Time had come to move on from the ranch, and we were up and packed before breakfast. Just as we were loading the car, we had a feline visitor.
Those staying on the ranch were going off on a full day ride, and the girls chatted with Dave beforehand.
Our route took us down a long gravel road to the west of Mount Bowman, which we took steadily, until we reached Kelly Lake - you can see the road in the left of this picture.
From Kelly Lake the road climbed sharply (and roughly). Then we breasted the summit and were rewarded with this view south as we started the (equally steep) descent towards Pavilion.
Leaving Pavilion we had our first close encounter with a train, and diesel hauling just 5 wagons up the Fraser Valley.
Several miles downstream from where we were yesterday, the Fraser still runs through arid countryside.
In Lillooet we refuelled and bought food for lunch, then had another close encounter with a train.
Lunch, just south of Lillooet, was interspersed by several vehicles (pickup, crane and this people carrier) diving up the railway on the other side of the river obviously some works were ongoing.
The road continued to climb
and afforded good views of Seton Lake (part of a major hydroelectric scheme).
The road is called Duffey Lake Road, and this is Duffey Lake.
The land around became more mountainous
As we descended towards Pemberton Meld and I took a short hike to see Lower Joffre Lake
Going in to Pemberton we passed Lillooet Lake
Pemberton had undergone significant development since we were there 3 years ago, hardly recognisable as the same place, so we didn't hang around. We pressed on the 25 miles to Whistler and checked into our hotel - and discovered the Whistler Mountain Bike Festival had just begun! Our walk into the village for supper found bikes everywhere!
Anyway, we had a pleasant supper and walk around, and are now back in the hotel and preparing for bed!