Being Brave: Crossing the Alexandra Bridge Near Hope, BC

This year over our Memorial Day weekend, we were spontaneous and took a chance.  With just a couple of days notice, we planned a quick one-night getaway up to British Columbia to a small mountain town known for Rambo, chainsaw carvings, and countless outdoor adventure opportunities.  Hope, BC, just under 100 miles (150 km) east of Vancouver is situated along the Fraser River between the Coast Mountain range and the Cascade Mountain range.

Why British Columbia? Well, the fact that Bergen’s (2.5 years old) passport was sitting unused was burning a hole in our pockets so to speak.  We’d gone through the process of getting him a passport about a year and half ago only to have that trip canceled.  We needed to put that baby into action.

Why Hope? We wanted to steer clear of the Memorial Day crowds.  Knowing we could take backroads and less traveled state highways, and use a small border crossing was appealing to us.  Plus as I mentioned, the entire area is a hub of outdoor fun with plenty of hiking, exploring, and amazing vista catching experiences.  To top it all off, lodging (though not fancy) was cheap.

To say our visit to Hope was wet would be an understatement.  The rain would let up here and there and change to mist for a few minutes, but really, it just poured for our entire 2-day visit.  We’re Seattites though, and we’re used to such weather conditions, and of course we came prepared.  With the exception of a longer hike (through the Othello Tunnels) that we did the on our first day, we decided to make our excursions short.

One of those quick adventures was crossing the Alexandra Bridge north of Hope along Highway 1.  The bridge was originally built back in 1863 to carry wagons across the Frazer River to Barkerville’s gold fields.  Then in 1926 it was redesigned and reconstructed to carry automobiles.  Decommissioned in 1964, now it’s just an amazing place to explore and experience the mightiness of the river and the beauty of the area.

Slaed and Bergen crossed together, hand and hand, of course, while I followed close behind doing my best to capture the moment in photos.  Sure, it’s not a swinging suspension bridge, but given the fact that the river is raging below, and the view is completely open due to the see-through metal gratings that you walk across, it was a thrill!  The experience definitely made us nervous, and also meant that poor Norman had to stay back.  His paws were too small and would have gotten stuck with each step!

To get to the bridge, it’s just a quick 5-10 minute hike from the parking area just off Highway 1.  Perfect for our little tyke to feel successful, and nice for us since we were able to race back to the car without getting too terribly soaked, cold, and uncomfortable.  Then we could dry off and thaw out in time for another adventure.  Lots more from our little trip to BC to come!

Do you ever spontaneously getaway? It can be done with kids (and it’s fun)! Tell us about your experiences.

Come join the conversation! We’d love to have you join us on all of our adventures by “liking” our facebook page and following us on twitter! You can also keep up to date with each and every post by subscribing to the blog via email.