11/14/09 Ft. St. John, BC, AM
Peace Rider: Hey Joe, fancy meeting up with you again. You dogg'in my heels, keeping track of my whereabouts?
Friend: Yeah, something like that, want to see you get down the Highway safely. It's late to be making like a snow bunny.
PR I know. There have been times I've asked myself if I can really pull this off especially at the end of the day when it's all I can do to put one foot in front of the other. But then I remind myself it's just one day at a time, sometimes just one hill at a time. I'll keep on crank'in awhile yet.
F. So you took the bus from Watson Lake after all?
PR Boy am I glad I did that as it turned out. The Highway between Watson Lake and Ft. Nelson was not well plowed off.
It was an "eye opener," literally, a red eye special via Greyhound. The passing hills and valleys were bathed in the soft light of a full moon under crystal clear sky - when I cracked an eyelid to look.
The bus pulled a freight trailer behind it, a different wrinkle. The driver dropped me 20 miles south of Ft. Nelson and John Brucker met me at the Highway at 4 AM. Both very much appreciated.
It was great to reconnect again after an eight years lapse. I also met Vi for Violet for the first time. Both are widowers. She and her husband lived for many years on a trap line near the mouth of the Liard and Ft. Nelson Rivers.
John raises about 100 head of cattle on roughly 2000 acres with help from his son. But as only he can colorfully put it, it's not a money making proposition. His son works in the oil patch to make a go of it. Likes to hunt and is off to Iran, maybe about now to hunt sheep.
As I mentioned before we met more than 40 years ago when they were living in a cabin at the mouth of the South Nahanni R. I stopped there in a Folbot on my first long boating adventure in the North.
F So when did you leave Ft. Nelson?
PR I left John and Vi's place mid-day on Thursday 11/5/09. With me was a weeks worth of brownies made from scratch, my very favorite. Vi baked them up for me just before I left. They were worth waiting for, a nice treat. I ran out just short of Ft. Saint John where I'm at now. I also had about 10 days worth of food to make the roughly 260 mile trip.
F You've been in Ft. Saint John for some time?
PR No, I just arrived yesterday, after a week on the road. I'm staying with another Warm Showers host family who graciously opened their door for me. I'm the first cyclist they've hosted. Sandra and Dave just moved here in June but have also done long distance cycling . She's in residency training at the local hospital and Dave is a stay at home dad taking care of their two children. Another is on the way.
F How was your week on the road from Ft. Nelson?
PR In some ways this was my toughest stretch yet with many up and downs to negotiate. A 30 mile day was a good one for me. The terrain gradually rises from Ft. Nelson then falls away again to the Peace R. plateau but with few flat stretches in between. You don't think much about it in a car but it's huge on a bicycle. The distant mountains also receded to a memory.
The Sikanni Chief grade south of the river was especially challenging. I walked a portion but I'm not at all certain it's any easier, just different. Crank 40 revs, stop, rest, four breaths, crank 40, stop, rest etc. until on top. Over 40 stops on this one not including the on foot portion. One in the Yukon was close to this long and steep as well. No one stopped to offer me a Granola bar this time.
There was also a lot more truck traffic on the road, logging truck and trucks servicing the oil patch gas field developments common along this stretch of highway.
Road conditions were not too bad however. I was three days on studded tires then switched to touring tires with the Highway dry and snow free. Shoulders were patchy ice covered to dry.
I didn't see much wildlife on this stretch but what I did see was different than further north, four whitetailed deer in different places and two cow elk. Many tracks of caribou, a few moose and a couple of wolves along the road but nothing standing therein.
F Anything else you have to report?
PR Yeah, sometimes it's the little things that turn out to be those special grace filled moments. Etched in time and memory but not fully appreciated or savored except in reflection.
F. Tell me about it.
PR Water in a non-solid state had become a problem so I was stopping during the day where I could to fill my gallon jug before the light faded away and I made camp.
A couple of days out of Ft. St. John I stopped at the Wonowon gas station, motel and grocery for water. I usually try to find a place to lean my bike against rather than laying it over. In this case there was a huge backhoe in front with its bucket on the ground that made for a perfect rest while I went inside. I noticed a black cat resting on its haunches in front of the bucket as I approached. It scurried off as I got closer. I didn't think much more about it. A fleeting thought came. My grandmother would have said don't let that black cat cross your path.
Inside with water in hand I paused before going outside again when one of the men seated nearby said it looks like your bicycle has been invaded by cats. Say what?
There in a rare unposable moment were three black cats all sitting atop my bicycle. Two were kittens, perhaps half grown, one straddling the handle bars and one on the frame with mom crouched on my seat. I shooed them away. But you know, if I'd had the presence of mind I'd have paused to savor the specialness of that happening. It was the highlight of my week on the road as I look back.
Then there was the red backed vole that scurried across the snow from its hole headed my way as I stood beside my bike for a roadside snack break, changed it's mind when it saw the "incredible hulk" looming, reversed course and galloped back to dive in its hole again.
How many moments do we miss in life that are really special when we're too preoccupied with other concerns and not fully living in the moment? It was a good reminder for me to savor the time at hand as it comes. It's often the small things that make life worthwhile.
F What next for you?
PR I leave this morning for Dawson Creek then on to Grand Prairie and Hinton. I certainly have enjoyed my time with Sandra Weibe and David Dyck, young Greta and Ruben. The rest was welcome and needed, their kindness and gracious hospitality much appreciated.
Ate a proxima vez!
No comments:
Post a Comment