Day 5, Lost One...Another Day in Valemount

I missed posting yesterday, so since I'm up early (my iPod battery ran out overnight, and it's my only line of defense against Scott's snoring!) I figured I might as well tap something out.  Not a lot to say about yesterday, or at least not a lot of great pictures to put up; we woke up to rain, low-hanging clouds, and a forecast for a day full of the same, particularly east of us where we'd be riding.  Not the kind-of weather you really want when you're driving through national parks that contain some of North America's grandest vistas.  So we, and by "we" I mean Scott and I, made the hard decision to hang out in Valemount for a day and continue our riding Wednesday at the start of a 5-day string of sunny days.  Normally this wouldn't have been such a tough decision, but because we'd already delayed in Revelstoke for the same reason, this put Dave hard up against his schedule and he had to leave for home.  He was a good sport -- he understood that we didn't want to drive through Jasper and Banff and look at nothing but clouds -- but I was pretty sad about having to part ways.  Dave made it nearly 400 miles to Osoyoos, BC, and should be making it home to Waitsburg, Washington today (Wednesday).

Valemount, BC

Scott and I did have an enjoyable day in Valemount.  We started by changing hotels to the Valemount Hotel, then walking to the Swiss Bakery just up the road.  Scott had a drip coffee and I had another fantastic cappuccino, topped with a sprinkling of swiss chocolate, and we split a raspberry strudel.  Life's tough.  As we sat on the covered porch, enjoying the morning's crisp air and view of the surrounding mountains and fall foliage, the rain started coming down again.  After a quick walk back to the hotel to cover the bikes we turned around and headed back downtown to the local hardware store for some odds and ends.

We basically spent the rest of the day in the restaurant and bar attached to our hotel, sitting on a couple couches in front of a window that had a great view.  I pulled out the laptop and did some work while Scott made fun of me for doing it.  The highlight for sure, however, was when the owner (who we'd met in the morning, when we changed hotels and checked in) came and sat down next to us to say hi.  Turned into a great 3- or 4-hour conversation and we soon knew his life story.  After he heard that we'd been looking for some Cuban cigars, but had been balked by the price of them, he told us to wait a minute, disappeared, then reappeared with a box of 4 Cohibas that he said he'd been saving for a while.  I think I may have mentioned it before, but to a man and woman, every single person we've met since crossing the border has been over-the-top friendly and interesting, and Peter was no exception.

As the sun was setting and the clouds clearing, we enjoyed two of our four Cohibas, made it back for (a lighter) dinner at the Caribou Grill, then called it a night.

Day 5 mileage:  0 mi / 0 km

Total mileage:  892 mi / 1,436 km

Day 4, Revelstoke to Valemount

We meandered out of Revelstoke this morning around 10 o'clock, heading west on the Trans-Canada Highway.  This beautiful section of the highway meandered along the Eagle River, and we basically rode alongside one body of water or another all day.  In Sicamous the River empties into Shuswap Lake, which we had great views of off to our right until we made our first stop in Salmon Arm, where we picked up a nice rain suit for Scott from the local Honda dealer, then ate breakfast.


While at Salmon Arm Honda I inquired to a couple of the locals guys about a combination of what looked to be dirt roads that cut a good chunk of (relatively) boring highway miles off our route, and also allowed us to bypass the city of Kamloops.  While Dave's BMW and mine are designed to go off-pavement, Scott's Valkyrie is decidedly not, and so we'd decided at the outset of our trip that we wouldn't knowingly route ourselves over any gravel or dirt roads.  But the guys at the shop assured us that while about 10 miles of the cutoff was in fact dirt, it was in great shape and wouldn't be too challenging for Scott and his bike.  They said it was extremely scenic to boot, and so soon Scott was raring to get his tires dirty.  We did have to deal with a bit washboard surface in a couple areas, but it really turned out to be one of the best sections of "road" we've hit, with commanding views of Adams Lake from high above its southwestern shore.  I was also happy to discover that the BMW R1200GS Adventure does just great off the pavement, allowing me to have some fun squirting ahead and pulling over to get some good pictures of the guys as they went by.  Never thought I could have so much fun power sliding a 500 lb motorcycle loaded with gear!

Adams Lake

After joining-up with the Southern Yellowhead Highway (Hwy 5) we gassed up in Barrière and then continued-on north, along the North Thompson River.  After one more stop for some caffeine we punched through about an hour of the only rain we've ridden through yet, finishing the day's ride in Valemount.  We spent a few minutes getting checked in to our hotel, unpacking, and cleaning up a bit, then walked about a mile to the Caribou Grill, where we got what I thought was the best food of the trip so far:  Dave a Caesar salad, Scott a prime rib and grilled jumbo prawn combo, and me a grilled top sirloin and pasta with marinara sauce combo.  Awesome!

The Caribou Grill bar

Dave & Scott get ready to damage some food.

Tomorrow we're looking to hit the road an hour or two earlier than we have been (after caffeinated beverage at a coffee shop I spotted), but cover about 50 miles less...we're going to be riding through Mt. Robson Provincial Park, Jasper National Park, and Banff National Park, so we want to leave plenty of time for pictures and to pitch our tents before dark down near the town of Banff.  They actually surround the campsites with electric fences to protect campers from the grizzlies in Banff!  But Scott brought his hatchet, so he promises us we won't get messed with.


Day 4 mileage:  293 mi / 471 km
Total mileage:  892 mi / 1,436 km

Day 3, Rained Out

So, today was full of rain and clouds.  We could've pushed on up north, but since the main point of this whole ride is to see beautiful scenery, with that scenery blocked by low cloud cover we decided to spend a nice day in Revelstoke.  It was a pretty lazy one...we (or at least I) slept in a little, got some breakfast, and walked around the town.  Even found a great little coffee shop called Sangha Bean, where I got a great cappuccino.


When we returned to our hotel (the Monashee Lodge) we found out that today and tomorrow were the two days of the year they closed down to do a major housecleaning of the facilities.  But the owner was so friendly she offered to let us have the run of the place, and even gave us a discount off of our already reasonable rate since there wouldn't be anybody manning the lobby.  After loading us up with rags and towels to wipe our bikes down with, they offered to move some outdoor furniture so that we could pull the bikes under some awnings and get them out of the rain.  To a person, everyone we've met so far has been over-the-top friendly.  Guess that's kind-of the Canadian way.

We finished our evening off we a Sunday special pot roast at a local sport pub, some CFL football on their TV, and some local brew.  Great down day and tomorrow's weather is looking a lot better, so we should be able to make our way most of the way up to Jasper and the high mountains!

Day 3 mileage:  0 mi

Total mileage:  599 mi / 964 km

Day 2, Fun in the Sun

Ready for takeoff!

I have to admit, I never went to sleep Thursday night, the night before we left.  I was far too keyed-up and, in combination with leaving a lot of stuff to do until the last second, it was a zero sleep night for me.  So Dave and Scott endulged me as a slept in a little Saturday morning.  We pushed out right at 10:00 and our first stop was for breakfast at some janky looking place, the Kountry Korner in Springdale, WA.  Turned out to be fantastic!

The Kountry Korner

Scott girds his loins for any
kind of shit those nasty
Canadianswant to throw his way.

We then continued on for over 300 miles of the most scenic single day of travelling I've ever done in my life.  The weather was perfect and I became more and more pleased with my new bike with each mile.  After some nice, scenic miles heading through northeast Washington State we came to  our first challenge:  Canadian Customs.  Those of you who know me know I've had some issues with the Mounties over the past few years, but thankfully this time we made it through smooth as could be.  Here's Scott girding his loins for any kind-of shit those nasty Canadians wanted to send his way:

What followed was just epic.  Miles, 'er, kilometers and kilometers of twisting, rolling, pavement perfection surrounded by unspoilt mountains and lakes in every direction.  Hardly any traffic, and complete sunshine.  We couldn't ask for more!  We stopped for good coffee at a natural foods store in Playmor Junction, then right after getting back on our bikes saw a 400 lb black bear run right across the road in front of us in Crescent Valley!  We spent the last 3 or 4 hours riding up the southeast shore of Upper Arrow Lake, took the (free!) ferry from Galena to Shelter Bay, across the lake at its midpoint over to the western shore, then finished covered our last 40 miles after dark and ended up in Revelstoke, BC.  First good, long, day under our belts!

Upper Arrow Lake

Upper Arrow Lake fm/ferry landing

Upper Arrow Lake ferry

Day 2 mileage:  317 mi / 510 km
Total mileage:  599 mi / 964 km

Day 1, We're off!

Ok, so this is the culmination of a 15 year dream of mine:  ever since I saw pictures of the Canadian Rockies area, when I saw pictures of Banff and Jasper National Parks in one of the first issues of Mountainbiking I ever read, I've dreamt of going there.  Whenever I've seen pictures of the area it's looked like the most beautiful place in the world to me.  To top it off the place looks like it's littered with fantastic roads and trails custom made for bicycle and motorcycle exploration.

I've also pined after the BMW GS-Series motorcycles ever since I became aware of them in the late 1980's, when I got my first motorcycle after years of riding passenger with my grandfather.  A week ago I finally got and received a beautiful 2009 BMW R1200GS Adventure.

Brian picks up his long-awaited GSA -- sihpped from
Arkansas with 1041 miles on the odometer!

First thing I did was drop an e-mail to my buddy Dave, asking him if he wanted to go for a ride.  He immediately responded telling me, "I've put in for leave September 27-30 -- let's go!".  I then set about talking my other buddy, Scott, in to joining us and he was immediately game.  Our destination?  The Canadian Rockies!

So on Friday, September 24, Scott, Dave and I each cut out of work around 'Noon and we all met at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, WA.  Scott and departed on this first leg of our trip from Seattle, and Dave headed up from beautiful Waitsburg, WA.  We had no schedule and no route planned, only the object of making it to Banff and hopefully Jasper.  The weather had been looking real sketchy for those areas earlier in the week (non-stop rain, and even snow -- not the best motorcycling stuff!) but we were bound and determined.  We were rewarded with a revised and much more favorable forecast just a day before leaving!

Day 1 mileage:  282 mi

Total mileage:  282 mi