Fraser River Canyon
Fraser River Canyon
I left
Pickardville at 6:35 am to a golden sunrise. It was a humid 8 degrees celsius ride down highway 44 to the Yellowhead highway 16. As I rode west I
couldn't help but notice the expressionless faces on the morning rush
hour drivers that were heading in to the city. I must have really got
on their nerves smiling to my open highway ahead.
108km in I met up
with my good friend at Wabamun lake. Continuing
west another 50km brought forth our first down pour of rain. The rain
felt exhilarating as it bounced off my face but i knew we could not
sustain status quo if it would continue. We finally called it at
Wildwood, Alberta and pulled over to put the rain gear on.
With the weather
reports calling for steady rain through to the other side of Jasper
national park we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by the
occasional dry patch. We had breakfast in Hinton before entering the
Rockies and Jasper National Park. September riding is one of my favourite times of
year. The crisp air added with the vibrant colours of the leaves
changing made me grin as if to say welcome to British Columbia.
On the other side of Jasper national park we said goodbye to the Yellowhead and connected to highway 5 heading south towards Kamloops. Each down pour of rain brought forth a new smell. Pine trees, sawmills and the fresh harvests of hay come to mind. Upon arriving in Kamloops we did a quick ride around some of my favorite spots. Many memories came back to me from the 5 years spent in the university days living here. 845 km ride today.    
Today's theme was curves and tunnels. We
left the hotel in Kamloops at 7:20 am to welcoming blue skies. First
order of business was to wash the bikes which were quite dirty from the
rain and road grime yesterday. We said our goodbyes to Kamloops as we
headed out of town on the old highway to Princeton the 5A. We were
greeted by rolling grass hills, a bounty
5 of long sweeping curves followed by tight twisties that instantly
lifted our spirits. Roads like this is why I have a policy of having a
coffee before setting out on the bike.
We followed the highway
through Nicola Valley which commanded our attention as the highway dove
then rised over the vast terrain. Upon arriving in Merrit the highway
coexisted with highway 97c briefly as we climbed east towards Kelowna
before taking our rightful place on the two lane roller coaster of 5A to
the the south heading for Princeton.
  
After breakfast in Princeton we
connected with highway 3 the Crows Nest Pass heading west towards Hope.
Taking in some incredible views of some spectacular mountain ranges,
we continued our assault on the hair pin turns the Crows Nest Pass
could throw at us.
This is where it gets good. You may ask how is this
even possible? We turned north on to highway 1 and the Fraser canyon.
On this next section of highway there is 7 tunnels. The shortest being 57 metres and the longest being 610 metres. As we approached the
first tunnel I let off the throttle and shifted down. As looked in the
mirror I could see my friend Ed doing the same thing. The sounds of my
exhausted resonating off the cement walls of the tunnel had me in my
happy place as I shifted through my gears.
It was almost fitting that the longest tunnel the China bar tunnel was the last as I went from 3rd gear to 6th gear in the 610 meter sweeping curve tunnel. After riding to Spences bridge we took highway 8 east back towards Merrit. Not knowing much about this highway it was a great surprise to have the highway almost to ourselves riding through a terrain of constant turns and vibrant farming communities.      
Arriving in Merrit for the second time today we
climbed 97c this time riding past the 5A turn and continuing up the
summit towards Kelowna. This 4 lane section of highway has an 120km/hr
speed limit which made for great time over the top.
Last night decision were made. With the out look of heavy rain on our
original planned path of travel we decided we would stay in the sunshine
for another day and head south to Cranbrook, British Columbia. After checking out of
our hotel we took a quick spin around Kelowna before checking in to Gasoline Alley Kelowna Harley Davidson for a poker chip and a t-shirt.
Beside the Harley shop we saw a place called Konquer motorcycles. Dealing in parts and accessories for all types of motorcycles as well as their own shop and paint and body customization. What a great place, as soon as myself and Ed stepped in the door our eyes were drawn to so many different signs on the wall. Now we are thinking we might have to come back with a truck in the near future. We were approached by a nice sales woman offering us coffee which we gladly accepted. Information that is good to know..... www.Konquer.ca will ship for free any order over $50 whether it is in person or online. Well didn't this just say to me start looking closer at those signs Dave. I found 8 signs that I have not seen before and had them arranged to be shipped home. After our slight delay this morning we set out on our ride north stopping for breakfast just outside of Winfield, British Columbia at a place called Turtle bay pub. I have eaten here once before when I was in college and the views of the lake and Marina was just as I remembered. Continuing our ride north on highway 97 we passed an impressive lake called Kalmalka lake giving us incredible views of its forever changing colours of water. Upon arriving in Vernon we linked on to highway 6 heading east towards Lumby. This highway was just what we needed today, tight uphill right turns followed by an immediate drop hard bank left turns which had our hearts in our throats and our hands gripping our handlebars commanding our bikes through the various climbs and plummets towards the Needles to Fauquier cable ferry. By the time we arrived at the Ferry crossing. I had lost count on how many times my floorboards had touched pavement. Rolling off the ferry we followed the Columbia river on highway 6 to Nakusp. Turning our attention south we followed highway 6 to New Denver for fuel before continuing our ride around Slocan lake. Taking a right at Playmor Junction we hooked on to highway 3a and came across an impressive hydro dam just outside of Castlegar, British Columbia. We finally made the turn on to the Crows Nest Pass heading east giving our wrists some much needed cruise control time taking in the views of the forest covered mountain ranges as we climbed summits and dropped over to the warm valleys on the other side. Taking the advice from a fellow biker at work we booked in to a place called the Lazy Bear Lodge in Cranbrook, British Columbia. A great biker friendly hotel with clean rooms, cheap prices and a free beer upon check in.
We left Cranbrook at 7:30 am to fears of the oncoming
fall storm. We managed to stay in front of it for the most part riding
the 93 highway to Radium Hot Springs. After a stop for fuel and
breakfast we continued our journey to the entrance of the Kootenay
National park. Almost as if a De ja vu moment from my ride 3 weeks before
as soon as we rode through the tunnel the sky opened
up and unleashed a good session of rain upon us. The low covered
clouds made it impossible to see our surroundings for the most part but
when the clouds lifted you could see fresh snow covered mountains a mere
300 metered a above us.
As we said goodbye to British Columbia for the last time, we entered Banff National Park and the weather was toying with us presenting blue skies over head. We followed the transcanada west before heading north on the Icefields Parkway. The temperature plummeted to 3 degrees are we climbed the summit of a few glaciers. Could this be right? Is that snow? Snow covered ditches and pine trees quickly engulfed our horizon. Descending the other side the snow stopped and the rain continued until Saskatchewan crossing for our next fuel stop. The northern route looked bad so we took the David Thompson Highway 11 east towards Nordegg and Rocky Mountain House. At first I thought we made the wrong choice as hail struck us in our faces. Once we hit Abraham Lake the striking blue waters were a welcome sight, not to mention the blue skies surrounding it. The weather would soon return to our familiar rain with wind gushes of 60km/hr pushing us around on the highway. After one last fuel and coffee delay in Rocky Mountain we rode Highway 22 North towards Seba beach for dinner. Linking on to the Yellowhead Highway 16 heading east I said good bye to my friend at Wabamun lake and continued the last 108km of the ride solo up highway 44 and back home to Pickardville for a total of 2,885km |
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