Smithers to Prince George- A prequel to the end…

Well the last few days have been quite a change and I have focusing on adjusting to the new landscapes, people and traffic. While Smithers was lovely and I got to stay with a friend, the road was calling.

One day I will live in a beautiful mountain town like Smithers.

My gracious host in Smithers, Ingrid. We met in Yosemite where she worked at the nordic center and dealt with all our student on a weekly basis.

Upon leaving Smithers I was reminded that I am now in “civilized” B.C. as I have been cycling through at least one town with a grocery store a day, a somewhat welcome change from the 300-500 km’s between grocery stops over the past few weeks!

While this means I no longer have to worry about how many day’s worth of food I need to buy at each grocery store and carry 4-5 days worth of food at a time, it also takes some getting adjusted to. I now am dealing with lots of traffic, more and more urban issues (homeless people, crappy streets, glass, trash and noise) in place of my previous “wilderness” issues (bears, stealth camping, food, water availability, unpaved roads).

me. hairy. sunburned. scruffy. and lovin' it!

It has been interesting making the transition to the mindset that this trip is coming to an end soon. I’m not done yet but I’m slowly winding it down and trying to enjoy the last few days as much as I can. I have a flight out of Seattle on the 13th and about 9 more cycling days left. Damn. It seems like only yesterday I was dipping my hands in the Arctic Ocean, but it was actually 42 days ago. Wow. 6 weeks……

The terrain upon leaving Smithers has been much like Hill Country in Texas. Gradual small hills all day long with vast stretches of cows, fields, fences, telephone poles and green pastures. It has remained delightfully uneventful save for a daily “hill” I must tackle. They have all been named and they seem to be the highlight of my days. I am travelling faster though thanks to the more forgiving terrain and a few tailwinds.

The Lakes District of B.C. is hilly and not too exceptionally scenic, except for the lakes...

6 Mile Hill. Really only 2.3 miles but still big...

Hungry Hill. I have faced at least one major "named" hill the past few days and though they are tough, they are not as killer as they may seem.

Camping has mainly been in free campgrounds, abandoned campgrounds or through gracious Warmshowers hosts. Now before you go and assume something else, let me tell you about Warmshowers. Warmshowers is a website that connects touring cyclists with people who would like to host them in their homes for the night and give them a warm dry place to sleep, a shower and occasionally home-cooked food and beer! I have used this service in Fairbanks and Vanderhoof thus far and am currently staying with a host in Prince George.

I almost asked my host if I could sleep in the tree house.

My homestay in Vanderhoof was in a river-side home. Quite lovely.

I will be taking a rest day here then headed south for the last bit of my trip and about 3-4 Warmshower homestays. Quite nice.

Well that’s all for now as I am le tired and need some sleep. Tomorrow I sleep in, eat some yummy breakfast and explore Prince George. I am also on a mission to find P.G.’s best poutine tomorrow. Maybe I can find me a cute B.C. girl to act as my guide tomorrow…..

adios.

For those interested:

Smithers to Houston     44 miles

Houston to Burns Lake     55 miles

Burns Lake to Vanderhoof     83 miles

Vanderhoof to Prince George     63 miles

Total distance from Smithers to Prince George     245 miles

And now, something for you to stare at….

A monument to the largest mountain goat found in Smithers. They shot it...

Apparently when they closed all the A&W's in the US they just moved them into B.C.. They are everywhere up here!

The world's largest fly rod acting as the world's largest fly-rod shaped lightening rod.

I'm not sure I get it.

Every town along the way has a unique town sign. Burn's Lake wins. Anyone noticing a Simpson's theme?

Burns Lake Campground

Burns Lake sunset. Reminded me of my desert sunsets...

meh. It was ok.

I'm still perplexed by this one.

Mr. P.G. He is quite a sight as you are cycling by!

Welcome to a rest day!