Our original plan was to drive from Clearwater to Lillooet via Kamloops. Our host in Valemount suggested a different, more scenic route. So we took Highway 24 via Fort Mills instead.

This route takes you along many beautiful lakes. The first one we stopped at for coffee was Lac de Roches. What a view for a roadside pullout!

From Highway 24 we turned South onto Highway 97, the Cariboo Highway, which took us through the amazing wide flat and wooded areas of the Cariboo region.

We got a fantastic view of the surrounding area as we pulled out at Mount Begbie Lookout. An old fire watch station that was built in the early 20th century to watch for wild fires it is now discontinued as watch station but remaines as historic landmark (along with new cell towers). From the lookout you can walk around a veranda overlooking just under nine million hectares of land on a clear day.

Meanwhile the temperatures have gone up to 35 degrees. It is already hard to believe that just a few days ago we would be standing on ice fields with down jackets and scarves.

Once we left the Cariboo region around Mount Begbie and started on Highway 99 (the scenic route to Whistler as a sign mentioned) the area got drier with every kilometer we drove.

With the exception of a few smaller lakes like Turquoise Lake where we stopped for picnic lunch the mountains are brown and dusty.

Once you reach Fraser River at the Fountain Indian Reserver you feel like a character in a Western movie.

Just about ten kilometers further the trees start coming back and you reach the small town of Lillooet where we stopped for the night.

We started a washing machine at the hotel as we were almost running out of clothes and then drove to the „Lillooet Brewing Company“ for an early dinner.