There’s something weirdly surreal about packing your entire life into a U-Haul. You look at this truck and realize that everything you own fits in here. All your clothes, books, random stuff you’ve accumulated, your whole existence just strapped down and ready to roll. It’s kind of freeing and kind of existential at the same time.
My friends were moving from Prince George to Vancouver, and I decided to tag along for the ride on December 24th. One car, one extremely loud U-Haul, and a lot of advice from people about the roads.
The Warning Everyone Gave Us
“Prince George to Quesnel is brutal in winter.”
“If you make it past that stretch alive, you’re good for the rest of the trip.”
“The road between PG and Quesnel is the worst part, trust me.”
We heard this from basically everyone. So we mentally prepared ourselves for treacherous highways, white-knuckle driving, and maybe some existential dread between PG and Quesnel.
Plot Twist: The Roads Were… Perfect?
From Prince George all the way to Cache Creek, the roads were honestly incredible. Sure, there was snow on the sides, but the highway itself was clean and clear. We hit a bit of a snowstorm in Williams Lake, but nothing crazy. We kept looking at each other like, “This is it? This is the deadly stretch everyone warned us about?”
Quesnel came and went. We were fine. The U-Haul was fine (though extremely loud the entire way). The roads were perfectly maintained.
Cache Creek: Where Everything Went Wrong
Here’s what nobody mentioned: Cache Creek to Hope is apparently where physics goes to die.
It started snowing when we got to Cache Creek in the afternoon, so we checked into a motel for the night. Seemed reasonable. When we woke up the next morning to get back on the road, there was at least 10 cm of fresh snow sitting on the car, on the road, on everything. And nobody had cleared any of it.
The entire stretch from Cache Creek to Hope was icy, slippery, and borderline terrifying. The roads were so shiny from the ice, which would’ve been pretty if it wasn’t, you know, actively trying to kill us.
The Snowplow That Made Things Worse
At one point, we ended up behind a snowplow. Great, right? Finally some help.
Except the driver seemed to be either half asleep or genuinely confused about how snowplows work. Instead of pushing snow from the middle of the road to the sides like a normal functioning plow, they were somehow bringing more snow from the sides into the middle of the road.
We watched in disbelief as the plow actively made the road worse. I genuinely think they should’ve just stayed home and celebrated Christmas.
The Takeaway
If you’re planning a winter road trip from PG to Vancouver, ignore everyone’s advice about the PG-to-Quesnel stretch. That part’s fine. It’s Cache Creek to Hope you need to worry about, the part nobody warns you about.
Also, U-Hauls are surprisingly stable in terrible road conditions (even if they’re unbearably loud), which is either reassuring or concerning depending on how you look at it.
But hey, I made it back to Prince George alive and in one piece, so I guess that counts as a successful winter road trip. Would I do it again? Ask me after I’ve recovered from the Cache Creek trauma.
