Starting North
Since the basic aim of the trip was to escape, my plan was to try to avoid the busiest highways and to camp every night. From San Francisco I took I-5 to Corning (first night's camping) and then on to Weed. From Weed I took US 97 through Klamath Falls, Ore, to Toppenish, Wash. From there, a short stretch on I-82 to Ellensberg, Wash., then US 97 and US 2 to Index, Wash. (second night camping). After Index, I headed back towards the coast and I-5, to Vancouver, BC. Even though Vancouver was more urban than I wanted to deal with, I went there to meet a contact who was going to give me directions for finding what sorts of gay communities existed in rural, northern, Canada. Unfortunately, he turned out to have no valuable information.
From Vancouver I took the Trans-Canada highway to Hope, and then turned north on the Fraser Canyon Highway -- finally I felt like I was really starting my journey. From there on it was going to be two-lane highways at best, frequently narrower gravel and dirt roads. Unfortunately, the Fraser Canyon Highway turned out to have lots of truck traffic -- forestry and farming are big industries in that part of Canada. But, there were some interesting spots (photos below):
|
 |
 |
 |
From Fraser Canyon, I continued on up the Cariboo Highway to Prince George.