Scenic Paradise Found in British Columbia

I stopped and stood on top of what seemed like the edge of the beginning.

Thousands of feet of rainbow-colored earth and rock dropped off below. Vast evergreen hills rolled up to the sky and into blue everlasting. Words like Coldwater Interchange, Dry Gulch Bridge and Great Bear Snowshed cut through my mind.

No, these names weren’t from a dreamscape outer journey. This was real scenery that beckoned and landed me at a rest stop on British Columbia’s new Coquihalla Highway. The strange names were guideposts from the map lying on the front seat of my car.

Quick Getaway

The trip was to be a quick one-week getaway: a 3-hour, 45-minute flight from Los Angeles to Vancouver and about a 100-mile drive to Hope, and the start of a Jeep jaunt over the just-completed first two phases of the Coquihalla.

I headed northeast out of Vancouver. Soon I was driving through flat green acres of vertical poles and horizontal wires supporting sprawling hop vines.

At a gas stop along the way I heard a group of locals asking: “What are they?” I found out that the fertile Fraser Valley is the only place in Canada that has a thriving hops-growing industry.

Hope, the center of visitor attraction and almost unexcelled in British Columbia, is known as the day-tripper’s paradise. Many professional outfitters for fishing and camping, gold panning, canoeing, kayaking and white-water rafting operate out of Hope, or close by.

And, because the origin of Hope goes back to the pioneer and gold rush days of the 1840s, there are more than a dozen historic or scenic sites to while away even a fraction of a day.

I chose history to gamble a few hours, and headed east on Kawkawa Lake Road down to the lush Coquihalla River gorge, to the old Othello-Quintette Railway Tunnels.

Roaring Locomotives

With flashlight in hand I walked through five huge dark tunnels carved out of rock. Through these once roared steam locomotives of the Kettle Valley Railway, owned and operated by the Canadian Pacific Railroad.

(The Kettle Valley served as a link between the Kootenays to the east, and the British Columbia coast until 1959.)

This Coquihalla gorge, where the river rushed and cut a 300-foot channel in granite, was the greatest challenge to the Canadian Pacific when the tracks were being built between 1911 and 1918.

All 38 miles were constructed almost solely by hand, a few horse-drawn scrapers and some powder.

I tramped the railway bridge with a few other train buffs, clinging to the mesh sides of the high-flying suspension bridge (similar to the ones used during the original construction, and rebuilt by Canadian military field engineers in 1985).

Hope is the gateway city to the Coquihalla Highway and, in the opinion of many, one of the most outstanding auto routes in the world.

Designed to make entry into the interior easier, the Coquihalla also ensures improved trucking distribution for British Columbia’s residents, who rely heavily on exporting, and more recently tourism, for income.

Forests and Grasslands

For about three-quarters of the next 71 miles I was winding easily through the mountain forests and grasslands of Boston Bar Creek and the Coquihalla River.

I climbed to the 4,067-foot summit above the sparkling waters of the Coquihalla Lakes, and looked out at the still-primitive beauty of the valleys.

The Minister of Transportation and Highways, Alex Fraser, considers the Coquihalla one of the most challenging engineering projects ever undertaken in North America.

Besides avalanche concerns, raging rivers and rock slides, delicate ecosystems had to be dealt with to protect the environment and wildlife from permanent damage. Three rivers were rerouted, and as many as 10,000 fish were transferred from one river channel to another.

From the summit I followed the Coldwater River (completing Phase I of the highway) to the town of Merritt, my stop-off point for the Quilchena Hotel and Nicola Valley.

“A lake a day as long as you stay” is the slogan for the area. The valley boasts 150 lakes and warm, dry summers. Good fishing abounds.

It’s only a few miles east, off the highway, to the north side of Nicola Lake and Monck Provincial Park, where the v istor can enjoy fishing and camping, swimming, water skiing and sailing.

This high country is so undisturbed by fast times that anywhere you want to go can be a nature walk. You can view Indian pictographs, explore their digs or just take a hike, as I did, and maybe even come face to face with a black bear.

Cool Winters

Winters in the valley are cool and sunny, an ideal area for ice fishing, snowmobiling and some of the best cross-country skiing in North America. A couple of rustic lodges offer cozy cottages with fireplaces, gourmet dining rooms, ski rentals and miles of maintained and marked trails.

The ranching and mining industries played a major part in the history of the Nicola Valley. Tours of giant open-pit copper mines are still available, and the terrain offers, to any enthusiastic rock hound, the possibility of finding priceless gems.

From the moment I pulled my Jeep up beside the antique wagons parked in front of the white Victorian Quilchena Hotel, I felt like a participant in the old cattle days.

Established in 1908 on the south side of Nicola Lake, the historic Quilchena is set in prime meadow land that was formerly used as a polo field for the local gentry.

Everything about the hotel echoes a time when living was in great style. The 14 bedrooms with original washstands and iron beds offer double or twin accommodations. Some have particularly opulent furniture along with nostalgic names such as Senator’s Suite and Ladies’ Parlour.

An old fellow hauled out a banjo as guests gathered beside the grand piano in the main parlor. Soon we were singing “Streets of Laredo” and “Yesterday.” One couple were celebrating their anniversary, there was an Indian back from the rodeo, two gals and a cowboy who was our ranch wrangler.

The Quilchena Hotel and Cattle Co. is the largest working ranch in British Columbia, and is still accommodating guests and offering guided rides. The horses are reliable and well-trained.

Days were spent riding with some of my parlor pals. We even got to learn the wrangler’s trails. On the last day a fistful of us rode to the high rocky butes, past a dusty deserted cabin and mine where you can grab a discarded core sample. Then we galloped through fields bordered by cottonwood trees and a stream.

I watched a bald eagle from the hotel’s complimentary rowboat on Nicola Lake, played its nine-hole golf course--complete with pro shop and licensed clubhouse--and from my bedroom listened to a coyote call through a chilly night.

I continued the final 46 miles (Phase II) of the Coquihalla to my destination, the cosmopolitan city of Kamloops.

I put in only about four hours’ driving time from Vancouver. The huge panorama of mountains and valleys seemed to widen, and the mountains loomed even higher.

As I was driving I felt the surge of Phase III, heading east out of Merritt, the final engineering of the Coquihalla Highway to Peachland in the Okanagan Valley.

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Accommodations in Hope:

Slumber Lodge--indoor pool, sauna, in-house movies. Single, $36 to $55 Canadian (about $28-$43 U.S.); double, $40-$60. For reservations, write to 250 Fort St., Hope, B.C., Canada VOX 1LO, phone (604) 732-4200.

Swiss Chalets Motel--alpine chalets (some with fireplaces and housekeeping). Single, $35-$52; double, $38-$56. Box 308, Hope, B.C., Canada VOX 1LO; (604) 869-9020.

The Alpenhaus restaurant in Hope serves schnitzel, steak, seafood, pizza and pasta. For homemade, ranch-style food try the Cariboo restaurant, 271 Wallace St., in the heart of town.

For more information on Hope, write to the Hope District Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 370, Hope, B.C., Canada, VOX 1LO.

Accommodations in the Nicola Valley:

Quilchena Hotel--prices from $40 for twin and double to $50 for double, three-, and four-person accommodations. A three-bedroom ranch house for four is $65; for six people it’s $75.

It costs $12 for full RV hookup.

Horseback riding is $10 an hour. Golf fees from $7 (9 holes, weekdays) to $9 (weekends). Write to Quilchena, B.C., Canada VOE 2RO; (604) 378-2611.

A P Ranch--riding and pack trips, fishing, skiing and winter sports at a preserved Western homestead. Prices include authentic chuck-wagon meals served family style.

Special family rates and child care. From $55 a day lodging to $85, including riding for one adult and riding instruction. Write to Box 1148, Merritt, B.C., Canada VOK 2BO; (604) 378-6520.

Corbett Lake Country Inn--fishing, riding, cross-country skiing. Housekeeping cottages and lodge rooms overlook the lake in a forest setting. Ski rentals. Double, $45-$63. Write to Peter McVey, Box 327, Merritt, B.C., Canada, VOK 2BO; (604) 378-4334 (closed April and November).

In the Nicola Valley try the Canada Cafe, 2055 Quilchena Ave., Merritt, for a home-cooked Chinese smorgasbord lunch or weekend dinner.

For more information on Merrit and the Nicola Valley, write to the Merritt Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 1649, Merritt, B.C., Canada, VOK 2BO.