Going Down on Big Eddy

I love this shade of blue in the roadside cornflowers!

Now, before anyone gets any wrong ideas here, or has their mind in the gutter, I can totally explain this title. But first a bit about our ride today. We left Sicamous around 10:30 this morning, trying to avoid the chill of the early morning; but it was jacket weather, nonetheless. We could see the larger foothills of the Canadian Rockies looming in front of us as we left Sicamous and the hills around us were tall enough to cast shadows on the roadway for a good portion of the day.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/468bce_cb6f9e5a2a15447b93b005e7b524e881/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Andy on the frontage road.

We shared the valley with the Canadian Railway

We climbed steadily along the Trans-Canada Highway 1, following along the Eagle River, grateful for the lower volume of traffic and wider shoulders. We even had one point where we had a large frontage road all to ourselves. The highway took us up to a place called "Three Valley Gap" where three valleys converge in a narrow place. In 1961, a massive 200 room chateau and restaurant was built at the gap which looks striking at the end of a lake.

The Three Valley Gap Chateau

The Mighty Columbia River and watershed

Soon after Three-Valley Gap, we began our descent down into Revelstoke, our destination for the day. It was at this time we exited Highway 1 onto Big Eddy Road. What a blast riding down that road! The road had no cars, was lined with huge cottonwood trees with their yellowing leaves raining down in the breeze. The road led us right down to the banks of the Columbia River -- yes, THE Columbia River! This is the same one we crossed by train when we left Portland. We are nearing its headwaters in the Canadian Rockies. The incredible blue of it's waters is a testament to the glacial minerals it picks up along its journey.

The Mighty Columbia River

Tomorrow, we will face the toughest ride of this journey: the Revelstoke to Golden section over Rogers Pass. This will be our biggest climb (7,000 feet!) and the longest distance (94 miles!) combined. There are no facilities along this stretch—just Glacier National Park. It will undoubtedly be beautiful, but it will also be a real test of our tenacity. We plan to start early in order to finish before sundown. I’ll update everyone on how it goes on Friday, during our rest day in Golden. Until then...