Lillooet

It rained steadily throughout the night and Emily awoke to some of my most colorful language as I groggily realized the water had permeated our tent and was dripping all over our pads and sleeping bags. I thought the tent was waterproof, but I was mistaken. The walls are only water-resistant. I half wished the tent floor was not waterproof at that moment - and that the collecting pools of water would just soak through and away. Emily took the brunt of the soaking, but was a trooper and didn't complain.

The rain turned to mist as we exited the tent to pack up the camp. We were occasionally hit by the water dripping from the tree canopy. Breakfast was cold; Poptarts and Sunny-D. I think we both had the urge to just get out of Nairn Falls, but we had come for the scenery after all, so we donned our waterproof jackets and hiked a couple of miles to see the falls. They were rugged and beautiful and worth the short trek.

Back in the car, it took only a moment to warm up. Emily stopped for a coffee in Pemberton for good measure. Somehow, we lost track of the road in Mt. Currie and took a wrong turn. We ended up way off track on a reservation just outside of D'Arcy. We backtracked back to Highway 99 and then to the northeast again to Lillooet. The landscape between Pemberton and Lillooet was even more dramatic than it was on the road through Whistler and Squamish. The mountains were closer and more jagged. It was a beautiful drive. Emily drove for a bit while I tried to catch up on my journal. Unfortunately, I started feeling queasy. We stopped for pictures next to a dam on Seton Lake, just short of Lillooet. Of all things, a man had hauled in a hot dog vending machine on a trailer and seemed to be doing a decent business.

Lillooet was scenic. Surprisingly, it was very arid. It receives only about 16 inches of rain per year. Occasionally, temperatures exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The town had endured several boom/bust cycles through the years based on gold, cattle, and most recently forestry. I was surprised at the amount of available services and amenities for a town with a population of only 2,800.

On our return from Lilooet, we stopped for a picnic in a gorge near the base of the dam. We munched on our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as we watched a grizzly bear meander along the base of a cliff on the other side of the river. Once the grizzly disappeared, a bright white mountain goat came into view. We pulled out my binoculars and watched both of them. Emily was pretty tired after the rainy night, so she napped in the car while I walked around the grounds and back towards the dam. I made a lot of noise while I walked just in case that grizzly decided to cross the river.

Being it was a weekend night, we were a little concerned about finding camping accommodations for the night, so we left Lillooet behind and head back to the southwest towards Whistler/Squamish. We located a heavily forested campground at Alice Lake Provincial Park. Showers, always a plus, were available so we each took advantage of that, then cooked dinner. We relaxed with some tasty tea before retiring for the night. It looked again like it could rain, so I was getting just a little concerned.

I woke up about an hour later. Emily was scrambling around the tent. She was clearly unhappy. The temperature had dropped considerably and her sleeping bag just wasn't keeping her warm enough. After a very quick discussion about finding a hotel, she crawled into the car, locked the doors, curled up, and went to sleep. I stretched out in the tent.