Thursday, May 26, 2011

Going Up ?

Day 8, Lamplighter Camp - Glacier Park Lodge (Rogers Pass Summit)
Distance, 73km., Saddle time, 4:49 Avg. speed, 15km/hr

So, I was up early this morning to ensure a proper prep. and pack up. I was nervous about today's ride because of the uncertainty around road and weather conditions. It's a lenghty winter, so there is a good deal of avalanche aftermath and a high concentration of hungry bears. All camping is closed until Field BC which is too far and risky for my level of touringness.  So, today will be a short ride...
I took this ride as I have done all previous rides, slow and easy in case of unplanned misshaps. I took around 3.5 hours to climb from the Mount Revelstoke National Park entrance sign.(4:49 from camp) The road conditions were good, with a wide shoulder for most of it. The 3 snowsheds that I passed through were not as dangerous as I thought they would be. (not to say that they are fine for cycling either) I took some time to take a few pics and stopped for a sandwich break 2 thirds of the way up.
Once I got to within around 10km out, the conditions changed. It turned much colder, and a headwind materialized. At 1 km out the cold rain hit, so, now I was ready to pack it in. Took some pics and got myself a room in the near empty Lodge. It had so few guests that it was kind of creepy, reminded me of the movie "The Shining" with Jack Nicholson. ... Shining Trailer
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” 
" Here'sssssssssss Seannnyyy !! 
                                                     Leaving the hamlet near Revelstoke
Bye Bye Revelstoke


Mount Revelstoke Park entrance. All's quiet
Scenery
Going up ... 
Snowshed 1 of 3 (5 more later)
With bike lights. I took oncomming lane. Highwaycat crapped on the handlebar.
Inside. This one has lights. Lights are goooood.
Glacier Nat. Park start. Was a good climb out of Revelstoke to here.
"Head for the white stuff" The air is so crisp and clean.
No Camping for you.  Crap !!
Bad tree planting
Hurray! Shirley didn't enjoy this photo op ( was hard to get the bike into position)
Me and a typical Grizzly (pic taken by the only other tourists here)
Glacier Park Lodge
A sketch I did depicting the plight that I had been going through for a few days. It was tough getting things done when the fingers hurt at the slightest touch. The bleeding was annoying too. I guess that I may have been ultra-dehydrated. or the result of Alien abduction experiments. 

Today's 2 National Parks

 The real map
View Larger Map

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