It starts gently enough, a good wide road on high ground passing dry hills and pine trees and the occasional cattle ranch or hay farm. 
We crossed the Fraser river at the Chilcotin bridge, a rusting metal bridge replacing a much older and closer to the river bridge. 
Familar green road signs indicate the highway's length and the few settlements dotted along it. 
I can barely bring myself to even use the word settlement as some of these are no more than 1 general store - that's it - no houses, not even a gas station. 
The largest of these was definitely Redstone, a native reserve sprawled along the highway, introduced with a graveyard of ancient and weather worn wooden crosses toppling over each other along the side of the road. At regular and various intevals anew such cross would appear festooned with plastic floral wreathes, indicating a recent road fatality. As many of these sat along a completely flat and obstacle-free zone one can only imagine alcohol had a place in the accident.
We crossed the Fraser river at the Chilcotin bridge, a rusting metal bridge replacing a much older and closer to the river bridge. Familar green road signs indicate the highway's length and the few settlements dotted along it. 
I can barely bring myself to even use the word settlement as some of these are no more than 1 general store - that's it - no houses, not even a gas station. The largest of these was definitely Redstone, a native reserve sprawled along the highway, introduced with a graveyard of ancient and weather worn wooden crosses toppling over each other along the side of the road. At regular and various intevals anew such cross would appear festooned with plastic floral wreathes, indicating a recent road fatality. As many of these sat along a completely flat and obstacle-free zone one can only imagine alcohol had a place in the accident.It wasn't long (4 hours isn't long is it?) before we reached Nimpo Lake which was practically a metropolis with a gas station, a bakery and auto repair (eat cinnamon buns while you wait for your muffler), a couple of rugged fishing resorts and general store. It even had a post office for crying out loud.
Due to the economic downturn this well-run fishing lodge was running on practically empty and we were lucky to snag a two bedroomed cabin with a perfect view of the lake. 
We enquired as to the possiblity of taking a seaplane (my early birthday present - thanks Mom and Dad), a little worried at the white caps on the lake and the wind gushing through the trees. It was cold too. I had seen online before we left home that it was expected to get down to 0 degrees, with high winds, and perhaps rain and even snow flurries, so had added a sweater and my down vest to my bag and I was very glad I had. It was hard to believe that it could be so in late June, but history has taught me to respect the dictates of The Weather Network.
We enquired as to the possiblity of taking a seaplane (my early birthday present - thanks Mom and Dad), a little worried at the white caps on the lake and the wind gushing through the trees. It was cold too. I had seen online before we left home that it was expected to get down to 0 degrees, with high winds, and perhaps rain and even snow flurries, so had added a sweater and my down vest to my bag and I was very glad I had. It was hard to believe that it could be so in late June, but history has taught me to respect the dictates of The Weather Network.After some discussion with pilots who were in mid-flight, and who paused in a slightly ominous manner when asked how the conditions were, we were told to try back at 4pm.
Which we did. We're both good that way, doing what we're told. We sat and read the paper and frequently went out on the deck, the door slamming behind us, the wind howling down the stove pipe and pounding along the roofline, clouds shaped like perfect anvils sitting heavily like a gray spectre of death, and we'd say things like "I think it's brightening up". Optimistic when we really, really want something. and we really wanted this.
Up until 4pm the highpoint was seeing a Beaver take off (that's an aircraft, not an animal hurled into the air in the storm) making us feel it might be possible for a Cessna (secretly we hoped there'd be other optimists who wanted to fly as well, as the Beaver is a larger aircraft and would not be used for only us)
At 3:59pm we fought against a wall of wind up to the office, where we waited like children before Santa. Delight of delights - Dwayne the pilot came in and said, "Sure we can go up. It will be bumpy but you look like you can handle it!" (at that point we did wonder if having had a bowl of bean and bacon soup for lunch had been such a good idea after all).
I got to sit up front (birthday girl's perks) and we moved across the lake before revving up and juddering against the waves. 
A very quick and easy take-off and we were off, heading towards Tweedmuir Park and its wall of mountains. We flew over pine forests and saw even more clearly than along the road the devatation the pine beetle had wrought - brown trees outnumbering green ones.
I got to sit up front (birthday girl's perks) and we moved across the lake before revving up and juddering against the waves. 
A very quick and easy take-off and we were off, heading towards Tweedmuir Park and its wall of mountains. We flew over pine forests and saw even more clearly than along the road the devatation the pine beetle had wrought - brown trees outnumbering green ones.It was a bit bumpy, but then I'd always been fond of roller coasters and such so quite happily felt the stomach lurch at intervals.
Hunlen falls joins the water from one lake to that of a second lake, 853 feets below. 
We circled it a couple of times to try to get a photo that was more about the falls and less about the bumping plane, before heading south towards Monarch Mountain (BC's second highest peak after Mount Waddington) and its glaciers. These slow moving rivers of ice are spectacular, especially when you see how they've carved themselves along the mountainside. From directly above they seem to have the texture of elephants' skin, and they sparkle in the sun. 
Several lakes with the unmistakable hue of a glacier lake shone like seaglass and jade as we turned along one valley into another, bouncing along as the cold air flowed out from the glaciers directly into us. At one point I just watched the sky above us, clouds scudding past as the propellor cut through.
Our trip back to Nimpo Lake was just as lovely and it was hard to imagine a more perfectly smooth landing on the lake. 
Hunlen falls joins the water from one lake to that of a second lake, 853 feets below. 
We circled it a couple of times to try to get a photo that was more about the falls and less about the bumping plane, before heading south towards Monarch Mountain (BC's second highest peak after Mount Waddington) and its glaciers. These slow moving rivers of ice are spectacular, especially when you see how they've carved themselves along the mountainside. From directly above they seem to have the texture of elephants' skin, and they sparkle in the sun. 
Several lakes with the unmistakable hue of a glacier lake shone like seaglass and jade as we turned along one valley into another, bouncing along as the cold air flowed out from the glaciers directly into us. At one point I just watched the sky above us, clouds scudding past as the propellor cut through.Our trip back to Nimpo Lake was just as lovely and it was hard to imagine a more perfectly smooth landing on the lake. Now that was a memorable day!
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