Heading south

The weather report from last night hadn’t quite come to bear, but it was still pretty cold at 8 degrees, with a nasty wind howling through the mountains. I layered up with an undershirt, long sleeved shirt and jacket (all merino) under my riding gear. I’d purposely bought these as I could wear any number of layers depending on just how cold it got. I thought they should have been able to handle just about anything – was going to test them today. Added to that were the pair of newly bought long-johns. Again, to think I sent some home a week ago – stupid, stupid, stupid!

The roads south followed the Rockies and wound through her lower reaches. This is one massive mountain range and is absolutely impassable except on fairly major roads and routes. They are quite barren, with the tops being rock and scree. Quite forbidding actually.

Back onto bitumen after about 70 km of the Smith – Dorrien Spray Trail. I’d been passing a lot of people on pushbikes. Hardy people who always had their heads down and were pushing hard. On talking to one biker later, in good conditions they move along at 40 km per hour. At an average of say, 20, that would be 200 km in a 10 hour day. Not bad at all (but prefer to have a motor on mine).

I crested the Highroad Pass early. It was a bit underwhelming actually. No fanfare, lookouts or grand views, just a few longhorn mountain sheep grazing on the road. Literally. I couldn’t work out what they were managing to pick up, but they were having a good go. No snow – not sure if I was pleased or disappointed?

The Forestry Trunk Road was a wide road that was covered in heavy pea gravel, sometimes inches deep. It was pretty loose and very squirrelly – nearly like riding in sand at times. I had 112 km of this to deal with, as well as vehicles in front of me that I just couldn’t get past. They were kicking up a massive amount of dust and the conditions were too dangerous to be able to get close enough to overtake. I finally managed it after about 30 km when the surface compacted a bit and I could pick up a bit of pace without feeling like I was totally out of control. I considered heading west into the mountains about two thirds of the way down, but after talking to a fisheries guy I met, he said don’t bother – it was closed half way along. He confirmed that fish numbers were way, way down, with sediment washing into the rivers from all the logging trucks, plus quad bike riders flogging their way up the creeks being the biggest problems. Exactly the same as the Barrier Reef at home – sediment and fertiliser.

I hit Hwy 3 at Coleman. I had the Rockies still in view, but was experiencing a semi industrial setting with lots of trucks, cars, noise and plenty of pollution. I hate major roads and I’m getting the same way about the towns as well. I passed a couple of cops in a big rig on the other side of a very wide bit of road as I was heading out of town. With so few people in the country, its easy to imagine that the roads are not policed and you can ride at any speed you want. He turned on his lights and we had a bro moment as we locked eyes. No request to stop, just a warning – ‘take it easy mate’.

It had warmed up by this time and with all the layers, 20 degrees felt like 50. I pulled up at a Starbucks at Fernie, raced in and started stripping as I headed to the bathroom. Having done a great job earlier, all that wool was now feeling incredibly itchy and I was about to expire with the heat radiating out of me.

I was desperate to get off the main road but, once again, had a bit of trouble with the route I was wanting to take. I couldn’t see the turn off up Sulpher Creek and Bull River on the way in and couldn’t plot it on the GPS. I ended up pulling the computer out and finding it on Basecamp. The GPS still wouldn’t take the route (too minor a road?) but at least I knew where I needed to go – a backtrack for about 8 km to get there – no big deal

What a beautiful detour – my heart was heart happy again. Both roads (a total of about 70 km) followed spectacular waterways – probably the best of the trip. There was plenty of water in them and the forests were exactly the way I’d really imagined them to be. Fir’s I guess, very tall and perfectly shaped. There was plenty of wildlife as well. I spotted a little mob of mountain sheep on one creek crossing and saw countless deer. In fact, it was a bit like dodging roos at home – they also run in pairs.  There were hundreds of little squirrels racing across the roads – very cute little critters. It was my favourite time of day again – a couple of hours before sundown. It must be getting a bit later in the year, because there were Autumn colours on a lot of the trees. It really was beautiful.

I decided to say in Cranbrook and ended up at the Lazy Bear Lodge. It was what I’ve always imagined to be a typical run into a regional American town (yes, I know I’m in Canada) a long, wide triple lane each way in with motels, bars and grills lining the street. It was exactly that. Not a problem though – was kind of fascinating. The thing that got the Bear over the line was the sign out the front that said ‘We love bikes’. It was $60 (plus tax – everything is quoted without) for the room, so it was cheap. But, it was clean, had a hot shower and good WIFI. I hadn’t I hadn’t slept in a bed for 6 or 7 days, so that was going to be nice. And, I was absolutely filthy. It was at the point of being embarrassing actually. I have clean clothes for once I’m off the bike, but my riding gear is very dusty and sweat stained …… already. I’m a little concerned about what reception I’ll get at the US border at Creston in a few days time.

I rounded the day off at Mr Mikes Steakhouse Casual. Yup, that’s what it was called. Was busting for a proper steak and had a nice sirloin – cooked perfectly and very tender. They love their craft beer in Canada too!