Aug 6,7–To Revelstoke and Meadows in the Sky Parkway

Yesterday we made the move east to Revelstoke.

When I planned the trip I should have remembered that everybody would be on the road going home from the long weekend. Between towns it was no problem but getting through Salmon Arm and Sicamous and getting into Revelstoke took some time. Anywhere there was a traffic light created a long backup. This is a lousy out of focus picture but it just reminds me of the conditions.

On the two lane sections I was following a slightly slower RV so I didn’t feel bad about the long line of cars behind (and in front) of me.

On the way me passed by this massive resort called The Three Valley Gap Chateau

Checkout time at most campgrounds is 11 am and checkin is usually 1 pm.  The next place said that they strictly enforce the checkin time. Since the trip would only take 1.5 hours we stopped midway at the Last Spike Historic Site to have lunch and mainly just waste some time.

There is really not much there. They have an old caboose, a gift shop and a section of track and a sledge hammer where you can pretend to hammer in the spike. And this monument.

Around the bottom edge were samples of rocks from each province and territory.

On the side of the gift shop there was s tribute to all the Chinese men that worked on the railway. We did notice that a lot of the people stopping were Chinese. Two tour busses as well.

We are at the Lamplighter campground in Revelstoke. There is a rail line at the back edge of the campground. We are at the front and I didn’t notice much noise last night.

Yesterday we had a tiny trailer in that empty space to the left side of us. Tonight we have another big motorhome so we are feeling much more hemmed in.

Today we went in to Mount Revelstoke National Park and drove to the top of Mount Revelstoke on the Meadows in the Sky Parkway.

The parkway starts just outside of Revelstoke. It is one of the few places that you can drive up to a high alpine area on a smooth paved road. You go from 450 m in elevation in Revelstoke to around 1900 m (about 6200 feet) in 26 km through a lot of switchbacks. It is not usually open all the way to the top until mid July.

Unfortunately it was really hazy today. I am not sure if it is smoke, pollution or just a general haze after so many hot days. Some rain might help but there is only a possibility next Saturday.

There are a lot of viewpoints on the way up but we only stopped at one on the way down. Revelstoke is somewhere down there.

You have to park just short of the summit and then either take a shuttle bus to the top of walk about 1 km and climb about 100 m in elevation. The shuttle is just a big van and a large group was waiting at the stop so we took the Upper Summit Trail.

We did all of the short hikes at the summit and later one of the short ones around the parking lot. We will save the longer hike to Eva Lake for another day.

First up was the short, steep climb to the old fire lookout. You can’t really call it a tower.

I guess there are some mountains over there.

At the South Parapet we could look down to the northwest on Lake Revelstoke, which was created when Revelstoke Dam was put up just north of town across the Columbia River. 

The mountains just to the north of us we much clearer as they were much closer.

We are here at peak wildflower time, which is usually the first few weeks of August.

Jennie had all her netting on. I didn’t notice many mosquitoes but there were lot of large flies that buzzed around us.

The North Parapet. Lots of snowy mountains off in the distance.

And the wide view from another lookout with a more western orientation.

Next up was the Koo Koo Sint Trail. That was the Aboriginal name given to David Thompson, who charted the area in the early 1800’s. It means “The man who looks at stars” because he frequently used his sextant to get his location.

All of the trails are either paved or very smooth gravel. They get used a lot.

A short climb up to another lookout at the end of the loop.

Next was the First Footsteps Trail with some First Nation art and info panels.

First an obelisk with some carvings. I am not sure how old they are.

Then down through a meadow.

The trail looped up and around this hill.

Another viewpoint looking north at the end of the loop.

Behind it was a huge jumble of rocks. Below, the viewpoint is at the left.

We had lunch at this bench.

The photosphere.

Behind us is a large crack in the rocks. It is called The Icebox because down at the bottom there is some snow that is never in the sun and doesn’t melt all summer. The rock wall to the right is probably 30-40 feet tall.

Another photosphere from here.

I have no idea what could have caused the cleft in the rocks. It looked too jagged for water and there was no stream nearby.

Looking back towards Jennie and our lunch spot.

The trail continues up to the rocks above the icebox.

And a higher view of the mountains to the north.

Some art panels.

Back near the start of the loop there was this metal sculpture.

I had read that you should walk the road down to the parking lot because there were supposed to be lot of wildflowers on the roadside. I am not sure if it was better than the trail. Just different.

There are two parking lots. The farthest one is just for cars. The first one is half for RV and half for cars. When we got here around 10 am we got the second last slot in the car lot. When we left the RV and both car lots were full as well as several hundred meters down the side of the parkway. Only small RV’s are allowed up here. It pays to come early.

Before we left we did one more trail from this level. The Eagle Knoll Trail is another short one that climbs to yet another viewpoint. I am not sure if this one was necessary after the others but we wanted to be complete.

We crossed this patchwork meadow of light and dark heather.

To another look down on Lake Revelstoke.

Then back to the car.

And down the mountain to home. It was a nice easy coast in second gear. I only had to brake for the hairpin turns.