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