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July 10, 2020

Waking up near the Coquahalla highway, I wasn’t all that psyched. The worst section would likely be today.

Cycling the other way last year I had many problems, including getting lost for a couple of hours.

On the up side, there’s one gorgeous 22km section on logging roads — closed to motor vehicles — with plenty of highlights. One of the best sections of the Kettle Valley Railway trail, in fact.

As the Othello Tunnels near Hope were still closed due to COVID-19, it was nice to reach a couple here not yet closed due to avalanche.

Engineer Andrew McCulloch named many Coquihalla subdivision stations after characters in Shakespearean literature, such as Iago, Romeo, Juliet, Lear, Jessica, and Portia.

This is the Iago tunnel, for example.

There’s a highway rest stop near Coquahalla Summit which is a must for every cyclist. The wurst vendor instantly warned me to skip the Great Trail through to Brookmere as it’s simply a mess in 2020.

That was confirmed by 3 women riding the other way. They told me it was the worst section they’d had in BC.

That was excellent advice.

I stayed on the Coquahalla up to the Coldwater turnoff.

Finally off the highway, this area is little populated farm land.

Relaxing.

At Brookmere I joined the Kettle Valley Railway proper and will mostly stay on it through to Midway.

Rail trails are low grade. Often gravel. Sometimes washed out.

I camped close to Thalia. AGAIN pestered by mosquitoes.

Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4-5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | info