This morning we woke to 42 degrees F. in a rest stop in British Columbia a few miles from the Sumas border crossing. A cold, crisp morning with blue skies and sunshine. Last night we met (in the British Columbia rest stop) a man going camping with a friend in Idaho and a couple headed home to Vancouver Island. Being from British Columbia, they had lots of suggestions of what we should see in the short time we are here as we travel through to Alaska. Many of their suggestions were in our plans but it is nice to know they thought those places were worth seeing. We did add a few spots to our plan at their suggestion.
Hope, British Columbia
We spent most of the morning in the town of Hope. It’s a small town to start with and this is Sunday so there were few folks around. There’s lots of “Chain saw art” on display all around the town so we spent some time viewing each of the sculptures. They are perfectly done and lovely. Apparently this is where some of the “World Class Chain Saw Carving Competition” winners are displayed. Hope is a pleasant little town and is surrounded by beautiful views of the Cascade Mountains.
The joke around town is if you go east of town, “you are beyond Hope”. Yuk, yuk. The joke is referring to a place just east of town. The site of a horrendous rock slide the took the lives of four souls. There is a viewpoint there and the amount of “slide” is incredible.
Manning Provincial Park
Last night, we were encouraged to travel east for a while on Route #3 (known as the Crowsnest Hwy.) that runs somewhat near the US/Canadian border between Hope and Princeton, BC. One of the spectacular places on route #3 is Manning Provincial Park that straddles the Cascades. As in Oregon and much of Washington, Manning Provincial Park has water. There are small creeks, small water falls, larger creeks, larger water falls, snow and lakes. The park is huge and route #3 runs through 36 miles of it. This is a wonderful park to explore and there certainly is wild life here.
Princeton–
To say Princeton is small is to understate the case but it has spunk. They hold some festivals/shows here, have a pretty good restaurant scene and are quite friendly but it is really all about the outdoors. We are boondocking (free parking) in a gravel lot just off route #3 overlooking part of the town and behind a small food store/Husky gas station. N49 degrees 27.144′ W120 degrees 31.477′ We were told “Everyone parks there overnight, no problem”. Gas price here comes to about $5.59 American/gallon , cash. Think you get a better exchange rate with your credit card.
On edit: The town of Princeton has free wi-fi and it is strong. No pass word required.
