Day 14: Hope, BC -> Langley, BC
Jeremy gets back on track, on flat ground, and back to good company!
Date: May 29, 2023
Start: Hope, BC (Coquilhalla Campground)
End: Langley, BC (Staying with a friend)
Distance: 120km
The morning started as it always does: in the tent. I packed my gear and took the opportunity for another shower before leaving. Feeling clean is a privilege I don't get much these days, so to take a second shower in 24 hours felt very nice! I packed everything up and headed to a cafe in downtown Hope.
Hope, BC is known for a few different things:
- It has over 80 wooden statues that are carved by chainsaw.
- It was the filming location of the film Rambo: First Blood
What about a combination of the two? Hope has got you covered!
The other statues around town are fantastic and really worth the walk around to see:
A friend (Hi Sarah!) recommended The Blue Moose for breakfast. They had a great selection of wraps, sandwiches, and breakfast treats! I ate and posted the first blog post since I'd left Kelowna. Hope reminded me of Canmore, Alberta. A smaller town/city surrounded by the mountains. It offered some incredible views.
At some point it was time to go. I was staying with a friend and wanted to get there earlier in the day to make sure we had time to visit.
The ride out of town was on Highway 7 on the north side of the Fraser River, which was running fast from all the melt in the mountains. Guess what else Jeremy had to deal with! That's right! Headwinds! ALL THE WAY! That's an idle complaint because I knew this was going to be a possibility when I signed up for it. I chose this and if it was a deal breaker I never would have made it out of Calgary.
Eventually Google Maps took me south and through the farm country of the Fraser Valley. The open and flat country didn't help slow the headwinds, but the lack of elevation more than made up for it. At one corner I spotted another person on a bicycle loaded with a lot of the same bags as I had. They were clearly on a big bike tour. We stopped and chatted for about 20 minutes comparing setups, routes, and experiences thus far. Phil started on May 27th from Vancouver on his 61st birthday and is heading for Halifax! You can follow him on his Instagram account.
I spent many hours on country roads surrounded by flat farmland with mountains tailing off in the distance. I had to take a detour at some point and ended up on a massive stroad in Abbotsford - at one point I was so uncomfortable on the road I walked on the sidewalk - and dealt with afternoon traffic as I found my way to the Fraser Highway. The Sun was beating down hot and I stopped at some point for an iced tea.
The Fraser Highway had a painted bike lane which make the ride more comfortable, thought it was a gradual uphill to Langley. Because I was avoiding the highways the route was circuitous, and I had an earbud in one ear to navigate me around. When it announced I'd arrived I was seriously relieved!
My host for the night was Nancy, the mother of one of my closest friends from university (who is more like a sister). She'd offered to host me and I jumped at the opportunity to visit as we hadn't seen each other for years. Her sister Sandra and Sandra's partner Ted were also there waiting to say hello. It was a very happy reunion as we'd all last seen one another in 2017. We caught up for a while and I regaled them with tales of my utter stupidity in route finding through the mountains.
After Sandra and Ted left we sat outside and relaxed while Nancy cooked an incredible dinner. We watched the Alberta election returns (boo) and visited later into the evening. It was my first night with a proper shower and a bed. I was so grateful to Nancy for her generosity and company. I fell asleep content that I'd made it out of the mountains, was comfortable and full, in good company, and a stone's throw from my destination!