I’m just gonna live the rest of my life, right here, in Golden. Yep, gonna get myself a job, hey, maybe right here at the IGA where we’re sitting right now, putting sale stickers on stuff. Or, or, maybe I could be a cashier! That way I could talk to everybody!

That’s what I was thinking last night as we were riding to our motel. That’s because I SAW, right above us, the hill we would have to take to get out of town. It was dark and the vehicle lights pierced the night sky way above us as they drove east. It’s not a drive I’d want to take in the dark.

.We went to the IGA to buy food for breakfast and load up a bit for later. “How is the bear situation lately”, I asked an employee hopefully.” Oh, they’re everywhere,  Last week one of my friend’s dogs was attacked. They come right into town here. They know where the food is. But I guarantee you’ll see all kinds of bears on your way to Lake Louise.” Great. Thanks. That’s what I wanted to know.

No option. We had to take on that giant hill and we had to get to Lake Louise. So we climbed. And we climbed. And truth be told, it wasn’t that bad. Charlie stuck close to me most of the day unless I was ahead. Somehow that feels alright to me because I have some control there. If he’s behind, I can slow down or stop and wait for him. If he’s way ahead, I feel like I’ll never catch up to him. And I feel too alone for my own comfort.  Soon after that mega-hill the road twists and turns as it descends. There’s very little shoulder room but we found that drivers were very careful around us, and for that, I am appreciative. The Golden Mountain eventually levelled out but it wasn’t long before we had yet another climb. Again, the scenery, when we weren’t focused on the crappy pavement, was worth getting up for. Lots of gushing waterfalls, rushing, turbulent rivers, usually clear and turquoise, this year opaque taupe brown, saturated with silt.  Heather Mountain gave us a good go but again we managed to crest it and coast down the other side. Field eventually came into view with its tiny buildings and flat wide brown river. 

They’ve put some effort into making Field a place to stop and explore. When I lived in Banff so many years ago, Field was simply a railway town. Nobody ever went there unless they had to and that was for work. Now they’ve got a few attractions like tandem parasailing, (which sounds, to me, a bit too close to paraplegic, so no thanks, I’m out for that one), and some funky little hippy restaurants. A guy we met later in the day said he’d paid $17 for a veggie burger there. Yowsa! Anyway, Field has a very busy information /interpretive centre so we went in to see what we could find out . They told us we had another pass to climb; Kicking Horse Pass, which I’d forgotten about. Sitting there on their well worn leather couch, I’d have been quite happy to have spent the day there, but on we went. Finally Lake Louise! Charlie and I did our happy dances! We had conquered BC! Hooray! 

It’s amazing how good some canned food actually tastes. Especially after an 87 km bike ride. We were about to buy some canned chili at the LL grocery stop but when I added up the cost of 4 cans , (3 for C, 1 for me), it made more sense to go next door to the bake shop cafe and buy hot meat pies. When we came out a man was waiting for us.  He too was cycling across Canada, although he admitted to cheating a bit. Gordon, from Bear River, Nova Scotia, close to where Charlie grew up from age 13 on, said he’d seen us in Cache Creek and then again in Salmon Arm. He was excited to finally catch up with us. We chatted a bit, comparing notes and then, as we had not yet secured accommodation for the night, we followed him to the Lake Louise campground, which is right in town. It had, I was promised, an electrified fence totally around the tenting area. Thus reassured, I had some confidence of our safety, until I saw the fences. They were not like the ones I’d imagined from “Jurassic Park”. No these were only about 5 feet high, if so, and looked pretty ineffective to me. However, we obviously, survived the night.

Building a temporary home out of a few poles and k-way fabric can be quite the job.  You have to put down the footprint, centre the tent over it, align and secure the poles, drape and secure the fly. Then you have to blow up the thermarest pads and pillows, position your sleeping bag over the pads, squirm into your sleeping bag protector , then stuff yourself, and your sleeping bag protector into the sleeping bag, stretching your legs to ensure nothing gets bunched up. Then you have to fight with the zipper, and when you finally get it up, turn off your headlight.

Aww…  #X*Z!,!!     I have to pee!

Fraser texted me today and said “Errr….Have you been eaten?” I responded, “Nope. Too tough. But the truth is that today I vasillated between feeling like a tough biker chick with grease “tattoos” on my calves, ready to take on any mountain to snivelling on the side of the road, to feeling like I’d like to toss my bike over the nearest cliff, stick my thumb out and take my chances with whichever trucker picked me up.

It’s not the mountains. It’s not that we were facing 120km or more today from Canyon Hot Springs over Rogers Pass to Golden. It was that I did not want to be biking all by myself in the mountains. Charlie headed up a long hill outside of where we’d stayed and within 2 minutes he was well ahead of me. He’s a racehorse and he wants to race. Well, all my confidence dissipated in a fit of whiney tears and I told him that I NEEDED him to stay with me. Well, he was excellent and let me set the pace all day. I’m sure it gave him a full day to exercise his patience but he definitely earned some points with me today!

It rained. Hard. We had our rain gear on and when we finally made it up to Roger’s Pass it had cooled down to the point where we needed to layer up.  Construction workers were standing on top of their trucks watching 2 grizzley bears in a slide area but I, chicken-hearted as I am, prefer to watch bear behaviour on TV documentaries. We went into the interpretive centre there and the Parks people were so nice to us. They let us make and eat our lunch inside and made us steaming hot cups of tea. I’m sure we were quite something to see, all bundled up in rain gear with water streaming off our clothes. A few people stopped to talk to us including this long tall German fellow, who we’re pretty sure is ready to kill himself. He’s on a bus tour and every other person is at least 30 years older than he. 

The Parks people were very informative including Goldie Rich, who lives in Revelstoke. Charlie picked her as his person of the day and asked her 5 questions. 1. What does Canada mean to you,   2. Describe your community.   3. What are you proud of?    4. What are your regrets?   5. Tell me something amusing. He picks one person every day to interview. Ever the prof.  Another Parks person came by. I didn’t get his name but it was great to talk with him too. He does a lot of cycling and talked about that.

  When we left Rogers Pass we still had another 80km to do. We’d been told it was all downhill and that just ain’t so. But a lot was. My hands got a bit sore from braking so much and Charlie has a bit of fish tailing going on  that I think he should get addressed asap. It was a good ride. I of course, burned extra calories by being hyper-vigilant and I was so, so, so happy to see signs of civilization when we rolled into Golden. We found out the time had moved forward an hour at the Pass. Currently we are eating at aRicky’s All Day Grill and we will soon be biking in the dark to our inexpensive hotel for the night. Tired. Dirty and out of clean clothes. Biking shorts feel like you’re wearing a rubber diaper but they do help, I think.

Goodnight. Sleep well.xxxxxx

Matti made me a big cup of coffee when Charlie and I got up this morning. I drank it, appreciating the warmth of the cup on my hands, the steam on my face as I sipped it, all the while thinking that this was a mistake; coffee is a bladder irritant and I’m going to have to crouch beside some bush on the side of the road to pee. Oh well, live for the moment. Besides, we’re not going far today. We had a couple of things to do before we left and truth be told, I procrastinated as long as I could. We are in the mountains. There are bears in them there woods and I lied when I said that I would not be afraid. When we finally left town I was slightly out of breath, solely from anxiety. Fortunately that dissipated as I got into the task at hand.

Another day of extreme raw beauty. The scenery is breathtaking. No wonder tourism is such a big part of the BC/Alberta economy. The day started out grey with low lying clouds. .  There was an ever-present threat of showers but it held off until early afternoon.  We had stopped at tourist information notification boards to read about the railroad, etc and had our picnic lunch at a table set up there. Suddenly the sky opened up and we scrambled to put on our waterproof jackets and pants. As I thrust my leg into the pant leg there was a scent of “Je ne sais quoi” except that this time I knew exactly what it was! I retracted my foot from the pants and there on the tip of my shoe, like a hood ornament, was a soft blob of doggy do-do that I had smeared all along the inside of my rain pants! I need a drink!

Off came the pants! I don’t like them anyway. They’re  MEC rain pants, kinda rubberized on the inside. They feel fine when you first put them on and soon they vacuum-seal to your body. But of course, being rubberized, you sweat like a warthog and then get the oddest sensation as the pants release their cling in random areas, clinging and reclining. I do not suggest you buy them. But enough about pants….

The road was still very rough and uneven today. So, to my left is the road where the traffic flys by. Spits and spurts, heavy, heavy trucks, sports cars, logging trucks, half tons,….  They roar past. If you were to stick out your arm it would be swiftly excised, they are that close. Next to the traffic is the white line, which we all know is “no man’s land”. Next to that, moving laterally are the rumble strips, which crop up intermittently. Then there is about a 2 foot strip of broken pavement with deep vertical gashes yawing for your bike tires and then… well, then there’s cliff. Or often enough, cliff.

The rain was pounding when we saw the sign for Canyon Hot Springs. We registered, went to our cabin, strung up our tent to dry from camping 2 days ago.  The cabin is small and just fine. I cranked the heat and made us 2 cups of tea each and we ate those with Cliff Bars. Charlie is having a nap, snoring, which is unusual for him and I’m happy here blogging and reading “The Girl on the Train”. We’ll go up to the little cafe in a little while for pizza, which I’m expecting to taste like cardboard and then we’ll dip our bodies into the mineral springs and just relax there for a while before going back to this cozy little cabin.

Tonight’s gonna be a good night. Yeah, tonight’s gonna be a good, good night!      😉

Oh, what a day! When we left Terri and Mark Mason’s lovely home we were immediately confronted by a long, long winding hill. Charlie took off, up, up and away, but I fumbled with my gears as the positions were different since my handlebars were changed. There was no way I could get the momentum to get up that hill, so I trudged up pushing Hoss and about 368 pounds of gear. That’s what it felt like.  So, I got to the top of the hill and….no Charlie. I looked left….looked like a country road. I looked straight and it looked like a country road too. On the right however, I could see traffic. That’s where he must be! Off I went, but no Charlie. I alternated between fuming mad and disheartened exasperation with a touch of feeling abandoned. Eventually we found each other, as you may have guessed, but we lost a good hour and a half.

Initially I freaking hated my new handlebar set-up. If you saw it, you’d think it looks pretty standard and it is, but I prefer riding in the downs. As time went on though I began to appreciate the increased real estate literally at hand. And I started feeling more comfortable braking from up top. Still, and especially when riding downhill, I want to ride low. I definitely need to find some adjustable brake levers that will fit my smallish hobbit hands.

The landscape continued to change. Salmon Arm is lovely and green but the higher we went and the further east, the denser the foliage. Moss grows on top of moss, the trees are so dense that at ground level nothing grows; the tangled mesh of branches and leaves block every ray of sunlight. It’s the kind of forest Hansel and Gretel got lost in….  All the streams and rivers are over full with immense cascades of water rushing down the sides of the mountains. So loud. So cold as we passed beside them.   So massively impressive. What a beautiful world we live in! And it’s amazingly pristine.  I rarely saw garbage on the sides of the road.  

There’s a lot of repaving going on. Great lengths of the road have been scraped into a herringbone pattern, so as to, presumably, allow for better bonding when the new layer of pavement is layed. It will be great when it’s done but right now, it’s murder to ride on. It’s bbbbbbbumpy! My whole body as been shaken, rattled and rolled. My molars must be loose, my brain rattled, (finally an excuse), and the best part, all my fat cells vibrated! For at least an hour and a half. People pay good money for that!  I was sure glad to get onto regular pavement. So we coped with that along with the constant passage of huge transport or logging trucks and cars. 

We are at the home of Matti Little, another cycling enthusiast. He just finished his PhD in diabetes in indigenous peoples. He and his girlfriend, who is a firefighter, love to mountain climb. He also bakes awesome sourdough bread and made us a great meal.

Tomorrow we are headed to Canyon Hot Springs. It’s only 30 km but it will set us up better for the two days following this. Apparently there’s snow in Rogers Pass. 

Well, I need a shower and I need some sleep. 

Goodnight and God bless. Xxxxx

We said our goodbyes and got on the road around 7:15 this morning. It was a pretty good day and we were both feeling rested and hydrated. After yesterday I really wasn’t sure how I’d feel!

Again, the road was up and down. It was definitely hotter than anything we ever see in Calgary but at least today there was some shade.  I was interested in seeing Kamloops as I lived there 19 years ago for 5 years. We didn’t plan on stopping there but it was kinda cool just to peek around a bit. It’s too hot there for me. The city has expanded in almost every direction and the traffic has become very busy. We had to be very careful on our bikes. One thing I don’t ever think I was aware of before is that there’s a very long hill going into Kamloops if one is going west.  I was grateful to be headed east. We had our homemade lunch under a bridge, like the trolls we are. 

So on and on we went initially thinking we might make Chase but we stopped in Pritchard at a little food store and decided to try to camp there for the night. A man came up to Charlie and initiated a conversation because he saw our loaded bikes and wondered “Where do you come from, where do you go, (where do you come from, Cotton Eyed Joe”.) We asked him about campgrounds and he pointed to a green space on the other side of the river. Charlie and I found it to be too poopy. People take their dogs there and don’t clean up after them. As we were preparing to leave, this man, Doug,  showed up with cold water and cold apples for us. Next thing we knew we were camped in his back yard and he was feeding us smokie dogs. They were pretty good too. Charlie and he watched the hockey game and I got right into one of the crafts I’d brought along. Here is a picture of the immense accomplishment. 

Today was a scorcher! Even under the best of circumstances I am not a big fan of heat. Never have been. When I was a teen all my friends used to get together to lie out in the sun slathered in baby oil and there I’d be, over in the shade, just dying in the heat. So today was really tough for me.

We packed up early and were on the road by 7:15. The road had lots of ups and downs and there was absolutely no shade anywhere. I saw 2 coyotes, young ones I suspect as they looked fluffy, not scraggly like most I’ve seen. I was roaring downhill and they must have thought I was after them because they both took off, unfortunately in the same direction as the curve in the road took me. One stopped and ran right, while the other continued left. As the land narrowed I feared our paths would intersect but luckily the coyote stopped and changed direction. We really haven’t seen much wildlife. Just a fawn in PoCo, a fancy looking yellow and brown snail and now these coyotes. And I’ll be quite happy to avoid any of those fellows in the one piece fur coats.

We went through Cache Creek and then Ashcroft which held the record high temperature for the country that day at 34 degrees. Eventually we got into Savona, where we were staying that evening. I was so glad. At one point when Charlie and I were going back and forth looking for a cafe, I just stopped and told Charlie that I really couldn’t do much more. We finally found a cafe and I drank 2 litres of water in addition to the 3 litres I’d already had. Plus coffee.

We were hosted by Detty and Gerry and their visiting brother-in-law, Don. They are part of the “Warm Showers” community because they have adult kids who cycle tour. Immediately we felt at ease, welcomed into their home. Detty insisted we do our laundry there and we had a lovely dinner and lots of conversation. We share the same faith and connected through that too. When I mentioned that I’m nervous of bears from Revelstoke on Don said “Don’t be afraid of anything. And see that mountain over there? Don’t worry about doing the whole mountain…. just do that little bit in front of you.” Yeah, I’ve heard that before, but somehow his words have been spinning around in my brain. I will not be afraid.

We’re getting into a little routine now. We get up, pray and then Charlie makes breakfast while I flap around a bit trying to figure out which of my very limited collection of very dirty clothing I’m going to put on for the day. I’m glad that we will be going home. Some things I’ve brought I’ve worn nonstop; this long sleeved merino underwear shirt and some merino long underwear pants. I’ve worn them to bed and then in the early part of the day, over my biking shorts and top. Then in the evening, on they go again and then I just strip off my biking shorts and bra, and go to sleep. But then I’m too hot…..  I need a light pair of shorts and a T shirt specifically to wear to bed. There are a few other things I’m going to switch around too. Anyway, tomorrow we will do laundry. I’m excited!

So we left just before 8am this morning, which was a good decision because it was about 34 degrees out today. Our first challenge was Jackass Mountain. Friends from Calgary had warned us about it and we kept hearing about it all along the way. Funny thing is, we asked 6 different people who live in Boston Bar about it. Jackass Mountain is 10 minutes drive east from BB. Nobody could tell us anything. They all said that when they went anywhere, if they went anywhere, they went west.

(There’s a story about Jackass Mountain and how it got its name. One version is that one of the pack mules got fed up and jumped over the edge to his death. The other story is that someone brought over camels to use as pack animals and donkeys don’t like camels. One of them became agitated when it smelled the camels and kicked up such a fuss, it fell over the cliff. I dunno. I wasn’t there, although right now I feel like I’m old enough to have been.)

Well, we went up. And up. And, you guessed it, up. We figured that we must be doing JAM but we didn’t see any signs. And then we went around a corner…..and there, unmistakably, it was! We won though, after a long slog, and we celebrated at the summit with some Cliff Bar gummies that Curtis had given us.
The scenery is spectacular! We actually did have more time to look around as the pavement, though far from smooth, was somewhat less perilous today. If we took photos of everything we thought was awesome, we’d get nowhere. Much of today’s route was alongside the mighty Fraser River. (My Fraser was named after this river by his paternal great grandfather.) Its running pretty rough today as is the Thompson, alongside which we are camped tonight.

When we got to Spences’s Bridge we went to a coffee shop called “The Packing House”. The food looked good but we had just had sandwiches that we’d made ourselves. So we had a beer instead. 🙂   That’s where we learned about this free campground. We had planned on going back after we’d set up our tent, etc., because there was live music but instead we sat around and talked with our camping neighbors who are in their 70’s. They have spirits of adventure , have travelled the world and have stories to tell. Oh, yeah, and they’re Calgarians too!

It’s interesting to watch how the terrain and vegetation change to as we move further inland. On the coast everything was green, lush, thick and blooming. Moving inland, everything was still thick and well established, like mid-summer growth, but there we smelled that foresty smell; mossy, cedar, layers of vegetative decay. The mountains were thick with trees, not a patch of land was barren. Then today, a little east of Lytton, I noticed that the trees were becoming sparser on the mountains, with significantly less undergrowth. We began to see sagebrush and open dry areas.  The desert is coming. Tomorrow we will be in it and if we are smart, we will leave very early in the morning to beat the heat.

We are tucked away in our tent for the night. There’s a train track just up a bit and only about  50 yards from us, if that. Trains are running around this province almost nonstop. I’m not feeling tired but it’s unlikely I’ll get very far into the book I downloaded onto my iPad. Feeling dirty though and cultivating the Neanderthal look.

Goodnight!  Tika-Tika-tika-tika…..choo-choooo!

We said our goodbyes to Adrian and Matt and told them they are welcome to stay with us next time they’re out our way.

We had been warned about the hill leading out of Hope into the Fraser Canyon. I went to sleep the night before dreading it. Really though, it wasn’t bad at all.

Today was a lot of uphill, a lot of tunnels, (7) and a lot of pretty crummy pavement! Not just bad but broken, cracked, pitted, crumbly and downright dangerous. You think you’re going to sail along admiring all the stunning scenery, but so often you have to focus on the ground, just a few metres in front of your wheels trying to avoid the potholes, rough asphalt, rocks and loose gravel. That of course, and stay to the right so you don’t get mown down by passing vehicles. We stopped for a 2km hike to see an old bridge and have our picnic. We stopped again at Hell’s Gate to peer over the gorge and discuss whether we wanted to part with $44 for a 5 min ride down the gondola to view the heart of the raging water, and a 5 minute ride back up to the top. We didn’t.

There are, as I mentioned, 7 tunnels, two of which have buttons that set off flashing lights to alert vehicles that there are cyclists in the tunnel. We found that the best strategy is put our flashing lights on, as well as our reflective vests and to wait until there’s a lull in traffic. Then pedal like hell to get through them. 

We are now at a real fancy hotel (NOT!!!) in Boston Bar called The Charles and I’m about to awake my sleeping giant and drag him to the bar for a beer!

Goodnight!  (I didn’t think you’d need to see all 7 tunnels.)

There’s something about sleeping outside in the fresh cool air ! We woke up ready to take on the day. However, it was slow going this first camping morning. It took us almost 3 hours to get ourselves clean and ready, make breakfast, clean up afterwards, take down the tent, repack…. And then, as we were rolling away, I spotted our tent fly which we’d stretched across another table to dry, still lying there flapping in the breeze.

My sitz bones now feel like they’ve been sitzed on, but otherwise I feel pretty darn good. So does Charlie. The ride wasn’t long or hard today and there was far less traffic than there was down around Vancouver. Trucks still and everything else but luckily I seem to be able to totally ignore them. (Although around Vancouver there  were some that passed us by leaving an unbelievable stench in their wake. C thinks it’s piggy poo. Ewwwyuck!)

Charlie had a few things to do when we got to Hope but my priority was to head straight to Tims and get some coffee. I was ready to mainline, almost. I sat there for quite a while, catching up on email, blogging, etc.. Charlie came back and a minute or so later two other touring cyclists who had spotted him in town tracked him down. Andy is from Germany, an optometrist, who has quit his job to come to Canada and cycle. Melonie is a graduate student of McGill, from Niagara, who is cycling solo across Canada. We thought they were a couple, but no, they’d met only earlier that same day.

We had a “Warm Showers” accommodation booked so after visiting for awhile, we said our so-longs for now ( we’ll probably see them again on the road. They’re taking a different route than us), and we headed to the home of Adrian and Matt, loaded up with groceries so that we could cook dinner for the four of us. We had a nice time with them , getting to know them a bit. Very interesting people with a variety of interests, including yoga, cycling ( to crazy places like Guatemala and Belize!!). Adrian is a doula, Matt works on power lines. They have only lived in Hope for a year and a half. Hope is very pretty but I imagine pretty dormant and closed off in the winter.

Thank you Adrian and Matt for making us feel so welcome! We enjoyed our stay with you!