2018: Days 2 & 3 - Climbing the Coquihalla Gorge

Site of the Romeo Station on the KVR

The next 2 days were involved in climbing.  4000 feet from Hope, nearly sea level to the top of the Coq.  These two days of cycling were demanding, but not as bad as I was concerned for.  I'm sure the climbs were much more manageable because it was on a rail trail, which requires no steep sections.  So very gradual climbing for  long stretches.  This is the reason rail trails in general are so popular, no steep climbs.  As a rider I was impressed by the route construction along gradual slopes in this very steep mountain area. 

There were stretches of very tall trees around here, reminding me that we were travelling in a rain forest.  Most of the days spent in the Hope area had rain at least part of the day, and one day we were completely rained out and made no progress - I guess I am a wimp.  I am thankful that these two main climbing days were mostly dry weather.

Finally I broke out of the gorge at the top of the pass where there is a very nice rest area for trucks and cars alike, with an informative display about the TCT in this area.  However, I was due for a change in the weather...



Massive trees here



 




Nice fall color in places


The top of the Coq, 4000 feet higher elevation above Hope

Comments

  1. AudreyJuly 15, 2025 at 6:39 PM

    This brings back so many good memories, I got out my BC TCT photo album/scrapbook!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First Kilometers: Victoria to Esquimalt

Image
  Symbolic start: back wheel starts the journey made wet from the  salt water of the Pacific Ocean October 15, 2013 A thousand mile journey begins with a single step, or in this case, with one revolution of the bike’s wheels. A completed journey ties the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.  After taking a tour of Victoria by bus, it was around 2:30 and time to actually start the bike journey, if indeed I was going to do this. Actually it was a pain to roll/carry the bike down to the water. There was a steep embankment, and this was just a symbolic tradition, and pointless unless the ride spans the entire nation. That would be a far more ambitious goal, possibly in the future. The current goal was more Forrest Gumpian: I would ride until I got tired of riding. Then I would stop. Just a tiny start would be all that could be accomplished in 2013.  6 days later I would be attending an actuarial conference in San Diego. For now this was a one year commitment.  If I enjoye...
Read more

2025: Return to the TransCanada Trail

Image
  Awesome Lake Kootenay Oliver Rd - ending point 3 years ago Thursday:  June 26, 2025 - Gray Creek, BC Three years ago Audrey and I finished our travel for 2022 on the TransCanada Trail at Gray Creek, BC. For the past couple years, it just wasn't in the cards for me to get back to my trek through beautiful British Columbia.  We stopped in Gray Creek on the shore of Kootenay Lake faced with an important decision.  At Gray Creek, the TCT continues by climbing the very steep backroad up to Gray Creek Pass.  The road is a wash-boarded  4 by 4 road which climbs 4500 feet in 10 miles.   Then  the road descends steeply and arrives at Kimberley, BC 40 miles further.  Since this is a very difficult section of the TCT, there is a detour route using regular BC highways to also arrive at Kimberley, but the detour is 120 miles longer. I took my F150 out to the back road, to check how steep and rough the road was.  Would it be possible for me to ...
Read more

Wed/Thur 9/22-23: Castlegar to Gray Creek

Image
  Kootenay Lake 9/22   The Castlegar area posed a quandary.  How do we go to get to Nelson?  Audrey had spent some time looking at our maps of the area, and was concerned because the route adopted by the trail, did not seem to go through but just ended in a dead end.  At the same time I took a bike ride, just to try to find the  Trail.  I found a trail, and followed it for quite awhile.  But it was very rough and I found myself walking the bike much of the way.  I continued, expecting that eventually I would get to a well-defined path, with a good surface.  When the trail deteriorated to not even being a good hiking trail, I knew I had to turn back.   Our guidebook was not helpful, as the original trail in this area went to the south,  but according to the website, there was a connection to Nelson which lies to the northeast. Finally the decision was made that I would travel along the main  highway toward Nelson,...
Read more