At long last we reappear from the internet-less void!

Poor little blog...so neglected...

I think we last made contact from Penticton, where it was hot and the trail was rough. Well lots has happened since then. I'll try to keep it (relatively) short and to the point! First, a mention that I brought the camera cord today to upload photos, but this computer doesn't allow such things. I should be able to get some up in a few days though, so stay tuned.

Ok. So we left Penticton and were feeling pretty frustrated with the quality of the KVR trail...bad surface, lots of ATVS, blandish scenery. And we expected that the next big part - from Penticton all the way to Hope - was going to be even worse since it was relatively untravelled and unknown. Well. We were wrong. And right in places too! But all in all it's been pretty incredible.

From Penticton the trail goes towards Summerland and then over to Princeton. The official trail from Penticton to Summerland is along the highway, which we didn't really want to do. We had a map which indicated that the KVR trail continued that way though and although no one we asked seemed to know anything about it, we bravely decided to try it. And it was great. No idea why it wasn't the official trail. From Summerland you have to take a "detour on paved roads" because they actually run a steam trail on part of the KVR there. It turned out to be a set of tortously steep hills that we tackled at high noon in 34 degree weather. But we perservered and were rewarded with a gorgeously resurfaced trail that ran alongside a creek just perfect for falling in when necessary.

We were somewhat disappointed later that day though when we pulled up to the lake we were to camp at, after 65 km, only to find they had dammed it and the campsite was gone. We pouted for a bit, then ate a bunch of candy and pushed on another 10km to Osprey Lake, a way more beautiful lake to spend the night at anyway. From there it was a wonderful downhill glide into Princeton the next day (paved even, because we skipped out on the trail, which was incredibly rough and hard to ride at that point).

Princeton was hot, dry, desolate and completely devoid of places to use the internet. I'll say no more. We cleared out of there as soon as we could and rode on through the tiny town of Coalmont to the other tiny town of Tullameen. A rough trail, but some of the most beautiful scenery yet. Photos to come! In Tullameen we spent the night at the "Otter Sleep Inn" (thanks Dad and Dona!) and had a night to rest, shower, and do laundry. And use real pillows. Sweet, sweet pillows.

Still feeling a bit ragged from the long hot days and rough trails of the past while, we only rode 5 km to Otter Lake Provincial Park the next day for a day off at the beach. It was worth it and needed.

The final bit of the KVR, from Otter Lake to Hope, was the section we had had the most trouble getting any information on, so we felt pretty nervous setting out on it. We had been unable to track down anyone with trail info or who seemed to have heard of anyone going that way. Not encouraging!

But as it turned out, we really enjoyed the ride towards the Coquihalla (deep ATV created sandruts aside!) and even had one of the many trail destroying ATVers stop and give us water. It really makes it hard to lump all ATVs into one groups as trail-wrecking good for nothings when they turn out to be really nice people on really not so nice machines.

So yesterday at about noon we reached the Coquihalla, where the trail begins to fall apart a bit - you end up on and off the highway, and bouncing from trail tragment to service road and back again. We skipped the first bit of trail in favour of the highway because it has some serious slides on it that are supposed to be near impassible by bike. But we ended up facing a wicked headwind and hardly making any headway while giant trucks wizzed by inches from our ears (ok, it was way safer than that sounds, but that's what it felt like!).

We camped last night just below the summit, right along the gas-pipeline service road that the trail follows and had quite the experience. First we chose a site that a bear wandered right through. So we moved up the trail further, to the mouth of a now caved in rail tunnel, and as soon as we were all set up a bear walked down the road and into the bush just a few hundred meters away. We stayed anyway and spent the night battered by winds and sure we could hear an animal doing something nearby. Finally morning broke today and all seemed well until we tried to pack up and couldn't find the webbing straps we use to hold the bags onto our racks. We looked and looked. I was sure I remembered where I put them, but they just weren't there. The best we can figure is that there were packrats living in the tunnel and they stole them. I know it sounds crazy, but where else do four bright red and yellow straps disappear to overnight when left coiled neatly beside your pannier??

So we used a bit of our bear hang rope as ties instead and headed off on what was to be our last day on the rail trails. It took us until just 2pm to ride the 60 km into Hope because it was a gorgeous downhill run, with lovely trails, a much more bike friendly highway ride and a trip through the stunning Othello Tunnels. I highly recommend checking out the tunnels next time you're on the Coquihalla. They're a set of 4 tunnels drilled through sheer cliffs along the Coquihalla River that were apparently one of the most complicated section fo the KVR to build.

And now we're in Hope, you know where we've been, and we're off to eat dinner.

Tomorrow we're off to Mission and the next day catching the trainbus into Vancouver! Time flies!