Ranchlands, Rivers and Lakes
Lillooet and Wells Gray Provincial Park Aug 9-10, 2010
Leaving Squamish through Whistler and heading northeast (on the Tete Jeune or Yellowhead route) through a winding mountain pass to emerge in countryside that appeared to be in drought.
Yellow grasses and absence of living trees was the feature of much of the landscape. The only green oasis was the occasional ranch and the ever present Fraser River. 
We stayed in a lovely hotel in Lillooet. The town is famous for being Mile 0 of the Caribou Goldrush in the 1800’s, about which I managed to learn nothing while we were in town. The town is also interesting in that it gets the extremes of temperatures from minus 40 in winter to plus 40 in summer.
From here we headed to Wells Gray Provincial Park where we camped near Pyramid Mountain. The mountain was formed by a volcanic eruption under a glacier which does not break through the ice, resulting in a cone shaped mountain. 
The Park was beautiful, lush and green surrounding what seemed like hundreds of lakes and waterfalls, including the magnificent and huge Helmcken Falls, 
all ending in the most beautiful Clearwater Lake. Emerald green, crystal clear water surrounded by forested mountain slopes. 
Stunning scenery combined with the warmest weather we have had for some time – bliss. 
We could have stayed a lot longer except for the most ferocious mosquitoes we have experienced so far.
Leaving Squamish through Whistler and heading northeast (on the Tete Jeune or Yellowhead route) through a winding mountain pass to emerge in countryside that appeared to be in drought.
Yellow grasses and absence of living trees was the feature of much of the landscape. The only green oasis was the occasional ranch and the ever present Fraser River. We stayed in a lovely hotel in Lillooet. The town is famous for being Mile 0 of the Caribou Goldrush in the 1800’s, about which I managed to learn nothing while we were in town. The town is also interesting in that it gets the extremes of temperatures from minus 40 in winter to plus 40 in summer.From here we headed to Wells Gray Provincial Park where we camped near Pyramid Mountain. The mountain was formed by a volcanic eruption under a glacier which does not break through the ice, resulting in a cone shaped mountain. The Park was beautiful, lush and green surrounding what seemed like hundreds of lakes and waterfalls, including the magnificent and huge Helmcken Falls, all ending in the most beautiful Clearwater Lake. Emerald green, crystal clear water surrounded by forested mountain slopes. Stunning scenery combined with the warmest weather we have had for some time – bliss. We could have stayed a lot longer except for the most ferocious mosquitoes we have experienced so far.