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Quilchena HotelAfter breakfast in the hotel we were heading north by 9:15. There were clouds of bugs floating everywhere until we got past Nicola Lake. Dozens of them would stick to my arms and clothes. At 24km we stopped at a truck pullout by Stump Lake (most of our breaks were roughly 25km apart).

A few kilometers later we stopped to put on rain gear as it started to rain (and looked like it wasn’t going to stop). Yet it stopped by the time we had it all on. We continued with our raingear on as a precaution until lunch next to another lake. At lunch it started to get sunny and we had a large climb up ahead so the raingear came off.

At the top of the climb was a very windy plateau from which we eventually descended down into Kamloops where we would be staying the night in a house being lent to us. After settling in a little we went off to get groceries and a new spedometer for my bike (I dropped mine after arriving which caused several digits in the LED display to not show anymore).

Tomorrow morning I head off on my own…

Distance 82.3km
Time 4:13:00
Max Speed 54.0km/h
Odometer 459km

I got off to a late start, leaving at 10. Possibly because this was my first day on my own and I wanted to make sure I had everything ready. It was fast going for the first while and I stopped for my first break at 31km next to the North Thompson River (I couldn’t find anywhere earlier).

On my way to Chase another cyclist caught up with me and we chatted for a little while before he took off at a faster pace (he didn’t have to carry any gear so was much faster). I had lunch in Chase on the patio of a Subway. If I had gone only 2 blocks further I would have found a much nicer park to stop in.

I took another break along the lake before the road started climbing away and towards Salmon Arm. I looked for campgrounds on the west side of the city but they were $28 even for a tent site. Probably because they were beach front and also included water/power even for tents. I eventually went into town and asked the visitors center where they pointed me to the Hidden Valley Campground & RV Park at the east end of the city for only $17+tax. This makes the next day’s ride shorter too. It was mostly RV’s at this campground so the tenting area was pretty quiet.

Distance 125.0km
Time 5:18
Max Speed 53km/h
Odometer 583km

Revelstoke

I first woke up around 5 but was too lazy and slept in my warm tent until 8. I was on the road by 9:30 after breakfast and hand washing a shirt and some socks which I hung over my panniers to dry while riding.

Shortly after riding through Sicamous, a truck tire blew out from a truck that was heading in the opposite direction when it was directly across the street from me. Just yesterday I had been looking at the remains of tires on the side of the road and hoped I wouldn’t have that happen next to me.

I took a break at the “Last Spike” rest stop further on where the last spike of the CN railway was nailed in. Just as I was about to leave I met Elizabeth who was also biking to Newfoundland and was on a rest day in Salmon Arm with a friend.

In Revelstoke I stopped at the visitors center to ask about the area between there and Golden and was told that nothing in the park was open for me to camp at half way.

Before checking into a campsite I bought some more groceries and stopped at the Main Street Cafe for a Smoothie (it had been a hot day).

At Williamson Late Campground I quickly setup my tent and immediately went for a swim in the lake to cool off. It was a pretty nice campground with free hot showers and a sink to do dishes in (among other ammenities). I tried to find out if camping was allowed in Glacier during the off season but couldn’t so I booked a dorm bed in Golden for the next night (150km away over Rogers Pass) so I had to go to bed early for an early start the next morning. Just as I finished dinner there was a thunderstorm forcing me into my tent for bedtime anyways.

Distance 103.3km
Time 4:39:00
Max Speed 58.0km/h
Odometer 686km

Knowing that this was going to be a long day I got up at 5:40 and started to get ready. I had breakfast in the entrance to my tent where it was warm and dry (compared to outside after the thunderstorm). I got on the road by 7:45 (a little later than I was trying for).

I took lots of breaks on the way up to Rogers Pass in Revelstoke Mountain and Glacier National Parks including an hour break at the Hemlock Grove Boardwalk and Picnic Area in Glacier where gophers (I think) and a Blue Jay were constantly coming to the table looking for crumbs.

I got to the summit of Rogers Pass by about 1 and took lots of pictures before heading back down. Finally, the slopes that look downhill are actually downhill. The mountains cause a bit of an optical illusion and make me think that certain uphill areas are flat or slightly downhill and it feels like I’m working too hard for what the road looks like. Downhill from Rogers Pass was probably the longest stretch of downhill I’ve ever biked and at high speeds of anywhere from 40 to 74kph.

It was still a long ways to Golden and there were a couple of other (smaller) climbs on the way that I hadn’t expected. I finally got into town by around 7pm (after the time zone change) but took another 30 minutes and 10km of riding to find the Hostel I had booked for the night. It was on 9th St North and my GPS took me to 9th St South (and the hostel map I had didn’t specify north or south).

Once checked in, I immediately had a shower and went wandering around town to find somewhere to get a large dinner (I had hardly eaten much since lunch at 12). After dinner I came back to go to bed. I had booked a bed in a dorm room which ended up being a private room simply because nobody else was booked into the dorm.

Distance 161.3km
Time 7:38
Max Speed 74km/h
Odometer 847km

I decided to take my first rest day in Golden so I didn’t have 2 big mountain passes in 2 days. I woke up late, did some laundry, and had breakfast at the Hostel (some of the largest slices of french toast I’ve ever seen). Before leaving the hostel I used their internet terminal at $2/15min and was annoyed when the power went out half way through writing a post.

I eventually setup camp at the Golden Municipal Campground. It’s not a very quiet campground because you can see the highschool from pretty much every tent site and there is a train just across the river.

I spent the afternoon reading and riding around town taking some pictures. I tried to go to the library there to spend more time on the internet but it was only open 4 days a week and this wasn’t one of them.

Distance 17.7km
Time 1:11
Max Speed 35km/h
Odometer 864km

I was out of Golden by 8:40 and up a big hill right away. At the top I almost rode right by a group of big horn sheep at the side of the road until I noticed a truck parked and taking pictures of them. Five minutes later I saw another group of them including some younger ones.

There was lots of climbing to get up into Yoho National Park which then stayed mostly flat until Field. I had lunch at Hoodoo campground in Yoho, though I would barely call it a campground. It was mostly a field with a bunch of numbered picnic tables to setup tents next to.

In Field I went into the visitors center to buy a BC badge/patch. I’m going to try to find one of these for each province. From Field I had to ride up the “Big Hill” which was once the steepest part of the railway at a grade of 4.5%. The railway now takes a figure-8 route through tunnels in the mountains to climb a lower grade.

At the top was Kicking Horse Pass. I hardly realized I had made it until I saw 3 signs at the side of the road. One for entering BC in the opposite direction, another for entering Banff National Park, and a third for entering Alberta. I’ve completed riding through BC.

In Lake Louise I went into another visitors center to ask about campgrounds and was told I would have to pay the park fee even if I were to stay in the city. So I paid the fee, got groceries for the next few days, and started north up the Icefield Parkway to the Mosquito Creek Campground.

Shortly after proping my bike up against a picnic table at the campground, Lacey (from Oregon), came over from the next site and offered me a beer. While taking the beer, a group of large crows came and stole my cheese bread which I had just bought in Lake Louise and hadn’t had a chance to put away yet. After dinner, Lacey and I sat around the campfire with a group of other people from Alberta, talking until about 1am.

Distance 116.6km
Time 6:24
Max Speed 53km/h
Odometer 981km

I got up really late and packed slowly knowing that I had already planned a very short day of riding to the next campground. I tried to make potatoe pancakes but mixed the powder too thick and ended up with something that was more like a gooey, syrupy, semi-fried mashed potatoes (didn’t taste too bad though).

I was on the road by noon and stopped at a couple viewing spots along the way to take pictures of Crowsfoot Glacier and the top of Bow Pass, the highest elevation on my trip. I got to the campsite after 35km of riding and setup pretty early so I could go for a short hike up to the nearby Chepheren Lake (8km round trip). There are mosquitos everywhere at this campsite.

Distance 34.8km
Time 1:38
Max Speed 72km/h
Odometer 1016km