Gerrard to Kaslo

May 26, 2023

A beautiful day - mountains and water

Good thing we crawled into our tents early last night, because the birds started singing at about 3:30 am. There were lots of warblers, including warbling vireos, American redstarts, plus pine siskins, and a pileated woodpecker who we saw purposefully knocking away at a standing snag. At least the Canada geese didn’t kick up a fuss in the early morning.

We woke to fog but it burned off during breakfast to reveal a blue sky.

It was a beautiful morning ride along the Lardeau River, ever-so-slightly downhill for the first 40 km. Komoot suggested a detour involving a forest service road and a big hill - we didn't fall for that nonsense.

A beautiful ride along the Lardeau River on the 'highway'.

There were many fast-moving streams feeding the river. We saw hardly\ any cars, and the road was in great shape.

We stopped for a super cool 1 km walk amid old growth hemlocks and western red cedars in the Goat Range Provincial Park.

North of Meadow Creek we were back on pavement. We stopped for treats and drinks at the gas station there (which is also the post office, hardware store, etc.). We saw several signs for cat ski operations today, and yesterday we'd seen cat skiing operations, and also where the CMH heli skiers land near Trout Lake. This is a hotspot in winter for people seeking powder snow.

Although we're in the mountains, there's some farming near Meadow Creek. But south of Meadow Creek we were back onto a serious mountain road, built below steep slopes and well above Kootenay Lake. We had views of the lake all the way to Kaslo.

There's a bit of farm land near Meadow Creek.

We road lots of rolling hills that were hard on the legs. Steve had a flat, our first and last of the trip. Then a 2 km screamin' downhill to the cute little town of Kaslo.

No bear sightings today.

A brake check sign is evidence of some fun downhill coming.

After a quick stop to pick up beer and a few groceries, we cruised to the well placed municipal campground. Showers! After getting set up and cleaned up, we met with Sarah, a friend of Adele’s who lives here, then we all went to The Angry Hen brewpub for craft beer and dinner. It was an all-round fabulous day.

Today's ride: 86 km (53 miles)
Total: 148 km (92 miles)

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