One of life's little pleasures is being able to walk across a parking lot and get a cup of Starbucks coffee first thing in the morning. However, this experience is dampened somewhat when you join a line that doesn't seem to move at all.
The line at Starbucks was like that this morning. A middle-aged woman was at the front of the line, and despite having been in it for several minutes before being served, she had no idea what she wanted so she went through a whole process of asking the barista a series of questions, about what I have no idea. After several minutes of this, she finally made her order, then seemed to have no clue about how to pay for her purchase with her credit card. meanwhile the line continued to grow and the woman two places behind me muttered, "She should be paying rent for that place."
Fortunately, the young guy in front of me made his order and paid quickly so the line began to move again. However, it is my belied that if you cannot order your coffee in five words or less, you should have to go to a special line. And if, after having been in the line in front of the display case for several minutes you still have no clue what to order you should have to go to the back of the line. If you are a trifler and have to take thirty seconds to say all the words in your coffee order, do NOT pass GO. Just get out of the way of those of us who are serious about our coffee and can order a 'Grande, Dark Roast, Black', and be on our way in under forty-five seconds!
We had breakfast at the West Coast Grill and were served by a delightful young Australian woman with a quick sense of humour. She warned us about the crow who would swoop down on our table and steal the small cups of peanut butter that are provided for people who order toast. The crow never showed up but we were hoping it would to add excitement to our breakfast.
The view from our breakfast table
The boys fuelling up for the day
We left Nelson heading north to Balfour and Kaslo on another highway that twisted and turned along the west side of Kootenay Lake. This day was starting out great and just kept getting better and better. We rode to Kaslo, where we stopped at the old Kaslo and Slocan station which has been preserved on the Kootenay Lake waterfront along with a CPR caboose and the SS Moyie, a paddle steamer which worked on Kootenay Lake from 1898 to 1957 before being retired and taken over by the historical society there and preserved for display. It is one of the finer examples of those boats which plied the large lakes of the BC Interior connecting the isolated communities along its shores.
Overlooking Kootenay Lake
Rest stop on the way to Kaslo
Wild rose on the roadside
Old Kaslo & Slocan Railway station in Kaslo
SS Moyie
SS Moyie which served communities on Kootenay lake from 1898 to 1957
Kootenay Lake from downtown Kaslo, BC
Kootenay Lake from downtown Kaslo, BC
Leaving Kaslo behind, we began the best part of the day; the ride from Kaslo to New Denver on Highway 31A. This highway is considered to be one of the best motorcycle roads in North America. Those who gave it that honour were right. There is hardly a straight section along its whole length as it climbs, dips, twists, and turns through the incredible scenery of the surrounding mountains. White water creeks parallel the highway in many sections, while at other places they crash down the hills and under the many bridges on tis road. One of the guys described the ride as 'orgasmic' and when we stopped at a small lake about halfway through the ride, I felt like sitting down, leaning against a tree, and having a cigarette. And I'm not a smoker!
Kaslo to New Denver 1
Kaslo to New Denver 2
Crossing the highway near the rest area was a small freshet which is typical of the streams that are fed by the melting snow high on the mountains. It was just one of those beautiful things that is easy to miss if you don't pay attention.
Small freshet on Highway 31A
Mountain stream on Highway 31A between Kaslo & New Denver, BC
View of the lake at the rest stop on Highway 31A between Kaslo & New Denver
We got back on the road for the remainder of the ride to New Denver and this section was just as good as the first with the addition of downhill curves which can be a bit more challenging. Those touring bikes were being thrown around in ways that most had never experienced before. If we didn't scrape the floorboards, it wasn't for trying. On the way downhill we passed the turnoff to the abandoned town of Sandon, which was silver mining town at the end of the nineteenth century. At one point it had two railways serving it but went into decline after a disastrous fire then a similarly destructive flood. Now it the final resting place of a 1908 CPR D-10 'decapod' locomotive and a large collection of BC Hydro buses from Vancouver. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to explore the village, but that may be in the books for a future trip.
We stopped in New Denver for a coffee, but felt exhilarated after the second part of our ride. I could have had another cigarette, too! The woman in the coffee shop has been there for about twenty years and was driving to Couer d'Alene, ID tomorrow to take part in a marathon. The coffee shop was called 'Nuru', which is the Japanese word for the act of painting. She said that the word was 'Japaneasy' since it wasn't hard to remember.
Turning north, we took Highway 6 to Nakusp. This highway isn't as challenging as the Kaslo-New Denver ride but it is still outstanding with beautiful lakes and mountains alongside while it follows the demands of the terrain in a series of curves as it makes it's way to the town. It then turns southeast toward the Needles ferry again a captive of the surrounding landscape. There are more straight stretches on this section of the highway and it is possible to cover ground quickly. And, to my mind, the scenery is not quite as spectacular.
We crossed Arrow Lake by a cable ferry to the east side. the highway again becomes a series of twisty curves and is a delight to ride. Very tasty indeed, if not the gourmet feast that the Kaslo to New Denver highway provided. On three occasions we had to come almost to a standstill for deer in the middle of the road or alongside. These creatures are unpredictable, so it is best to assume that they will do something stupid because they generally do, and on a motorcycle there are no second chances.
Views from the ferry across Arrow Lake at Needles, BC
From the Monashee Summit at 1240 metres we made our way down to the flatlands near Lumby after losing almost eight hundred metres in altitude. We made a short stop at the Twin Creeks Motel in Lumby before making the twenty-seven kilometer run in to Vernon which was curiously uneventful and almost boring after the gourmet meal of mountain highways we had been consuming all day. In Vernon we found a motel and settled in for the night ready for tomorrow's ride on the Westside Road which will take us around Kelowna (Yay!) and spit us out at Westbank on the southwest side of Okanagan Lake where we will continue to Pentiction, Princeton, and end up in Hope tomorrow evening.
The riding today is some of the best I have ever experienced. I feel privileged to ride with the guys I am riding with and to be able to experience something that most other people will never have the opportunity to do. I am blessed.
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