Hello from Hope city! We are getting very excited, as we are getting close to Vancouver. So close we are planning on getting there on Sunday and go straight to the ferry on Horseshoe Bay to take the leap to the island! But first, here it is what has happened so far during the last few days.

 

On 21 September we left Anna’s place in Penticton after 1pm. After updating the blog with our previous post, Pak discovered he had gotten a new flat tyre on FU.LA.NA. overnight. It was the fourth day in a row with a flat and that was no fun at all.

 

In any case, we managed to get to Keremeos and we called it a day. We had climbed more than 500 m over 8 km and then were caught in a couple of storms on the way down. Since we got into town after 5 pm, we thought we would rather look for a place to spend the night. Unfortunately the visitor centre and the town hall were closed, so we could not get much information on any municipal spots where we could be allowed to pitch our tent. We checked a place that appeared as campground in our OpenStreet maps apps and we pitched the tent after indulging ourselves with a pizza.

 

 

The day after we woke up at 6:30 am to pack everything as quickly as possible to go and have breakfast at Pine Park, which was just a few meters from where we had pitched the tent the previous night. We had lunch in Hedley, just in front of the museum. Pak could even listen to the football game, thanks to the lady at the museum, who had given him the password for the wifi connection –after having contributed with donation, as she asked.

 

 

We had head wind again the whole day. The way was gradually up and there were just a couple of minor hills. However, it was a quite demanding day overall, just because of the wind, We both had resumed pedalling at our own pace after lunch, which was the reason why Pak was some kilometres ahead, so he could check as soon as possible on the municipal campground in Princeton, which was supposed to close for the season just the day after.

 

What we were not expecting that day was to meet Bob, from Alberta, and his brother, from Ontario. They were both driving towards Hope to cycle the tunnels and trails around the area when Bob stopped the car to talk to Tere. He was an experienced cyclist and tourer, so the first thing he did was to check if she was alright –also because he did not know that was her pace when going somehow uphill and totally against the wind. After taking a couple of pictures and having a short chat with her, he wished her safe travels and got back into the car to hit highway 3 again.

 

 

A few kilometres later, he repeated the same with Pak. After stopping his car several meters in front of him, he went out with his tablet to take a picture of him while he was getting closer to the car. Bob told him he had met Tere a few minutes ago and explained he had cycled around many provinces and also crossed the country –as Canadians do,– west to east. He asked whether Pak needed anything but he was almost alright, since he was less than 5 km from the municipal campground and he just needed to know whether it was open. They wished safe travels to each other and both continued their ways.

 

 

As expected, Pak got to the campground less than 5 km later… and luckily it was still open! While he was trying to reach Tere on the walkie and also trying to get an idea on how far downtown Princeton was, he just saw Bob walking towards him! Instead of continuing to Hope, they had stopped at the campground and he had taken care of our site for the night! That was one of the nicest gestures a Canadian had with us –to be added to the list of kindnesses we received in this amazing country. They waited until Tere got to the campground as well and he finally could take a picture of both of us before resuming their journey to Hope.

 

 

Shortly after, we distributed tasks and while Tere started pitching the tent, Pak unloaded the panniers from FU.LA.NA. And headed to the supermarket to buy some provisions for the next two days –which is what we will need to get to Hope. Once all jobs were done, we had supper just before sunset –that is before 7 pm. We then had a shower and headed to the tent, knowing the next day would be even tougher.

 

 

On Monday 24 September we had a long breakfast an finally left the campground at around 10 am. We knew the first 25 km would be very hard and we started to feel it after nearly 5 km, when we started climbing all the way up. At least the day was a bit cool but sunny and –more important– we did not have any wind at all.

 

Unfortunately, the shoulder disappeared completely on highway 3 as soon as we approached the hardest part of the road: Mine Hill; a 6 km climb with a 7% grade for 1.5 km and a final 8% slope for more than 3 km. We could not ride any of those. The gravel and soft sand by the lane made it even difficult to walk pushing the bicycles. We even had to cross to the left side –where at least there was a narrow shoulder– and then push Anacleta and FU.LA.NA. all the way up.Just because of that we think number 3 should rather be demoted to a ‘low-way’.

 

 

After reaching Sunday Summit –altitude 1,282 m, when we started at 630 m– we finally had a nice reward in the shape of a 7 km downhill –starting at 6% and ending with a 9% grade for 1 km. A deer jumped across the road just in front of Pak and we could thus understand the reason for the yellow signs with the black image of an antlered beast!. Anyway, we finally stopped for the day at a camping spot we saw in iOverlander, just by number 3 but also by the Similkameen. That day we rode just 52 km, with 1034 m of elevation gain.

 

 

The morning after was a very, very cold one. We woke up at 7 am with 0ºC and we had breakfast by the Similkameen while our hands and feet were freezing out. The sun was well up but unfortunately we were a bit hidden and in the shade thanks to the mountains. As soon as we got hit by the sun we started feeling a bit better and the tent started to dry out.

 

 

We started cycling around 10 am and had another rollercoaster day. We went from a bit less than 1 km elevation up to 1342 m at Allison Pass, to then go all the way down to Hope. Except for a couple of climbs uphill along the slope down, we had grades of 6%, 7%, 8% and even 9%. That meant a fantastic reward from the climbs on the previous day. Unfortunately, the shoulder on number 3 disappeared again in some long stretches bot up and downhill, which was no fun at all.

 

Besides, Pak’s achilles tendon started acting up again. He had forgotten his solar charger and a battery at the spot by the river. Luckily, he realised less than 3 km after we started pedalling. When he tried to catch up with Tere he started feeling the pain again and it got quite bad by the end of the last hill. We got to Hope around 6 pm –nonetheless– and went straight to Coquihalla campground to finally call it a day.

 

 

We have actually given us a couple of days and on Wednesday and Thursday we stayed in Hope and tried to get some rest and recover from the past days of climbing. We also took the chance to visit the town a bit, more particularly the local library. We checked on our tubes and repaired any remaining punctures. Today in the afternoon Tere went back to the library to get some more cards we usually give to people we meet on the road who might be interested in following us.

 

And guess who was cycling around the streets of Hope? Mark, the British guy we met in Ignace! He had already met again Florian in Saskatchewan and the Florence and Alex in British Columbia, so it was no surprise he caught up with us as well! She invited him to come over and camp at our site. We had dinner together, a nice chat and got connected to the world (📡) before heading to bed.

 

 

So tomorrow we might say goodbye to Mark, since he most likely will not stop until he gets to Mission –more than 80 km from Hope,– whereas we will not get past 65 km. Pak’s tendon seems to be on the road to recovery but we will not be sure until we resume pedalling. Therefore, tomorrow we will take the road with no rush at all, hoping we can get to Deroche or at least Lake Errock. But we will tell you all about that in our next post. Stay tuned!

 

Thanks a lot again for following us on this blog or on the social world. Do not hesitate to contact us or ask any questions; we will try to reply as soon as possible. And, of course, please keep in mind you can always subscribe to our blog and/or our social media.