My friend and I rented a place in Lake Tahoe for 10 days, why not just turn it into another big road trip vacation? The car hasn’t exploded yet so let’s go.

I got a new phone just for this year’s trips. Behold its infinite glory as I test it around Victoria. I installed iNaturalist on my phone so it can tell me what these animals are.

American Coot in Esquimalt Lagoon. Very hot spot for ducks here in the summer.

Northern Pintail.

Brewer's Blackbird just fluffing himself trying to mack on chicks.

Not sure what this one is but my phone is so good you can see the scales. This is like 4 inches long.

Herring Gull holding a cockle. They fly up 20 feet into the air and drop them on the rocks to get the sweet goo inside.

Down in Sooke people are coming back from fishing halibut.

Guess who's waiting for the scraps to be thrown their way.

You can often find them just lounging around just 20 feet from the docks.

They really don't care anymore.

There's bunch of these black bunnies who escaped into the wild and now populate the peninsula.

California Gull. I told you this phone was good.

American crow. What a phone I have.

Blue Heron fishing in the bay. I think this is about 30x zoom. With my other phone this would be about 10 pixels.

Ton of these small deer are around the University, maybe10km from downtown. They're sort of trapped there.

My Chosen Cafe / Bakery. They have a petting zoo of some kind in the back.

Tree goats. They really have it all. How far do you have to drive to see this?

First day: Take the ferry to the mainland and just do a nice chill Statue tour. These are my favorite kinds of rides to do in large cities now. I just take my time going from statue to statue, trying to not be bothered by every city’s nonsensical trash bike path network that Strava insists on sending me on. Nope, don’t care, just doing a statue tour. Vancouver’s waterfront bike path is especially bad. It’s a long snaking maze with endless exit and entry points where pedestrians cut through the bike lane and vice-versa. It’s like they designed this exclusively for roller blades and nothing else.

Pelagic Cormoran seen from the ferry. This is 100x zoom so pretty good all things considered.

The ferry from Sydney snakes through the Gulf islands before heading towards Vancouver.

Was a beautiful day out, just about the first sun I'd seen in months.

This school's got a giant Chuck Norris viking mascot, what did yours have? A little sign? Huh?

Truly majestic he is.

Giant kinetic weather vane with little spinning wheels, near the Vancouver convention center.

Harbour Air terminal arriving downtown. That's the life right there. I have to try one of these days.

A-maze-ing laughing statues in Morton Park. Donated by the Wilson5 foundation, probably as part of some elaborate tax evasion scheme.

"May this sculpture inspire laughter playfulness and joy in all who experience it." Said the artist before devouring another child's soul.

"Engagement" installation on Sunset Beach.

Just some typical Vancouver things now. A hobo meth lab exploded maybe?

"The Birds" sculpture, downtown, depicting a pair of huge house sparrows.

Back at the Time Hortons office at the end of the day. They haven't replaced the Justin Bieber timbits with a new promotion. Very sad.

Second day, tried to line up rides with friends from last year but it fell through so I just made a ride up last minute. Hadn’t been to this place last year and it seemed promising. Also wanted to save the legs a little for the days ahead…

Woke up to find my rear tire had flatted overnight. This little guy was the cause of the slowest leak of all time. There's little piece of wire like this everywhere, you just can't avoid them.

Crossing the bridge going north. Again, amazing day. Really just wanted to take my time.

Railroad bridge as seen from the road bridge. Vancouver is truly a beautiful area... until you actually are living there and trying to get anywhere within the city. Enjoy the traffic.

Oh yeah right I've seen that one before. What else is in there? Lions? Condors? Triceratops?

Oh.... ok fine. This guy was huge but really didn't pay any attention to me and the hikers walking around him taking pictures...

I'll never be cool enough to be part of such an inclusive society :(

Top of the path, which is just an out-and-back through the woods. You can't actually go on the dam u_u

Bridge on the way back to town.

North Vancouver, at the base of the mountains. Lot of rich people boats there too.

Had planned to do Blackwall Peak today since it was snowed in last year. I thought it was only due to the record cold streak of may 2022 but I called just to be sure and the road was still snowed. They told me July is the best month to do it. The climb starts at 1200m above sea level so it’s always much colder than you’d think…
Since I was passing through Hope anyway, I decided to just ride from there and discovered Hell’s Gate by accident.

Special shout-out to David from iOverlander who let me park behind his place and even invited me in for a beer. It was a great way to start the trip! He’s an avid traveler as well and rebuilds/converts various trucks and vans into campers. Plus he was a cyclist. What a champ.

Dave next to a Japanese firetruck he's working on. What a cool project.

The giant Raspberries in the middle of a roundabout in Abbotsford.

I didn't try very hard to take a good picture... busy roundabout and whatnot. Didn't want to cause a crash from all the women staring.

Hope, BC, the wood chainsaw carving capital of Canada. It's a small town that acts as a hub in the mountains.

From here you can go north to Yukon west towards Calgary or South/west through the southern Rockies ( where I'm going ).

This is my reason for stopping: The Rambo. Also did you know this is the town where they shot the movie?

Asked an old man with very few teeth to take my picture. He was nice.

The town is build around a square park with tons of carvings.

This x50

Now I can say I went to Yale.

About halfway to the top. You just follow the Fraser river north along epic mountains.

The road follows the still operational railroad track built in the 19th century.

There are also 5 tunnels between Hope and Hell's gate. They're sketchy to go through on a bike because there's no sidewalk or shoulder in there. Get ready to sprint.

A rock that seems like it has a name.

Really takes you back to a time where this railroad was the only way through here.

Stopped for a quick pee only to be greeted with the usual random piles of trash. Some guy in 1985 probably chucked a bag off the side of his car and it's all still here.

Hell's Gate tram going over the Fraser.

36$ but you get to ride it out and back! The bottom has all the touristy stuff: Expensive fudge, expensive burgers, expensive trinkets. Has it all.

Oh there's carvings too. You thought you were done with the carvings? Big mistake.

Hell's Gate is the narrowest part of the Fraser, meaning it has the fastest current. You will learn all about this if you visit the little museum. I will not spoil it for you.

Can you believe I discovered this by accident? Sometimes you get lucky.

The cafe/ restaurant. Not a bad spot to grab a beef honestly.

Stunning. Truly majestic.

Fishery museum. Guys, glue isn't that expensive. You're selling 6$ ounces of fudge in there, come on.

How they used to cross the river before the road/rail. Big god damned NOPE from me.

The face they make.

There are a few tiny towns along this route. The Fraser really goes on forever it seems.

I checked and it goes all the way to Jasper, making it over 1300km long.

Camping on the riverbank. I miss camping. Camping soon. soon.

Apex from Penticton is the 6th toughest climb in Canada and you can add another 75m on top if you want to make it to the upper parking lot of the ski resort, making this just about the longest climb in Canada with almost 1500m gained.

Beautiful morning at the Penticton Tim Hortons. Locked bathrooms, "no overnight camping" signs everywhere.. yep welcome to the expensive west coast!

Back to eating my yogurt goo. 0% Greek Yogurt + Oats + Protein Powder. God it's filling.

Start of the climb featuring the Okanagan desert landscape.

1/4 of the way up. Epic mountain dwarfing the pastures and ranches below.

The bottom of the climb follows this small river that snakes around Green Valley.

Ah yes the industrial-strength cattleguards. Gives you a little break from pedaling at least.

About halfway you turn onto the steep part of the climb with many longer sections around 10%. You know shit's serious when you see snow near the top while it's 25c at the base.

More or less the top of Apex. It's a whole ski resort/mountain town. Who the hell lives here? Are you nuts?

Loose dog watching me go up. Guess they don't get many cyclists up here.

Ski resort/center parking. There's not that much of a view as there's so many mountains all around the peak.

You get a better view as you descend. The switchbacks aren't that steep but the road is full of sand and small gravel so watch out...

Columbian Ground Squirrel. Check out the picture quality compared to last year.

Last year's phone ( some crappy Motorolla ). This groundhog was much closer than the squirrel above. Very sad.

As you turn south to loop back you pass a goat farm near a quiet lake.

Last year pic of this rogue lama that's apparently stirring shit up. Didn't see him this year. A true terror.

Lot of signs of large forest fires all around the Okanagan. Apparently it's dry in the desert.

Horses spilling out onto the streets. I never know if animals are going to flip out and ram me.

The guy in the back was stomping his feet at me. Is getting kicked in the face by a horse something I have to worry about when I bike?

As you reconnect with the highway you can rest at this large lake. Saw a bald eagle there as well!

Thank god I didn't drink this garbage assuming it's just normal for the region. Turns out there was a water advisory in effect. Thanks for the warning guys.

Little painted turtles taking in the sun. Speaking of which: 6 hours in the hot desert sun has fried me quite nicely today. Fuck.

50x zoom. Common Merganser. These dive down to eat little fishies. Green head = Male, brown head = females.

Before hitting Carmi I just took a break at a nice restaurant for a beer. I was really smashed at this point, I'm not good with the heat at all.

Top of Carmi avenue, on the opposite side of Penticton as Apex. Looks a lot like Anarchist Pass down in Osoyoos.

Tried something new: Shower at the community center / pool. 7.5$. Not that bad considering Anytime Fitness was 100/month.

Little break of a day in West Kelowna doing this random Crystal Mountain climb. Blistering heat once again.

Hey look who decided to save money and live better.

This raven really found a goofy spot to nest.

Kelowna is built on both sides of the giant Okanagan Lake.

Attempt at a view about halfway up the hill. Most of the population lives in the valley around the lake.

Oh we're doing this shit again are we? I don't even see any cows around here, I think they just built these out of spite.

Top of the 750m hill is just this guy's property in view of the ski resort.

Oh your dog is allowed to bite me if it spots me near your property? Is that how it works? You put a sign saying laws don't apply in your yard and you can operate an underage opium den now too?

Another view from the top, going back down. The highway has the good views though.

Really wanted to try the fruits but it was a month too early. These stands are everywhere in the valley.

The Okanagan valley has a Southern California climate but with actual water.

Taking the highway south through Summerland. Amazing views all along the lake from Vernon to Osoyoos.

Most large roads are flanked with vineyards and orchards of all kinds.

I googled a pic of Tuscany and put it here. Or did I? You'd never know.

Stayed at my friend Alex's parent's house in Oliver. It's a dryer part of the valley but just as gorgeous.

Now this is a view.

Trying to take it easy-ish once more to end the week at Christina Lake to do Bonanza Pass, which connects back into the higher Rockies. This highway takes you to amazing scenic little mountain towns from the 19th century gold rush/railroad era. It also has the more gnarly mountain passes such as Strawberry and Kootenay.

View halfway up from Anarchist pass, as you leave Oliver/Osoyoos area. One of the best views in the valley.

Sometimes I check out the weird local stores. I think this used to be a Loblaws.

The start of the pass with the ever-present river along the road. Must be expensive to build all these rivers in such good locations.

Paulson bridge, about halfway up.

Has a nice view of the valley. Wonder where that dirt road connects to.

Still snow near the top of the pass. Did I mention the Rockies can be cold?

Top. Climb is 1000m. These "elevation" road signs are cheating. Why don't you put one on the moon too, that's really high elevation. Count from the earth's core while you're at it.

Never that much to see from the top of these highway passes but huge biome contrast between here and the Okanagan desert.

Went back down looking for a little trail to some falls. Oh. This is really helpful.

Here allow me to give you a map of my own.

I need to take more pictures of signs. Look at this thing. How can you not want to eat this?

Christina Lake, at the bottom of the climb. A nice quiet little town with some camping and whatnot. Lots of whatnot.

The heat was starting to melt my supplements together into one ultra-powerful super pill.

Current Mood:

Booked a campground. Pros: You get to shower. Cons: Costs 50$. That's 50$ more than 0$. But I love the fire.

Check out the table tracks as I moved around to escape the smoke that did a full 360 so it could keep blasting me.

The welcome center. Has a cool optical illusion floor painting of the railroad. If you have friends, they can take your picture here. If you have friends.

Possible new slogan for my blog posts.

Thanks so much for reading, I enjoy writing these! Thanks again to Kim and Denis for having me at their place, you guys are great and I’ll definitely have to be back to do more biking around Kelowna.

See you in a week!

More travel stuff:
Arizona/California: Drive to Tucson • Tucson • California Climbing • Bay Area / Washington
Canada Coast to Coast: Victoria •Vancouver Island • Vancouver • Southern Rockies • Prairies • Ontario • Niagara • Quebec • Gaspesie / PEI • Maritimes • Newfoundland • Maritimes2 • Bay of Fundy • Quebec2 • Montreal • Ontario2 • Prairies Statues • Jasper/Banff • Northern Rockies • Washington State Bonus

Car Conversion / Purchase: Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3
Life on the road: Part 1 • Part 2

2023 Summer Trip Week 1