The Gates of Hell

'Surely we have passed through the gates of Hell' - So said Simon Fraser when navigating the narrow canyon on the Fraser river now called Hell's Gate.

Hell's Gate is way past Hope, BC - a bit before Boston Bar, BC - out in the middle of nowhere along the Trans-Canada Highway. That was our destination for today. Courtesy of Groupon. This week Groupon had an offer for Hell's Gate scenic trams. Two tickets and a pound of fudge for just $30. What a deal. I snagged it and off we went for our Sunday adventure.

As usual, I packed a picnic lunch filled with all our favorites, cheese, crackers, wine, and other assorted yummy snacks. The scenery along the Fraser river was rugged, untamed and beautiful. We stopped at many of the pull-outs to appreciate the magnificence of the view.

Just before the Saddle Mountain tunnel Peter spied a gravel road leading down to the river and with the excited statement of "Oooh, a ROAD!" off we went. I believe calling this cow path a road was being generous. It was part gravel and part pavement and the pavement was about 8 inches higher than the gravel. The "road" leaned to the left and leaned to the right. We passed First Nations People (the Canadian equivalent of Native American) camping, fishing for salmon and reading Archie Comic books. We followed that excuse for a road all the way to the end. While Peter was taking photos I was hanging out at the car when the car just quit.  It was dead.   It wouldn't restart.   The temperature was about 85, We were in another country, we had no cell service and our car was broken.  Peter went for help and I opened a bottle of wine and waited.  It was an important job!  I mean..  SOMEONE had to keep the car safe from marauding racoons!  At least the scenery was nice to look at from my blanket on the ground.  Fortunately Peter found Jim (on of the the salmon fisherman) with jumper cables and a willingness to lend a hand.

Once we got going we decided to bravely plod on to Hell's Gate, while cleverly staying off any roads that would lead us into complete isolation.  Fortunately the car did not experience any additional malfunctions.

Hell's Gate has an AirTram that takes you from way up here to wayyyyyyy down there.  Down there has a suspension bridge, a restaurant, gift shop, view points, candy shop, gold mining demonstration and lots of touristy things.

 

Going back takes you from way down here to way up there...

 

This is the narrowest part of the Fraser River and the water runs swift and deep.  It roils about treacherously.  They have river rafting tours that go down this part of the river.  I think I'd like to try that.  Maybe.  Maybe not.

On our way home we decided to stop at a scenic by-way (not too far off the beaten path) and finally have our picnic and what was left of the wine.  Before we found the perfect picnic spot we passed a pasture full of Llamas.  We stopped to admire them and just happened to meet their owner, Hugh.  Hugh was a very nice man who spent quite a bit of time with us talking about them and showing us Alice, a 3 week old cria.  He showed Peter how he trims their hooves and he sold me a bunch of Llama fiber and has offered to sell us a llama as well, when we're ready.  He has 12 and says it's really time to thin it down a little. 

Oh what a busy day it's been.  Tomorrow I have to take the car to the shop and start processing fiber.  It will be busy as well.