All You Could Hope For

Leaving Three Valley Gap early in the morning, I thought I could make Revelstoke plus the climb up and over Revelstoke Dam.

Revelstoke proved possible despite Kai Nani being blown into a rock barricade by a passing logging truck that got a little too curious and a harrowing transit of the bridge over the Columbia when approaching Revelstoke  from the west. The  climb to the dam in the rain proved too much. I camped and left the final push over the dam for the next morning.

Good thing come to those who wait and this was no exception. The next day was spectacular and Lake Revelstoke was all that anyone could ask for. The Columbia River, now Lake Revelstoke and Kinibasket Lake, I desperately wanted to be highlights. Thompson spent years in the Columbia Valley and I was looking forward to soaking as much of it in as possible while passing through.

The climb made for a late start that turned into a leisurely day complete with company. I got a guided tour of the lake near the dam plus maps all the way to Mica Creek.



Late starts translate to late finishes and 7pm saw me pushing for Mars Creek. Apparently, Elon Musk hasn’t been there or bought it (yet).

For the life of me, I cannot understand how such a place, steeped in history and imbued with a beauty that leaves you slack-jawed and wordless, can be so utterly empty. Thousands upon thousands live a handful of miles south yet for all the world, they may as well be on another. Like, say, Mars.