Chilliwack Mountain

We got a late start and didn't leave Summerland until 11:00. The 97C was to take us to highway 5 and according to our information, we should have expected a scenic drive with unbelievable mountain and river views. As we climbed through the Cascade mountains up to the Coquihalla pass and along the Coquihalla River we were confronted with a different reality. Mother Nature, from Earth to sky, was cloaked in a uniform of opaque gray smoke. All we could see of her were the faint outlines of mountain faces as evanescent as the hulls of ships sunk in a murky sea.
It was oppressive and disorienting just driving through it. Difficult enough to imagine living under this smoky inferno for any length of time and even harder to comprehend being displaced from your home.

At some point, perhaps due to the mystifying properties of a world perpetually smelling like a campfire, our communications and navigation systems broke down and we got lost. Originally I was hoping to explore the Othello tunnels on the way to Cultus but by the time we got there it was late and we wanted to take full advantage of the twilight rates at the water park. We drove straight to the park and took full advantage of all their rides. We rode the Collosal Canyon, the Twisters and the Blasters. They had a pirate cove and lots of hot tubs for resting between rides. We weren't quite ready for the Valley of Death or the double black diamond Rattler but right at the end I decided to do the Freefall as research for Betwixtia. From the top of the slide, the smoke in the sky had mostly cleared and the peach colored sun seemed close enough to throw a pinecone at.

Back at the Best Western Rainbow Country Inn, 20 minutes down the road on Industrial Way in Chilliwack, the only rainbow I could detect was an olfactory one made up of manure, exhaust and tobacco smoke. Jess and I looked at each other with raised eye brows. The facade looked much more modest in person than it did on the internet. I made a mental note to work on my hotel reservation skills and we retired down a hallway colored in many shades of maroon and beige to room 131. As I briefly pulled back the curtains to reveal the side of a warehouse about 10 feet away I felt happy in the knowledge we had completed another day on the Pearson road trip.Read more