Coquihalla Highway closed between Hope and Merritt, B.C.

Cue Jamie and the guys.

Cue Jamie and the guys.

Cool....... stereo.

The Coq is a Hell of a road, great scenery on all 3 routes, Hope-Merritt(5).....Merritt to Kamloops(5) and Merritt to Kelowna/Summerland(97C). But it can also be deadly!!. I still love the old road that basically ran from Merritt, then along the Coquihalla river valley starting at the old toll booths. It could take me days to make it into Hope. It was closed when the new highway was constructed, but I have heard it is still passable via snow mobile.

True that. The views are a testament to the beauty of BC but the highway is treacherous on any given day. I remember once I was driving from Kamloops to Hope in May and I experienced all four seasons along the way.

It can be a scary highway for sure no matter what time of year you travel on it. The connector between Merritt and Kelowna as well.

All this talk about the Coquihalla highway got me to thinking about how to get out of the GVRD/Vancouver area. What I have come up with are 4 ferry routes heading west and 4 highways heading north/east. I won't worry about southbound as it just takes you right out of the country and into the US of A. It would seem one cannot leave without passing through some of the best scenery in Canada. Taking the Tsawwassen - Swartz Bay route through Active Pass is spectacular. Taking a longer route, drive the Upper Levals highway to take the Horseshoe Bay - Langdale ferry then drive up the Sunshine Coast to take the Earle's Cove - Saltery Bay ferry, drive up to Powell River and take the Powell River - Comox/Courtney ferry to Vancouver Island is also a spectacular trip. Give me a bit and we'll try the four highway routes north and east bound.

Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay is probably the single most beautiful ferry route in the whole world.

Seriously.

Also, the road from Whistler to Lilooet is freaking amazing! Crazy how sometimes you have to stop the car and get out to see the mountaintops on either side of the valley/canyon.

Taking the Sunshine Coast route using the Horseshoe Bay/Langdale, Earle's Cove/Saltery Bay and Powell River/Comox ferries can be just as spectacular as the Swartz Bay route. Give it a try, plan on taking a couple days so you aren't hurried.

I'm sure I've brought this up before but, the Duffy Lake road between Pemberton and Lillooet is 100km long and can easily be driven in an hour and a half, depending on road conditions. Prior to the road being paved, only 2 lanes, I could easily stretch the trip to 3 or easily more days. Just after leaving Lillooet, at Seaton Lake there is a BC Hydro campsite. The BC forest Service maintains 4 free camp sites on the road. Rogers Creek with 14 sites, Gott Creek with 4 sites, Cottonwood with 14 site and Cinnamon with 11 sites. All are on Cayoosh Creek. From Lillooet it is 22 km to Cinnamon and 34 km to Rogers Creek. no matter where you are on this road the scenery is great. The road is only 2 lanes and some of the bridges are narrow, the pavement also isn't the best with frost heaves and just torn up due to the extreme winter weather.

I am pretty sure I have done the stretch in about an hour, but then I was enjoying myself on a motorcycle. The road had been repaved so no frost heaves to unsettle you in the curves.

The Coquihalla is a fun drive especially in winter.

I am pretty sure I have done the stretch in about an hour, but then I was enjoying myself on a motorcycle. The road had been repaved so no frost heaves to unsettle you in the curves.

Doing the Duffy Lake road in a hour on a bike is just a nice, laid back, Sunday afternoon cruise, especially if you're doing it on decent pavement. It is a beautiful road when the pavement is intact, after 2 years you might as well be on a rough gravel backroad with potholes, would be a bitch on a bike.