Clearwater to Blue River

What’s with this weather? A temperature of 7 degrees again this morning. Everyone keeps talking about the heat wave we missed a couple of weeks ago. We did see the sun briefly this morning (and optimistically applied sunscreen), but then it showered and showered some more and for the last 20 kilometres it poured. We continued to follow the North Thompson river and CN railway (and the Kinder Morgan pipeline). We stopped at the Raft River and read about the history of the Simpcu People (part of the Shuswap Nation) and their relationship to salmon and the Raft River. The Simpcu are still using traditional sustainable practices in harvesting salmon.
From a tip from the cyclist we met Saturday, we stopped at the Log Inn Pub in Avola, which boasts “Worlds Famous Burgers”. We did the try the veggie burger and it was pretty good.
The road was fairly flat until 18kms past Avola, when there was a steep climb up to Messiter Summit (765 metres). From there to Blue River it was mostly downhill (which was just as well, as this is when it was pouring!) As we approached Blue River we got our first glimpses of the snow-covered Rockies.
We checked in to the Blue River Motel – another gem found through Trip Advisor that we would never have known about from the highway.

Wildlife sightings today: two bears and two moose.

We remain on the traditional territory of the Shuswap Nation