The Centre of the Universe - Vidette Lake, BC - Part 1

May, 2008

I think that when people typically refer to the centre of the universe, it's often used to describe something that is so big and overwhelmingly important (or trying to be) that it draws everything to it. People in BC, for example, often refer to Toronto as the centre of the universe, and not in a nice way. 

So, imagine my surprise when, in my second year at Thompson Rivers University, my friend Kari casually mentioned that the Centre of the Universe was outside Kamloops.

"What...do you mean?" I asked. 

"Some monks declared it's on some hillside in Vidette Lake. It's like, an hour from here." she said. 

After snapping out of my shock and surprise, we did a little more digging. This was all apparently true: monks had come from San Francisco, performed a series of tests and determined that this was the spot. It had to have specific criteria apparently...

...shaped like the prow of a ship, pointed south, and sloping from north downwards to the south.

I'm sure there's much more to it, of course, but my little university aged brain could only comprehend that there was apparently some kind of spiritual epicentre not far from us, and as soon as Kari suggested we try to find it, I was in. 

I had a bit of apprehension because apparently the site itself was on private property and we weren't too keen on trespassing, though apparently people did it all the time. I, on the other hand, have a panic attack when I even think of breaking a rule so I was hoping we'd be able to find another way. 

We decided that the Monday of the May long weekend would be the perfect day to go on our adventure. 

It was overcast and drizzling when we left town, and for the most part it was just your regular highway drive. There's a turn onto Deadman Vidette Rd just outside Savona, and the second you leave the highway things are immediately different. 

There is a remoteness along this road. You can see old structures in fields, and crumbling hoodoos in the distance. A lone animal in a pasture, an old car rusting under a tree. 

Just a cow in the road.

We stopped along some of the Hoodoos and wanted to get a closer look. Why did it look like the rocks were melting???

There are a lot of hoodoos around Kamloops. As you drive in from the East along the South Thompson river, you can see some eroding in the barren hillside. These ones along the Deadman Vidette road are closer and more pronounced though, so I was very exited at the prospect of seeing them up close. 

We finally made it to Vidette Lake and found the entrance to the Private Property the actual Centre of the Universe is. Completely locked. 

This was not even remotely surprising. The scant information we could find before we left on our adventure, is that the site is on the Vidette Lake Gold Mine Resort property, and that while they are a legitimate place where you can book to stay, they are not open to daily visitors, which makes perfect sense to me. It's a perfectly tranquil place, and once you start getting a bunch of obnoxious University students trampling all over the place taking selfies, the peace and quiet will be destroyed. 

Who, us?

We toyed with the idea of jumping a fence further up the road, but I think we both knew that it was wrong and we'd be jerks to even try. 

But the day was still young! We decided to drive further down the road and see what we could see. We got about as close to where we thought the Centre of the Universe was, and even though we weren't RIGHT there, it's still a beautiful view. 

Just off-Centre of the Universe?

There are also cows. So, so, so many cows. 

Don't mind us.

We were stuck behind the bovine brigade for like ten minutes, and between the slow crawl we were driving, the windy road, and the potholes - I was starting to get car sick. We were looking for a good place to turn around and head back, or at least get out for a minute and get some fresh air, when the perfect place materialized right at the moment we were going to turn around. 

Deadman's Falls. 

There is no railing of any kind around this thing. I think because this isn't like a Provincial Park or anything so it's not maintained by anyone but the locals, and it's in a very remote location. We, of course, took full stupid advantage of the lack of restraints...

You can't take us anywhere.

Literally, anywhere.

I can assure you that we were very careful and that all of these scenarios were far less harrowing than they appear...

But, holy moly was it ever cool to see something so powerful so close. To be able to look right up to the edge of the canyon was insane. I always look at photos of my doing stuff like this after I've done them, and I have no memory of feeling any kind of fear, but looking at it afterwards gives me the swooping tummy feelings I think I'm supposed to have while it's happening. I don't know if that makes me an idiot or if while I'm in the middle of it, the adrenaline keeps me from feeling the swoops, but since I came out of it all right I think I'll just take the win, and the good photos.