Day 6 – Approaching the Mountains

(posted on July 4th)
The campsite last night was right beside the Trans Canada Highway, and on the other side of that the CP Rail Line into Vancouver. Despite traffic (18 wheelers) and coal trains (100-200 cars long, each car carrying 100 tons of coal) every 2 hours or so, I managed to get in a good night’s sleep.


The hardest part about today was dressing for the weather. This morning was low 50s and cold, and this afternoon was high 70s and sunny. The route took us along the south side of Shuswap Lake, and through the town of Salmon Arm where my maternal grandfather used to live. I took a side trip to the cemetery to try and find his grave to no avail. The guy in the cemetery was really helpful, going through his paper records, and calling the municipal and regional government offices, but we could not locate where he is buried.

The scenery is spectacular (I know this is getting old, but what can I say). Shuswap Lake, as you can see from the photo is bordered by 3,000 – 4,000 foot mountains on either side – luckily we did not have to climb over them.

On the way out of Salmon Arm, I passed by a SPCA shelter so I stopped in to throw a ball for one of the dogs for about 15 minutes, he greatly appreciated it, and I got to address my withdrawal symptoms from Madison.

Tomorrow’s ride takes us up into the Monashee Mountain range which you can see in the distance in the shot below, and up the start of Roger’s Pass – the route is long, but pretty easy to follow. Left from the campsite, turn right after 11 miles, turn right after 79 miles into the next campsite.

This campsite is “So 20th Century!” no in-tent WiFi (or any Internet access at all), and no cell phone service. I will have to post this at the next available opportunity – it may be a few days from the looks of things.