Vancouver to Hope

Distance: 152.69 km, Total ascent: 1,076 m, Time: 07:57, Trip distance: 405.84 km

After two weeks of working in Vancouver I finally resumed my trip. As I need to be in Calgary in less than two weeks, I had to make up some time. I decided I'll try to get to the town of  Hope, some 150 km east of Vancouver.

Here's the photos (more):

My time in Vancouver was quite dull. The work kept me busy and I've seen most of the sights on previous visits, so I kept a low profile. I did meet quite a few interesting travellers in the backpacker's. One of which was Japanese Nishihara. He is doing a 3-4 month sea kayaking trip up the west coast. We chatted a lot and I learned much about the far-eastern cultures. A very interesting guy.

I sat off at 7am, which was just early enough to miss rush-hour traffic. Not that it would've made a big difference, since Vancouver is such a bicycle friendly city. I managed to get well beyond the down town area using designated bike routes. This is BC Place, where Canada won the gold in hockey at the winter Olympics. Good memories.

The first half of the day went by at a descent pace. The scenery wasn't too spectacular as most of the route went through the outer suburbs and the surrounding towns. The photo above is pretty much what the scenery of the latter part of the day looked like. Farmlands, with the mountains in the background.

I like the look of these barns. Felt like a twister was going to come through at any minute. Speaking of which; the wind was at my back for the most part of the day, and I managed to clock several speedy kilometres. Shhhwooosh...

I made it to Hope at 5:30-ish. My estimates was around 8, so I was very pleased with my time. It was still a long day of cycling, but I think I got the hydration and nourishment just right. Naturally the wind and the fresh legs also helped a lot.

The name "Hope" allegedly comes from the early settlers whom marked this as the spot where one "abandons all hope". Not too sure if that's true, but it is the last town before the mountains start, so I wouldn't be too surprised. This nice little town on the banks of the massive Fraser river lays claim to be "the carving capital of the world". With all the carvings dotted around the centre, that might just be true too. I camped in the middle of town at the natively owned Telte-Yet camp site, right next to the river. The perfect spot to end a long day on the road.

La Pause

I have to put the tour on hold for a while. Some urgent work came in and I have to get it done while I'm here in Vancouver. Not ideal, but hey, what can you do? As a freelancer, it comes with the territory. The legs are getting some good rest and I'm earning a bit extra, so there is a big fat silver lining. Hopefully I'll be able to get going again over the weekend or early next week.

The backpacker's isn't too bad either. Free filter coffee and wifi. That's pretty much all the tools I need to do my work.

Port Alberni to Vancouver

Distance: 116.2 km, Total ascent: 1,582 m, Time: 07:28, Trip distance: 253.15 km

It was a very tough day today. I underestimated the distance and total ascent somewhat. My navigation skills also withered as the day progressed, and I saw beautiful suburbs in Nanaimo and Vancouver I didn't exactly plan on seeing. The prettier they were, the more hilly it seemed.

The scenery was still spectacular though, and catching the ferry over to Vancouver added a little extra spice to the day. Here are some of the day's photo's (and some more here).



The day started with a bang! A total ascent of 600 m over 15 km. It hurt quite a bit, but luckily the rest of the day should be flat right? The views helped to ease the pain though.




Especially if you are rewarded with a winding (downhill) road through a forest filled with massive spruce trees, and thereafter...

A lake such as this (Cameron lake).

The rest of my trip on the island flowed through some farmlands and suburbs. I saw the white-picket-fence-life in action.

I left the island by ferry from the aptly named Departure Bay in Nanaimo. The trip took about 2 hours, which allowed for some rest on the comfy seats in the passenger's lounge. Some nice views from up there too.

After cycling on the picturesque Marine Drive on the north Vancouver shore, I reached Lion's Gate Bridge, which runs into Stanley Park.

Also cycled passed an inukshuk on the shores of the English Bay on my way to the HI backpacker's in down town.

The gist: I gave myself a little pat on the back after a hard day's riding. The legs were hurting quite a bit. The surroundings were, as the two days before, pure magic. Going by bike is definitely the way to take it all in.