Day 10: To the Skeena River

July 9, 2007

I got up at 7:45 and was out the hostel's door at 9:15 in light rain. I stopped at the post office to mail a package home, then stopped on the edge of town at McDonald's for breakfast #2. My speed sensor promptly quit working in the rain.

The terrain is hilly for the first 30km, through dense forest crossing over 160m Rainbow Pass before dropping to the Skeena river.

The road becomes very flat when I got alongside the Skeena river, sharing the shoreline with the railroad. Traffic was light and the road has a paved shoulder. Good cycling. The river is very wide and muddy.

Here the Skeena river is still influenced by tides.

Mosquitoes were bad but the weather was cool enough for me to stay covered up. The scenery is great but it would surely be better if clouds didn't obscure the mountain tops. With the exception of the highway and railroad, the area looked like wilderness. No houses, no stores, no fences, no billboards.

Always low clouds to obscure the mountaintops!

Always low clouds to block the view of the mountaintops.

I camped at Exchamsiks River provincial park, arriving at 8PM. The park's official campground is closed permanently but there is an impromptu camping area at the boat ramp. Several people were camping there including self-contained cyclist Peggy who is on her way from Prince George to the Queen Charlotte islands. I wore a mosquito headnet all evening to keep the swarms of mosquitoes at bay. There was plenty of time to make a shower but that was out of the question because of the mosquitoes.

The day's high temperature was about 15C/60F. With light rain off and on, I wore my rain suit all day. Mosquitoes weren't a problem along the coast but they are really troublesome now that I'm inland.

Distance: 90 km / 56.3 mi

Climbing: 325 m / 1075 ft

Today's ride: 90 km (56 miles)
Total: 688 km (427 miles)

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