Nakusp - Swan Song for the Jetta - CycleBlaze

August 5, 2018

Nakusp

We’re in Nakusp, which we drove to from New Denver first thing in the morning, stopping for breakfast here before biking to Galena Bay and back.   I’m writing this the next morning, which is a public holiday: British Columbia Day.  To celebrate, we’re taking a blogger’s holiday: no video, no narrative.  Use your imagination!

Starting out, in Nakusp. We’re on our way north to the Upper Arrow Lake ferry at Galena Bay. The sky is clear. A great day to ride.
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Looking south down Arrow Lake. Nakusp is the first point of land on the left.
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About seven miles into the ride we cross a ride and get our first look at some impressive mountains ahead. This deeply cleft formation is Mount Grady on the right, and Mount Burnham on the left.
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The road has a split character. For much of the way you bike through a tunnel of green like this, with fairly limited visibility.
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When you come to a rise though, the Gold Range appears, growing noticeably larger every time it comes into view again.
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Pretty Ione Falls is easy to miss. Unmarked, it’s viewable from a corner of the Ione rest stop. We might have biked right by if one of us hadn’t needed a facilities break.
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Looking across Arrow Lake at the Gold Range. The forked peaks again are Grady and Burnham. I think the angular one to the left is Mount Odin, the highest peak in the range.s are
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At the mouth of Halfway River, and at about at the halfway point to the ferry.
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Another look west at the Gold Range
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The last three miles to the ferry are a gradual four mile coast. Fun going this direction, a bit less so on the return.
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Waiting for the ferry, which we can hear across the lake. It’s just visible on the far shore as a small whitish smear.
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The Upper Arrow Lakes Ferry runs continuously between Galena Bay and Shelter Bay from 5 AM to midnight. Crossing takes 20minutes. Like all of the BC inland ferries, it is a free service.
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The MV Columbia. Capacity: 80 vehicles, 250 passengers.
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We’ll be back here again tomorrow, with the car this time, on our way to Revelstoke.
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The big worry for the day: Rachael’s badly swollen left hand. She was stung by a yellow jacket yesterday morning, during breakfast in Nelson.
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Andrea BrownOh no!

The yellow jackets have definitely arrived down here in Montana as well.
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6 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Andrea BrownYup. It looks really gross this morning - fat, red, blistered. We went to the emergency room in Revelstoke this morning to make sure it wasn’t some flesh eating bacteria horror. Just a severe allergic reaction, but she’s got a prednisone prescription to speed up healing. No biking today - she can’t brake with that hand - so we’re going for a hike in Revelstoke NP. Good thing we kept the Jetta with us!
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6 years ago
Andrea BrownI hear that Hospital #6 in Danang treats grossly swollen hand injuries. Can’t remember who told me that.
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6 years ago
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Ride stats todY: 61 miles, 4,300’

Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 1,348 miles (2,169 km)

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Comment on this entry Comment 1
Andrea BrownJust beautiful country. Not as earth-shattering as Jasper but the quieter roads and isolation make up for it, in my opinion.
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6 years ago