Cranbrook to Sparwood

June 5, 2012

I was late getting on the road this morning. It could have been the rain that caused this, but I think it was most likely the jet lag from crossing through the time barrier yesterday. Once on the road it was waterproofs on for the first couple of hours, and alternating head and tail winds all day as I zig zagged through the mountains to Sparwood.

Again, there was lots of beautiful scenery today, but being so remote there wasn't much of anything else. At the small town of Elko I met 2 guys setting out on day 1 of their trip from Fernie to Mexico, so we sat and chatted a while - good luck Martin and the other guy whose name I can't remember.

At last I was able to photograph a hummingbird before it flew away - this was at Elko whilst eating ice cream and talking to 2 other cyclists.

I knew Curtis and Pascal were quite a way in front today, and probably wouldn't want to stop at Fernie as we'd suggested last night as they would have arrived there so early. I checked at the campground - not a sign of them, then when I was buying groceries in Fernie a man who started chatting said he had seen then riding towards Sparwood.

Curtis and Pascal are quite happy knocking out some big mileages, whereas although I can comfortably ride them I prefer to stop more often, talking to people and exploring, so rather than roll into a campsite late I will probably say goodbye to these 2 clowns in the morning for a while, if not the last time on this trip. It has been a blast being around them, and if anyone meets them on the road, don't hesitate to carry on where I left off trying to convert Curtis to being a tea drinker.

I met up with them at the Mountain Shadow Campground in Sparwood, which will be remembered for it's beautifully hot showers, and the covered "picnic" area, which was a good place to cook tonights curry, and is where I am now sat recharging batteries whilst online. There have been some bear sightings in the area recently, but it's OK as Curtis say's they won't be around tonight - we can now all sleep soundly.

Today's ride: 82 miles (132 km)
Total: 2,621 miles (4,218 km)

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