It wasn't raining when I woke up which was a good sign. Today I was on a mission as I had some friends staying at the Alpine Club of Canada hut at Rogers Pass. They had invited me for dinner before they headed up into the mountains to camp. I was going to have to cover 130km to get there and I hadn't broken the 100km barrier yet!!
I left early with plenty of time to make the 15km ride to the ferry which runs once an hour. However of course it was uphill and after 7km of climbing I was convinced there was no way I was going to make it. But then the road started heading down and I decided to go for it, it was 7am on a Friday morning on a very quiet road so I made the most of it and took the racing line around the corners, I am sure I heard Bob squealing with excitement!! Unbelievably we made it and I am sure the ferry was moving before I had the chance to unclip my shoes and stand Bob and the bike up. I was freezing cold and started putting on my goretex when a lady came over and asked about my trip, she had seen me up the road and was surprised I had made it in time!!
The 50km ride to Revelstoke along the 23 was sooooo quiet, literally there was a short burst of traffic every hour as vehicles came up from the ferry and made their way down. The clouds were still hanging around, and at times quite low on the mountains but I was pretty sure the rain was going to hold out as I made my way along the shore of Upper Arrow Lake.
(Blanket Creek).
I clearly was not ready for Friday lunchtime in Revelstoke where I joined Highway 1, the main Trans Canada route for the first time. I headed for Tim Hortons to load up on chilli and check my email etc. The place was a complete zoo and it took me 10 minutes to make it across the road. I ate as much as I could, made a couple of quick calls, and checked the route to Rogers Pass, 65km and lots of up. I texted my friends at Rogers Pass to let them know I was on my way as I knew I would lose cell service pretty quickly (Telus is really the only network of any use in BC!!).
Although there was a shoulder the highway was exceptionally noisy due to the steady stream of 2 lanes of traffic beside me, to be honest it wasn't much fun and I am even more grateful that I took the less travelled route through BC. I climbed steadily into the mountains through Mount Revelstoke National Park, past Canyon Hotsprings and into Glacier National Park. The mountains got bigger and the road kept going up and I had to stop quite a few times to snack as I passed the 100km mark. I have been to the Rogers Pass area a few times and was sure I could recognise the peaks on either side of the road, but still no sign of the turnoff. Then I saw some avalanche tunnels (I wasn't expecting them until the other side of Rogers Pass) but they were not nearly as scary as others had suggested. I was pretty exhausted and it started drizzling with rain, but then there was a rainbow and shortly afterwards I turned off the highway, passed through the Illecillewaet campground and pushed my bike up the dirt track to the hut, it was gone 7pm, I had been on the road for over 12 hours, covered 133km but I had made it. It was so good to see Dave, Louise and Markus, and Dave had I am sure cooked an extra 2 servings of pasta for me. I ate, we talked and life was good, really good.
(Avalanche tunnels on Trans Canada Hwy).
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