Clearwater and Revelstoke

“Everything is so expensive!”, I thought to myself reading the menu at Tim Horton’s, taking a lunch break in Kamloops on our long drive from Vancouver to Clearwater. After paying the cashier, the Capitol One app on my phone dinged in acknowledgement of the purchase. 

While the register receipt said that lunch had cost $23.55, Capitol One had charged my card $17.44, because of the exchange rate between the US and Canadian dollars. I guess that’s why I spend more than I expect in Europe; everything looks cheaper because the dollar-euro exchange rate goes in the opposite direction. In Canada, everything looks more expensive, so I spend less.

Leaving Vancouver on Monday morning, we headed east on the Trans Canadian Highway 1, turning north at Kamloops on the Southern Yellowhead Highway 5 towards Clearwater, a town at the southern boundary of the Wells Gray regional park.

In Clearwater we stayed at the Hotel Civilia Lakeside, overlooking Dutch Lake. Our rooms had a kitchen, bathroom and separate bedroom which looked out over the lake (or, at least a sliver of the lake). Still, it was peaceful. Kathy and I sat in chairs, out on the patio, reading our books and enjoying the scenery, and the clouds which sprinkled a little.

This far north, the sun doesn’t set until about 8:45 PM, so after dinner we decided to go for a ride, down to the lake, and around the neighborhood. At the Dutch Lake park, we walked out on a pontoon dock, where two young girls were swimming. I wanted to take a picture from the dock, but it was really unsteady, so I abandoned that idea in favor of making it back to solid land.

After our walk on the lake, we drove around the neighborhoods surrounding the lake. When the street we were on dead-ended, a helpful lady walking down the street asked if we were lost. We said we were just looking around, and she started telling us about interesting things we could see in the immediate area, such as Spahats Creek Falls. It was only about 20 minutes away, and it was only 7:45, so we took off on the completely deserted road.

There were only three other cars in the large parking lot when we got there. The path through the dense forest was short and a little unnerving. When you reached the cliffs, protected with a fence, you can see the falls immediately. About a hundred yards along the cliff there is a viewing platform where you can get a better look.

According to the Wikipedia article I’ve linked above, the main fall is 60 meters high (196 feet), but that the addition of the secondary falls gives it a height of 90 meters, or 295 feet. By contrast, Niagara’s Horseshoe Falls is only about 57 meters high. It’s frustrating to try to get a photograph to give a real sense of how high the cliffs are and how powerful the water was. Even on the fenced-in viewing platform, I was nervous walking to the railing.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we had reservations in Jasper National Park, which we had to cancel after the devastating fire that destroyed more than half of the town and closed down the park. Because of that, we made last minute reservations in Revelstoke (near the Mount Revelstoke National Park) and in Golden (near Yoho National Park).

We had breakfast at the Hungry Hiker Cafe in Clearwater. After breakfast, I talked to the waitress and she said that the business in the whole community has just about disappeared. Clearwater is on one of the main two roads to Jasper, and since Jasper is closed, only the locals (and tourists like us who didn’t cancel our reservations) are coming to eat.

Backtracking south to Kamloops once again, we got back on the Trans Canada Highway, and headed for Revelstoke. We got there around 4PM and checked into our B&B, The Courthouse Inn, right across the street from, you guessed it, the courthouse. The town of Revelstoke grew up around the Trans-Canadian Railroad. There is even a tourist attraction right out of town where the final spike was driven. Today, it’s a recreation mecca, with the National Park right next door.

Even though it was only a little after 4PM, we were pretty hungry, having skipped lunch. The two recommended restaurants in my guidebook didn’t open until 5PM, so we relied on the recommendations on Google Maps and had dinner at Paramjit’s Kitchen, which specializes in Indian, German, and Thai food. I had chicken schnitzel, and Kathy had Pad Thai. Kathy liked hers, but my schnitzel was just OK. 

Tomorrow morning, we’re going to try to get going by 9AM, and drive the Meadows in the Sky Parkway in Mount Revelstoke National Park. Hope to have some better pictures then.