For those who have not, Hwy 3 from the Crowsnest Pass in Alberta to Hope BC, is a great road, and I think a much better way to get to Vancouver from Alberta than 1 and 5. It is a longer run, but much twistier and way less traffic. There are 7 passes you top over and many valleys you descend into. Lots of small towns and resturants, and campgrounds along the way. Lots and lots of Twisty sections, big sweepers, and bunch of straight stretches so you can chill out now and then. I stayed in Grand Forks as opposed to Ossoyos, as it is summer, and the place is a summer resort town, so expensive, about twice or three times for a motel.

I must have seen a thousand bikes across the two days I took from Cranbrook to Hope. I stopped for food and fuel a few times and everyone I spoke to was heading to Sturgis. Most asked why I wasn't, then I gave them my Itinerary for the next month or so, and they then understood.

I got up early, got some coffee at the Stab & Rob across the street and slowly moved into daytime mode. Packed up a bit better than I did the day before which made for a better Sofa and started riding, knowing it was going to be a picture heavy day, and I had no desire to get to Hope, and knowing that being the Friday of a long weekend it would be a Gong Show from Hope into West Vancouver..... and it was... the traffic was backed up from Abotsford all the way to the Port Mann bridge, It looked like everyone who had a car was trying to get out of the Fraser Valley. I had a bit of Rain in two spots, but I missed the bigger storms that where moving through. I stopped at one spot and told some riders not to bother to rain suit up, as the storm I just came through was short, and it looked much worse than it was, and on the other side of it it was sunny all the way East.

Stopped for food and fuel in Ossoyos, and for fuel and coffee in Hope. The price of fuel in Vancouver is about 40 cents a gallon more than Hope, so it is a good place to fuel up, and from there on it is freeway, and you will have to get off to get it. I got two stories to tell about one event but will do that over the next few days. I like to get up early while my daughter is still asleep and catch up on my writing and other chores. (Easy to tell I have my laptop and my portable keyboard this time, right..... LOL.)

Here are some pictures.


About 45 minutes West of Grand Forks there is a bit of a climb up. This is taken at the Switch back and is looking North and East a bit....


... this is the same spot but looking back the way I came, so East and South...


.... up at the top of the pass is Anarchist Summit...


... and after a bit you descend into the Okanogan Valley and Ossoyos.... there is a great lake there right beside the road and very nice to stop and cool off as the Valley can get hot, easily getting up to 90 to 100, also lots of Fruit Stands, but Motels in this little town are spendy if you want to stay, so be prepared...


... nice twisty road descending down into the Okanogan Valley...


.... after you leave Ossoyos, there is another short climb and decent into another valley.... The people who use to own this bit of property had their own small grass landing strip and tail drager of some sort... it is a very dry place....


... after a bit of nice road, some sweeper, some straight and some twisty, you get to Princton.... then you climb again up towards Manning park.... I tried to take a short video going through some of the more twisty sections with my phone in my jacket pocket, but it did not work....


..... once you get over the top of the pass and start to decend you come to a place called Skagit Bluffs. This picture and the one before are from there. As you can see above, the road is literally cut right out of the side of the mountain. The road from Hope to Cranbrook was actually called The Dewdney Trail back in horse day, and was built to get to the Gold mines in Eastern BC... If you know where to look, there are still sections you find and walk on.

 

What part of Washington state are you coming through

 

Rocky...

I saw this John Steinbeck quote from "Travels With Charley in Search of America" recently....and it seems apropos for you.

"A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike.
And all plans, safeguards, policing and coercion
are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that
we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. Tour masters,
schedules, reservations, brass-bound and inevitable,
dash themselves to wreckage on the personality of
the trip."

 

My favourite author..... I find I have to let go of conventional wisdom to truly enjoy the open road. I have a plan, a map... but they are only the seeds of an idea.... we won’t know what will happen until it has..... I could just as likely end up heading East to Newfoundland.... it happened before when I ended up in Fairbanks and not home.... I am a Gypsey, like my father before me, like his father before him, like my Great Grandfather was.... and like his father before him.... it is firmly rooted in the DNA.

 

I understand this all too well! I am a nomad, I feel the most at home when I am lost on the open road with only a direction in mind! My Great-Grandfather rode Pony Express, fought in the Civil war and was panning for gold in California in 1849 after having come from England. He had a sidekick that rode PE with him that all we know is his name was Bob. I often wonder if that was myself in a former life! I have been home two days after my time in Spearfish and am already longing for the quiet rumble of my trusty HD Traveller and finding myself again in the middle of nowhere with not another soul in sight!

In the middle of nowhere is the only place I can truly turn off all the thoughts in my head and enjoy being alive!

 

Take the 5 down to Everett, then 2 to 97, and South to a tent site..... 97 south until I head to the PCH, undecided which road yet.... look for some new road.

 

I tell that to my wife or other people- and they think I am nuts! None of them ride though....

 

It's kind of that.."If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand.". It is why riding is sanity!

 

Th Dog Days of Summer ....


.... and coffee time

 

A Young Lad story....

So, I get to the top of the Kootenay pass, and pull into the parking area on the east side of the small lake.. there is a woman in there who rode up from the other side on her Harley, and we chat for a bit... then this car pulls up and parks on the side of the road, he gets out, pops the hood... and then comes over and asks if anyone knew anything about cars. I asked him what was up, and he said the car was puking and farting coming up the pass. I went down to have a look, and his oil was ok, as was his Power steering, so I asked him to start it up, which it did.... so I asked where he was going, and it was about 40 miles or so away. I then offered to follow him off the mountain until he got to the turn off, and off we went.

As we left a tractor trailer passed us with a big Doritos sign painted on the trailer, so he was easily recognizable... at the top of the mountain there is a brake check as you are about to descend a 10 mile hill, that is 8% for the first half and 4 to 7% for he second half.... now, I have driven Tractor Trailers over that hill at least a thousand times, so know it well.... even empty, it is a 30 mph hill, and cut that in half if your heavy, even more so if you are pulling doubles... the young lad gets past the Doritos truck, who pulled into the brake Check area.... but he did not stop and check his brakes. That can get you a 500 dollar ticket up here, never mind is blindingly stupid if you are going down the West Side of the Kootenay Pass.

The truck gets between me and the car... and then begins to tailgate the car.... the car is going 60 MPH, and so is the Dorittos Tractor Trailer.... the truck passes the car gets it up to probably 70 MPH, on an 8% pitch, and starts tailgating the next car... and does the same thing to him.... and dissapers off down the mountain... I am running about 65 mph, and cannot keep up with him.... he must of been doing 80.... after a couple of turns he is gone, not to be seen again.

the Car and me get to the bottom and I pass him and wave him over. Ask if the car is OK, he said it was, then I said it would be a very good idea if he did the following.... Call his family where he is going and tell them he is on the way and is having problems.... when he gets back to Calgary to take a basic mechanical course on Cars, I did not tell him they where designed for women.... that he get a towing package that has unlimited millage... to buy a better car once he has the coin.... and to get that car looked at before he goes home. He says thanks muchley, and off he goes.

Back to the Dorritos truck.... i was looking for him, but did not find him, I get into Salmo, fueled up and headed on my way.... up and over the next pass and into Castlegar.... now as you can see by the pictures, I am heavy heading out on this trip as I will be gone for a while, and I want to know my gross with me on it.... there is a Scale in Castlegar, so I pull in and weight it out.... and low and behold the Scale Masters where there.... so I had a chat with them about what happened... and they told me that there is a camera up on the hill now, that the trucks all have electronic logs and that the computers will tell them his speed.... and that this is not the first time he has done this.... and they will be talking to his boss and giving the truck driver tickets for all of it.

What he did was incredibly dangerous, and he deserves to lose his license for such an action. If one of the two cars I saw had hit the brakes for any reason, he would have run right over the top of them. I offered to testify for them if needed, but they said it wont be necessary... not for nothing, I am a certified Expert Witness in the Provincial Court of BC and helped put a man in prison for dangerous driving and killing a young family of four from California.