Hello from Penticton, British Columbia! Since the last time we wrote we have already crossed to the last Canadian province. And the last time we looked, we are about 500 km from Vancouver! But let’s not rush it; we have still a great deal to pedal.

 

After we left Banff, we continued on Highway 1 until we reached Lake Louise. The day had been pretty damp and the road quite packed with traffic. We paid a short visit to the visitor centre and tried to check our options to spend the night. As we feared, wild camping was still forbidden around the area, so we went to the campground to check whether they would allow us to share a site with somebody. When we asked they were not aware of anyone interested in that. However, as soon as we started pitching our tent we managed to share our site at the campground with yet another French couple –they had been told at the reception they could check that sharing matter with us. We do not know exactly what kind of strange attraction there is between us and the French during this trip. Especially when both Banff and Lake Louise were so full of Germans!

 

 

Anyway, what was really remarkable about that day –and more particularly that night– was that it snowed! And by that we do not mean: meh, some flakes, ‘t’s’alright. It was more like: wait, is it 13 September or what?

 

 

While Tere was having a hot shower at the campground, Pak decided to climb all the way up to the lake. It was an interesting experience but unfortunately there was not much to see. Oh, and by interesting we mean that the snow was pretty heavy on the last meters to the lake, which cause the rear derailleur and cassette to freeze. That pretty much turned FU.LA.NA. into a fixie!

 

 

That day we left Alberta and entered into British Columbia. We pedalled all the way down (-1355 m) to Golden, where highway 1 became radically more dangerous, especially when the shoulder disappeared all of a sudden, leaving us between one lane of heavy traffic and some concrete blocks. On top of that, Pak had a flat tyre some 20 km before the city and we did not have much luck finding a warmshowers host. We therefore headed to the municipal campground, which we managed to reach once it was already dark.

 

 

We however could get some rest and woke up at 6 am the day after to resume our journey. But before that we paid a visit to the local library and the guys at the Derailed Sports bike shop. We had met one of the mechanics outside Grenfell and we thought it was just nice to stop by to say hello and ask for some recommendations. Besides, the shop was just a few meters from the library and they lend us a pump to inflate our tyres! And last but not least, we discovered a thrift shop and Tere found some gloves and a balaclava that were just perfect for the cool wet/snowy weather we were having those days.

 

 

We finally resumed pedalling around noon and we rode some 30 km to Donald, where we camped at the recreation area in Waitabit Creek. We discovered that free campground thanks to iOverlander and we thought it might be worth stopping there after a short journey, so we could prepare for the tough climb up to Rogers pass the day after.

 

 

We even had the time to gather some firewood and get the fire cracking in the pit! While Tere was pitching the tent and Pak was getting the fire going, a (motor)biker stopped by our site and asked if we would share it with him. Since it was big enough for the three of us, we did not have any problem to share it with him, so he also stopped for the day. And, guess what? He was French! His name was Bastien and he was driving the motorbike he bought in Honduras all the way north to Vancouver. We shared also dinner and some refreshments during a nice chat besides the fire pit before going to bed.

 

 

On 15 September we said goodbye to Bastien and headed to Glacier National Park, where a tough day was waiting for us, the way up to Rogers Pass included. We climbed an overall ascent of more than a thousand meters, with a descent of just half of that. Tough as it was, we managed to climb the pass with lots of dignity –taking into account both the heavy load on Anacleta and FU.LA.NA. and the snow sheds with no shoulder, that was one of our big accomplishments so far!

 

 

We continued for a few kilometers after the pass, until we reached Illecillewaet Campground. We wanted to camp on Ross 3 or Loop Brook, since they were a bit further. However, we discovered at the Rogers Pass visitors centre that they were already closed. We managed to finally get another fire going in the pit –the firewood there was quite damp– before going to the tent and spending another wet night –the third in a row.

 

Luckily, the day after the sun shone during most of the day and we resumed pedalling with a different mood, and the fact the way was basically down helped even more to get us going: while packing in the morning we realised not only the tent was completely wet but also we could not manage to get our clothes and sleeping bags dry. They were not as wet as the tent but to have the same damp feeling for the fourth morning in a row was a bit uncomfortable… we guess there is some lack of experience in there as well!

 

Anyway, we climbed all the way down the pass and we stopped in Revelstoke. Since the weather was not getting any better and we had already went past a couple of closed campgrounds, we decided to stay at a guest house and we managed to find the most charming one in town: Poppi’s Guesthouse. We not only managed to relax and get some rest but also did our laundry and got our clothes washed and dry! On top of that, Pak managed to get a deal on a rain jacket and some recommendations as regards our route. And this is how we changed again our initial plans and started to –finally– get rid of highway 1. Instead of continuing to Salmon Arm and Kamloops, we would pedal to Sicamous and take highway 97A down to the Okanagan valley!

 

 

On 17 September we rode to Malakwa. We wanted to get to the campground in Yard Creek Provincial Park. However, something in the air was telling us we might find it closed, so we stopped some kilometres before instead and asked around whether we could pitch our tent. First, we tried at a restaurant: The Burner Grille. The waitress there was nice enough as to try to get the owner on the phone, so he could confirm he was alright with that. Unfortunately, his phone was off and we needed to wait for his reply. In the meantime she offered us some coffee and while we were waiting Pak went to the supermarket just next to the restaurant to try some luck. And we did have some! The owner of the shop allowed us to pitch our tent just on one side of the building and we could even have dinner before it was dark. It was again another damp night, which led to a foggy morning. We however were very grateful we could have spent the night there!

 

 

On 18 September we got to Sicamous and finally left highway 1 behind and turned to highway 97A to go south. We then headed all the way to Coldstream, just after Vernon, where we would be hosted by Diane and Randy. We had contacted them through warmshowers to check their availability and not only they were available but Randy happened to be a cycling pal of Paul, our host in Calgary! Randy had even been the president of the Crankmasters Cycling Club! After a tough day –104 km– with some final climbs –especially after Vernon,– we managed to get to their place with a magnificent view over the lake.

 

 

We however managed to get there by 6 pm and had time for a nice chat with them before going to bed and get our well deserved rest. They even gave us the most unexpected news: we did not need to go back to the highway to get to Kenora the day after! The old railway had been turned into a trail leading all the way down to Kenora: the Okanagan Rail Trail.

 

 

The day after Diane was kind enough to come with us with her bike and we rode some kilometres of the trail. She then waved us goodby and went back home, while we tried to continue to Kenora on the trail. Unfortunately, shortly after kilometre 30 we found the trail had been closed for maintenance and we had to go back and take a detour to highway 97.

 

 

And this is how, on 19 September we rode those last 20 km on the highway and finally arrived to Natalie and Adrian’s place in Kenora. They were fantastic hosts and allowed us to stay for two nights in their charming flat with the best of vibrations. We had very interesting exchanges of our cycling adventures and they gave us some details of their trip to Baja California in Mexico, along the Pacific Coast in the U.S. We enjoyed that, the meals we shared as well as some rest and time to do some repairs: especially on of our panniers and the new tyres Pak had to get for FU.LA.NA. She had another flat just entering Kelowna and after more than 6,400km her tyres were pretty worn out. Adrien pointed us out to a bike shop just a few blocks from their place and Pak could get the last pair of 26″ Schwalbes they had.

 

Yesterday morning, Natalie rode along with us on her way to work and showed us the way to the cycling path to leave Kenora.In one of the chats with her and Adrian, they had talked about paths and side roads as alternatives to the highway, so we decided to give a try to the trail to Kalamoir Regional Park. Although it sounded like a good idea and it was indeed nice in the beginning, it turned out to be a little nightmare of trail. After a couple of slopes down, the nice gravel path led to a steep slightly muddy and rocky trail in which we had to sweat and suffer while pushing Anacleta and FU.LA.NA. All the way up. We therefore ended up taking some side roads until we reached highway 97 again and continued to Penticton, were Anna was going to host us for the night.

 

 

Since she was still at work, she arranged so we could have the key to her flat and we could get settled and have a shower after we arrived shortly after 4 pm. We even went out to get some supplies and prepared supper, which the three of us enjoyed together after she came back from work. We headed to bed shortly afterwards, after a quite demanding day, where Anacleta unfortunately had another flat tyre due a little nasty piece of metal she might have gotten a few days ago.

 

And this has been our long week so far! The plan for today is to ride some 80 km and stop at Stemwinder Provincial Park. We are still unsure if we will manage… you will learn about that in our next post! Stay tuned!

 

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