Those of you who are fed up with hearing about our motorcycling adventures will be pleased to know that this was probably our final major ride of the season. The riding season on the coast could very well last another two or three months but to go anywhere out of the Lower Mainland requires climbing up over the mountains and winter will be up in those mountains all too soon. In fact, it arrived this week. As that song we do goes, it’s ‘Snowin’ Up On Brohm’.

Anyway, getting back to last weekend’s ride, it was spectacular. It was beyond spectacular, it was a big two-day-long WOW! So, grab a BC map and follow along.

We left here Saturday morning about 8 and rode over to Ryan’s place where he and his lady friend were waiting for us, then headed out onto the Sea to Sky toward Vancouver and onto the Trans Canada, highway #1. There was some marine cloud and it was a bit on the cool side but traffic was light and the riding was good. First stop was down near Chilliwack where we stopped for a coffee and to fuel up. The tank and Ryan’s Sportster is fairly small and fuel stops can be quite far apart in some places so we need to top up the tanks whenever we can. So with that in mind we stopped again in Hope to top up the tanks for the run up over Allison Pass in Manning Park (highway #3). By the time we reached Hope the clouds had long since burned off leaving a clear blue sky but it was still on the cool side. It warmed quite nicely as we dropped down into Princeton where we pulled into a restaurant for some lunch and to hook up with our friends. We had arranged to meet our biking friends there because it is almost exactly half way between where we live in Squamish and where they live in the Kootenay’s.

After lunch we headed further east on #3 and rode through the scenic valley that leads to Osoyoos in the Okanogan Valley. Here we turned north onto #97 and headed north up the valley. This took us along Osoyoos Lake, Skahal Lake and then the large Okanogan Lake.

The Okanogan Valley is quite interesting. It is surrounded by high uplands that are dry and sparse, dotted with stunted trees and sagebrush. The valley bottom is true dessert at the south end and near dessert further north, yet it is cut down the middle by the river and numerous long lakes. The valley is a riff in the earth’s crust. Some of the lakes are very deep, Okanogan Lake being over 700 ft in places. The scenery is fantastic. We took our time and rode leisurely up through Oliver, Pentiction, Summerland and Peachland, ending up in Kelowna by evening.

After finding a motel we saddled back up and rode out to find a restaurant. Then we visited and enjoyed the evening.

Next morning (Sunday) dawned clear and cold, -1, (we are in the mountains, after all) but there was on wind and the air is very dry so it didn’t really feel that cold. As I was mucking about waiting for everyone to get up I spotted some magpie birds. I didn’t know they were that far west. They are very pretty birds, about the size of a pigeon and have black wings and backs with white chests. Their tails are almost parrot-like.

After breakfast our friends headed back toward the Kootenay’s and we headed west onto #97c, the Okanogan connector. It climbs steadily up to and over a 6000 ft pass and by the time we crossed the pass the temperature was a very fresh –6. Good thing we have heated vests. This is incredibly beautiful country with deep valleys and dry grasslands, high mountains and wild rivers. It warmed somewhat as we dropped down into Merritt where we stopped for fuel and a warm drink. From Merritt it is an easy hop over the Coquihalla and down back into Hope.  From Hope it is a 2.5-hour ride home along the TC and the Sea to Sky. While on that ride, Ryan crossed the 20,000-kilometer marker for miles traveled on his bike this season and my bike hit the 47,500 mark, having put on about 18,000 clicks this season. Seems like we are getting pretty good use out of our bikes.

Our weekend ride accounted for 1,100 kilometers. The whole point of a bike road trip is to travel, explore new roads and see the country rather than travel to a destination. So there is no point in stopping somewhere in the middle of the afternoon unless it is a scenic lookout or some other point-of-interest. The kilometers click by quickly and easily, effortlessly. And arriving back home is the only destination.