The road between Hope and Merritt travels the Cascade Mountains along the Coquihalla and Coldwater Rivers. Portions of this route were historically used as cattle trails, the Kettle Valley Railway, and oil and gas industry pipelines. In 1977, a group of citizens formed a series of caravans along the Coquihalla logging road in an effort to convince the government to complete this link from Hope to Merritt.
Construction of the highway came with considerable cost overruns as a result of rushing to finish the project in time for Expo ’86. Paving was done on snow, requiring repairs within the first year, and many sections of the road (including the Snow Shed and Juliet Bridge) cost two to four times their original estimate. In the end, a public inquiry found that the highway cost two-thirds more than the budgeted $250 million, coming in at over $400 million.
A toll was imposed on the road to help pay for its construction. The initial fee was $10 per car and up to $40 for large semi-trailers. The toll booths operated for 22 years, during which time a total of $845 million was collected. The toll was discontinued in 2008 as a result of an election promise by Gordon Campbell’s Liberal government.
The toll booths were subsequently removed, and all that remains are the rest stops for north- and southbound traffic. The cache is hidden where they used to collect the cash!
A couple of notes of interest:
- Because so many animals migrate through this area, a unique system of wildlife management was created. The highway is completely fenced so animals don’t wander onto the road, but a system of gates, underpasses, and even an overpass, allow wildlife to cross the highway safely.
- A reality TV show, Highway Thru Hell, documents the efforts of a local heavy vehicle rescue and towing company as they deal with accidents, snow removal, rock slides, and all manner of road conditions created by the extreme winter weather, where the summit (and where this cache is hidden) can receive several metres of snowfall.
This cache is a quick pit-stop-and-grab when you're southbound on the Coquihalla Highway (not accessible to northbound traffic). The cache container is a sandwich-sized camo'd lock-n-lock. Please bring your own pen.