White knuckles
Our drive to Tofino was a little on the scary side. If you've driven out there, you'll know there's just one road, and it is over a mountain pass.
When we got off the ferry in Nanaimo, very wet snow was falling. Splatting against the window, in fact. By the time we got to Port Alberni, for our traditional Tim Horton's stop, it was truly snowing. Before we'd even gotten through Port Alberni, we saw cars in the ditch.
The drive along Sproat Lake was nerve-wracking. To borrow from Arlo Guthrie's Motorcycle (The Significance of the Pickle) Song, along that patch of road, "On one side of the mountain road there was a mountain, and on the other side there was nothin' - there was a cliff in the air." And, in this case, a lake at the bottom of the cliff in the air. In other words, if we skidded off, we'd be goners. Fish food. Never to be seen again.
We considered turning around, but the fact was, there was nowhere safe so to do. We wanted to call for a road report, but were out of cell range. Forward was the only option. (Sounds a bit like parenthood...) I babbled mindlessly (nervously) as I fiddled with the iPod, all the time worrying about that really scary twisty stretch on the other side of the pass.
A top speed of 40 km/h. One pick-up truck behind us. A few cars coming in the opposite direction, curiously not wearing coats of snow.
Mercifully, not far below the summit, the roads were clear. By then, the pick-up truck had passed us (clearly a local, used to the road), and a little while on a red car blurred past us. The scary twisty section of the road was no scarier than usual, and we saw a Mountie car drive by in the opposite direction.
We got to the hotel, and Werner went to check in while Jakob and I waited in the car. Phew, we made it!
And when he came back to the car, he reported a little item the front desk clerk had passed on to him: the highway had already been closed. While we were on it.
When we got off the ferry in Nanaimo, very wet snow was falling. Splatting against the window, in fact. By the time we got to Port Alberni, for our traditional Tim Horton's stop, it was truly snowing. Before we'd even gotten through Port Alberni, we saw cars in the ditch.
The drive along Sproat Lake was nerve-wracking. To borrow from Arlo Guthrie's Motorcycle (The Significance of the Pickle) Song, along that patch of road, "On one side of the mountain road there was a mountain, and on the other side there was nothin' - there was a cliff in the air." And, in this case, a lake at the bottom of the cliff in the air. In other words, if we skidded off, we'd be goners. Fish food. Never to be seen again.
We considered turning around, but the fact was, there was nowhere safe so to do. We wanted to call for a road report, but were out of cell range. Forward was the only option. (Sounds a bit like parenthood...) I babbled mindlessly (nervously) as I fiddled with the iPod, all the time worrying about that really scary twisty stretch on the other side of the pass.
A top speed of 40 km/h. One pick-up truck behind us. A few cars coming in the opposite direction, curiously not wearing coats of snow.
Mercifully, not far below the summit, the roads were clear. By then, the pick-up truck had passed us (clearly a local, used to the road), and a little while on a red car blurred past us. The scary twisty section of the road was no scarier than usual, and we saw a Mountie car drive by in the opposite direction.
We got to the hotel, and Werner went to check in while Jakob and I waited in the car. Phew, we made it!
And when he came back to the car, he reported a little item the front desk clerk had passed on to him: the highway had already been closed. While we were on it.
posted by Melanie A at 2:36 p.m.
1 Comments:
Thank God we did not know all of this until now! We were very worried anyway after hearing and watching the weather network. And we know how much Poppy watches the weather network! So thankful Werner called after you had arrived in Tofino safely!
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