Day 10: Bankeir, BC -> Tulameen, BC

Date: Thursday, May 25, 2023
Start: Near Bankier,BC (Chain Lake Campground)
End: Near Tulameen,BC (Otter Lake Campground)
Distance: 75km

I'd gone to bed late owing to my late finish the day before.  I opted to sleep in and crawled out of bed at 7:30 with the sun shinning on me.  I walked out on the dock again and had my oatmeal on the water.

The clouds quickly moved in, and a light rain started to fall.  My tent fly was still pretty soggy and without the sun there was no hope of drying it.  I packed quickly and was visiting by the park ranger who collected the $15 fee for camping there and told me about how he'd done the Pacific Crest Trail on horseback once over 8 months.  Don - the park ranger - was a great guy and I enjoyed hearing about his other adventures.  He gave me an idea of what to expect on the road ahead, and I set off around 10:30am.

I'm trying to come up with a way to measure the distance from any major city by measuring the number of bullet holes in street signs.  This one meant I was pretty far out:

It was another long, hard, grind on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail.  I was now going downhill but the sand and rock meant I had to peddle the entire way.  It felt like it went on forever.  A little taste of it:

But I was also on the side of the hills and mountains and could see into the valley bellow which provided some excellent sights.  I crossed a beautiful trestle and eventually came to Erris Tunnel, one of the many tunnels on the Kettle Valley Trail but most of them are further East and this was the first and only one I think I'll encounter:

At times the sand was so frustrating or difficult that I would stop and walk.  The difference between biking 8km/h and walking 4km/h doesn't seem to matter when you're as frustrated as I was.

I eventually reached Jura, B.C. which is known for it's agriculture and - at least at one time - it's stockyards.  It was almost 2:30pm and for my almost 4 hours of effort I had only 25km of distance covered to show for it.  This gives you an idea of just how slow I was.

I stopped at the first picnic table I'd seen all day for lunch.  It was a former water tower turned gazebo.  Unfortunately, birds had taken over the gazebo structure and the table and seats were covered in bird poop!  I opted to sit on the edge of the gazebo and eat my lunch.  I also had a cell signal for the first time and so read messages and took about an hour to recenter myself and enjoy the amazing landscape.  I had emerged from the forest and mountains to find grassland and farms.  It was a perfect scene of bucolic serenity.

It was time to get to Princeton.  I could take the paved road, but I hadn't done almost 80km on the rail trail just to give up on the last 10km.  It immediately started downhill, so much so that I could coast.  But still having to brake because of how uneven and bumpy it was.  At some point I had to go through a gate with a warning I was passing through a working farm.  I immediately found out why.  Sheep.  Hundreds of sheep.  All around me and along the trail.  One wee lamb got curious and came to inspect me and my bike.

It was funny to see them all.  And then the sheep dog found me.  He bounded up behind me barking loud and I worried he saw me as a threat.  He kept coming close and continuously barking.  I talked to him calmly and walked slowly, careful to stay away from the flock.  He stayed between me and the sheep, and guided them off and around me.  He did his job admirably (and without any ACTUAL violence!)

At the bottom of the hill I reached Princeton, B.C.  A mining town, it was celebrating Mining Day in the downtown park.  I walked around the small festival meeting people and learning about the industry.  It was a festive atmosphere of BBQs and kids games.  It was about 4pm however and time to make a decision.  Do I take highway 3 to Hope and stay in Manning Park for the night, or do I try to go North to Tulameen, Brookmere, and find the Kettle Valley Rail Trail between Brookmere and Hope?  I had an iced coffee and did some research.  I opted to go North where I could find Otter Lake Campground about 30km north.

I grabbed some groceries and was while packing them up was approached by someone who asked what spare parts I carried.  It turns out he was vacationing in Princeton and had broken a link on his bike chain.  Princeton lacks a bike shop, and so he was stuck.  He offered to pay for one of my spare links but I was happy to give it to him.  I carried 4 with me, so one wouldn't put me out.  I also felt I owed the world a little karma for how good I'd had it that last few days.  He was very grateful and gave me a hug.  I peddled off happy to have been able to help someone on this long trip.

The road out of Princeton was all paved.  It was a pleasant change from the trail.  It was also a very steep climb for many kilometers.  I quickly gave up and started pushing.  I had to stop at one point and pump my tires as I'd lowered the pressure for the trail.  It was now 6:30pm and I would be risking darkness if I didn't make good time to the campground.  If it was all uphill this steeply, I wouldn't make it.  But as with all things, a turn would come.  And I crested the road and was treated to some magnificent views of the river valley bellow.  It was mostly downhill after the climb, and I enjoyed to opportunity to move at speed without much work.

I dropped into Coalmont, B.C. and stopped for a pause.  It was sunny and warm, but it soon started trickling.  It turned into a very solid rainfall.  I managed to find shelter under a small roofed collection of Canada Post boxes.  After about 5 minutes, it was done.  I took a few minutes to see Coalmont, which strikes me as a mining town without any more mines.  It seems to maintain the character of the original town however, and I quickly fell in love with it.

Pushing on I passed fields with coyotes in them.  I passed many deer on the side of the road.  I came up to Tulameen, B.C. at about 8pm.  Bigger than Coalmont, it also felt like a small town tucked away in the mountains.  I snapped some pictures and talked to some local who - I'm sure - thought I was escaped from an institution to be biking North from there!

At about 8:30pm I reached Otter Lake Campground.  I didn't waste time setting up camp and prepping for dark.  I ate some pepperoni sticks, cheese, and crackers.  No time for cooking tonight!  The ranger administering the campground - Cam - came and took my payment ($23) and chatted with me about my trip so far.  He offered advice on the roads ahead and left to go to bed himself.  I tucked into my tent with my laptop and wrote the first of three blog posts I was behind on.  I fell asleep typing, and had to force myself to put the laptop away.

It had been probably the hardest day of the ride thus far.  One of the longest for sure, and with the shortest distance.  And it felt like I fought for every single kilometer.  Tomorrow would bring me back to the Kettle Valley Rail Trail and towards Brookmere.  But the condition of the trail was unknown, and so I slept to gather strength for what could be yet a more difficult day ahead.