No Kms Thursday;
71.7Kms Friday
Our day off in Castlegar seemed like three, as we'd bicycled 587Kms in five days since Lethbridge and the day off seemed so very still. Y did administrative work and B did bike care, between naps. We then pedaled to a laundromat and saw another Canada Day display (this one with painted bikes!).
We reflected about how much fun we had on Doug's Nelson to Castlegar ride yesterday. Comparing that elevation gain to our Castlegar to Christina Lake options makes us confident we can do the steeper route. B made a fabulous lasagna and salad dinner and we set up our packs for the morning time. With only a short ride Friday (though relatively a lot of elevation gain) we left at a leisurely pace up out of Castlegar (FYI: the highway, steeper route won the coin toss). The day was blue sky with light flickering through green mountain trees. With not a puff of cloud in the sky, and with a breeze at our back, we assended successfully to the Paulson Pass summit. At one point, B pulled out the surgical face masks to stop the bugs from filling our mouths and nostrils - that must have been a laugh for passing motorists, but we were more comfortable.
Wow! We were ready for this "hump", as the locals call it. En route we saw Cedar Waxwings and a Western Tanager and Turkey Vultures - no bear, but we did have our bear spray handy, just in case. The 30Kms downhill from the summit were fantastic!
Y deployed her parachute raincoat and so she did not even need her brakes most of the way! Also, due to road construction on a washout, there was alternating 30min traffic near the top, so, once through the traffic jam, for most of our glide to Christina Lake we had the lane to ourselves!
We stopped for a lunch picnic above Christina Lake and a young couple took our photo and we took theirs. We are on the edge of vacationlandBC and can feel and see it everywhere: Ice Cream, Boat Rentals, Flip-flops and tan lines, as well as little café stops and tapas restaurants (we walked 2Kms had dinner at one - Babalooz, Tapas by the Lake). In two days, we will be in Osoyoos, with a day to play before our final five days to Victoria!
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