Triumphrat

iggypop

(Note that this ride report is also posted to STN, if you get a sense of deja vu while reading :- )

I've recently completed a big loop around BC and Alberta. Here's the story with pics.

There were two reasons for me going on this trip (as if one needs a reason for a road trip!). First, it was a gift to me from my wife on occasion of my 40th birthday. A few months ago, she was trying to figure out what to get me for my birthday, and went so far as to ask me what I wanted. I'm fortunate enough to be in a position in life where I've pretty much got what I want when it come to the little, birthday-gift-size things, and what remains on my wish list are the big toys. Our financial position isn't good enough where a Z06 Corvette - or even a Daytona 675 as a spare bike - makes sense. So we came up with the idea of a 2-week road trip by myself on my Sprint ST. It would be the bike's first trip, as well as my first trip that was longer than overnight. I was all excited about the idea.

The question, though, is where to? I live in Kelowna, BC - otherwise known as Paradise - so picking an enticing destination can be difficult. Well, it was to be more about the journey than the destination, so where are the fun roads? The Kootenays, for sure, but I don't want to stick that close to home for whole trip, so maybe head south. So I ask, "Where can I go?"

She answers, "Anywhere, just be home by July 29." Ok, no problem. I think for a bit.

I suggest, "The Black Hills, maybe, or Yellowstone or southern Utah". She goes, "Let me clarify what anywhere means - stay in Canada!"

Well, that limits things. One day east of here and it becomes prairies. Not so fun riding when the road system looks like grid paper. Can't go south - we're only 2 hours from the US border. But BC is quite large, and I've never been anywhere north of Williams Lake. Oh, and there is the IndyCar race in Edmonton on the July 25/26 weekend, that would be fun to attend. So I put together a big circle of a route that will take me to the coast, up to Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlottes on a ferry, across to Edmonton and home through the Kootenays:



As I had never before done a long trip on a bike, and the bike, being new, had not been anywhere, I decided to do a 3-day shakedown run to Calgary, Creston and home. That was helpful, as I made a few adjustments to the gear I was planning to carry.

iggypop

Day 0 / July 12: The birthday party! Had an awesome time, and thanks to my wife for organizing the event. Had 50-60 friends show up at our house, on a perfect day. Started partying about noon, and the last friends left around midnight. The bike was already packed, and the only thing I needed to thrown on it the next morning were the walking shoes and hat I was wearing.

Day 1 / July 13: 7 a.m. rolls around waaaaay to early. I was planning on being on the road by 8, but 12 hours of partying the day before made it rather difficult to get moving. Finally did get going about 9:30. Forgot the shoes and hat, too. Here's me on the bike, ready to roll:



The destination for the day was Sechelt, here's the route:



The weather was perfect all day - sunny with temperatures ranging from 24C to 28C. The road from Merritt to Spences Bridge is one of my favorites, and on this day, was utterly without traffic. Still getting used to riding with a full touring load, so I didn't push too hard.

There is a section of road between Lytton and Lillooet which is slowly eroding and falling away - it has progressed from about a 50-foot section maybe half a lane wide 10 years ago, to being about 300 feet long and almost an entire lane wide today. There have been cement barricades put up on the outside as makeshift guardrails, but a number of those have fallen victim to the erosion and are now somewhere in the gorge below. Plenty of sharp rocks on the road to pick your way through, just in case you weren't concentrating hard enough.

Lillooet to Pemberton started off as the usual frost-heave mess. Not too bad in a car, but on bike, you never know if the next corner is going to be level, or have a 6-inch bump or drop in it. Maybe both. Nevertheless, I made pretty good time until I ran into the paving crew coming the other way. Time for a break anyways, I guess. My group of vehicles gets released in about 30 minutes, and after I clear the 3 cars in front of me, it is riding heaven. The road is completely twisty, there is no traffic in front of me for at least 30 minutes, the weather is perfect, and the asphalt is ultra-fresh. I fall into a rhythm, and find myself dragging my toes about every third corner, even with the loaded bike.

Alas, that section is only about 40 km long, and it is all too soon over. But still incredibly awesome.

Whistler through to Horseshoe Bay is one big construction zone. Very dramatic scenery, which you have time to enjoy at 30 km/h if you get past the frustration of having to go 30 km/h.

I have no pictures up to this point. Ferries have schedules, and I got a late start. Those of you who have traveled that route know that is is some of the most beautiful views on the planet, and pretty exciting road, too. Those of you who haven't ought to plan a trip that way.

So I arrive at the ferry terminal, and find out I am 20 minutes too late for my planned ferry, but there will be another one in a hour. Arrgh.

Here's a pic from the back of the ferry, about 10 minutes after leaving port.


And the ferry coming in from Nanaimo. The sailboat kind of shows you the scale...

iggypop

Having to break this up due to 4 image restriction...

I get to Sechelt and set up camp:


Very pretty view from the back of my tent:


A burbling stream to lull me to sleep, and no mosquitoes around, either.

iggypop

Day 2 / July 14:

A couple more ferries today to get up the Sunshine Coast and to Vancouver Island. The route:



Leaving Sechelt early to catch the 8:15 a.m. ferry at Earls Cove, I got in behind a guy on a Harley. The road was pretty twisty and would have been a lot of fun, except he was doing about 30 km/h around the corners. I passed him as soon as there was a clear spot, and eventually made it to the ferry lot. About 15 minutes later the Harley chugs in and parks beside me. He's looking at me as he's taking his helmet off, so I'm expecting an earful. Instead, he grins and says, "That would have been much more fun if I'd been on my CBR." He shows me where his crash bars were touching down - 30 km/h through the corners was all he could do without levering his front tire off the road!

Here's a pic of the two bikes at the front of the ferry:



Note the sophisticated method of securing the bike - park the bike diagonal to the direction of travel, kickstand down, and a stepped wooden block on the other side of the bike. It seems to work, though.

There were tons of these type of homesteads all over the coast. Accessible only by boat and no power, water, sewer or high-speed Internet services. Not too close to each other, as well. For the types that like their privacy in a rugged way.

iggypop

Another short ride, and I'm waiting for the next ferry at Powell River. The obligatory marina shot:


And looking back at the town:


I had a couple hours to kill, so I wandered around and found some breakfast at a cafe on the main drag. I sat at a window so I could watch my bike - it seemed to attract a lot of attention. Harley guy cruised by.

Got off the ferry in Comox, and took the Island Highway up to Port Hardy. After yesterday's and this morning's road, this riding was absolutely boring. A mostly straight road, and while the scenery wasn't bad, it wasn't as good as yesterday, so no pics.

The highlight of that leg was coming around a corner and seeing a black bear crossing the road about 300 m in front of me. I hit the binders and came to a stop. He stopped as well, and looked at me as if calculating the effort/reward ratio of making me his next meal. The apparent crunchiness of my helmet must have broken the deal, so he ambled on. No time for a pic, as this all took place in less than 5 seconds.

iggypop

Day 3 / July 15: Port Hardy to Prince Rupert - 15 hours on a ferry!



BC Ferries tells you to be at the ferry terminal at 5:00 am to catch the ferry leaving at 7:30 am. A reservation is required and don't dare be late. So I get up at 4, make it to the terminal on time - 10 vehicles already in front of me - to discover that they don't open the gates until 5:30. There is a big lineup by 5:30, so maybe it was worth it. The ferry doesn't load until 6:30, though, so I'm not sure what the hurry was.

The ferry was brand new - it came into service about 2 weeks ago, to replace one that sank a couple of years prior. It was a nice ferry, with a unique method of loading:


Cars would drive in the nose, and make a loop around the back of the ferry to offload through the nose again. Bigger trucks would back in or out.

BC Ferries loads and unloads motorcycles first, which is nice. You can get your bike secured and find a decent seat before the ferry starts filling up. And you don't get stuck behind a mass of trucks and RVs when you get off. The method of securing was the same as for the small ferries, but on this ferry they also give you a tiedown that attaches to two stanchions on the deck and goes over your seat.

The ferry route goes through what is known as the "Inside Passage". It is supposed to be spectacular as the vessel threads its way through narrow gaps between mountains rising nearly straight up out of the water. This, however, is the best picture I got on the day, about 30 minutes out of port:


Immediately afterwards, the cloud cover fell and we were in rain, fog and low visibility for the rest of the trip. It was bad enough that I couldn't take my camera out while on deck, not that I ventured out for very long. 15 hours is a lot of time to kill, but I did make some new friends and get some reading done.

iggypop

Day 4 / July 16: Another ferry day



The ferry ride this day was "only" 7 hours long. Seemed to take forever, as there was even less to see. We were out in the open water most of the time, so if you like pics of dark blue seas covered by grey skies, you will have to look elsewhere.

Got into Queen Charlotte City - the biggest settlement on QCI at 948 people - and set up the tent. I'd heard it can rain a bit, so I tried to shelter it as much as possible, hence the tarp overhead.


A few minutes after I arrive, a fellow camper comes over and introduces himself with the warmest greeting I've ever heard: "Hi, I'm Rick. Would you like some fresh crab?" He'd bought 30 whole crabs at the dock that morning, but couldn't fit them all in his icebox. He was pulling up camp - going back to the mainland on the ferry I'd arrived on - and needed to dispose of a couple of crabs. They were delicious - thank you Rick!

iggypop

July 17-20 / Days 5-7: Queen Charlotte Islands



I didn't know what to expect on the islands. They are quite remote, not very populated, and not somewhere I'd been before. My hunch about rain was correct - it rained every day I was there. The locals were telling me that it can be like Hawai'i at times - when the sun is out, I assume - like the week before I arrived. Imagine, a Kelowna guy bringing rain.

No cell phone service on my phone, so I was out of contact with home for the weekend. I did send an email to my wife to let her know I arrived, though. There were only a few cafes in QCC, but they all seemed to offer WiFi, which was cool. As I didn't bring a laptop, it was a bit more challenging to find an Internet terminal. Eventually, I wandered down to the Tourism office to ask where I could get on a computer - lo and behold, they had one there. Free, to boot. (They take donations.)

There isn't much for paved road - about 140 km in all, 110 of that on the north island. I rode all of it in one afternoon, twice. Of course, it isn't a loop, but a ribbon, so if you ride from one end to the other, you pretty much have to turn around and ride back. In the 80s, my uncle ran the paving crew that paved the road from one end to the other. Most of that pavement has been redone, but there were still sections of the original asphalt in good shape. The road is boring, though. A slow section along the coast from QCC up about 40 km - slow because this is where most of the islands' population is - and then a straightish blast up the middle of the island to Masset.

There is a circular route by forestry road which takes you to the west side of the island. I got about 500 metres down it, and realized I'd never make on the Sprint. Muddy with sharp gravel really isn't its thing.



I saw a lot of deer, but they were tiny - the does were about the height of a labrador retriever, and fawns were more about toy poodle size. Fortunately, none of them ventured onto the road in front of me. They disappeared too quickly to get pics.

The one sunny afternoon happened to coincide with a festival in the neighbouring community, Skidegate. Looked like about 1,000 people turned out - a quarter of the island - and were having a great time. Street hockey tournaments, canoe races, etc. were all fun to watch. Dinner was fresh barbequed salmon with razorback clam stuffing. Mmmmmm. I ran into a couple I'd met on the ferry, which was neat. However, there being not much else going on, probably expected that they'd show up in the same places as I.

iggypop

There is a very good Haida museum in Skidegate. It is designed to look like a traditional Haida community - communal log houses set in rows, close to water.


Not sure the double-paned, tinted glass windows are traditional, though. No pictures allowed in the museum, unfortunately. The had an excellent collection of Haida artifacts and art, history displays, as well as geological/natural environment information. Very much worth spending an afternoon in.


The museum also had an art school, the highlight of which was the carving house. You can see a few canoes all nearly water-worthy, as well as a half-complete totem.

iggypop

I went to the south island (by ferry!) for an afternoon. The ferry ride is only about 20 minutes each way, but the birds are lazy:


My highlight of the south island:

A statue of a salmon, made of cedar and copper. There are only about 30 km of paved road on the south island, so couldn't go any further.

There is a national park on the south island, Not accessible by road, but apparently very spectacular. I inquired into a day trip by air or boat, and the price was $800. Not in my budget, but maybe next time.

In summary, the islands are lush and pretty, and the people are nice. It is definitely not a riding destination, though. I did not encounter a single other motorcycle on the road in my 4 days on the islands, although I did see two parked in carports.