Stoked!

We didn’t get far over the border into Canada. We’d been so busy prepping for the big anti-climax of the border crossing that we hadn’t thought any further than that. Thrust into the radio silence of no phone signal, it was a case of relying on our wits to find somewhere for the night. Otherwise known as trying to find a subtle pull in away from the main road that didn’t have a No Overnight Parking sign.

Don’t mind us, we’ll just skulk over here and hide behind the flowers

For our entire trip so far, we’d been playing tag with smoke from the many wildfires. We had a few oppressively thick days in Tahoe, followed by some intermittent respite in Bend, only to be thrust into smoky grubbiness at the end of our week in Liberty Lake. California to Oregon to Washington, and it didn’t stop there.

I can only imagine that the scenic drive through British Columbia must be quite awesome if you could see it. Our journey north to Revelstoke involved a little ferry ride, although the view left a little to be desired.

The BC fitting right in amongst the big lorries and Cats

Picture this: start with a typical British overcast day where the sky is a homogenous grey-white. The smoky sky is kind of like that, only sometimes brighter, with a red tinge to it instead of grey. No depth or definition, just bland, opaque, disconcerting. Move your eyeline down to the horizon and if you’re lucky, you might make out layers of hazy mountains. At its thickest, the bright smog cloaks and obscures them. Other patches are just misty, but in a foggy ‘where’s my glasses’ way, not a swirling mysterious way.

And then you have the sun. Remember the warnings about not looking directly at the sun? On this occasion you could – it was a perfect circle of muted orange, turning to red as it neared the horizon.

Despite the smokiness, we had a full Sunday to play with before work, and we weren’t going to waste it. We took the gondola up Mount Mackenzie, at which point Darren and I parted ways. Off he went on some crazy downhill mountain bike adventure.

As for me? Didn’t I have a lovely time, I hiked up another 2,000+ feet up the Stoke Climb to Sub Peak, marveling at the wildflowers and wildlife along the way.

The aptly named pink fireweed doing well in the smoke

Good of them to put a sign up, I might have missed the marmots at Marmot Corner

Ground squirrels don’t get their own sign

Above the tree line and the sky was starting to clear up

Heading up to the top – you can actually see where the smoke ends and the normal clouds and blue sky begin

At the top of Sub Peak. Quite proud of myself for climbing above the smoke!

After the breath of fresh air at the top of the mountain, I was horrified to find how much worse it had gotten when I came back down.

The air was almost chewy, thicker than it should be, in a post-apocalyptic way (ever read The Road?). The red tinge had morphed into an orange glow, to the point where we had to check we weren’t actually surrounded by a fire, versus it being hundreds of miles away. Yup, no immediate danger, although I’m sure the air quality index was off the charts.

Had to make sure the bug spray was always to hand

Gloom and doom on our before/after work walks the next few days

Never have I ever been so glad to see rain. I know it’s not really about ‘washing away’ the smoke in the air, but the rain did a pretty good number on hosing down the ash on the truck. And it sure felt like a turning point. For a start, we transitioned from outdoor grilling to indoor one-pots.

I’d been a bit concerned that we wouldn’t even get to see Revelstoke. But as of the next day after the deluge, we were reunited with blue sky and proper clouds, ahhhh.