It was pretty cold overnight (I would guess about 3C), and the next morning dawned clear and sunny. After a group breakfast at Horstings (they should sell franchises!), we set off for the 85 km ride to Lillooet.
From Cache Creek, we biked 10 or 12 km north on Hwy 97, and then turned left onto Hwy 99 towards Lillooet.
This section of Hwy 99 is a much smaller and quieter road than the Trans-Canada or Hwy 97 - perfect for cycling.
The first 20 km are a gradual climb through dry pine woodland and ranch country. Lots of beautiful views, virtually no traffic, and the occasional hawk circling high overhead. On this day the sun was wonderfully warm, and the air just cool enough for comfort.
After about 20 km, the road makes a sharp turn to the northwest and enters Marble Canyon. The canyon is tiny compared to the Fraser or Thompson Canyons, but is still big enough to generate its own headwind! About 8 or 10 km further along is a small mountain lake and a Provincial Park.
The road continued to climb, more or less, for another 12 km to a small First Nations community at Pavilion. Then the downhill started.
At this point it was still 30 km to Lillooet, and when one steep downhill section became two, and then three, I started to dread what might be lying ahead. Downhills like that just aren't free!
It turned out however that we had climbed considerably more than I had realised over the last day and a half, and apart from a few small interruptions it was downhill all the way into Lillooet.
Shortly after Pavilion the Fraser River reappears in a major way.
The Fraser is the third of the 'Three Rivers' that the tour is named after - the first being the Thompson (from Lytton to Cache Creek), and the second being Hat Creek, which flows towards Cache Creek from the Marble Canyon area.
The Fraser Canyon (left, about 15 km from Lillooet) was spectacular. One picture can't convey the sense of space, but the highway rolling away in the distance below gives you an idea.
This was also the area where you could see the climate zone start to change from near desert (to the east) to the beginnings of the coastal rainforest. The picture below was taken only a few km past the shot of the Fraser Canyon to the left.
The group drifted into Lillooet from about 2 pm to 4 pm. The campground for the night was right by the highway and the main bridge - a nice comfortable grassy field, but a bit noisy for the serious wilderness campers in the group. A few unreformed urbanists went up the hill to a Greek restaurant for supper, while the domestic crowd boiled up pots of couscous & other assorted delights :-).
Distance for the day 91 km / Total 189 km