We continued along Hwy 99 this morning into Whistler. The highway is much improved from a few years ago with a lot more 4 lane sections but there was still a tremendous amount of construction and road work going on. I sure hope they get it all done before the Olympics in 2010.

In Whistler and Blackcomb villages, we did not notice much new construction but on the outer edges of the villages we saw a lot of new accommodation work underway.

One of the interesting features that is visible from Whistler base is the new peak to peak Gondola that appears to connect the top of Whistler mountain to the top of Blackcomb mountain. Apparently this is the longest unsupported gondola traverse in the world. Would love to have a ride on that.

Beyond Pemberton, Highway 99 deteriorates noticeably, into a twisting bouncy blacktop and after a while starts a steep climb that I remember tested out motor home on our last trip to this part of BC. The Tiger did not have any trouble with the climb but the rough surface kept us to moderate speeds. At the high point on the road, winter is still in force with lots of snow on the ground, light snow falling and temperatures of 27-30F.

Down the eastern (northern?) side of the pass we eventually came back beside Duffy lake; it was still covered in snow and seemed frozen solid. Along the roadway there were numerous frozen waterfalls that looked like the limestone structures one sees in caves.

Around 4:30 we found a road side camping spot where Rogers Creek entered the Cayoosh and where it was not covered by feet of snow, only a few inches, and we pulled in for the night. The local forest gave us a good supply of fallen wood which made a camp fire possible. I am thankful, for the bush saw I brought along, on the trip, it makes cutting fire wood easy compared to an axe.

After we had been at the camp site for an hour and the fire was underway a gentleman named Roger pulled up and chatted with us for a while. He was British and had been in Portland at a Quaker conference and was on his way to visit some friends near here.

As I sit outside near the fire in the failing light writing this entry the sky has partially cleared and the crescent moon is making an appearance. Hope that signals clear weather for tomorrow.