July 22, 2016 Manning Park --> Princeton, BC - 41 miles

CORRECTION TO YESTERDAY'S POST: I misidentified the cute little critters yesterday as prairie dogs. Pam texted to inform me that they are, in fact, yellow bellied marmots. 

The little marmots were out in full force again when I emerged after breakfast - even crawling on top of my foot in response to my clucking noises. Personalities plus. I wanted to grab a couple to take along on the ride. 

A steady rain began as I left the Manning Park Lodge, making it a little difficult to see through my sunglasses, yet not that much of a ride deterrent. I have always found that riding in rain is easier than wind any day. The first 13 miles were a piece of cake, the two lane road being essentially flat alongside a lovely stream. I was amused by the sight of a group of Canadien geese waiting to cross the road to stream side.

Most of the traffic was in the opposite direction, presumably because it was Friday and more people were heading into the park for the weekend as opposed to out of the park. The next phase of the ride was mostly a delightful downhill ride almost all the way to Princeton, with the exception of one long slow incline. I had my head down chugging up the hill, when I looked up and spotted a black bear crossing the road approximately 300 yards ahead. I wasn't too concerned about my safety, as he was well on his way to the woods off the road, and I suspect the traffic on the road would speed him along. Plus, I don't really imagine he would hang out there by the side of the road in wait to get me. Still, I formulated my contingent plan which was to reverse course and head downhill in a hurry if necessary. Hard to imagine  a black bear sprinting down a hill after a touring bike. And obviously it didn't happen. 

I was happy to notice that my body had recovered better than I would have expected after yesterday's hard ride. My legs felt strong, and no knee pain for the first time in a couple of weeks. I attributed that to some extra special stretching and self massage/roll-type techniques targeting the knees.

Other than that one climb, the remainder of the ride consisted of one downhill cruise after another, during which I often reached 30+ mph. The rain had stopped and it was slowly clearing up.  The scenery also changed somewhat from those huge adjacent mountains to more moderate size mountains a little more distant. By the time I reached Princeton at 1:15 pm, I was more or less in a valley with outlying mountains. I made such good time to Princeton and it was such a stress free ride, I would have continued on to the next town of Hedley had I not already booked a room at the Sandman Inn.

I spent the afternoon resting up and planning for tomorrow's 72 mile ride to Osoyoos. I am told the road will be curvy, but mostly flat or gently rolling with little in the way of severe climbs. I plan to get an early start, and hope to get there by 3 or 4 pm. 

July 21, 2016 Hope --> Manning Provincial Park - 43.2 miles

Had the breakfast special at a small cafe located right across the street from the entrance to the town park. Before leaving, I decided to add one of the delicious looking homemade blueberry scones to my stash of potential dinner items, since I didn't know what to expect in terms of dinner options at the end of the day. Also stopped by Subway and bought a veggie delight for the same reason. Thus fortified, I took one last picture of Hope by the river before embarking on the day's ride. 

The mountain climbing theme of the day started at the outskirts of Hope. I climbed up, over, and around various mountains all day long. By my count, I encountered four, and maybe five, significant climbs. The first three were long, long, long, long (you get the picture) gradual inclines that probably took a good thirty minutes or more to complete before getting some relief in the form of a descent or flat. Huge steep mountains on all sides just about took my breath away. The photos don't come even close to conveying the massive size of these mountains. 

After 3-4 hours of climbing, I found myself having to stop more and more frequently to rest. Ate a peanut butter sandwhich and apple to refuel around noon, and continued chugging upward. I was feeling the climb in all parts of my body, most obviously in my legs. I realized at one point that I was completely out of range of cell service - completely unplugged, as it were - and that free of any distraction, or even the possibility of any distraction, I was able to totally focus on just being quietly present to and embraced by those magnificent mountains amid the brilliant blue sky. I had pretty much a whole day of that. And I can tell you there is no way that doesn't change you, if even for a few moments. It does something to your psyche and soul. Nowadays, it is common to talk about taking time to be quiet and get centered, but this was at a whole different level.

Eventually,  I reached the west entrance to Manning Park. Another thing that struck me was the fact that there are none of the commercial enterprises I have seen at other parks. I mean, it is all about preserving the natural state of the park as much as possible. I saw this in stark contrast to my experiences on the Blue Ridge Parkway at home in the Carolinas, which has been commercialized to large extent. 

I finally reached Allison Pass Summit, elevation 4403 ft, which Pam had indicated was the significant climb of the day. What it meant to me was that I was almost "there", a comforting thought given my tired legs. 

I rolled into the Manning Park Resort around 3 pm, and gratefully checked in. After getting situated, I took a short stroll to check out the lay of the land and find the little store on premises. I noticed a little commotion going on, and saw a mound of prairie dog homes along the side of the hill outside the store. The prairie dogs were totally unphased by the people gawking and getting close up to take pictures. Including me. It was neat to see little kids getting a big kick out of the prairie dogs. In fact, all of us there were acting like little kids. [Update: since this was first posted, Pam texted and informed me these are yellow bellied marmots, not prairie dogs - I knew these would not be prairie dogs, but look like them and I was too lazy/tired at the time. I stand corrected!]

For dinner, I pulled out my Subway veggie delight and homemade blueberry scone and dined in style in my room. Could not have had a better dinner. Propped up my legs for a good rest, since the 41 mile ride to Princeton tomorrow promises more of the same. 

I went back and read the first couple of entries to the blog in June regarding what I anticipated the journey to be about. I had actually forgotten about the poem regarding letting go of the rope to the boat and just going with the flow of the river - not knowing, etc. After all that has occurred, this has taken on a whole new meaning.