Day 10 - Canyon Hot Springs to Golden

117.5 km - Total so far 896.59 km - No GPS recording available for this day

• This ride across Canada is more about people than just looking at scenery. Yesterday we spoke to a couple and mentioned what our plan was for today and how concerned we were about the lack of services on the 115 km to Golden. They told us not to worry that there was a convenience store and a lodge at Roger's Pass. We informed them that our research said otherwise. Wouldn't you know it, they drove to Rogers Pass and upon their return briefed us on their findings. There used to be a store and lodge both of which are now closed.

• The climb out of the Hot Springs was not nearly as bad as anticipated but it gave us an idea just how much fun we would have on on way to Golden.

• As we neared Roger's Pass, we saw the first of many cement platforms used by Parks Canada with the support of gunners from 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery to conduct avalanche control. The aim of avalanche control is to safely trigger avalanches so they not trigger by themselves and block the highway or worst yet, kill people on the highway. The plan was to take pictures of every type of platform but there was an impediment to that.

The brown rectangles are for the spades of the 105mm howitzer. Other platforms have a single set and others a cement ring that supports firing 6400 mils.

• We also got to experience snow shed and snow tunnels. The first time in the snow shed, we were by ourselves. In the second shed, we got to share it with large trucks driving close to us on the very narrow shoulder. Snow tunnels differ from shed in that they are much longer and unlike sheds with open sides, the tunnels are closed on the sides and very dark. They have lights but these were not turned on. There are 3 snow sheds and 5 snow tunnels.

Our first snow shed and our one and only picture

• We had the idea of stopping after the second snow shed and take a picture. This picture would have captured the shed, the scenery, the train going by and the rushing river below. As I was about to stop at the ideal spot to take the picture, Hélène yelled out "Black bear (mother and cub) on the right (where I was about to stop) keep pedaling". A little fear really gets the adrenaline rushing and does help to trigger a quick escape. This would be the first of three bear encounters this morning. All of a sudden the desire to take pictures just disappeared.

• The second bear incident was when a motorist heading WEST stopped to tell us there was a big grizzly bear just around the bend from where we were. We stopped for a while before deciding to bike down the road hoping he was not alerted by our bear bells to the possibility of lunch coming at him quickly! The last encounter occurred when Hélène yelled out "black bear get across the road (4 lane highway)!" From these two black bear incidents I conclude that I could not spot a black bear unless it hit me on the nose twice and that Hélène is the best bear spotter on our team.

• By the time we made it to Roger's Pass it was a balmy 10 degrees and raining hard. To add insult to injury we also had a head wind. We got to descend fairly quickly from Roger's Pass and ride on the flat for a while until our next climb towards Golden. We kept seeing the signs for Golden but somehow it seemed to take forever getting there. We met with Millon once again and got to take another picture of him.

Hélène flashing a very cold thumbs up

105mm howitzer as it would be set up for avalanche control, less the sights

Millon flashing the "I climbed to Roger's Pass" smile

• We eventually made it to Golden an hour later than expected, having had to adjust to the new time zone. This is going to be our last night in beautiful British Columbia.

• Instead of bear or gun platform pictures we offer the one below.

Man in river playing guitar in the rain