September 12, 2007
To Cat Creek: Picnic area down Highway 40
What a difference a day makes!
Pictures of the surrounding mountains taken yesterday do not look like the pictures taken today. Today there is fresh snow, not only on the mountains but also our tent and campsite!
Early morning the wind picked up and then the rain and that turned to heavy snow about 7am... looking at alternatives first we decide to wait, maybe even camp again here tonight, not go on. The snow turns to rain and let up about 10, and we break camp---even though Patrick hates to pack a wet tent---eat only a granola bar, brush the snow off the panniers, put on our warm hats and gloves, and set off.
The patterns on the road are so much more distinct with snow. The pass is about 15km away, we climb and climb, a van stops and talks with Patrick while Rachel keeps cycling until a "level" spot, then the van stops and talks with us both. Dick and Amelia are from Maine, have biked across America and traveled and hiked in the Himalayas. "I know what it's like, I lusted after a beer" Dick says. They give us fresh blueberries a mango and 4 slices of just baked German bread and Starbuck coffee grounds and a filter. Just before the final 4 km to the summit we stop and eat the bread, just with butter and Nutella for Patrick, Rachel makes a ham sandwich, with good bread, all the other "subway" additions are not needed.
We reach the Highwood Pass, 2206 meters, the highest pass in Alberta, a car stops and older couple from Great Britain..."we are cyclists too" and offer to take our picture of us together. We get a few km of downhill until the road starts to do more rolling hills, still general trend is down to lower elevation. The mountains are more like hills with some snow. It's 3:30pm another couple kms to a junction supposedly with services and another 39km to Longview. We pass a picnic area by Cat Creek and decide to call it a day. The fall colors are starting to appear and particularly along the creek it's beautiful. Earlier, the sun had come out and in a parking area of "a point of interest", Patrick pulls out the tent to dry. At the campsite, he strings a line so we can dry out all our stuff. With the coffee and filter, we fix the coffee "cowboy style".
We filter water and enjoy the sunshine even with a cool breeze and hope we are not discovered and told to move. We rest our hopes that if discovered, there would be pity for the cyclists!
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Today's ride: 52 km (32 miles)
Total: 14,414 km (8,951 miles)
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