So I went for a drive to Chilcotin (1 Viewer)

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I figured there might be some interest in this trip. I took the ferry to Bella Coola, the a very long drive back to Lillooet along the FSR back roads. In total my odometer read 1800 kms from Pt Hardy to Vancouver. I had reset it I Pt Hardy. I've not worked out the total fuel consumed yet, I'll add that in a bit.
The ferry trip was a two stage affair, Pt Hardy to Bella Bella, then change boats and on to Bella Coola. This change of boats is from midnight to 2 am. The fancy 2009 built ferry I boarded in Pt Hardy is a modern marvel, it's a 5.5 hr trip. The ferry for the remaining 10 hrs to Bella Coola is a single open deck built in the 60's?? I didn't get pictures of it, I just wanted to get off it. This pic is sitting in line waiting for the big ferry to leave, then out of the darkness the other ship docked. We just crawled into our bags in the back of the cruiser and crashed.

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We arrived in Bella Coola full of free coffee at noon and not wanting to waste around we left town almost immediately.
My Koolatron had quit working ( first day, after 15 yrs? bummer) so we iced it up and headed for 'The Hill"
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Ever since I read about the construction of that road from Bella Coola to Anahim, I've wanted to drive it. is it as crazy of a road as they say? I've heard of people coming from Williams lake and taking the ferry back out of sheer terror.
 
My dad used to drive that road back in the 70's/80's.
I remember him talking about the road to bella coola, driving a decent sized truck , and staring at his sideview mirror the whole time, keeping it a few inches from the cliff wall because he didn't want to look at the dropoff on the other side ...:lol:
 
Ever since I read about the construction of that road from Bella Coola to Anahim, I've wanted to drive it. is it as crazy of a road as they say? I've heard of people coming from Williams lake and taking the ferry back out of sheer terror.

It's just a road...BTW, I found a couple of roads along the Fraser Canyon that were by far more steep and intimidating. The price of the ferry will drive them back!
 
So we went through Tweedmuir and then down a FSR to a little lake called Hotnarko Lk. Forgive me if I get the names wrong, as I'm
in Texas at work, and didn't bring my mapbook with me. There are lots of little lakes around the whole Chilcotin, but my findings were that
a lot of them were cattle ponds, and there was a lot of contamination. Still beautiful though!

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well thats good to hear, a lack of confidence in their driving abilities i'd say then
 
Thanks for the write up! Nice looking cruiser too!!

It is a great trip - I have driven highway 20 out to Bella Coola many times. I find "the hill" not too bad going up...coming down I have wigged out a bit on occasion...there is one section that gets me when the rocks of the bank push you way out and the road on the cliff side is showing lots of past erosion and the road is only *this* wide...haven't taken the 42 out there lately...hmmm maybe next year. The Chilcotin is great cruiser country!
 
Tatlayoko Lake

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I'll see if I can put up a few more pics. I am curious to see if the panorama photo's I took will load.
 
Somewhere out there -

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I'll try a couple more here. Won't take the panorama pics, too bad.
 
Incredible photo's Jon! Absolutely love that one at Tatlayoko Lake. That is calendar material. Keep them coming.
 
Ah, here is your trip! Looks like a good time at that camp, steaming stove!
Two-people trip?

yeah, I took my brother along. He is easy going, and needed a break from work. That night we had ribeye steak from the grill and
pasta. I prefer to travel later in the year, there was no other people. We owned every campsite we stayed at.
 
Hi Glenn, obviously not using POS Apple 5 phone camera! I'm going back next year too, but later on. Still working schedule out
with office. I'm going to try for a run to Yukon first. I'll be leaving in Sept I hope.
 

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