» photo albums 2010/BRITISH COLUMBIA

Monday August 30th, Clearwater & Wells Gray Provincial Park

We got up fairly early to drive into Wells Gray Provincial Park. To the Helmchen Falls is 45 km and we also went up to Clearwater Lake on the very good unpaved road (another 25 km). The park is known for lots of wildlife (lots of people see bears here), but of course we weren’t so lucky 🙁 We did have a great drive as the scenery is again amazing, and esp. the road to Clearwater Lake was so beautiful. We walked to a few viewpoints like the Dawson Falls and Bailey’s Chute, rapids where we saw a few salmons try to jump upstream (still a bit early for the yearly salmon run though)! Most spectacular was of course the high Helmcken Falls. At the lake we had a hot chocolate and the best cranberry streusel cake after an Austrian family recipe 🙂

Back at the campground we had lots of time left to relax and enjoy the beloved view over Dutch Lake. We also had supper at the great restaurant there, The Painted Turtle. Not the cheapest, but sooo good! Very original and tasty food and we sat outside on their patio overlooking the lake.

Tomorrow we leave for Fintry (on the westside of Lake Okanagan between Vernon and Kelowna) for 2 nights without hookups. We have booked a site with some views on the lake, so I’m curious to see that! But first we will be visiting a few fellow Dutch immigrants, Chantal and Suus in Glenemma and Petra in Yankee Flats. Then the next day we will see our friends from our old hometown Heerlen again, John and Diana who now live in Westbank, so excited!!