June 2020 Canada
The Trans Canada trail has been a multi year or even multidecade project but it has managed to put a lot of great trails together. It’s been rebranded as The Great Trail but in my opinion that is a bad name as it sets it in competition with other great trails. From talking to people and few cyclists I met it appears that things are more back to normal than I thought but until provincial suggestion changes I am still avoiding all stores/restaurants with a resupply in Lillooet.
who makes those signs? Not cyclists
i bet Grand Forks has its own deer problems like in Cranbrook too bad hounddog Gordo is already taken!
I could not find an online map no matter how hard I tried but there are plenty of maps along the trail.
Day after day I was packing better and better, less stuff to carry, less things hanging on a string and likely to fall off. Not that any of that can happen here, it’s the KVR!
this is where all the cyclists who don’t complete the KVR end up :)
the trail passes through public and private property. Its great that these land owners have allowed the trail to pass, strictly non-motorized in these parts
The Kettle Valley Rail Trail officially starts at Midway BC.
It was a nice ride up the valley and the clouds brought that nice “it might pour very soon” kind of color as the day progressed. Little did we know, British Columbia will have one of it’s wettest summers on record.
need something welded, sand blasted or painted? this guy has you covered!
There were short sections of pavement or road riding but the KRV held its own for the most part. The trail allows for motorized use in parts and I can’t stress how nice people on ATV’s or side by sides are here. But same as with everything else - it takes one person to ruin it.
The Trans Canada Trail is a multidiscipline trail and close to the Myra Trestles that becomes obvious, better bring a packraft!
But soon becomes obvious that this is not due to the lack of public funding but it is done to preserve and protect wildlife habitat
Below was the city of Kelowna but luckily I won’t be going into that craziness
Myra’s Trestles are usually the highlight of the KVR and very packed. They were still under maintenance but word from traveling cyclists was that through traffic is ok.
Camping is never too hard in Canada, just find an old logging spur or deactivated road, go until you like the view and that’s about it.
the sunset on Okanagan Lake
Then at one point it rained <insert your choice of animal here>. I prefer cats and dogs.
Luckily there was sunshine in the morning
Bellevue Trestle
The Crow of Bellevue Trestle, it’s obvious he has been fed or stolen food from humans
More aquatic sections of The Great Trail, I actually fell in one while trying to ride it and film it… and there will be a video
Then it all made sense, all the signs to dismount near a street and declaring perfectly stable bridges as dangerous. Not everyone can ride a bike here. Approaching Pentincton I saw few people on normal or E-bikes that were struggling a lot with the trail terrain.
the beautiful Ponderosa Pines of the area
At the time I was keeping instagram pretty current and reached out to a follower about some help with getting groceries in the area, thank you Wes!
pentincton
it’s a funny time to be biking, the cities feel more remote than the wildest lands.
but it’s looking like I may be meeting more people out there, inter provincial travel recommendation was changed to being okay to travel within BC.