Day 34: To Grand Forks

August 2, 2007

The last two days were mostly flat but today I have a mountain to climb. I got on the road at 9 after patching the slow leak. I now have 5 patches on the rear tube.

The day started with a relentless 45 km climb. My first major stop was at the lake at Nancy Greene provincial park. Nancy Greene is a champion alpine skier, "Canada's female athlete of the 20th century".

Still another great beach at Nancy Greene Provincial Park.

The road crests at 1536 meters (5038 feet) elevation. It was almost 2PM by the time I got to the summit. Nearly 5 hours of uphill pedaling.

Approaching the scenic Paulson bridge. VERY rugged terrain.

I could feel the temperature rise as I descended 30 km to Christina lake. Up to 35C (95F) with little wind and no clouds.

The heat didn't really bother me today but to cool off I had a swim in the Kettle river. The rocky gorge is very scenic.

The Kettle river near Grand Forks, B.C. A great place for swimming and sunning.

I can't exactly call the landscape lush any more.

I camped at the Grand Forks municipal campground on the edge of downtown, next to the Kettle river. Not much traffic noise but a sawmill across the river made noise all night long. The campground only allows tents on the brown grass. No tents allowed on the green irrigated grass. It took a long time to cool down after the sun set behind the hills. Much accumulated heat for the ground to dissipate. I let the ground cool down for a couple hours in the evening shade before setting up my tent.

I wandered around the town of Grand Forks in the evening. It's a town of several thousand people but it doesn't appear to be thriving.

Evening glow in sleepy downtown Grand Forks.

I'm still on highway 3, the Crowsnest highway, and traffic is still heavy. The busy road has a good paved shoulder except when there is a climbing lane. My original plan was to continue west on hwy 3 to Osoyoos, 120 km with two huge mountain climbs. Instead I will detour south into the U.S. (Washington) and then go west to the Okanagan river via a route that has only one big climb.

Today was a long hard day. Lots of pedaling and not very much rest time. Nevertheless I got to the campground at 6PM which is early for me. The sky was clear and sunny all day. No clouds and no more smoke from forest fires.

Distance: 99 km / 81.9 mi

Climbing: 1200 m / 3960 ft

Today's ride: 99 km (61 miles)
Total: 2,766 km (1,718 miles)

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