Day 34 - Hope to Manning Park (Mule Deer Camp Site)

Our petrol stove has been acting up, burning very yellow and difficult to start and so I am thinking of dumping it and getting a gas stove. To make matters worse it ran out of fuel this morning during breakfast, fortunately we were nearly done so no great shakes. Then I remembered why we brought that particular stove with us- We went over the road to the gas station and filled ‘er up for 60 cents.

We did our usual morning chats with neighbors and other cyclists. The Kettle Valley Railway experience seems to be top of the list of just finished routes. Everyone looked suitably tired.

Once on the road, the morning was perfect. Up route 3 and passed Hope Slide the traffic was light and the shoulder was wide. The grade pretty soon developed into a bottom gear grind which continued for the next 750m climbed. Oh what fun we had! The hill then flattened and slowly we entered Sunshine Valley with a long descent (!) but what the heck all miles are good miles. We stopped for lunch at Sumallo Grove Picnic area, which comes highly recommended as a lunch stop, because it is some way off the highway among some 500 year old fir trees.


In a fit of bravado I asked a couple of German ladies if they had any spare water. Bless their hearts, they gave us a litre bottle for which we were most grateful. Tea was brewed and the stove burned blue and happily, all is forgiven. (I think that the last time I’d filled up it must have been with 2 stroke mix which accounts for the layer of soot on our new Titanium pans. Sorry Alex and Gen’.)

The rest of the ride fades in the memory as it was rather difficult for us old folks. We ran out of water in our bottles and took some from a stream which we then treated so no real hardship and we needed the rest while the chemicals did their thing. We conquered the pass about 4:00pm took the photos and cruised down to supper at the Manning Resort. We decided that, as it was all downhill to Mule Deer Campground, I would treat Marge to a night out. We arrived, set up and went comatose in record time having selected a site near the toilets. We appreciate these little things much more now than we used to.

The first big pass conquered, I now feel a great deal of admiration for the tenacity of my two lads that did this when they were 10 and 12 years old.


Pictures

12.7kph average

Distance: 80km
Total Distance: 2412km
Alt change: 1540m
Total Alt change: 14049m