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.

Day 5 - It's Canada Day, up Canada Way

Last night was the coldest so far with temperatures in the low 40s.  Our ride today was 91 miles with an optional (longer) loop into Kamloops (the Kamloops loop) which involved a 2 mile climb and then a great descent into Kamloops.  The road to Kamloops took us along a couple of  ten-mile long lakes with some great views. 

The scenery today was quite different from the previous days, with grazing pastures running up the sides of the roads, and lots of cattle.  I saw my 2nd and 3rd deer of the trip and an eagle diving into one of the lakes to catch a fish.

One of the neatest views was a herd of horses and one mule grazing up hill from the road.

The wildflowers were in full bloom providing a splash of color ("Hand me your lupens!") every now and then.

The funniest part of today's ride was when I stopped after a 5 mile downhioll run into Kamloops to get a picture of me (with my bike decked out for Canada Day in front of the "Welcome to Kamloops" sign.  I was riding alone at the time so to get the photo I had to put my little camera on the little tripod, set the timer on the camera , and set the tripod on the ground. 

I wanted to have my bike in the picture so I laid it in the shoulder about 20 feet in front of me.  There I was lying on the shoulder, well off the road and looking through the viewfinder of my camera so that I could get the right framing for the shot.  I pressed the button, and ran up to my bike for the picture.  As I was lying on the ground trying to frame the shot, a truck coming down the hill saw a cyclist lying on the side of the road with a bike about 20 feet past. Seeing this, they had assumed a crash and pulled over to see if I was all right, just as I hopped up on my feet for the photo.

 That is the truck on the left of the picture, given their act of kindness, I didn't have the heart to crop it out of the photo.

Need to sign off now so I don't miss out on dinner, and I also need to figure out how to get the left justify to work in the paragraph formastting.

Day 4 - Rest Day at the Laundromat

Last night was our coolest so far, but after a good day of climbing, I slept soundly - I opted not to check out the local nightlife as I was pretty beat from the ride.  The morning began early once again with the sun coming through the little window in my tent. 

After a coffee at the truck, it was then off into town to find the laundromat.  At the laundromat, we learned that Merritt, where we are staying, is the Country Music Capital of Canada.  The walls were adorned with photos of many famous, and many not so famous stars. I could only imagine many years ago seeing someone like Reba McEntyre standing in front of one of the machines doing a load of laundry.

My wash was one load - mainly all my bike clothes which I have used since arriving out west.  They came out of the washing machine fairly dry so I opted to use the Green dryer back at the campsite (the chain link fence behind out tents).   With a consistent wind blowing, I felt that it was a wise, and economical decision, untill I realized that the only clothes pegs which I bought at the hardware store cost the equivalent of 5 dryer loads.  I expect that I will recoup my investment on future rest (wash) days as we make our way east.

The effect of all the cyclists hanging their colorful clothing along the fence reminded me of pictures I have seen of Tibetan prayer flags in the Himalayas.  You can get a perspective of the effect by watching my little video on YouTube.

I will need to clean all the grit from the past three days of riding off my bike this afternoon - the two bike stands for repairs have been in constant use since we arrived yesterday. 

Our ride tomorrow is 91 miles with a "detour" through Kamloops that involves a 2 mile climb followed by a fun downhill.  I expect that we will be having a Canada Day celebration in camp, eh?