Headed from Jasper to Victoria following our annual stay at Lake Edith, we decide to follow Yogi’s wise (but obviously ambiguous) advice. 

We spread out the B.C. road map and check our options. There are lots of forks in the road between “here” and “there,” so we set out to discover some of them.

We usually head southwest on the Yellowhead to Kamloops, over the Coquihalla to Vancouver and take the ferry from Tsawwassen.

But now that we have the time of the semi-retired, the back roads tempt us to discover sights and experiences we’ve missed before.

So, when we reach Little Fort, we follow Yogi’s advice and take a right to head up and over 1,311-metre Macdonald Summit, where the ravages of the mountain pine beetle can clearly be seen, and onto the well-paved Highway 24 which meanders through resort country. Lakes small and large are scattered across the volcanic terrain, many of them with friendly fishing or summer getaway camps. 

Lone Butte’s main feature is a column of basalt formed in a volcano six million years ago. Game tourists can make a 75-metre climb to the top for a panoramic view but its beauty is somewhat hampered by two telecommunications towers. 

We overnight in Clinton, founded in 1865 as British Army engineers built the Gold Rush Trail to Barkerville. Clinton is proud of its Western heritage and attractions include horseback riding, big game viewing, hiking and fishing.

Clinton is home to the May Ball which features a rodeo and dance, held annually since 1867. The Clinton Museum, built in 1892, has a number of historical artifacts on display dating back to the gold rush era.

Supper conversation with a visiting couple from Holland on the deck of Cariboo Lodge is occasionally interrupted by semi-trailers braking their way through town. This is serious country, but the Roundup Motel is just off the main road and surprisingly quiet.

Locals eat breakfast at the Cordial restaurant and we can see why – good food, good service and good prices, especially if you’re a steak and eggs person.

We push on west past Kelly Lake through a rolling landscape where abandoned farms are giving way to modern log homes. Nineteen kilometres later we leave pavement and follow the rugged gravel switchbacks of “Rattlesnake Grade,” the old wagon-route up Pavilion Mountain to the high grasslands of the South Cariboo. 

Cutting through the Diamond S Ranch, we admire Simmental cattle and enjoy the scent of fresh-cut hay drying in the sunshine. 

Then it’s downhill and a right onto Highway 99. We’re back on pavement to twisty-bend our way along the Fraser River Bench to Lillooet, originally called Cayoosh Flat because of the good grazing the Lil’wat found for their cayuses (Indian ponies). It was renamed in their honour in the mid-1860s.

As we follow the Lillooet River past the First Nations community of Mount Currie, we watch salmon struggling upstream, some of them already food for bald eagles and crows.

Pemberton, just 30 kilometres from Whistler, is going upscale with trendy condos and shopping. The Pony, a long-time village hangout, offers gourmet food in old-fashioned surroundings, and good people-watching from the patio too.

We then head to Whistler, crossing and re-crossing sparkling Cayoosh Creek, often on single-lane bridges. Being familiar with the international resort, we give it a miss while ogling the summit-to-summit cable cars, and note the improvements made to the Sea-to-Sky Highway for the 2010 Olympics.

It’s still a challenging drive but Howe Sound is beautiful in the afternoon sun. As we concentrate, Yogi-style, on following exit signs to the Horseshoe Bay ferry, it seems we keep doubling back on ourselves. But we get there.

The terminal is a busy one with ferries heading to Bowen Island, Nanaimo and Langdale but we find the right lane and have an uneventful ride on the old but updated Queen of Coquitlam to Nanaimo, then it’s all down-island. 

As always, the last hour over the accident-prone Malahat Drive in the dark is stressful and we’re relieved to reach home safely.

* * *

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – 

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

You can read more of Lorie and Paul’s travel adventures at www.ozcantravel.com