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TOUR de KOOTENAY NORTH

Another biking expedition …….… …… with a report from Wally Verigin

The Basic Men's Bike Club was reunited once again for a tour of the North Kootenay area. Doug 'Steady as She Goes' Pinkerton honoured us with his presence this year after taking last summer off to sample vino in France. He joined Captain Steve 'Flat Tire' Sutherland, Brian `Pacesetter` Marsh, `Uphill Bill` Sloan and Wally `Downhill King` Verigin. We were running out of old rail grade trips so it was decided to do a mostly highway ride this summer. Off came the knobby tires and on went the slicks.

Six am start from Marsh Manor @ Brilliant. A beautiful morning with a promise of clear skies. A quick coffee, a pre trip check and we're on our way, traveling through familiar territory with the breeze at our backs. Our destination today is Marsh Cabin in downtown New Denver. All systems are go as we travel through Thrums and the Slocan Valley with a stop for a coffee and muffin in Winlaw. A detour south of Slocan City gives us a view of the numerous fish living in the crystal clear waters of the Slocan River. We stay on the old highway north of Slocan to ease the climb up to Cape Horn. We pass rock climbers scaling the nearly vertical rock walls along the road. By midday, we are at the top of Cape Horn. It's warming up nicely, and if memory serves correct, it's not far now to New Denver; all downhill, as they say. All downhill, except for the Enterprise Creek Valley and a couple others. The legs are tiring and the butt is numbing. We reach the lookout, have a stretch and do a brake check before racing down the Silverton Hill. The downhills go by way too fast. Five and a half minutes later, we're passing through Silverton and shortly we arrive in New Denver. Barney has done his job and the refreshments at the cabin are chilled and plentiful. Our thanks again to "Cook" Corky for the fine feast left for us in the fridge.

A rock banging against the metal roofing gets my attention. Another one tells me it must be time to roll out of my warm sleeping bag. Coffee On? Looking forward to a short ride today. Looks like we get to test out our rain gear. Someone suggests breakfast at the Golf Course. We get there for 8 am but they don't open until 9 am. We are offered some day old coffee re-heated and take it gladly. The breakfast is worth the wait and the view is excellent. It feels good to be back on rail grade again, even though we are getting slapped by wet branches and overgrown grass. The trail is in good shape, but we manage to lose it somewhere near Hills. We follow the highway to Summit Lake where we find the trail again. A nice ride along the lake, some more bush whacking, a little bit of washboard and soon we are on the hill overlooking Nakusp.

We slosh our way into the lobby/bar of the Leland Hotel and sit down for a hot drink. We meet the owner of the hotel who gives us the recent history of the Leland and her renovations. After our reservation is straightened out and our bikes are hosed down, it is hot shower time. Four out of five of us can see that we need new panniers for the next trip. Captain Sutherland is the only one that has dry clothes.