Castlegar to Crawford Bay
On the road by 8:10. Today was a really nice ride, a reward for yesterday's tough day. From Castlegar to Nelson we followed the Kootenay River with its numerous power dams and huge lumber mills. (Eat your heart out Hallmans...they actually have yards filled with logs)! If there was any negative at all it was that we rode "off and on" in a light rain so we had our first test of our "raingear". Seemed to work! After a buffet lunch in Nelson, the perfect meal for touring cyclists, we started to follow the West Arm of Kootenay Lake. This area is absolutely beautiful. It reminded us of the shoreline north of Owen Sound. (The cottage sprawl was unfortunately just the same). The riding was a little more challenging with some short steep climbs. We just missed the 2:50 ferry crossing of Kootenay Lake so had a 35 minute crossing at 4:30. And imagine it was free!
Our plan was to get to Crawford Bay but we were met with a rather rude surprise after the ferry dock in Kootenay Bay, a 3 km "push of our bikes". We are again in a motel tonight, the Crawford Bay Inn. This seems to be a habit lately. A really bad storm, similar to the one last night, is forecast for the area with the possibility of 80 km winds. I guess it pays to be a "fairweather camper".
Daily Distance = 86.99 km. Time on the bikes = 6 hours 9 minutes. Average Speed = 14.15 km. Maximum Speed = 52.92 km. Wildlife Sightings = numerous ospreys sitting on their nests.
Kevin = 2 Sue = 0.
