Taking the Canyons Route Home

Mission accomplished,
we turn towards home in the
cooler morning light

~ carliewired

After an exhausting day in record extreme temperatures, D and I got a good night's sleep. We were up at 5 getting ready to leave for home. It was another scorching day forecast so we had hopes we could avoid the worst of it. 

We left Langley before 6:30. I picked up my breakfast next door at my favourite drive-thru and was on the Trans Canada Hwy in minutes. D left minutes before me heading for the Trans Canada Hwy as well. He was taking the Coquihalla back to Kelowna. I was travelling the Fraser Canyon Route to Kamloops.

I stopped in Hope to top up the tank of my little red bomber, then I continued to Yale to see an historic church, St. John the Divine (1863), a simple wood-frame Anglican church. My husband's great grandfather was a blacksmith and wheelwright in the 1870s here. The little village was once a boom town and holds a special interest to our family. The building and museum facility is not open due to covid protocols but I left my quilted heart on the fence in front as the Canadian National train roared by in front. 

I wound my way through the seven tunnels in the Fraser Canyon, catching views of this mighty river as I headed north. It's muddy and fast moving these days. I took several shots of the Thompson River. The biggest waterfall along this route home is the Murray Creek Falls across the river from the village of Spences Bridge on the Thompson River. I stopped for a photo. 

I passed by the town of Lytton, where the Thompson and Fraser Rivers join. This location got the nation's hot spot yesterday. I didn't drive into Lytton to have a look, but I did note that at 10:30 AM the temperature there was already 32 C. 

I turned east at Cache Creek for the last lap before Kamloops. I caught sight of a scout plane in the air near Savona on Kamloops Lake. That alerted me to watch for a sign of a wildfire in the area. Sure enough, a white plume hung over the mountain on the north west end of Kamloops Lake. I learned it is called the Sparks Lake fire. It started Monday and has already grown to over 350 hectares/864 acres.

My last stop before home was the Kamloops Lake Lookout on the Trans Canada Hwy. The view was already hazed with smoke at noon. We topped our day with a temperature of 46.4 C. Surprisingly, our air quality is ranked at 2 (low risk). Forecast indicate our heat wave is going to start to moderate beginning tomorrow. That will be a great relief!