July 3, 2025: Purcell Mountains - Yahk and Moyie


 
Scenic Moyie River

In eastern BC, the mountain ranges run into each other, as the Monashees, Selkirks, and Purcells, take center stage respectively, on my eastern journey.  Now in the Purcells, these are the last mountains before the Rockies.  In this area the Purcells are quite tame; I reach an elevation of around 2200 feet as I cross them in extreme southern BC. On the other side of the Purcells lies Cranbrook, the major urban center in southeastern BC.  Today my journey takes me through Yahk, and Moyie, little hamlets that serve as good respite stops, on this second of three days riding to Cranbrook, 107 kms from Creston. 

Yesterday, I sought refuge from a rainstorm in a rest area along Highway 3.  Today I found out that  the store was more severe than I realized.  As I reached the Yahk intersection,  just 11 kms north of the US border, I saw that the road to the border was closed.  It turns out that yesterday's storm took down powerlines in this area, and the village of Yahk was still without power 24 hours later.  I was counting on getting food and drink for the ride today at Yahk; luckily the Yahk General Store was open for business.  They had a generator, which provided enough electricity to keep the freezers cold, and limited lighting.  It was weird going shopping in a store in which some aisles had no lights.  Just a reminder that in the mountains, sometimes things we take for granted get interrupted!

I continued my ride to the village of Moyie along the pretty Moyie River.  My direction now is northeast, as the TCT continues to zigzag its way across British Columbia.  

My Lifeline - Yahk General Store

Yahk General Store has a generator








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