Aug 2, 2019 – day 24

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LAST DAY.

In the middle of the night — HOPE B.C. — I was awoken by rain.

Jumped out of the tent to put the fly which I’ve rarely used over the past month. The weather has been terrific.

It rained hard. The first hard rain of the month.

I packed up quickly in the morning when it let up briefly. But was soaked by the time I got to Tim Hortons and, later, McDonalds.

By about 9:30am the skies looked threatening … but I set out anyway with the vague dream of reaching Vancouver Island same day.

It looked unlikely as — shockingly — all these left coast Vancouver suburb cities have yet to organize a connected non-motorized trail through the big sleazy.

Least bad option was starting west on Laugheed Highway 7.

This was a big letdown after the Kettle Valley rail trail. 😕

Some of the bridges are quite dangerous for cyclists, as well.

Happily, the Golden Ears bridge (opened 2009) is a dream. It has bike-pedestrian protected lanes on each side.

On arrival in Langley I asked a bus driver the best public transit with bike to downtown Vancouver. That led to an intercity bus with bike rack. Cycling 6.5 km. The Sky Train. Ferry to Londsdale Quay. And two more local buses to Horseshoe Bay.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

And I made it to Horseshoe Bay in time for the 10:40pm last ferry. The last of the day.

Should I cross. Or wildcamp on the mainland?

I decided to take the ferry. It was 12:20am on arrival in Nanaimo.

Deciding not to wild camp, I decided to stay up all night in Tim Hortons and ride the final 30km or so at dawn.

Click PLAY or watch my 240km travel day on YouTube.

I went straight to bed on arrival at my parent’s place around 7am.

Great trip. But I’m very, very tired.

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Aug 1, 2019 – day 23

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Toughest day of the trip.

I was up before dawn anticipating a long day ahead. Then managed to get lost. Twice!

It cost me perhaps 3 hours.

Click PLAY or watch me getting lost on YouTube.

Oops. Seems I ALSO accidentally turned off the Relive app after only 65km. The day was actually at least twice as long.

My navigation skills are poor. But in this case the confusion was mostly due to missing roads on the Maps.me app.

There was nobody to ask.

Also, there are very few road direction signs in this remote area.

Merde.

Another problem. One of my saddle bags broke. Luckily I’m a mechanical genius and quickly hacked a fix.

On the bright side I did see a LOT of wildlife this day. Fox. Coyote. Skunk. Marmot. My 5th bear.

Fewer cyclists cover this section. Some trail is in rough shape. Some rockslides never cleared.

The Great Trail gets complicated when it reaches the Coquihala highway.

All the cyclists I spoke with took the highway when they couldn’t find the trail. As I did.

The Coquihala wasn’t as bad as I feared. And as I was cycling downhill, my average speed was probably 30km / hour.

Happily, whomever added these white painted arrows did a good job. These pointed the best route.

One excellent section of the Great Trail required sliding the bike under these barriers.

There was some superb scenery on the way to Hope.

A British cyclist reminded me how lucky we were to have the chance to cycle in paradise.

Wondering about the time all day, I was happy to reach the Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park before it closed at dark. Fantastic. And I’d never been before.

In the Coquihalla Gorge – the river cut a 300 foot deep channel of solid granite. A straight line of tunnels were built through it which are known now as the Othello Tunnels. …

This park highlights the Kettle Valley Railway grade that passes through the canyon and 5 tunnels which were built in 1914.

I wild camped close the very end of the 450 km Kettle Valley rail trail on the outskirts of Hope.

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July 31, 2019 – day 22

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Into the least populated area I’ve cycled, so far.

One of my best campsites so far. Chain Lake.

Perfect weather. No biting insects. Paradise.

There’s not much traffic. Aside from logging trucks.

More trestles, tunnels and bridges.

I’d increasingly been jumping back and forth between rail trail and quiet gravel roads.

I ran into a Chinese film crew doing some kind of documentary about cycling Canada’s Great Trail. They interviewed me.

Somebody painted cute stones and decorated the trail.

A great cycling day.

I was quite surprised how few people I’d seen.

There is no shortage of cows.

And there are plenty of these dumb ground birds. Dave calls them DUNDERHEADS. … Something like that.

I found a quiet spot to camp and enjoyed a peaceful evening.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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July 30, 2019 – day 21

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I wild camped here close to Penticton. Close to Tim Hortons.

I did a number of errands in Penticton but didn’t see many of the tourist attractions.

Two different cyclists told me the Kettle Valley rail trail from here to Summerland was closed. The Great Trail app told me to take the highway instead. That turned out to be the worst highway cycling so far. I wished I’d tried the old KVR route.

Summerland is gorgeous. I rode UPHILL through famed “Bottleneck drive“, a system of roads connecting wineries.

I was in great spirits cycling only 2% uphill grade on the KVR. Several sections were closed. People are forced to find detours.

This section had been covered by rock slide. I carried my bike and gear.

Over the past few days I’d been taking more frequent stops. That works for me. Less muscle cramping.

Stop and take photos of the picnic tables. 😀

I’m also leaving the KVR more often — taking roads instead as a break. The Summerland Princeton highway is near deserted.

Big snake. Over 2 foot long. And it’s not road kill. This one is alive.

Osprey Lake is the high point on the KVR too Princeton. It’s mostly downhill from here.

I decided to stop at Chain Lake campground. A pretty spot.

A fisherman who’d cycled the KVR years ago stopped by to gift me 2 home made cookies.

Nice.

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July 29, 2019 – day 20

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Best. Day. Yet.

Even better than yesterday’s Best. Day. Yet.

First up, first gone from Hydraulic Lake Campground, I was really looking forward to the day.

The past 2 nights had been surprisingly cold. The elevation, I’m assuming, as weather continues hot and clear.

This morning was tranquil.

There’s Kelowna far below.

I was second to arrive at the famous Myra Canyon Trestles, the best section of the Kettle Valley rail trail and — indeed — one of the highlights of Canada’s Great Trail.

18 wooden trestles and two tunnels!

People drive to one end or the other and rent bikes. They’ve had groups as large as 60 people!

… lightning sparked the 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park Fire …

This fire engulfed many portions of the KVR between Penticton and McCulloch Lake. After a valiant fight …, the fire unfortunately claimed 12 of the 18 trestles …

Restoration of the trail was completed, with an official re-opening ceremony held June 22, 2008. …

I took quite a bit of GoPro video which I won’t edit until end of trip.

I had been a bit disappointed in the amount of wildlife I’d seen so far. After 2 bears on day 1, I’d seen mostly deer and rabbits since.

But todayI saw two more bears. One still almost a cub. The other a BIG Black Bear. Both ran away so quickly I didn’t get photos.

The big one was on the trail between me and an oncoming German cyclist. He pulled out a whistle and reached for the Bear Spray mounted on his handlebars. This was only the 4th bear he’d ever seen. Big excitement.

Once past Myra the downhill into Penticton is mostly great riding.

I did take one shortcut trying to cut off about 6 miles. My road was probably tougher than sticking to the trail. AND I somehow broke another spoke.

While my spoke was being repaired in a bike shop I enjoyed a good break in town. Catching up on these trip reports, for example.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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July 28, 2019 – day 19

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Best. Day. Yet.

Midway is the start of the famed Kettle Valley rail trail. And it lived up to billing.

Loved it.

It’s tranquil. Pretty.

I left a Summit Stone a challenging reach away on this pretty rail bridge.

Starting the day the trail surface was pretty good.

I stopped many times today. At this Cyclist Rest Stop, for example.

And this … doll house?

One young German cyclist I met loved all this wilderness.

Though my bike is heavy, I managed the 2% constant uphill grade quite well.

Lakes provided much of the water needed for train boilers.

Later in the day, the trail got rocky. A Mountain Bike would be superior to my hybrid.

Late in the day I stopped at Hydraulic Lake. Very pretty. The haunting call of the Loon.

A couple from Kelowna offered me water and leftover dinner. I couldn’t say no. 🙂

And did I mention the wine?

Click PLAY or watch today’s ride on YouTube.

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July 27, 2019 – day 18

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As my stomach was not 100% I took an easier day.

The only thing worse than explosive diarrhea is explosive diarrhea while cycling. 

I hung out at the Grand Forks library, for example.

It was 1pm before I really got going on the rail trail.

It is lovely country here close to the U.S. border.

Some sections allow motor vehicles. Too bad.

A tour of 5 of these vehicles passed me by.

At one point I was stopped by fire fighters. They were putting out a small blaze up high on a mountain. I watched the helicopter make multiple runs down to the river.

Very lucky this summer, I’ve not personally had any fire delays or smoke.

For the most part, the rail trail stays high above the road.

A highlight — again — were the many tunnels.

Though long deserted, stations like Eholt were once bustling little towns.

This rancher decorated rail trail fence with used bikes.

The trail is mostly unpaved here. Mixed surface.

Certainly the rail trail is a real tourist attraction along Highway 3.

I stopped for the night close to Midway. Here begins Canada Trail’s most famous cycling section — the Kettle Valley rail trail.

Click PLAY or watch the ride on YouTube.

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July 26, 2019 – day 17

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FINALLY.

Castlegar is the start of the former Columbia and Western railway, now a multi-use recreation trail extending 150 km (95 miles) to Grand Forks.

I had camped close to Tim Horton’s for a QUICK JUMP in the morning.

… But decided to wait until 9am to get my front wheel checked.

The techie recommended I replace my bald original tire with the one he used 4 months Cairo to Capetown. I instantly concurred.

After the repairs made by Dave Adlard a few days earlier, my bike has never been better.

I visited the Waldie Island Trail before leaving town. David Thompson was here in 1811.

Off to the rail trail.

The Columbia and Western starts here at the 1968 Keenleyside Dam monument.

This really is lumber country.

I started using the dedicated Great Trail app.

The ride parallels the gorgeous, tranquil Columbia River.

As in Washington State, there are a lot of tunnels.

It was hour after hour of relentless 2% uphill grade until I reached the summit at Farron after 52km.

I’d actually run out of water in the hot sun. Until this gushing spring.

There’s Highway 3 overhead.

I crossed these kind of bridges, instead.

Finally Christina Lake came into view.

The town had no power for the second time in a few days. One lakeside gentleman offered me a Rickard’s Red in his yard as I waited on tourist information and grocery store to open.

I ended up wild camping. A nice spot. Perfect evening.

I was very tired, very happy after a long day.

Strava said it was 107 km.

I’d done 135 km and 130 km the two days prior, but those were much easier highway miles.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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July 24, 2019 – day 15

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My least favourite cycling day so far. Most of the day looked like this. Boring (and dangerous) highway.

On the bright side it was much cooler after the rain storm the night before.

You’d think cycling alongside the Pend Oreille River would be scenic. But the water is often out of site.

There are some nice stops, of course.

As you approach the Canadian border there is less and less development.

Sweet Creek Falls was a nice hike.

There are some big dams.

Dave had suggested I check out Metaline Falls. And it is a lovely town.

From there I headed towards Sullivan Lake finding my best campsite so far. This is National Forest.

I was able to dry everything.

And I enjoyed a campfire.

Only rarely do I have the time and energy to set up a fire.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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