Illecillewaet to Golden - WOW

Thursday - July 11 - Wahoo!!!!

After a night of RAIN, Donna was drawn out of the tent at 5:30 by the crystal clear morning light and decided to wander the campground for an hour, camera in hand.

This gave her a lot of time to read all the interpretive signs we didn't get to last night. (You can click on any of these pictures if you want it big enough to read.)

Everything felt moist, even things that weren't out in the rain.

It also was only about 36F so our hot drinks were very much enjoyed.

We met Ken and Sara, high school teachers from Washington, yesterday while all of us were hiding out from the rain at the bathroom building. They invited us to their site after dinner and feed us with great conversation, snacks and DARK CHOCOLATE balls infused with pomegranate . They sent Donna off with a ziploc baggy of the chocolate. THANK YOU!!!!!

Now we are off to finish Rogers Pass. We did about 3400' of the climb yesterday but this last 500' still loomed ahead. 

What a beautiful morning for it though. The top is in sight.

Almost there!

This is also where the Trans Canada Highway was completed, joining the whole country together by road and not just rail.

And here comes Marcus......

........ and Leo!

It was nice to celebrate together. We said our goodbyes here, expecting that we won't see each other again.

The ride down the other side had to be one of the most beautiful down hill rides ever.

The ride down also included several avalanche sheds. One of them had 2 curves in it which was exciting.

Just after the last shed and the 6% section of the descent, Marcus and Leo caught up with us once again. We all agreed that the last few miles had been a blast. This is the last we will see of them today.

Some remains of glacial action.

Ken from Winnipeg caught up with again, too. He had been at Illecillewaet Campground last night but hid out in his tent all evening so we didn't see him there. It would have been fun to talk to him some more.

The other thing about this part of the route is that it is a food desert. Fortunately we had our Tim Horton's bagels and chocolate hazelnut butter to fuel our afternoon.

Alex is from Quebec City and is riding from Vancouver back home. He has taken a year off from school but is headed back in the winter to study music engineering. He plays 5 instruments but doesn't have any with him on this ride. We saw him again in Golden at the end of the day but he is doing longer daily distances than we are so don't expect to cross paths again. We wish him all the best!

Just after this picture was taken, Alex got a flat tire. That is the only reason that we made it to Golden before he did!

At Donald Station, we crossed the Columbia River once again, only this time it is flowing north which seemed so odd. It was flowing south in Revelstoke!

We had a minor tailwind when we stopped to read about the Columbia Wetlands at the Burges and James Gadsen Provincial Park. One minute after getting back on the road, we were hit with a really stiff headwind. All the bikers we talked to later had the same experience. Fortunately, it moderated a few miles later.

The river is really high, still up in the trees since we started following it at the bridge.

With everything needing drying out, the workout our legs got the last few days and the climbing ahead, we've decided that a rest day is in order and Golden seems like a good place to do it. Our hosts at the Swiss Village Inn did a great job helping us accomplish that.