Mount Begbie Lookout, British Columbia, CanadaDriving to the Cariboo Region
Duffey lake viewpoint
This morning we started out with some
more rain and as we headed down the highway we saw some low clouds hanging in
the mountains but even better we did see a lot of snow-packed peaks. Mandy was super
cute this morning as she sat for a long time on top of Paul’s seat rest and
looked around – I mean I was really wondering on how comfortable it was. After
the mountains we came by beautiful Pavillon Lake. After driving for a while we
reached duffey Lake and stopped at the boat ramp. It was gorgeous as the sun
came out: and we were not the only RV’s here – looks like all the other ones
stopping here are the tourists with their rentals…
Crossing the river over a super cool
bridge
As we followed afterwards the river,
we saw a super cool bridge – so Gine said: let’s turn around, and we did
surprisingly found a spot 2 km down the road where we could easily turn. The
bridge was like a suspension bridge with super thick logs – not a lot of
railing and if you looked down the water was going super fast – it was one of
those little gems.
Smoking brakes downhill towards Seton
Lake
Slowly the rain gets less – the hills
get greener and the air feels warmer and we are heading down and down and
down…. Until at one time we were wondering if the RV before us has smoking
brakes – as it can’t be ours as we have new ones… Gine said we stop here at the
Seton Lake and make sure it was the RV in front of us. And as we step out smoke
comes out of the brakes on Gine’s side… Paul said maybe it is because the
brakes are so new????? We decided to stop for a bit and let everything cool
down and enjoy during that time the view on the lake. We then continued on
through Lileot and Gine always had the window a bit open and made sure we don’t
smell anything… but then we didn’t go down a lot anymore as we were slowly
heading through the dry area: amazing views – desert style mountains and
canyons – falling apart little houses – areas where the trees once were burned
down – (I may should mention we drove here several times before, but it was
always in the summer and then there is no green at all not like at the moment).
Beautiful as always, but so far we came here before.
Coffee at a lake rest area
It’s 3 o’clock and we drive by a lake with
picnic tables: Gine said we stop here and we will have coffee at the lake, as
per Paul it was not the most idyllic place as it was right at the highway: but
it was in the sun and warm with Lake view – really what do we want more. I may
should mention that Mandy even it is only day 2 is getting really good with
moving around: we open the windows from the back and say Mandy come and she
comes over into the camper. As the first two times we kind of had to give her a
bit a push to go back to the front, this time she was sitting in front of the
window and as soon as Gine opened it, she went through and into the truck…. Wow
I think she is really a camper cat.
Is Clinton a town???
- This is the gateway to the ccariboo: today it has a real name once upon a time it was the 47 Mile house or the junction
We continued on and came by a lot of
little lakes (by the way as per Paul they are not lakes, they are ponds). Ok,
so there are street signs with the town name – that means it is a town correct?
Actually it is a big intersection and you have 2 gas stations with each a
little store inside – no real supermarket here. But a lot of little farms along
the road. We did stop soon after at a rest area with toilets and an amazing
view.
Straight north on the highway:
as we continue north it is like one
long straight highway – trees on the side, no mountains, no hills and a lot of
little “lakes” along side the road, sometimes you have the feeling, that they
built the road through the lake.
The General Store / Supermarket was
already announced like 10 km beforehead – but it is not that big, as you don’t
get fresh buns or tomatoes here… so we decided we do with what we have and
continue on: I mean it does look a bit historic.
Supper at Mr Begbie Lookout Rec site
This is one of those informal
campsites, it is the parkinglot for the trail, but you can stay up to 14 days
here. Setting up and we started to clean out the truck and re-organize a few
things as the sun is shining and it is beautiful to be out here. Paul was not impressed as we are the only
people “camping” here. Gine tried to convince Paul to walk up on Mount Begbie
but Paul rather enjoyed the sun, so Gine went up and it is super amazing you
are at an old fire lookout and you can see over endless forest of the Cariboo
region – unbelievable on how many trees we have.
By now Mandy also was more curious and
looked out into the sunshine – as it was nearly 6 o’clock we brought out the
BBQ and could have supper in the sunshine – finally I think summer is here.
- By the way I am at 1276m above sea level
- In case you were not aware but BC has a lot of old fire-look outs with some of the most amazing views
- In 1923 417 Dollars got invested to built this lookout: at the beginning it was a personal lookout with someone being here and checking then came the lightning strike technology and aerial patrols. They started in the morning took their binoculars and then checking for smoke, twice a day they had radio communication. When they saw the smoke they would determine where it is
- On a clear day you can see 9 Mill hectar of forest
- Judge Begbie from Britain was the first judge of the colony BC – he brought law and order to the mining camps during the gold rush
100 Mile Municipal Campground
Paul said he is not so sure if being
all alone near the highway is such a good thing, and so after supper we packed
up and drove another 15 Min to 100 Mile – the evening light was amazing as we
drove further north. On the campground we were so close to the river that it
was super to have the door open and listen to the sound of the water.
And we are very close to the town – as
tomorrow we want to get our brakes checked!!!!
Can we continue on???
After a night of rain – lucky for us
it stopped when we were ready to go… our first stop was at the car shop: guess
what it is closed they cut trees – ok on to the next: guess what it got sold –
so we ended up at the Dodge Dealer and talked with a really super cool Mechanic
there: he said since 2007 Dodge put in Exhaust breaks, as the weight of nearly
10.000 pounds is hard to handle especially as a Diesel doesn’t throttle and
then all is on the front breaks. (Haha no we rather go slowly down a hill then
get a 3000 Dollar Exhaust break). He said keep an eye on it, otherwise we could
come back in the afternoon and he can have a look. Paul then called Keans and
we decided to go on with our trip.
100 Mile house main attraction
Last night the guy at the campsite
told us about the main tourist attraction of the town the walkway to the
waterfalls, we did stop at the Centennial Park which has some cute benches
along the river and then we walked to the falls – over two cute little bridges
and I’m sure we saw the waterfall at it’s best: it was really super cool – we
were glad we stopped.
2025-05-22