June 26: inland up Highway 99 from imposing snow-capped peaks to dry desert sage
After breakfast at Alice Lake PP, we hiked the 6km Four Lakes Trail through ferns and moss with occasional sun patches filtering down to illuminate parts of the forest below.
There's a lot of road construction going on right now on 99 between Vancouver and Whistler because of the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics-- widening and adding lanes, landscaped medians, etc. Although Vancouver is the host city, the skiing events will be held in Whistler-- an upscale, winter sports mecca complete with high-end chalets, shops, eateries and other accommodations for big spending winter enthusiasts. Anyway...
The road construction did not stop once we had passed through Whistler. 99 winds up into some beautiful snow-capped peaks and lakes that make up the coast range of British Columbia. For 30km, we had to stop and take turns with oncoming traffic on gravel one laners while road workers rebuilt a road in much need of repairs and upgrading. The stops and starts, however, did allow me to shoot some of the amazing scenery.
The scenery, however changed for the drier and more barren landscapes as we continued through Lillooet and Cache Creek before settling on a campsite at Steelhead Provincial Park... where we happened upon a redesigned 1947 Greyhound bus...