About 100 miles east of Vancouver, BC, lies the town of Hope. From here the highway winds through a beautiful stretch of hilly country for 82 miles to the town of Princeton.
Just about 10 miles east of Hope is a viewpoint where I took some photos of the second largest landslide in Canadian history. The Hope Slide came down the mountain on January 9, 1965, burying several vehicles and killing four people. The bodies of two were retrieved, but two others remain buried beneath tons of rock.
I quote Wikipedia here: The slide completely displaced the water and mud in Outram Lake below with incredible force, throwing it against the opposite side of the valley, wiping all vegetation and trees down to the bare rock, then splashed back up the original, now bare, slope before settling.
I see no indication of an Outram Lake on modern maps, but there is an Outram Mountain nearby.
About a mile and a half of the highway was covered in rock, so a gravel road was constructed as a detour until a new section of highway could be built. A portion of the old highway still lies under the slide.
One sweet thing about this whole sad story is that beside the viewpoint, masses of wild strawberries are growing in the moss that covers the gritty gravel beside the road.
November 3, 2018 at 9:04 pm
Beauty Born Of Tragedy 😦 🙂
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November 3, 2018 at 10:59 pm
Yes, sadly.
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November 3, 2018 at 9:15 pm
That was some landslide! There was one here somewhat like that but I haven’t found any history on it.
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November 3, 2018 at 11:01 pm
I remember hearing about it when I was young, and then driving past it when it was relatively “fresh.” It always gave me a sense of awe at the power of nature – good and bad.
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November 3, 2018 at 10:19 pm
Mother Nature is a beautiful soul.
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November 3, 2018 at 11:01 pm
Yes, it can be.
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November 4, 2018 at 4:49 am
The brute force and power of nature unleashed!
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November 4, 2018 at 8:57 am
Exactly. That’s what is so impressive about it.
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November 4, 2018 at 5:02 am
Thanks for sharing the history of the slide, Anneli. Beautiful photographs!
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November 4, 2018 at 8:57 am
I’ve always felt awed by this slide, imagining the event and the power of those rocks.
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November 4, 2018 at 5:37 am
Hope clearly lives up to its name. Beautiful, Anneli!
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November 4, 2018 at 8:56 am
Hope is a town that is completely surrounded by high mountains on all sides and you would have to work on keeping your spirits up, being trapped like that. Some people don’t mind that, but I prefer to look at wide open spaces, so Hope would be an appropriate name as far as I’m concerned too. I would have to hope I could survive living there all socked in.
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November 5, 2018 at 3:19 am
Winters must be the worst. Talk about being trapped! Best to you, Anneli.
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November 5, 2018 at 9:23 am
Yes! The only consolation is that they are only 100 miles from Vancouver if they want an outing, but still, it’s a long way to go for an escape.
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November 6, 2018 at 3:35 am
I can see that. Is it popular?
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November 6, 2018 at 8:59 am
It’s located at a highway junction and mainly it’s a stop for people to get gas and snacks. There is a whole row of gas stations. I wouldn’t say it’s a place that many people want to live. The town has stayed fairly small for decades. Anyone who is the slightest bit bi-polar would die there over the winter!
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November 6, 2018 at 4:38 pm
Yes, they would! Thanks, Anneli. 😀
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November 4, 2018 at 6:14 am
You describe the landslide so well, Anneli. Wow! Interesting to hear what the momentum and force of it created, and all these years later the Hope Slide is so visible, still. I imagine there are still people who can tell the story firsthand…
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November 4, 2018 at 8:53 am
Yes, Wikipedia tells about a man who walked back to tell a bus to stop and turn around, saving many lives.
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November 4, 2018 at 6:54 am
I was unaware of the tragic background of this beautiful spot.
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November 4, 2018 at 8:49 am
I couldn’t get the photos to come out right. Bright sun, and a haze in the air. But yes, the place has been a tomb for those poor people for 53 years already. Young people.
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November 4, 2018 at 2:05 pm
Scary and then I always worry how many animals were harmed, too. But I’ve never heard the term “slide” used instead of landslide so that kind of tickled me.
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November 4, 2018 at 3:08 pm
The animals, yes. I feel that way about the wildfires too.
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November 4, 2018 at 2:26 pm
Driven by her many times. Force of nature, immense.
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November 5, 2018 at 9:24 am
Not where I’d want my final resting place to be. And yes, immense is a good word for this slide.
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November 5, 2018 at 5:56 pm
Not me either Anneli…
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November 5, 2018 at 7:19 am
The power of nature always astounds!
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November 5, 2018 at 6:13 pm
Sure does.
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November 5, 2018 at 8:23 am
The BC area is my dream vacation (and into Alaska). Too bad I’m afraid to fly. 😝
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November 5, 2018 at 4:12 pm
Me too. I like to drive everywhere that’s within driving reach, rather than fly there.
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