Canada — heading home

Friday, September 7, 2018

They say you should leave a place before you get bored with it, while you still want more of it.  Well, I sure wanted more of this part of British Columbia.  But it was time to head home, back across the border to the south.

My friends Mark & Robin were going home today too.  We spent this last morning hitching up our trailers to our trucks, stowing all the stuff of RV living so it was safe for traveling, checking trailer lights and brakes, etc.  We continued to chat and banter with each other during that process.

Earlier in the week, one of them had commented on the wildflowers in among the trees around our two campsites.

And I think it was Robin who noticed that some of the grass was being flattened at night (photo below).  We began to check out the surrounding woods after dark.  I think it was the second night we were there that we discovered several deer hovering a safe distance away from us.  I bet they didn’t like that we had invaded their space.  I don’t blame them.  I wouldn’t like it if some stranger came into my house and slept right next to my bed!

On my final walk through the campground, I noticed the rock art below.  It was about three feet tall.  I thought it was pretty clever.

With a final wave to Mark & Robin, and a final wave to Logan Lake, I was on my way down the road … heading back towards the Coquihalla Pass … with my trailer in tow behind me.  This time I was prepared for the stunning scenery and had my camera at hand.

I took lots of photos from the truck, but it’s so difficult to get photos of great expanses of mountains from a moving vehicle.  Every turn in the road brought a new spectacular view.  (Click on photos to enlarge them.)

There were several “Runaway Lanes” on the Coquihalla.  A small car losing its brakes might be able to slow down and stop by running along the side of the road.  But a semi would simply barrel on down the road faster and faster.  The right hand lanes on Runaway Lanes are not paved, but are deep, loose gravel designed to slow and stop a run-away semi truck.  It used to be that air brakes APPLIED the brakes of a semi … so if a semi lost its air supply, then it had no brakes.  But today, the opposite is true, air brakes are used to hold OFF the brakes … so if a semi loses its air supply, then semi truck brakes are now applied automatically, fast!  The driver better be wearing a seatbelt!  But still, if part of that system fails and a semi still loses its brakes, these Runaway Lanes would save lives.  These Runaway Lanes were about 1000 feet long (300 meters), much longer than they look in the photo above.

In southern Oregon, in the Siskiyou Pass, I once saw a semi truck/trailer at the very extreme far end of one of these emergency escape ramps with its tires completely buried in gravel.  I thought about the speed and force it must have taken for that semi truck and trailer to travel that far in that deep gravel … and I thought about how grateful that truck driver must have been for that escape ramp.  It is absolutely critical to keep vehicle and trailer brakes in the best working condition possible, whether the vehicle is a 40 TON semi rig or a pickup truck with a travel trailer behind it or even a small car.  The instructions that came with the electric brake system on my travel trailer say to check the operation of the emergency breakaway cable before every outing … I do that!

Ok, enough scary stuff.  🙂

Let’s get on down this mountain pass!

The Coquihalla Highway is surrounded by layer after layer after layer of gorgeous, breath-taking mountains.

I stopped after the pass in a rest area for a breather and pulled in alongside these four friendly big sisters and brothers (massively huge log trucks).  I felt like I was in excellent company, and I think my little rig did too.

I crossed the border into the USA with no problems and headed on home.  What a great trip!  I’d like more please. 🙂