The Squamidian Report – Aug. 04 / 07
Issue #271
Also in this issue:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
In case you didn’t notice, this issue is coming out a few days late. Couldn’t really send it from Nova Scotia because I couldn’t get to a good Internet connection. Don’t have much about the trip in this issue anyway. I’ll get to that in next weeks.
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My neighbor and I headed out last Saturday morning under clear blue skies for a ride into the BC Interior. We are both riding 2007 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Classics, with the 96-inch engines and 6 speed transmissions. Nice rumble, smooth and stable ride. We left Squamish at 7AM. Both of us were clad in our leather riding gear as early morning in the mountains can be a bit cool, and we would be climbing up and over the Duffy Rd. Pass where it can be down right cold. Our ride took us up through Whistler and on to Pemberton. By the time we reached the Pemberton Valley it was almost too warm for full leathers but the Duffy was just ahead.
Highway 99 turns east through the Pemberton Valley, over to the top end of Lillooet Lake. Here it makes a very sharp left hand turn and the climb starts. As the climb starts, the temperature drops. You grind through tight switchbacks as you climb steeply for about 10 miles. Then the highway settles down to alpine conditions with long up and down grades, tight turns and single lane bridges that cross raging glacier green rivers far below. At one point we had to stop and wait for a black bear to cross the road. He was in no hurry at all and once he was across, he sat down in the tall grass and began to graze.
The highway works it’s way past Duffy Lake, over Blowdown Creek and numerous other wild streams as it passes north of the Stein Valley wilderness area. The high avalanche prone mountains tower above in all directions. The highway itself is in pretty bad shape with potholes deep enough to swallow a front wheel, sagging sections that seem ready to fall away into the canyons below and crumbling pavement. Maintaining a high alpine highway must be quite a challenge, a losing challenge at that.
Once you are over the Pass and begin dropping down toward Lillooet the temperature starts to climb quickly. It’s suddenly like riding into a blast furnace. As you descend, you are leaving the Coastal Mountains and entering the dry, hot Fraser Canyon area. The landscape is extreme, with rugged hills that drop a thousand feet or more down to the river. From here on east the landscape is beautiful and sad. The hills are incredible with their dry brown grasses, gray-blue sagebrush and stands of dead pine. The pine beetle infestation has been devastating.
From Lillooet there are two directions to choose from, number 12 down the Fraser to Lytton, or stay on 99 to its termination at 97. I had one concern along here. There was a stag standing just off the road with his body pointed away but he was looking back over his shoulder. That usually means his family is back behind him somewhere and he is waiting for them to come up to his position. I couldn’t spot them anywhere but the last thing I wanted was for some deer to bound out of the brush and into the path of a moving motorcycle. The bike wouldn’t stand a chance. We stayed on 99 up through the Marble Canyon area and then turned south onto 97 down to Cache Creek where we met up with my neighbor’s friend who had ridden in from Revelstoke. We fuelled up and grabbed a bit to eat. We also stripped off our leathers. They rode through the afternoon heat in Tee shirts and vests, I preferred my mesh jacket over my Tee shirt. It blocks the sun and wind while letting through some airflow. Also gives some protection from bug hits and kicked up road dirt.
Just south of Cache Creek we veered over toward Ashcroft on the Thompson River and onto 97C. This twisting piece of pavement follows the valleys right down to Merritt. Along the way we passed a long white lake, the result of dried minerals and salts. At Merritt it was very hot and dry. Standing around was out of the question. We dropped into a very busy Horton’s for a cold drink and a break. Merritt is a pretty little town on the Coldwater River. Same place they hold the Merritt Mountain Music Festival every summer. We’ll pass right by here on another highway later in the day. The ‘back way’ to Kamloops from here is up 5A. This winding paved road takes you through part of the Douglas Lake Ranch. The largest working cattle ranch in Canada. All you actually see of it is the rolling high rugged hills clocked in brown grass and sage and stands of dry trees. There is also the Nicola Valley, mind boggling beautiful country in its own right.
When you drop down into Kamloops you drop down into a furnace. This is one of the prettiest cities in a stunning setting I’ve ever seen but I couldn’t live there. The summer heat is intense. We checked out the local Harley dealer, then fuelled up and had some late lunch. At that point, our rider from Revelstoke headed back and we jumped onto highway 5 and the Coquihalla Toll highway. Number 5 took us right down to Merritt again but bypasses the town. The Coquihalla is a 4 lane divided highway. Sections climb and descend for miles. There is one section where the grade exceeds 6% for 18 clicks. On the uphill direction side there are always vehicles that have over heated and had to pull off. On the down hill side there are vehicles with smoking brakes. There are runaway lanes for extreme emergencies.
The tollbooths catch traffic coming from either direction. If you are on a motorcycle they stiff you for $5. Other vehicles pay more. From here on down to Hope the highway dropped for several thousand feet. Lots of smoking brakes and over heated engines again. You drop out of the mountains and into the Fraser Valley with the river right in front of you. Highway 1 is divided 4 lanes and fast, all the way into Vancouver. Outside Abbotsford we stopped for fuel and a coffee and to put our leathers back on. The evening was beginning to cool a bit. Traffic slows as you approach the Port Mann Bridge, then picks up again, but is steady and heavy all the way though the GVA to Horseshoe Bay. Here we cut off to the north and back onto 99. An hour later at about 9PM we were back in Squamish. 922 clicks all told. Every inch of the way just great on windy hilly paved roads with the only real traffic to deal with from Hope to Van.
We rode pretty hard at times with a lot of our cruising done at 120 k or higher. A bit too fast for my tastes. I prefer to take it a bit easier and have time to enjoy the scenery. But it was a great ride, I’ll do it or one like it again first chance I get.
The bikes ran great, heavy and stable and powerful for those highways. But boy, were they covered in bug splats by the time we were home. Another 2 hour clean and shine job for the next morning.
This same write-up along with some pictures can be seen at:
http://www.thedougsite.net/HD-rides/Ride01.htm
*
I should probably say something here about our trip so far. Don’t want to bore everyone with too many details. Anyway, we flew to Kitchener for a stopover on our way to Halifax. Flying into WW is great. You come in over familiar county side and land on familiar runways that are just minutes from the homestead. Flew in on Tuesday evening, then headed on east on Friday morning. Problem was, you can’t fly to Halifax from WW. You have to go to YZZ for that. That means a trip down the dreaded 401. But that’s life.
Always good to see family and friends, but time was too tight to do much visiting. Too hot too! Nothing like a heat warning, a humidex warning AND a smog warning all at the same time to remind me why we left. And leave we did again. Took an Airporter down to Pearson for the flight to Halifax. Just like over Ontario, the eastern part of the country was a bit too hazy and humid for my taste but again, that’s life. Good thing we had reserved a rental car on-line. Anyone trying to rent one at Halifax without a reservation was out of luck, every rental place was pre-sold out.
We were up at our pre-booked accommodations by mid evening, did the check-in thing and then popped on down to Sus’s, just a short drive away. After that is was just the usual visiting and tourist stuff. Headed back to Halifax on the Monday morning. I’ll leave it at that for now.
doug
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****
Hello
everyone!
With mid
summer being here, it’s not hard to imagine the kids heading back to school
soon. It’s been a nice quiet summer so far with the schools closed and the
families taking their kids on vacation. Of course we’ve still had a few wild
parties at the neighbour’s place but it seems that someone always manages to
let the police know about it before things get too out of hand. The last late
night episode wound up with another neighbour handing four young guys a broom
and shovel so they could clean up the glass from the beer bottles they smashed
on the street in front of his house. They also managed to smash a couple of
Mexican Beers on my fence and consequently the glass was all over the sidewalk
and in the grass of the boulevard. There was enough light from the street light
to allow me to clean up the glass so I could deliver it across the street to
the front lawn of the house that hosted the party. I made sure the young
daughters that hosted the party saw me dump the broken glass on their lawn so
they knew enough to clean it up the next day. They didn’t dare say anything to
me about it and their parents still wave and say hi whenever they see us. So,
the kids must not have said anything to their folks either. This is one of
those couples that thinks it’s cool to hang around with the underage drinkers
that attend their underage daughters parties and pretend they’re one of the
gang. They even brought in a couple of extra cases of beer the last time they
came home in the middle of one of these bashes. What the hell are they thinking
anyway? I’ll never know for sure but the “cool” factor seems to fit the bill.
Maybe we’ll get lucky and the rest of the summer will pass without any more of
their parties.
*
Our
weather here in KW just keeps hanging in there with loads of sunshine and
plenty of heat as well. I’m lovin’ the fact that we’re not getting hit with any
extreme thunder storms or flooding like many parts of the rest of Canada. Poor
old England has been floating in horrendous floods for weeks now, the likes of
which they haven’t seen in over 60 years. I guess they really are the rainy
weather capitol of the world. With the southern States nearing the middle
months of their hurricane season, they sure have been lucky this year. They
haven’t had a single hurricane hit them yet. They predicted that there would be
at least 5 to 7 major hurricanes menace the south east shores of the US this
summer but so far it’s been quiet. Let’s hope for their sakes, it stays that
way.
*
I guess
the Brubacher clan is in high gear and heading for the east coast for Sus’
place and the big reunion. From what I hear, the weather in the Maritimes has
improved over the last month. With the gathering of the clan comes a wish for
the weather to stay sunny and warm so the festivities can be enjoyed by all
attending. The west coast Brubachers are arrived here Tuesday July 31st
and left for the Maritimes on Friday August 3rd. The weather
forecast for the next 5 days is pure sunshine with HOT temperatures so they
will definitely have a good week to enjoy in KW. I still think that Doug and
Sue should have ridden the Harley from Squamish to Nova Scotia so Doug would
have some more material for his Squamidian stories. Maybe next time they come
to KW they’ll decide to do it on the motorcycle. Now that would really be a
trip to talk about!
*
I’m sure
that after the party at Sus’ place next week, there’ll be plenty to write about
in the coming weeks. I wish you all a very safe and happy Brubacher get
together and look forward to hearing from anyone that attends the bash. Don’t
be shy write to the Squamidian any time you get the urge. Doug isn’t the only
family member that owns and knows how to use a computer so I’m sure he’d
appreciate submissions from anyone and everyone who attends the east coasts big
event of the summer of ’07.
Have a
ball all of you and return home safe and sound!
Thanks
for tuning in this week and I look forward to talking to you all again next
time in The Ontarion Report.
Bye for now….. Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
“I don’t
want to achieve immortality through my writings I want to achieve it through
NOT dying!”
Greg
Payne… July 30, 2007.
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The Family and the Squamidian sites:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/ and http://www.thedougsite.ca
Have a good one..
the
doug
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