2012/08/01 to 03 - Monashee, Selkirk and Cascades

[Veritable]

What do those names have in common? They are the 3 mountain ranges that crosses the border between Southern British Columbia and Northern Washington. Paved roads across mountain ranges make for excellent drives with awesome scenery, perfect for a 3 days trip in my M3.

Car: 2011 BMW E90 M3 Sedan M-DCT, Melbourne Red Metallic.
Camera: Canon EOS 50D + Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM + B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer.

The trip had 2 objectives:

#1 was to re-visit 2 of the best driving roads in all of Southern BC, being the Monashee Road (BC Highway 6 between Lumby and the Needles Ferry, ranked #2) and the other being the Kootenay Lake Highway (BC Highway 3A from Kootenay Bay to Creston, ranked #1), this time with the GoPro video camera in tow, and

#2 was to drive on the famed Washington State Highway 20 over its near entirety.

Here is the route map:



Day 1 started with a run up the Trans Canada then the Coquihalla, which is now part of the Yellowhead Highway. The Coquihalla isn't bad, but the Coldwater Road bypass is more fun. Pictures were taken at the B marker on the map.




After doing Coldwater Road, you end up on the outskirt of Merritt, C marker on the map.








From Merritt, it's onto the Okanagan Connector to Kelowna and then up to Vernon. I took Highway 97 to get to Vernon, because I have already done the (excellent) Westside Road as part of my extended Duffey Lake drive in April. However, the traffic for a working day noon was so bad that I think it took me longer to get there. Still worth the trek, though, because then you end up in Lumby and the start of the Monashee Road, BC Highway 6, D on the map.



After an epic trek (GoPro video footage for the entire trip coming soon), you arrive at the Needles Ferry, E on the map.




5 minutes is all it takes for the diesel-powered barge-running-on-wires to pull you across the Lower Arrow Lake.





Day 1 ends and Day 2 begins at Nakusp, marker F on the map.








Then, onwards to New Denver, formerly known as El Dorado, marker G on the map. It had aspirations to be even richer than its namesake of Denver, Colorado from its promises of gold, but that didn't "pan" out.





Onwards to Castlegar for fuel, marker H on the map. The main street was very modern, as you can see from their City Hall. The Chevron station even had 94 Octane, which was a very nice surprise; such elixirs were not expected to be seen in the Interior.







Just outside the city is the Brilliant Dam, another sign of modernity.





I mention the modern look and feel of Castlegar, because it was hugely contrasted by the preserved early 20th Century feel of Nelson, such as the Rattenbury Courthouse. It is marker I on the map.






Continuing on Highway 3A and you will arrive in Balfour, for the Kootenay Lake Ferry. At 30min travel time, it is the longest FREE ferry in the world (all interior freshwater ferries in BC are considered part of the highway system and are free of charge). This is marker J on the map.






Onto the Crowsnest Highway now, after skirting Creston, you will arrive at the top of the Kootenay Pass, next to Bridal Lake, marker K on the map.





Crossed into the US at the Nelway / Metaline Falls border crossing, and after driving on the excellent WA Highway 31 you will arrive at this crossroad just south of Ione, and my start of the WA Highway 20 odyssey. This is marker L on the map.




Here is one picture atop Loup Loup Pass, between L and M on the map.



Republic, WA, marker M, a Western town and a recurring theme in Northern Washington.





Day 3, and more of WA-20, but instead of being the southern passage of the Selkirk Mountains, it is now the northern path through the Cascades Range and called the North Cascades Highway. It starts here just south of Omak, WA, at marker N.



Marker O is at Winthrop, WA, probably THE Western-themed town in all of Washington.




Sherman Pass, and the pictures will need no explanation.













Finally, Marker Q is Concrete, WA, considered by most to be the start (or end, depending on your direction) of what is worth driving / riding in the North Cascades Highway... and where I brought the GoPro inside, switched it back to "driving recorder" mode and slogged up I-5 just before the Friday night rush at the border.




All in all, it was a good trip. Monashee Road (BC-6 from Lumby to Needles Ferry) was epic as usual, just as fun as the Duffey Lake Road but with excellent pavement throughout. Unfortunately, the other highlights left much to be desired due to traffic and a complete lack of passing opportunities (such was the case for BC-3A from Kootenay Bay to Creston, and WA-20 from Sherman Pass all the way out of the mountains), or even single-lane alternating-traffic with pilot car in WA-20 over Loup Loup Pass. Can't really solve those problems, not even driving them on a summer week day, so other than getting started nice and early in April, not much else to do.

Just the opportunity to take those pictures at Washington Pass make the whole trip totally worth it anyways

[Veritable]

First video, crossing the Canadian / US border at Nelway then driving the excellent Washington State Highway 31 down to Metaline Falls.

I must say that crossing the border at sparsely-travelled border control posts was MUCH more pleasant than the weary-robotic service you get at those 10-lanes "efficiency" jobs. The agents don't look at you all crazy when you just want to go for a drive, and don't mind sharing a few jokes back and forth

As for WA-31 itself, well, take a look:

Second video, Coldwater Road, a great jaunt in the farming and grazing hills just off the major highway. Makes for a nice diversion, and you're not sidetracking too much to boot... and not even much slower if at all

Third video, Monashee Road (aka the start of BC Highway 6), which takes its name by traversing the Monashee Pass over the Monashee Mountains. It is ranked 2nd of all best driving / riding roads in Southern BC, and you can easily see why. The Needles Cable Ferry shown at the end crosses the Lower Arrow Lake, and is a diesel-powered barge set on steel cables. Crossing time is 5min and is free of charge.

Fourth video, BC Highway 6 continues from New Denver (they thought the area had enough golds to be richer than a certain town in Colorado, but it didn't "pan" out) to South Slocan, the BC Highway 3A intersection about halfway between Nelson and Castlegar. 25th of all best driving / riding roads in Southern BC.

Fifth video, Kootenay Lake Highway, THE BEST driving / riding road in Southern BC. The video starts off at the Kootenay Lake Ferry, which at 35min crossing time is the longest FREE ferry in the world. Then, the road winds along Kootenay Lake for an epic hour-long run until reaching BC Highway 3 at the outskirts of Creston. Too bad about the traffic, even on a Thursday afternoon, but when sped up 5x the video is still entertaining enough.

Sixth video, the start of my trek on Washington State Highway 20, just south of Ione, WA near the Idaho border. From there, the road winds through Colville National Forest, and the video finishes up with a fuel stop in Colville, WA.

Seventh video, Washington State Highway 20 continues from Kettle Falls, WA to Republic, WA, over the Loup Loup Pass. If it wasn't for the road work requiring counter-flow with pilot car, this stretch of WA-20 is easily one of the best roads I've ever driven on. At least the road will be all nice and smooth when I come back next year :-)

Eighth video, Day 2 ends on the last leg of Washington State Highway 20 before it joins up with US-97, from Republic, WA to Tonasket, WA.

Ninth video, Day 2 starts with Washington State Highway 20 departing from Okanogan, WA, now known as the North Cascades Highway. The video stops for a break at Twisp, WA.

Tenth video, from Winthrop, WA to the top of Sherman Pass, the latter of which has what is likely to be the most spectacular scenery you will see from a paved numbered highway in the Pacific Northwest.

Eleventh and final video, the long and twisty descent from Sherman Pass to the plains of the I-5 corridor. I personally prefer mountain CLIMBS to DESCENTS, so my own personal take is to do this route from West to East. Something to keep in mind for next time....

[klammer]

Looks like a great trip, nice pics and vid

[LindaTheCat]

Glorious! Thought I'd use this route to make up the absence of my ED. are you joining the concour d'elegence in Vancouver then? Be nice to meet up with some wkd adventurists

[THE TECH]

Nice car.

[Veritable]

Originally Posted by Linda_the_Cat

are you joining the concour d'elegence in Vancouver then? Be nice to meet up with some wkd adventurists

The BMW Car Club of BC one? Yes, most likely... I will register in a couple of days and hopefully the event will take place, because I hear it is not very certain at the moment.

A couple more videos have been added to the 2nd post in this thread, one of them showing you the 2nd best driving / riding road in all of Southern BC.

[Veritable]

Just dropping a note here saying that all 11 videos has been posted in the 2nd post in this thread, thus ending the coverage.

Enjoy!

[NoM3ForMe]

Thanks for sharing them all.

[kdbryce]

stunning scenery. i'd love to take a trip like that one day