Hate to disappoint anyone who expected me to be in Penticton or beyond by now, but I am just 61km from Hope up the Coq as of May 8th overnight. Let me explain: Snow. Lots of it. 

PS: I started a “By The Numbers” page you can find on the top header panel. Hope this provides a snapshot of my journey at a glance. I’ll be updating this more frequently than doing blog posts. I’m also open to suggestions for additions to this page!

May 6th:

Mostly a prep day in Hope – breakfast, groceries, organizing, and getting advice from the Visitor Centre. While Hope’s Buy-Low Foods has no bulk section, I was able to stock up on the goods:

… Which enabled me to prep for the tough days ahead:

… The result of which was a delicious and nutritious lunch just outside Hope:

 

Insistent on avoiding the dreaded Coquihalla Highway, I took the trail instead. The Coquihalla River Trail started not so bad – quite nice actually, though the roads were rocky pothole central. My touring bike did fine, but this trail is built for mountain bikes and ATVs. I found some good views, spots for water refills, and neat little bridges across the river.

After a short cycling day, I found a great spot right by the river to set up camp.

May 7th-8th:

These days blurred together in my mind, as they were quite similar. Back at it on the Coq River Trail. 

There were some very green sections. 

… and then I hit the white sections.

Met a couple ATVers who had to turn back because the trail was blocked by snow banks. Great thing about cycling is you can push your bike through! I told the ATVers they should shed a couple wheels 😉

Turns out those snow banks were the start of a 2-day grind primarily pushing my bike and gear through snow. Several long snowed over sections where I decided to unpack my bike and split up the load into two or three trips. If you’re looking for a challenging full-body and cardio workout, I highly recommend pushing a bike with 61 pounds of luggage through the Coq River Trail before the snow melts.

The scenery kept me going – I was surrounded by mountains, cris-crossing the river, and passing countless mini-waterfalls.

May 7th provided my first bear encounter: a black bear the size of a large dog about 20 metres ahead of me in a half-snow-covered section of the trail. I could not have been more prepared – bear bell attached to handlebars, animal repellant whistle on jacket zipper, and bear spray in water bottle holder. And it could not have gone smoother – I stopped, rang my bell a couple times, and it took a couple steps and ran away before I could snap a pic (sorry fans!).

May 8th around 3pm was my return to civilization, where I pushed my bike through about a 2km stretch of snow to a road just off the coq highway. Met a road worker there so kind he handed me a bag of sausages and insisted I take them! He then pointed me up the road to Britton Creek Rest Area, where I spent the night recharging the batteries, as well as my own.

So May 8th was my first “non-cycling” day. Far from a rest day, but with so much pushing through snow I did not clock in any kilometres on my Garmin. Good news is my cycling muscles are somewhat rested and ready to veer off onto the Kettle Valley Rail Trail tomorrow!