Monday, June 25, 2007
Nelson, British Columbia to Illecillewaet Campground in Glacier National Park, British Columbia
Day's distance: 507km
Total to date: 6,170km
Temperature range: 11C in Nelson when I left at 11:30am, high of 15C in Revelstoke, down to 6C on the Meadows Parkway in Revelstoke National Park, and about 8C at 10:30pm when I turned in. Occasional cloud and spotty rain, but otherwise sunny.

 

 

Left late this morning due to the length of time to upload all my photos from the past 10 days or so. At least the website is somewhat up to date, even if I haven't had time to blog it on Riders Rally. After walking their dog Loki, and taking some more pics of Nelson, my cousin rode with me as far as New Denver. Again, not many pics as I was in a bit of a rush; I was thinking that the campgrounds in Glacier National Park would be full. I needn't have worried however; there are lots of sites.

Illecillewaet is a beautiful campground at just over 4,000 feet near Rogers Pass. Tomorrow I'll check out the information centre at Rogers Pass and, hopefully, walk a trail or two before continuing on my way to Jasper to visit more cousins. Earlier this evening, I rode back to Revelstoke (about 65km), got some take-out and headed up the Meadows Parkway in Revelstoke. Unfortunately, the sunset was a non-event in these mountains, but I did get some pics. The spike on the profile below is the ride up and down the Meadows Parkway and you can see the mirrored climb up to Illecillewaet Campground in Glacier National Park. The Meadows Parkway is 26km long, but was only open to 20km at which point I was just above 5,000 feet, and there were mounds of snow next to (but not on) the Parkway. The temperature was 6C and I was a bit concerned that the light rain I'd experienced coming down from Glacier to Revelstoke might turn slippery on my way back. But, no worry, the road was dry. It is interesting, however, to ride the Trans-Canada in the mountains in the dark with transport trucks all around!

In terms of distance, I'm at the half-way point! No problems of any kind with the Wing, and tire wear is fine (about 11,000 km on them now). But, the release latch on my helmet has quit. Probably a broken cable. This happened once before; perhaps it's time for a new helmet which I might buy at Wing Ding next week. In the meantime, I'm using it as a full-face. Irritating, but not a disaster. :o)