Through Revelstoke and on to the Skunk Cabbage Information Walk: The Canadian wildlife isn't so bad

May 15, 2016

You might not believe this, I'm sure, but I actually made it through the night without being attacked by any bears. By now I was starting to think maybe the Canadian wildlife wasn't as outrageously dangerous as all that, and I was able to pack up and resume riding on yet another fine sunny day, my arsenal of rocks having remained unflung.

The bears might have left me alone, but the dangers out here come in many forms

After twenty kilometres I reached the town of Revelstoke, which it should be noted happens to be a town in a remarkably picturesque location surrounded by mountains. It will come as no surprise to anybody that my first port of call was the library. I was by now set on an unexpected goal, to be the first person to cross Canada and visit a library in every single town, without reading any books. Of course my aim was to use the wifi and connect with Denmark, something I was able to successfully do despite the library today actually being closed. Wifi access still available, and an electric port on the outside of the building to boot. Oh Canada, if there's one thing you do well, it is free wifi.

After getting my fix of cyberDea I headed to the supermarket and bought some Mountain Dew and three mandarins, which I hoped would be enough for the long climb I had ahead of me. Outside of the supermarket a man spoke to me. He asked me where I was from and where I was cycling. This was not unusual. In fact this happened every single time I stopped at a supermarket. But this man was different, because he was a bit of an older guy who had done a bit of cycling himself and was pretty cool. He'd done a bike trip in Cuba, for example, and he was a bit surprised when I said I'd been there too. Then he started telling me enthusiastically about another bike trip he'd done down the west coast of the States. I'd been there too, but I decided not to say it. Then he offered to let me stay in his hotel around the corner for free, but it was morning, I'd only gone twenty kilometres, and I had to earn my Mountain Dew, so I declined the kind offer.

So I started on the long climb up from Revelstoke, but it wasn't at all steep at first and was really quite easy going. The scenery was again really nice. I'm pretty into looking at snow-topped mountain peaks, and I was certainly getting my fix here. The only thing that wasn't good was that the traffic was now quite heavy. I thought it'd be quieter on a Sunday, but if anything it seemed busier.

I passed into Mount Revelstoke National Park and soon came across a tourist attraction picnic stop place that advertised a Skunk Cabbage Information Walk. With it being still early in the year this was not yet open for the season, and had a barrier across the entrance road. Such barriers really don't pose much of a problem for a man and a bicycle, however, so I skipped around it and headed down to the picnic area. The tables and benches had been removed but otherwise it was a nice place - a big grassy area with a river flowing down below it. It occurred to me that it would be rather a nice place to camp.

I headed off on the walk. It was a short boardwalk circuit that led me through wetlands heavily populated by the advertised skunk cabbage. This was a plant that I soon discovered was as pungent as the name suggests, and I did most of the walk with my hand over my nose. Still, it was nice to get off the bike and do something different.

Back at the main picnic area I decided I would just stay and camp. I was a bit tired and there seemed little point in continuing any further and then having to find a place to sleep in a bear-infested meadow, when I had a good and safe set-up here. So I sat for a while and cooked my dinner on a picnic bench that had not been removed that was covered by a wooden roof. As I was doing so I was taken by surprise by a buzzing noise. It was a low drone that came at me from behind, but when I turned there was nothing there and the noise disappeared. Then I heard it again above the roof. I wasn't sure what it could be, until finally the source of the mystery noise revealed itself when a humming bird zipped towards my table and then sat floating in the mid-air above me. It was an incredible thing to see. It hovered next to my bottle of Mountain Dew. Well, I wasn't surprised. The sweet liquid was delicious. But the plastic was in this case an impenetrable barrier, and the humming bird soon buzzed away again. Yep, I had to concede, the Canadian wildlife was alright really.

Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 49,366 km (30,656 miles)

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