Day 46

We woke up and headed over to the dinner on the other side of town for some breakfast. The other side of town being just over a mile away. I was confused and a little worried about weather this would work. On line I found three different places all with the same address with three different names. They all said they opened at 4:30 AM so that was promising, but no menus, and three different names… Did it keep closing and re-opening under a new name? The one thing that was consistent was 4:30 AM so I was counting on that. When we got there they were open. There was a large sign on the roof with one name, a second name on the front window and when we went inside the menus had the third. Not really sure what was happening, but they were open, had food, and the coffee smelled good. Oatmeal and buckwheat pancakes for both of us. After we finished our oatmeals I looked, and headed to the counter to ask for knifes and forks. There were two guys waiting for their coffee. I stood patiently, and quietly. Maybe too quietly because when the one guy turned to see me he slightly jumped in surprise. He asked, ‘Where did you come from?’ I said, ‘From over there’, I was trying to be jovial but I think I was just taken a weird. Then the counter woman asked what I needed. I asked for a couple of forks and knives. She asked if ordered anything that required forks and knives… I took a half a beat and said, ‘pancakes’. I thought, but honestly I was questioning, shouldn’t I have a fork and knife of this? The guys laughed. I was glad I was wasn’t just the weirdo. She apologized and quickly gave me two sets of cutlery. The pancakes were good, but definitely need a fork and knife. 

Back to the the hotel to finish getting ready. We were happily discussing how well we were both walking. It was early morning on day 46, but we were moving well. 

Back in the room I looked out the bathroom window and saw a deer grazing on the backyard grass. She paused to look up at me. It was a nice moment in the early morning cool air with only a screen window between. The nicety came to an abrupt end when I saw a deer tick sitting on the toilet tank. I killed it with a gross crunch. I’ve spoken so much about the mosquitos, but ticks could be so much worse. Now I have the joy of a good and through tick check as part of my getting ready. 

Finally to the road. The mile through town went much quicker on bikes, and before we knew it we were heading to the mountain. The internet swore today would not be a lot of climbing… the first few turns did not feel like the internet was telling the truth. This mountain was not the tallest we’ve come across but it wasn’t that easy either. 

I don’t know if it was the rest last night, or the 46 days pryer, but this mountain would not let us have an inch. The climbs were not big. There were a few downs along the ridge. But all morning was just push push push. 

As we rode down one of the downs we saw a pair of cyclists coming up the their side. We waved at first but then they looked like they wanted a chat. They turned out to be a married couple. The man and Jerry started talking while I spoke with Mari. They were prepping for their cross country trip next year. They were next level. Mari had done a solo cross country trip last year… Florida to Oregon! That’s more then cross! She told me about her adventures and showed off some of her gear. After a bit of chatting we switched talking partners. He recently switched to an E-bike. It was pretty slick. A German make with Bosch battery, and a spare in the bag. It was a big setup, but he looked like he had it fine tuned to suite his needs well. The mountain biking motor provided enough torque for any of the roads he would likely come across. He had it set to the lowest power assist so it just helped him out while he was still working. We had a nice chat. They told us about the joys of Warm Showers. We said our good byes and headed on our ways.

We worked for every inch on this road. It was super pretty, with evergreens climbing high off the sides of the mountains. I knew where we were heading and so I’m sure all of my thoughts of Rambo were self fulfilling prophecy, but it definitely came to mind more then once. 

As the woods got deeper and denser there were noises and shadows that did not exist in the sparse brown hills of the last mountains. There were sounds and shadows that we now listened to and wondered what was, is or could be there. I joked it must be the Sasquatch. It’s funny how people know that there are gaps in the known biological chain, but then you mention an animal that everyone has heard of as a serious potential you’re suddenly a kook. Not that I really believe in all crypto-zoology but I was stricken how funny it is that as soon as I say Sasquatch, I can’t possibly be serous. 

We rode past the Royal Engineers’ Road. It was a quick sign and the road wasn’t that much to see from road as we rode past, but it was cool. To imagine everything going across BC using this small, old road that was so well made that it is still visible after almost 100 years of disuse. 

As we approached the flats the wind grew and grew. Of course we would face more wind when the road finally gave us the slightest break. We fought the wind and winded our way through the end of the park and started to feel society approaching. And finally we saw highways converging and signs for Hope. We rode into town and checked into our hotel, tomorrow will be another day. 

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MikeDiazTheFirst

Mike was born in Queen, New York to a blue collar family. An avid self educator, artist, and traveler he’s traveled around the globe three times while immersing himself in the culture of 48 different countries and counting.  Read about his journeys and musings here.

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