Today I had my first bear encounter!
Yet again, taking down camp and getting packed up took longer than expected, so I got a bit of a later start today. I wasn’t too worried because I was only planning on riding 90kms, but if was to keep going to Golden then I’d need all the time I could get.
I saw Robert in the morning, and he was kind enough to take a picture for me! It’s pretty rare that I get a photo of myself on a solo bike trip!
Immediately out of the campground the climb to the top of Rogers Pass began. Unlike the Coquihalla however, today’s steepest section was closer to the bottom of the mountain. It felt great to get that out of the way earlier in the day with light traffic and fresh legs.
Eventually the really steep section ended and made way for tunnels. I was able to go around the first tunnel, but had to go through the next two. I made sure my rear light was on, waited for a break in traffic, and pedalled like hell. There was a bit of a shoulder in the tunnel, but definitely not a place I’d want to be if a semi was coming from behind. Fortunately, the second and third tunnels were slightly downhill, so I rode through them quickly.
The slight downhill that I enjoyed through the tunnels didn’t last long, and I soon found myself slowly starting to climb. I passed a fellow cyclist today on the road, who must’ve been in his 60s (at least!). He said he’s biking from Langley to Sylvan Lake, AB! He was going pretty slowly, so I asked what he does if he doesn’t make it to a camp site. He said he just pulls off the road and sets up camp! Fills his water bottles straight up from the stream. Anyways, it was an interesting interaction.
June seems to be the time of year that construction begins in the mountains, and Rogers Pass was no exception. Usually construction means I can bike in the closed lane while cars rip past in the other lane. There were some sections on the climb where this was the case, but there were also sections where I had to bike in the lane with traffic. At least the thought of getting smacked from behind by a semi took my mind off the climb!
I must be getting used to mountain passes, because I didn’t realize I had finished the climb when I made it to the top. It was a little anticlimactic after some of the passes I’ve ridden through! With that being said, the mountains were AMAZING despite being spotted with clouds. I couldn’t get over how beautiful the mountains were, let alone that I had biked all this way to see them.
