Knowing that we had a long ride ahead of us today to Vernon, I booked a motel on the eastern edge of Kamloops that would shorten our ride b6 a couple of miles. The place I chose also looked suitable because they advertised feee parking and breakfast. Being out of the core, I imagined they’d be fine with us leaving the car there for a week, which proved to be false assumption - instead, we leaned on Judy and Ken’s kindness to watch our car for the week and drive us back to the motel last night.
At least the free breakfast seemed like the right idea though - we’d grab a meal when it was served at 7, and get an early jump on the ride. The ‘breakfast’ though barely qualified for that definition - it included coffee, mealy-looking apples, sliced white bread, and muffins. There wasn’t even any space to sit. Just grab a meal fit for a prisoner in a drunk tank and walk back to your room with it. Not the best start to the day.
The start of the ride though was brilliant. After a mile along the frontage road and another on the shoulder of the Trans-Canada, we angled southeast on Barnhartvale and enjoyed a delightful twenty mile ride -quiet, scenic, it could hardly be better. At the first the road gently climbs about six hundred feet up a gap in the sandy ridge that forms the southern border of the Thompson River; and from there it stays more or less level for the next fifteen miles before merging into US 97, the Okanagan Highway.
Partway along this stretch, I saw what I believed was bear scat on the road, and when I next caught up with Rachael I warned her to be on alert for bears. I don’t know how likely we are to see them on this tour, but as I biked along I was thinking that I’ll be just a bit disappointed if we don’t see one. Not two minutes later, there she is - sitting peacefully in the meadow about 200 yards off the road. She stirred and ran off shortly after I stopped to look, but not before I could get out the zoom for a quick shot.
Full or bland toast and weak, tepid coffee, we saddle up and head east with our next meal thirty miles away.
After the frontage road ends, we avoid Highway 1 for another mile by taking an unproved and barricaded road for a ways. With the highway out of sight but the cliffs in full view, this was one of the prettiest miles of the day.
On Barnhartvale Road, looking at the cliffs on the north bank of the Thompson River. The River itself and Highway 1 are out of view, bout six hundred feet below.
Scott AndersonTo Ron SuchanekI couldn’t take the risk, Ron. I need to protect my health, so I can return home in one piece and return your bottle opener. A point of honor. Reply to this comment 6 years ago
Too cute! These are part of a small herd of lovely horses at a Morgan ranch. Soon after we stopped to admire the foal, mom hustled over and warned us off with a fierce snort.
As we biked east, the sky became gradually more overcast; and by the time we merged onto US 97 it looked like it might even rain - quite a change from the forecAst just 24 hours ago, when we thought we might be enduring a blistering 90 degree day. Instead, we’re facing 50 miles on a busy highway fighting a bit of a headwind and wondering if we’re going to get wet.
Fortunately, riding the highway is more pleasant than we’d feared. There is a good shoulder the whole way, demarcated by a well placed rumble strip. We felt secure enough that we could enjoy the dramatic landscape as we moved east through a long, winding trough between ridges.
We broke for lunch (more precisely, a late breakfast) at a folksy diner in Westwold that featured a cheerful, industrious lady holding down the store by herself - taking orders, frying eggs, staffing the till - she put on an impressive show and earned her tip.
Southbound on Highway 97, the Okanagan Highway. Fifty miles more of this lie ahead. It carries its share of traffic, including large logging trucks and freight haulers, but it felt safe enough.
The quaint and rustic Westwold Cafe has a lot to recommend it. When we left, we looked at the sky and wondered if we should just go back in for another cup of coffee.
Back on the road, we soon encountered a light mist that gradually developed into a rain strong enough that we stopped to put on our rain jackets. About the time we were resigning ourselves to another fifteen miles of this the rain seased, a bit of sun broke through, and in short order we dried out again biking into the headwind.
We arrived in Vernon a bit before four, which for us on a ride this long is well above average. All in all, it was a surprisingly nice ride, and much better than I expected from a day with fifty miles on the highway.
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Along Highway 97,south of Westwold. This is the only photo I took for the next ten miles; soon after this it began to drizzle and I packed the camera away.
The giant Falkland flag (28 by 56 feet) is recognized as the largest flag in western Canada. It was erected by the Falklanders in a campaign to encourage the rest of the country to fly the flag more frequently.
I can’t say I’m too excited about Vernon. If there’s a historical core we haven’t seen it yet. It really has more the character of a strip mall. It’s the right place for a break though, and we like our motel (the Silver Star) quite a lot. I told Rachael that if she can find a decent restaurant for dinner I’ll feel fine about the place; and she did, and I do.
We spent part of the evening tearing up the ride book. After our long drive up, our tedious experience crossing the border yesterday at Sumas yesterday morning, and after hearing Ken’s lukewarm review of Trail, we’ve overhauled our plans for the final week of our tour. We made two changes: First, we cancelled our reservation for our last night in Nelson, and instead will just pick up the car and start driving at the end of the tour in order to break the drive back to Portland into two stages. More significantly, we scrapped the three day loop from Nelson to Trail. Instead, we’re going to add a day to our stay in Radium, to allow time for a ride north along the upper Columbia River; and we’re going to stay two nights in Creston and spend our days exploring lower Kootenay Lake.
