineries along the Okanagan Valley inundated with smoke and so close to harvest. From our experience in the Willamette Valley in 2020 after the Santiam Fires this does not bode well for a good vintage.

Smoke along the Okanagan Valley and the view of the Columbia River from our campsite

We arrived at our campsite, The Lamplighter in Revelstoke early afternoon and decided to explore the area on foot. We discovered that we were camped along the Columbia River which was really hard to warp our head’s around since the Columbia River also travels around Sauvie Island in Portland! The Columbia River starts in SE BC and heads thru Revelstoke and then crosses into Washington and eventually OR. Fascinating to see this beautiful river flowing bright and clear and compare that to the water we often paddle in Portland! Back to camp for a very quick dinner because the unwelcome guests at the campsite were voracious mosquitos. They drove us into the van for an evening inside and many attempts before bed to squash any remaining buggers!

A Four Bear Day!

Day 4, August 18th

Woke up early and enjoyed our morning coffee, Ron headed off to visit the facilities and I was outside the van when two juvenile bears came rambling thru the camp heading directly to our only screen closed van. I quickly and quietly tried to shoo them away from the van so instead they ran directly to the tent campers- which may have caused a wee bit of mayhem! Later that same morning an adult bear walked right thru camp searching for food, I gave that bear a very wide avenue!

Headed out from camp in hopes of paddling our 96th body of water on Lake Revelstoke which is a lake formed by the damming of the Columbia River for power generation. Sadly, even early morning we saw whitecaps on the water and opted to hike instead.

Headed up to Revelstoke ski resort where you can take two gondolas up and hike around the top of the ski resort. We opted to explore Greeley Lake only to discover once we got to the top of the gondola run that bears were in the area and bear spray was required. Rode the gondolas back down, grabbed our bear spray and tried again. Within 30 minutes of starting our hike we encountered another Black bear enjoying the huckleberries along the trail. FOUR bears in one day!

Riding the Gondola up, Greeley Lake, a very aptly named black diamond ski trail and the view of Arrow Lake which, sadly, we could not figure out how to access! A very adventurous day – including more mosquitos along the trail, lots of wild flowers and a tiny bit of snow!

Seriously, why would you ever want to camp here! Good night and tomorrow we are off to explore Lake Louise in Alberta.