The Long and Winding Road: Discovering the Pleasures and Treasures of Highway 97

John Abbott is a professor of history at Laurentian University’s Algoma University College. He is the co-author of The Border at Sault Ste Marie and The History of Fort St. Joseph.

While researching a tour guide of the Okanagan Valley, Couper discovered
that Highway 97, which runs from the British Columbia–Yukon border to
northern California (some 3,290 kilometres), is the longest continuous
north-south highway on the continent. That discovery ignited his
curiosity and prompted the publication of this travel guide.

The descriptive formula is unvarying and utilitarian: a running
commentary on the natural environment and its economic and social
corollaries, as well as the character of the settlements along the way.
Museums figure prominently, as do art galleries, fairs and festivals,
shows and farmers’ markets, public gardens, rodeos and railways.
Birdwatchers, canoeists, cyclists, and skiers are directed to the
appropriate sites, waterways, trails, and slopes. Travellers who enjoy
the fermented fruit of the grape will realize that some lengthy
stretches of Highway 97, taken together, constitute a significant wine
route. The author makes less of the potential for comparative wine
tasting than he might.

Readers will find the sidebars particularly interesting and useful.
Highway 97 bisects some significant orchard regions, for which the
sidebar on fruit blossoming and ripening periods is helpful. Others
describe the manifold discomforts of a stagecoach passage and the
crowded and vermin-ridden nature of a roadhouse stopover. Interesting
side trips, including one to Barkerville, are bonus features.

Although Couper does not assess dining establishments or
accommodations, an hour or so with the book will enable those who
anticipate travelling in the region to decide whether they wish to spend
time in, say, Bend, Oregon, or the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.
(Readers should not be guided by the photographs, which are poor quality
reproductions.) The author expresses his opinions frankly. There is no
hyperbole or purple prose. That in itself inspires confidence in the
probity of the guide and makes it worth investigating.