Go East Old Man!

Today's ride began at a more normal time, slightly after 8 a.m. It took my some time to reorganize my gear and to use my limited storage space more efficiently. I made my way to Castlegar with a short stop to photograph the Paulson Bridge. From the stream below to the bridge deck it is a distance of 268 feet. The old Columbia and Western rail grade runs down the edge of the small valley below the bridge. Ed Knowler and I did the ride from the bridge to Castlegar twenty years ago, and three years later I rode from Christina Lake to the Farron Summit along the old rail bed. 

I discovered a roadside memorial to someone named Bren C. who presumably died there in some fashion. There is something poignant about these memorials. They are impermanent and placed at the location of a person's death. Over a short time they disappear and their purposes become lost. I suppose it is the same impulse that causes people to mark the graves of loved ones with grave markers.

Views of the Paulson Bridge.

Roadside memorial at the Paulson Bridge.

After a short stop in Castlegar for fuel and a coffee the journey continued on the Salmo-Creston section of Highway 3. I have ridden by Salmo several times over the years but never went into the town. Today I changed that. Salmo seems to be a place frozen in time, except for the Cannabis store on the main street. That's progress, I suppose. Two building of historical interest caught my eye. The first  was the Salmo Hotel. Architecturally it looks like it was built around the turn of the last century. The style reminds of the Hotel Irma, in Cody, WY.

The Salmo Hotel, built in 1896.

The other building of note is the Salmo railway station that was built in 1923 by the Great Northern Railway Company. The rails were removed in 1989 and the building sits empty. Still it is a reminder of times past when Salmo was a thriving town.

The Salmo railway station built in 1923.

The highway from Salmo to Creston crosses the Kootenay Pass which summits at 1781 metres. Parts of the ride were done in sunny weather but on the eastern side clouds gathered and the temperature dropped. However, in Creston the temperature was close to 30C. The climb to the summit from west to east shows some impressive vistas, and the highway if fun to ride.

https://youtu.be/6s2Ka3xMyiQ

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From Creston I made the push to Cranbrook then to Fernie. East of Fernie I did a quick stop  to photograph the Titan, once the largest tandem axle truck in the world. The people standing near it give an idea of the size of this beast.

Sparwood is heavily dependent on the coal industry and there are places when coal seams are visible from the highway.

The Titan, once the world's largest tandem axle truck.

To the east the highway enters the Crowsnest Pass with it spectacular scenery then crosses the provincial border into Alberta. There was a great deal of construction on the highway and that slowed progress considerably. Once again I rode through the area of the 1903 Frank slide where 80 million cubic metres of Turtle Mountain slid into and across the valley below taking with it a large part of the town of Frank, AB, and about 80 people whose bodies are still interred under the mass of rock.

https://youtu.be/NTsMaUFFnW4

Looking at the cars coming from the east and looking at the clouds, I relented and donned my rain gear.  and without the gear I would have been wet and cold. It was a good decision, because I did run through light rain. I hate being cold. 

The last part of the ride was uneventful. The highway is relatively straight with speed limits of 100 and 110 kph and at the end of a long day that is welcome. So, now after doing the blog I can wrap things up and with luck, get a good night's rest before getting on the road again.