Day 22

After another brief stop with the Shillams along Lake Okanogan in Kelowna, we left the Okanogan Valley. We were to meet our friends Jerry and Mary Morris in Victoria the next day. From Vernon to Victoria is well over 250 miles. Plus, there is a 2 hour ferry ride as part of the trip. We chose to leave Vernon at about 4:00 and put about 175 miles behind us. We planned to stay the night in Hope, BC.

We took BC97 south, back (again) through Kelowna. On the way into town, we found this nice welcome, complete with a model of the famous Ogopogo. The legend of the Ogopogo is similar to that of the Loch Ness monster in Scotland, except they are unrelated. The indigenous people of the Okanogan Valley told the white settlers about the large animal that lived in the lake. They thought they had found its home cave and frequently made offerings to it there in hopes of keeping it appeased and friendly.

There are actually people living on the lake who report having seen evidence of the beast: unexplained ripples on the water, or a scaly back erupting above the surface of the water, only to disappear again without a trace.

Is it real or just a well developed and executed myth created by wily businessmen to increase tourism? I, like them, will leave the answer to that question up to you.

The Okanogan Valley treated us to some scattered afternoon thundershowers as we left. South of Kelowna, we picked up BC97C that connects the Okanogan with the Coquihalla Toll Road that runs from Kamloops to Hope. BC97C joins the Coquihalla (BC5) at a little valley town called Merritt. It was Merritt were we should have stopped for gasoline.

It is nearly 70 miles from Merritt to Hope, and we expected to find frequent gas along a major and well traveled route such as BC5. Certainly, the traveler would expect to see a warning if gas would not be available for such a long stretch. In our case, neither was the case.

Betsy went on her reserve tank a mile before we reached the toll both at the top of Coquihalla Pass. We asked the toll taker where the nearest gas could be found, and were informed we'd have to wait until Hope. Hope was 36 miles away. Betsy knew she could get 20 miles on reserve, but 36 was out of the question. The toll taker said, "Well, it's mostly downhill, maybe you can get there on fumes..." Thanks.

The road was steep , and I advised Betsy to pull in her clutch and simply coast as much as she could. At least we could reduce the distance we'd need to double back with a gallon can of gas. As Betsy's trip odometer rolled past 20 miles, then 25 miles, the end of the gas supply seemed imminent. At this point, even I had switched to my reserve tank. At the 30 miles mark, the road dished out the worst possible blow: it started an uphill grade! I knew we would not make it, but we were so close we now had to decide whether to park Betsy's bike and come back with gas, or just push it into town.

Somehow, and I really don't know how, the bikes continued to run all the way into Hope. We made it! We stopped for gas at the first station we came to. Harley Davidson says Betsy has a 4.25 gallon gas tank, but somehow, we were able to put in 4.35 gallons! That tank was empty!

As we checked into what was (perhaps) the nicest hotel room we've had on this trip, we laughed. We learned a deep, valuable, and important lesson today: when you're out of gas, and everything's going down hill, don't despair as there's always Hope!

Updated 8/19/97 by Robert Farrell Email me

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