Declare victory, go home

August 10, 2018

Kaslo River

Rachael and I almost talked ourselves out of this morning’s ride yesterday, as we considered the heat, the smoke, and the long drive ahead of us back to Portland. What’s the point, if it will be too smoky to see well anyway and with a forecast high of 105? Maybe we should just hop in the car and spend the day driving, and on the next day bike somewhere down in the Columbia Gorge after the temperature is expected to drop significanty.

We really like Kaslo, as well as the entire region we’ve spent the last month. Who knows though when we’ll be able to make it back this way? We’ve had three different reports that the ride between Kaslo in New Denver is in the don’t miss category - from our friends in Kootenay, from our friends in Nelson, and last night when we returned to our Airbnb and chatted with an old biker (his self-description, not mine - at 63, he’s still just a youngster) who spoke highly of it also, and said we should go regardless of weather.

So we went for the ride. We got up early again to beat the heat, leaving our room about 7:30 after checking out and packing everything into the car. We shortened it a bit: rather than biking all the way to New Denver and back (about 50 miles), we just rode the 20 miles to the summit and then back, skipping the five mile drop down to New Denver.

Our friends were right. It’s a spectacular, don’t miss ride, and a delight to bike. For twenty miles it follows the Kaslo River upstream, climbing almost constantly but very gradually. In 20 miles we climbed 1,800 feet and dropped only 21, at a very easy grade of perhaps two percent.

We had quite good conditions for this ride actually: it was in the mid-sixties when we started, and felt cool nearly all of the way to the summit. For the first half of the ride we were in the shadows, with the sun only breaking through to the road about halfway up when the valley opened up a bit. We had a slight tail wind for the climb, which kept things cool and made the modest climb a breeze. The smoke was a bit less oppressive this morning and didn’t impact the views that much for this ride anyway, because the important views are yards away from your nose. And, this early in the day we had the road nearly to ourselves.

So what’s so great about this ride, anyway? First, on the left there’s the Kaslo River. It’s a constant presence, never far from the road, often visible through the trees, the rush of the water through the rapids always within earshot. So that’s really great, especially on a quiet morning with no traffic noise to intrude - just you, the whir of the wheels, and the rush of the water.

Second, and even better, on the right there’s the wall. For most of the distance you ride alongside an impressive slate outcrop tilting steeply up, the beds at times tilted nearly 90 degrees from the road. It’s always interesting - the wrinkled, fractured, peeling rock is fascinating, but it is also highlighted by the occasional waterfall, spring, weeping wall, or tenacious plant crazily hanging onto a sheer surface. Very beautiful.

As often happens on rides like this, Rachael and I separate almost immediately. She rides steadily, and I compulsively stop frequently with the camera. I don’t see her again until we meet up at the top, after she has overshot by a mile and doubled back.

The ride down is delightful in a totally different way. The steady gradient is perfect for a long coast - I don’t think I had to touch the brakes at all, except for a few more times that I was compelled to stop with the camera and look again. It’s also exhilarating to ride with the river instead of against it - I love the sensation of racing along beside the water.

Once again I lost Rachael immediately at the onset, when I saw a reason to stop. I pulled up several times in the first few miles, giving her a several minute head start. After that though, feeling guilty at the thought of her waiting in the heat for me back at the car, I bore down and kept a fast pace for the last fifteen miles. It was perfect - I first caught sight of her as we were pulling into Kaslo, and we arrived at the car almost simultaneously.

She’s gone. I won’t see Rachael again until the midpoint of the ride.

Visibility isn’t that bad this morning, although it will get steadily smokier throughout the morning.

I love this fascinating spot, with the slate bent and broken by its overburden.

I was surprised by this green door, on one of a pair of well-weathered near-ruined structures. It turns out they’re inhabited though, and look like they’re in a state of restoration.

I was annoyed with myself here, because my zoom was packed away - which tells you something about how close I am to this grouse standing still by the roadside. By the time I pulled it out of the pannier she moved on into the weeds, followed by the chick she’d been waiting for.

Striking a familiar pose, Rachael wais for me at the midpoint of the ride.

She’s gone. I won’t see Rachael again until the end of the ride.

Beautiful - a twenty mile race against the rushing river. A wonderful closure to our month on the road.

South by Southwest

It’s about a ten hour drive back to Portland by the most direct route, south to Spokane and the Tri-Cities, before joining the Columbia at Umatilla and driving west along the gorge freeway. We start driving at 11, not stopping for anything but gas and to switch drivers until we reach Richland at about 6 and head straight to a restaurant: the Atomic Ale Brewpub and Eatery, the oldest brewpub in the Tri-Cities. The drive is just that - a drive. We don’t stop really anywhere to look around, partly because it’s pretty ugly - the smoke gets worse all day, and it’s very hot - but mostly because we’re on a mission to get home.

We only have twelve days back in Portland before we fly out for our next tour, which you’ll just have to wait a bit longer to learn more about. We have a lot to do in the meantime so let’s just stop here for now. I could come up with some really insightful comments and conclusions to close this out with, but I won’t. Thanks for following along, and a special thanks to those who dropped a comment for us along the way!

One for the road. If you’re puzzled by Oppenheimer as the name for a beer, recall that Richland is just a few miles from the Hanford nuclear reservation.

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Bike stats today: 40 miles, 1,800’

Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 1,518 miles (2,443 km)

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