2017 TCT: The ride to Hope

 

I returned to British Columbia with Audrey and Judy in 2017 with a view to knock off some miles of the TransCanada Trail.  Picking up at the same exact intersection we had stopped at last year, amid the farm fields of the Fraser Valley.  The Fraser is BC's longest and most important river (completely contained in BC).  It is 854 miles long with its source near Mt. Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. My trail this year would never venture far from the river. 

Heading east, the immediate challenge was Mt. Sumas, which marks the northern limit of the city of Abbotsford.  Luckily the trail wound around the south face of the mountain.  While there were some steep slopes, the rise in elevation was not severe, and I met the girls for my first break, on the east side.  While not too bad, this mountain was a forerunner of much higher and steeper peaks I would encounter in the future along the trail!

The next section of the trail served as a frontage road for TransCanada Highway 1 .  In 2017 the trail was actually named The Great Trail, the result I imagine of some  misguided planning committee who felt the need to distinguish  it from the TransCanada Highway 1. Thankfully some years later I was happy to see that the signs along the trail had changed back to the only name that merits this trail, TransCanada!  We  came to the McDonald Park Dark Sky Reserve, which I found as an interesting location with it situated so close to the main highway, and not all that far from Vancouver yet.  Since it was broad daylight, there was nothing much to see, and so we carried on.

We had beautiful sunshine and temps on the first day of my ride, but after that I recall that we did not have the favorable weather like the previous year, and rain hampered our progress.  The next stop was Chilliwack.  With a population of 110,000, it was the last large city we would find along the trail for several years into the future.  (Kelowna in 2022).    At Chilliwack, I was forced to make a decision on which route to take.  I believe the planned route for the TCT continues easterly past Cultus Lake, and  then through Paleface Pass before arriving in Hope. The climb is around 4500 feet gain in elevation.  "You must be a very fit and hardy cyclist to take this route beyond Cultus Lake"  according to the trail website.  I was looking forward to attempting the mountain pass.  The guidebook also provides a detour route, which stays on busy highways between Chilliwack and Hope. When I started this adventure it was my Hope, that I would be able to ride the entire trail, including the most difficult sections.   (See what I did there?)  The detour was a bit longer but much easier riding.    Eventually the decision was made for me as I found out that Paleface Pass was closed due to a forest fire.  Probably all for the best because Paleface Pass is wilderness and the TCT website indicates that this route should be used only by hikers. 

So it was the detour route I had to take.  Dodging raindrops I arrived in Hope  and met Audrey and Judy at the Hope information center just before a downpour.  Hope would be the center of operations for me next year.