SOUTHWESTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 289

Powell River, a large tourist town and service center. Powell River is the gateway to the
paddler's paradise at Desolation Sound and on the Powell Forest Canoe Route.
Spectacular Highway 99, the aptly named Sea to Sky Highway, leads you northeast out
of Vancouver along the edge of island-dotted Howe Sound. You pass numerous provincial
parks before coming to the resort town of Whistler. This year-round outdoor-sports mecca
offers outstanding opportunities for hiking, biking, golfing, fishing, and other warm-weath-
er pursuits. But it's best known for its alpine resort: Whistler/Blackcomb, boasting North
America's highest lift-served vertical rise.
From Vancouver, two routes head east: You can zip along the Trans-Canada Highway on
the south side of the wide Fraser River, or meander along slower Highway 7 on the north
side of the river. Both highways take you through the lush, fertile, and obviously agricul-
tural Fraser Valley, converging at Hope. After exploring Hope's spectacular canyon forma-
tions, you have another choice of routes: north along the Fraser River Canyon, northeast to
Kamloops along the Coquihalla Highway, or east along Highway 3 to the picturesque lakes
and alpine meadows of Manning Provincial Park.