Route 99

This is Route 99 about halfway between Vancouver and Route 97, the road that eventually becomes the Alaska-Canada Highway. At this point I'd driven for miles without seeing another human.

What I began to feel the further north into Canada I rode was just how utterly tiny I was. Sure, I feel pretty insignificant next to the Empire State Building too, but this was different. It was more of a feeling that humans were totally meaningless here. Oh, we could bring in armies of loggers and bulldozers and turn the place into an enormous parking lot in a generation or two if we really wanted to, but you could tell that we hadn't so much as made more than a dent there so far. I think that's incredibly cool. It is, however, a little daunting knowing that if you totally blow that next turn and go over the edge, your body might not be found - ever.

The high point was riding along next to Duffy Lake, a pristine greenish-blue lake adjacent to 99 about 30 miles from Pemberton. It was so clean looking, just like all the water I saw up there. It blows you away to have rivers and streams, lakes and even waterfalls just everywhere up there, often within a few feet of the road, that look like you could safely dip a glass into them without fear. They even smell fresh!

Note, by the way, that Route 99 is a pretty major highway up in BC. From Vancouver, there are really only two highways north and this is one of them (the road less traveled, in this case). Yet on at least a half a dozen occasions I came upon one lane wooden bridges that I had to cross, once having to yield to the vehicle coming from the other direction that had the right of way. The only other place I've ever had to do that was Costa Rica, and I think their bridges were concrete!

Ahhh, and the air - so crisp and clean you just wanted to gulp it down. After breathing in nothing but the crap that's floated across from New Jersey over the years, this was like, well, a breath of fresh air.

Sorry.

Anyway, 99 was a great introduction to what I'm going to be immersing myself in over the next couple of weeks riding to, through, and from Alaska. I can't wait. I only wish it hadn't been raining around Whistler, since that made me focus more on the road than on enjoying the scenery. Perhaps this is yet another place I'll have to come back to someday...?