GTT Days -2 to 1

August 1 - This is actually Day 1 of the Great Transcontinental Trek but in reality it's our 3rd day since we left home. We spent the extra time here at our first stop in Kettle River Provincial Park visiting with Thom's younger brother and sister-in-law who left for home this morning. Instead of going forward we had to move to our own campsite because we had it already reserved. Oh well. We'll just follow my original itinerary.

 

If you recall, this was going to be our first stop last September too but the area experienced a forest fire and our reservation was cancelled. You can see the results of the fire in the swaths of dead and partially singed Ponderosa pines. The fireweed, true to its name, is filling in with the regrowing grasses and other wildflowers.

 

 

 

 

The bombers with water and fire retardant managed to save the campground and a number of other resorts, farms and businesses nearby but it looks like it was a near thing. At least no human lives were lost. Last year was very bad for fires but this year has been cooler and wetter so much less trouble has occurred in BC.

 

This is a portion of the Kettle Valley Railway Trail that in turn is a part of the much larger Trans Canada Trail system. We four walked along the trail the opposite way yesterday 7km to the little town of Rock Creek for ice cream and 7km back. That was a long way for us! We were happy that we had some cloud on the way back to camp or it would have been even more uncomfortable. It was surprisingly quite cool last night but today the temp went back up to very warm. We've been relaxing and taking it easy since the relatives left but still got a wade in the river and a hot shower before we head out tomorrow on the next leg of the GTT. We'll still be in BC for one more day, aka Province Number One (and counting!)

 

Oh and you remember my little rock buddy Aggie? Look what I found when I was digging in the bottom of the under-seat area to find my beach shoes:

 

 

See the little friend I found for Aggie? We both have absolutely no idea how it got there! We have no idea where he came from or how long he's been down in the nether regions of the storage space. It's not a random rock. The eyes were already there. A mystery for sure! Which I think is going to be his name: Mystery.