Road Trip Canada - to Revelstoke
A wonderful stop in Kelowna, trespassing in Sicamous, and driving up Mount Revelstoke
Heading to the Rockies via Kelowna is a good call - it’s just a short drive from my start point of Merritt on BC 5A and 97C. While the city is modern and its buildings are fairly generic, it’s about the location. It is in the Okanagan Valley - full of wineries (over a hundred, apparently) and orchards - and on the shores of the 135 km long Okanagan Lake. I first encounter West Kelowna, which is relatively peaceful - a dog park, watersports, some kids diving.
Crossing the lake, as I enter the city, there’s a big green park on the left. I park up the street somewhat and end up spending most of the day here. First, coffee and a brilliant chocolate croissant.
The city is buzzing - it’s Canada Day, and as I wander the streets, I can hear a lot of activity on the waterfront and see a lot of people coming to and fro. There are several stages for musicians, an official area for speeches and (I wish I had found it) a food festival. A lot of people are carrying sticks - obviously new because they have labels on them - about the length of a short walking stick and made from dowel about the diameter of a broomstick. I am not able to find out why. I’m sticking around until dinner time, so allow myself a drink at the Beer Institute: it sounds officially sanctioned!
I have to say, Kelowna has made brilliant use of its lakefront - instead of it being closed off by businesses or housing, there’s a lengthy public park.
It’s really hot, so when I find a street running towards the lake lined with cafés, bars and fast food outlets, I take another beer - it is Canada Day, after all. By about 6, I head to Yuzu Bowl and Bistro for dinner, just a simple beef teriyaki.
Heading away, I have no idea where I’ll be sleeping tonight. I go north, up the lake, then alongside a river and Mara Lake - as night falls, it is really quite splendid.
I find myself in a place called Sicamous - there’s a buzz going on here, so I pull on to a side street just off the main street so I can wander. I’m back inside when I hear the fireworks - it’s just a short burst, so I don’t get to see any. But since no-one seems to care that I am parked less than 100 metres from the main street, that’s where I stay. In the morning, it is just a 3 minute walk to the Anvil Coffee Collective, where the coffee is really good.
Looking around, Sicamous is really small - just over 2,500 residents, with a handful of businesses on the main street. The thing that this town is known for is being the houseboat capital of Canada - logical as it is on the narrows between two lakes. I only have a short drive after leaving Sicamous, because I’m booked into an RV park in Revelstoke.
It’s on the western edge of the Rockies, and is a railway town - it was the main depot for building the railway going east. Fun fact - they started the railway at both sides of the Rockies without actually knowing how they’d get through. There was a lot of political pressure to build it anyway, to create a barrier to US railways who wanted to come north and claim parts of BC and Alberta as US territory. As it happens, the connection was made by some spiral tunnels allowing a traverse of otherwise impossible ground.
I immediately like the feel of Revelstoke - it has about 8,500 residents, with a compact town centre of just a few blocks. I have a coffee and do what I stopped for - drive the Meadows in the Sky Parkway. It’s a National Park but I don’t have to pay, because they are all free for about six weeks. This park was started in 1914 - locals had been clambering up Mount Revelstoke through the tree line and finding a wonderful alpine meadow. This led to a road being put in to just short of the summit. Here’s Revelstoke through the trees.
There’s a fire lookout at the summit, and mostly great views - although the trees are growing and, apparently, can’t be trimmed because its a national park. I don’t actually see any meadows, but it might not be the right time of year for flowering.
Although Revelstoke has a couple of craft breweries (Rumpus and Mt Begbie), I go to the Craft Bierhaus when I see they do barbecue. The smoked brisket smells fantastic but has run out, so I settle for some delicious smoked sausages.
[This is July 1 and most of July 2 - there’s been a slight pause in posting as i went visiting. Distance travelled from Vancouver 745 km]
Cheers!