6/30/19 - Day 2 - Sea to Sky Highway

We were pleasantly surprised this morning to wake up to blue sky. We could see some of the peaks toward the west which we didn't suspect were there due to yesterday's clouds. After leaving camp, we backtracked a kilometer to take a quick stroll  to see Shannon Falls (third largest falls in Canada). Wow, crowded already at 9AM! Many different languages were heard amongst the other travelers.
Back on the Sea to Sky Highway, our goal for the day... get over the pass and to Cache Creek. This was definitely a scenic drive although crazy busy in the Whistler area, and further on, the Geoffy Lake area. Most of the road is a winding two lane mountain road. Very few passing lanes, periodic turnouts, and gorgeous views around every corner. There were a number of places that had 13% road grade (that's pretty steep) and 20 kmh hairpin corners (that's 12 mph, for non-metric folks). It was a great test for our truck. The truck's exhaust brake was really great for the steep grades. We smelled many other cars going by us with the distinct odor of smoking brakes! 
When we travel it is always interesting to see how quickly the landscape changes! We started our day in a wet marine forest, which changed to an alpine forest, which changed to a dry pine forest, which changed to dry sagebrush, which changed to eroded sedimentary hills, and now we are back in a moderately dry Doug Fir forest (about 25 miles north of Cache Creek). All of these changes took place in less than 200 miles. (Pat just noted, "We haven't traveled very far yet!")
Tomorrow we head on north to check out the "Gold Rush Circle Route".

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