In The Footsteps of John Rambo

Way Up North

Working my way through the Northern Hemisphere

In The Footsteps of John Rambo

June 9: Not Today, Thank You

Got up late this morning to a damp, overcast day. I had a little laundry to do and I’d seen a launderette in town yesterday, so I put my laundry bag into my carry bag and headed out.

The climate of Country Canada really had it in for me this holiday.

The road the Hope Inn & Suites is on, Old Hope Princeton Road, runs east-west along the south side of Hope. I noticed that not only has it several chain stores, but also quite a few motels and hotels. Colette told me yesterday that, during and after the COVID Pandemic, many people came to settle in Hope and now accommodation was tight; several tenants at Coquihall Motel have rented there for months.

Going through the town centre, I had a brief look at the art gallery and other sites.

Amazing wood carving, outside the art gallery.

I got to the launderette, and it was closed on Tuesdays. How many launderettes do you know that aren’t open every day?? Shaking my head and leaving my remaining laundry pods behind as someone’s lucky find, I walked back to town centre, had a coffee and took in more sights.

You could watch the clouds just drift past on this day.

Taking the Sly Trail

The day being damp and transport to the Othello Tunnels neither cheap nor readily available, I decided to take the First Blood Walking Tour. Starting at the visitors’ centre, I downloaded an app which mapped out where various scenes in the film had taken place around Hope. Here’s where Rambo jumped the train tracks on the motorbike.

There’s supposedly a station around here, but I think that’s a myth.

This is the “H-tree” Rambo sped past with the cops pursuing him.

Here, Rambo roared down the footpath on his bike, scattering pedestrians.

Here’s the gun shop that Rambo blows up before confronting the sheriff.

The intersection where John Rambo walks into town at the start of the movie.

Honestly, you all will just have to rewatch the film and pause at the particular scenes; I can’t help you here.

And here’s where Rambo blew up the petrol station.

The whole town turned out to watch the explosion.

Far End of the Trail

I wanted a rest after all the walking, so I got something to eat and sat in the library when the rain flared up again. By the time the weather improved, it was still mid-afternoon, so I went to find the last point on the trail, the Coquihall River Bridge, on the east side of town.

The bridge was where, near the start of the movie, Sheriff Teasle drops John Rambo off and tells him to get lost (and Rambo doesn’t).

The original wooden bridge was replaced with this one in 2011.

Memorial for the old bridge. Both locals and Sylvester Stallone himself campaigned to save it.

Most of the area surrounding the bridge now includes forest walks, BMX tracks and so on. If I’d kept walking for another hour-and-half, I could’ve reached the Othello Tunnels, but I just wasn’t feeling that masochistic today.

Scrubs

I headed back to Hope Inn and had dinner. Then I attended to preparations for tomorrow. Remember that bad toothbrush that Qantas gave me six weeks ago? It now came in handy for scrubbing my shoes. As I’ve been walking through several national parks, I know that Australia Customs will take notice, so I used the toothbrush to scrub all loose dirt of the soles of my shoes, as well as trouser cuffs and the wheels of my bags. The Inn’s proprietors will wonder why one of their towels got so grubby.