Day 25: Frisco over Boreas Pass to Hartsel

September 12, 2024

This morning started out great waking up in a comfortable bed. It wasn’t hard to get up because I crashed at 8:30 again and slept well. We packed up all the laundry and headed down for the continental breakfast. The body must be in the exercise mode and know what’s coming because I can eat a huge amount of food straight out of the gate.

The sun was up and warming things up and that was great because there was frost on the roof tops. Frisco is a very nice city and we enjoyed winding through town to get reacquainted with the bike path that evidently extends all the way to Breckenridge. The bike path was fantastic winding around beautiful scenery and staying at least 50 feet from the main road at all times.

Jason from Australia doing a 2 year trip all over!

I said to Peter that we should stop in Breckenridge for another meal just in case as we had 175 km before the next major resupply. At the grocery store we were sliding our bikes up against the wall and a couple rolled up who were obviously bikepacking. We got talking to them and were floored at what they had been up to. They arrived in Vancouver and went over to the Island. On the Island they road a really great route called the Tree to Sea, and then did the Sunshine Coast Trail, followed by the Sea to Sky Trail, and then they did the 1000 km race route on the KVR ending in Fernie. They then started doing the Great Divide trail. So far they have already ridden 5500 km and after doing most of this trail they are going to go and ride the Baja Divide trail. We will likely see them again as we had the same destination in mind.

Breckenridge was a very nice ski town with the resort right in the city similar to Whistler. The bike path was fantastic and it took us along the river that went through town and eventually we ended up on a paved road to start the climb up Boreas Pass. The climbing on the road was great and it took us high enough that it felt like we were at least halfway up the ski hill elevation. Then it turned to gravel and the climbing continued to be amazing. Part way up we talked to a couple from Iowa who were hiking and then more bikepackers came along from Seattle. We’ve been doing this trail without seeing anyone and suddenly we are meeting lots of people.

The climb to the top of the pass was very nice and scenic the entire way with fall colours and fantastic views of mountains. The pass itself was a former rail line that connected Breckenridge to Como. At the top there was a heritage building they were working on and we sat down on some railway ties and had wraps (our go to lunch).

Amazing colours all day, especially in the alpine.

The descent after lunch required a coat, although it was beautiful sunshine at 3500 m there is a bite in the air. Peter shared that we’d only be taking in 70% of the oxygen we would get back in Vancouver at sea level. If only I was an elite athlete training for something! We both enjoyed the ride down stopping numerous times for photos. Como was right at the bottom and it was hard to figure out. There was an art gallery and then what appeared to be some people living there, along with a lot of abandoned buildings. It had roots in the gold rush and that town was thriving at one time.

After Como we were on flatter ground but the wind was very strong. We were on a road and the wind was pushing us sideways. Peter was in front of me and we were approaching a junction where there was a choice of left or right. If we went left we’d have a huge tailwind and right meant the opposite. I was so deflated when he signalled right. It’s hard to explain how strong it was but I’ve played golf in strong winds and this was unplayable. Brutal!

At that point we still had 40 km left to get to Hartsel. We paused for a moment and decided there was nothing we could do but ride. It was very difficult. The first road was complete washboard. At one point we were uphill, into the wind, and bouncing all over the pace from the endless bumps. After about 10 km we had a bit of reprieve when we ducked around some large hills. But then we were pummelled the rest of the way. The 40 km took about 4 long hours.

We arrived at the town pub that promises camping around back. We each had a burger while talking to a couple of other riders and then went over to the adjacent restaurant for a milkshake. The people are friendly and this is the only place to camp. There are about 10 bikers behind the bar tenting beside the dumpsters. It’s certainly not fancy but we are content.