May 19, 2026 – Whistler to Williams Lake, BC, Canada
We are enjoying seeing northern BC and all its natural wonders and history. From the First Nations who have been here for over 9,000 years, to the trappers, miners, loggers, farmers and also now a large tourism industry. We have left the heavily touristed (and still breathtaking) Whistler/Blackcomb mountains to venture over the rest of the amazing Chilcotin mountain range. We stop in at Lillooet, mile 0 of the 1858 gold rush cariboo trail which brought many non-natives into this region. It is now Highway 97, our main route north. We appreciate each town has its own proud slogan, “Guaranteed Rugged” for Lillooet and “Adventure Begins Here” for Pemberton.
Our adventure started with our daily hike, again to a majestic fall, and then to a history museum, local bakery and winery, and even stopped at the “World’s Largest Skis.” A full day. Tomorrow is a long driving day that we hope to break up with more hikes and hopefully unplanned adventures of our own.
On the Nairn Falls trail – got our daily hike in early near Pemberton Nairn fallsMajestic mountains all around – this one at the end of Duffy LakeMade it up and through the Chilcotin mountain rangeAt the end of the pass was lovely Lillooet in the valleyRV’s seem to outnumber the cars as we venture through very steep mountain passes. You could smell their brakes burning a bit at the rest stop.A wonderful chat with the staff at the Lillooet History museum which is housed in an old Anglican church.Foud out that there are snow shoes for horsesFound out that in 1862, 23 camels were brought to northern BC to be used as pack animals for the gold rush since it is a desert climate. Didn’t go so well for the prospectors or the camels.Here is even a youtube channel about the camels! One we heard of this we are seeing signs of it everwhere – for example, for dinner I just had a “Wondering Camel IPA” from Barkerville breweryAnd that Elderhostel – Siri’s Dad’s type of travel for a few decades – even had a program here to learn about archeology and the gold rushThis is the official “Mile 0” for the gold rush cariboo trail sign across the museumLooking back at Lillooet from Fort Berens winery – a new industry here, they just planted vines in 2008 (both reds and whites), so we had to stop in and do our part to support the local economyA lot of towns are named by the distance from Lillooet on the orignal gold rush cariboo trailThe world’s largest skis! Where are the boots?Finished the day at Williams LakeAnd did a little evening birding too on the nature trails at scout island – saw beavers, deer, a bald eagle, several bird species .. but no scouts
Siri and David Adventures 
Per the “world’s largest skis”…still getting value out of RoadsideAmerica??? 🙂
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what a wonderful trip already
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