On our way to Lytton we had a whistle-stop for breakfast at Whistler. (Sorry I just couldn’t help that pun)
Whistler is one of North Americas favorite resorts with over 2 million visitors annually. There’s alpine skiing and snowboarding in winter and mountain biking and hiking in summer.
There are magnificent views of the Rocky Mountains on the road from Whistler. While lakes graced the valleys as we wound our way through the mountain passes.
One of the few view points that we were able to stop at was on the shores of Duffey Lake.
The temperature steadily climbed until it reached 38°C just outside of Lytton.
Lytton sits on the confluence of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers. The Thompson has clear water while the Fraser is heavily silted.
It was originally called ‘The Forks’ but in 1858 the name was changed in honour of the popular British Novelist and politician, Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873).
Lytton coined the phrases, “It was a dark and stormy night” and “The pen is mightier than the sword”
He also wrote The Last Days of Pompeii.
The name is mightier than the place as It’s a sleepy little town with two motels and a pub.
We stayed in the latter.
The Chinese have been here since the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway started in 1881. They still have a presence.
The Lytton Hotel was owned and operated by Chinese.
The restaurant served both western and Chinese cuisine. We opted for the Asian, it was very good and a real change from what we had been eating.
There is also a big indigenous community in the town and all the support groups that go with it.
Social Services, AA support, housing and medical services all had offices in the very short Main Street.
There were bush fires, or wild fires as they are known in North America, just across the Fraser River. Apparently they had been burning for several weeks and thought to be under control. Now they had flared up again.
