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Hello Everyone,

This is a longer one. I've been away for a couple of days.

Canada might generally be known as a cold country, but the hottest parts of it can still be pretty hot. At least to folks like Arthur and I.

We left Fernie after going to every bike shop in town, looking for a replacement pair of bike shorts (I ripped a very long slice out of the ass of my current pair). Long story short (heh), I'm picky about my clothes, as is obvious by my sense of fashion, and just bought some fabric repair tape. So far, it's held up pretty well.

We drove to Cranbrook, which isn't far, but seems to have a different climate. It's hotter and drier than Fernie, which isn't really to my liking. The sun was oppressive. That was strike one. The second mark against it was the lack of charm. It's all big box stores and suburbs. Nothing against those on principle, but nobody goes on vacation to check out some other town's strip mall. Strike two. Lastly, when I finally did get to the community forest to take Arthur, by now panting heavily, for a walk, I see signs everywhere that someone has been laying out poison for dogs in that forest. It's taken the lives of three dogs in the last year. That was it, I was out.

We took off looking for a place to stay for the evening. We found a spot down by the river near the town of Fort Steele. There were a dozen or so rigs on this stretch of country road. It was a nice enough spot, the river was clear and blue, but wasn't amazing.

The next day, we left for Kimberley, to the north. There's more of a trail network here, and it's more of a touristy town, so things were more promising. It was, however, even hotter than Cranbrook. Arthur and I did a popular loop in the nordic ski area, and again it was nice enough, but nothing to write home about (this post notwithstanding). It was dry and rocky. Arthur wasn't a huge fan.

After that, we went into town to talk to some bike shop folks (a theme for me). In passing, they recommended staying the night in a spot outside of town, down some logging roads. It sounded simple enough when he told me where to go, but in driving there, it just seemed like it was private property all around.

We drove for awhile, eventually finding a lake with a beach and some people there enjoying the sunshine. Keep in mind, Kimberley is a small place, and we were a half hour outside of town, so we are well away from cell phone range, and by then miles away from the nearest house.

Both Arthur and I went swimming in the frigid lake. It was cold enough that when I got out, I was briefly chilled, before the beating afternoon sun warmed me up again. A guy there was throwing sticks for his dog, and I struck up a conversation when Arthur when over to steal some dog treats. He gave me more specific instructions on how to find a good spot to camp for the night. I followed those down a logging road, to an even more narrow logging road, barely wide enough to fit the truck.

The craziest thing though, was that at one point, I came to a T junction between two of these super narrow roads, to find a woman in a little car waiting there. Her window was down, so I rolled mine down to see what was up. Nothing, she said, she was just waiting for me to pass, so she could drive up the road I had just come down.

I'm miles away from any town or permanent settlement, and well out of cell phone range, on a narrow, unmaintained logging road, and I come upon a traffic jam.

wes

Photos

The first shows the lake where Arthur and went swimming. It's called St. Mary Lake, if you were curious about looking it up.

The second is just Arthur in that same lake.

The third is a view of one of the narrow logging roads I was on. This was the road at the end of which I came upon the woman in the car.

Lastly is a view of my campsite for the evening. It didn't have much for amenities, but made up for it with a hell of a view.