17 July - Friendship and Anarchy (Updated)

Osoyoos to Midway 77km (862km total).

I wish I could have stayed longer in Osoyoos and I am going to have to create a list of places I would like to come back to. Kevin and Gay were so awesome and I can't thank them enough. 

I made the decision to continue on Hwy 3 and take the longer, hillier, less travelled route. Apparently none of the hills are any worse than what I have done although one pass is higher. Also I really want to catch up with some alpine club friends at Rogers Pass but they will not be there for a bit, so I figure I may as well take my time and see somewhere new. I hope I don't regret it!! 

First I had to tackle Anarchist Mountain at 1233m. I probably should have left earlier but I have all day and I am sure it is cooler!! The climb started pretty quickly but at least there were switchbacks. As I struggled slowly upwards I was keeping an eye out for Anna, a British girl coming the other way who was almost done her ride from east to west and would be staying with Kevin and Gay tonight. I stopped at a pullout about halfway up the climb to take in the view, there was a Dad and son and we were chatting when a pretty athletic looking guy arrived on his bike, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. He looked at my bike and trailer and said "please don't tell me you biked up here with that!!". I wasn't sure what to say, I told him I was pretty slow but he was said he was incredibly impressed. 

Just around the corner there was another pull out on the other side of the road and I saw a fully loaded cyclist pull in, she waved and I crossed the road, of course it was Anna. We stood in the shade and chatted for quite some time like long lost friends, she was full of energy and has had a great trip by the sounds of it (although she did suggest I skip the Praries!!). We exchanged email and blog addresses and took some photos. She had left a quick descent into town but I had a ways to go. I am feeling like pedaling slowly uphill is pretty much all I have been doing for a while, and I am getting quite used to it!! I don't mess around, I just get Gary going and we plod away. I start drinking early and often, and I think my body is adapting to the heat. 

View from lookout on Anarchist Mtn.

Anna and I.

Anna with her trusty steed. 

Anarchist Summit (1233m).

It took a while to get over the summit but what followed was a long, flowy descent. I am currently at a little cafe in Rock Creek, I had a late lunch, a cold drink and an ice cream. They have wifi and although they have just closed they said I could sit in the garden as long as I like, the guy even joked that people have been known to spend the night here!! 

I feel like I should push on, Midway is about 20km down the road and is mostly flat......... I finally left Midway around 18:30. 3 guys showed up to use the wifi, I couldn't help but listen to their conversations, they were prospectors. When one of them got bored he came over to ask me what I was up to. He was a 71 year old guy from France, when I asked him what he prospected he said anything except uranium ("that stuff is not safe")!!! He was quite a character and had lots to say, he gave me a card, apparently he is a big deal, I will look him up at some point. The evening ride to Midway was beautiful, cool with a light breeze, as I passed paddocks of horses. I found a nice campsite by the river in Midway and another touring cyclist, an Australian guy who seemed confused as to where I had come from. I asked him about his trip, he had started in Los Angeles and was heading to Salt Lake City, now my geography of the US is not great but I am not sure how he ended up in Canada!! He did say he wasn't interested in crops country trips!! He had been traveling on some of the old rail trails as he was on a mountain bike, he seemed rather distant so I left him to it and turned in for the night.

This cool map on the way out of Midway shows the route I am taking through Grand Forks, Rossland, Nelson and Nakusp to Revelstoke (rather than Penticton, Kelowna, Vernon).