Day 41 - Castlegar to Salmo

We awoke to the sound of rain not so gently falling, then turned over and went back to sleep feeling vindicated for taking a motel room. We slowly surfaced and prepared for a short day over Bombi Hill. (1214m) As it was only 40km to Salmo we were in no great rush to get going, so it took an age to have our bacon and eggs, mushrooms and tomato, and pack up our kit, making sure that we catered for the showers which were forecast for today.


We had a long chat with the lady who runs the Motel, and finally got under way about 9:30am. There was a lot of low cloud and mist but no actual rain, but we donned our Gortex jackets after half an hour to keep ourselves warm. We also decided to put away the camera, so Marge had nothing to do for the next hour and a half. The road was just steep enough to keep us in the low gears without too much stress, and we often sampled our new energy food, raspberry and cream cookies. They are easier to eat than the chocolate bars we have gotten used to and fit neatly in the front bag for easy access. They also have the benefit of not melting to their packaging when it gets warm.


The last couple of kilometers to the top were over 6% so we were glad to see the summit sign. After that it was just all downhill to Salmo. We had an interesting effect on the way down, the road surface must have been wash boarded by the heavy trucks descending, and it felt as if we had a problem with a tire wall failure. That’s a little scary when doing 50+kph. We found our designated hotel and checked in.

After a cuppa and a snack we noticed two other bikes come in. Marge, starved of intelligent conversation, rushed out to talk to them at an indecent speed. They were a very nice couple from Lovelands area of Colorado, and we swapped various stories. Later we went to their room and shared more stories and a couple of beers.

Supper was BBQ’d chicken, peas and brown rice followed by cherries, yogurt, and what was left of the raspberry creams. With the showers returning with a vengeance, we sat down to do the blog, only to find that we could not get the free WiFi in our room, 5 meters outside the front door was fine, but not practical in view of the p……g rain. Problems to fix tomorrow. Now we are off into town for a beer.

That’s all the news that’s fit to print. So Night night.

Pictures

13.8kph average

Distance: 40km
Total Distance: 2864km
Alt change: 800m
Total Alt change: 19724m