The temperature outside was just 7 degrees Celsius this morning. It was a good thing we were sleeping in a cabin! 

Gerald enjoyed a big breakfast at the Toad River Lodge Restaurant and the other two opted for oatmeal in the cabin. 

We set out just after check-out at 11 am, and stopped for quick breaks every 10 km, or so, until we reached our destination around 5 pm. 

Today’s 51 km held some incredible views. Picture sheer mountain cliffs on one side of you and a clean, tumbling river on the other. Towering mountain peaks covered with evergreens in every shade of green fill your vision and the brilliance of wildflowers dances in your periphery. 

At one point in the day we saw a yarrow flower growing in the middle of the highway. While we were stopped to capture it on film, a car drove past, and knocked off a few buds. It bent over and bounced right back—a true illustration of resilience! 

There were many animal warning signs along the road, but the only spotting we had today was (what we believe to have been) a caribou and its calf. Amelia sees the wildlife and Gerald and Cheryl spot the berries—today it was wild strawberries!

Layers was the clothing game today. It was always a question if the jackets should stay on or be taken off. We got warm on the uphills, but the downhills were cold. The final few kilometres were especially chilly as the wind picked up. 

Tonight, we had planned to camp at Strawberry Fields Campground. Instead, we’re keeping warm (and dry) in a motel called Double G Service because it’s really too cold to be tenting. Plus, we are on vacation. 

Warm soup, fresh bread and award winning cinnamon rolls. We found a haven. 

Tetsa River Lodge felt like a God-send. We had been on a long stretch of road looking for the place where Ray had left our water (and where we thought there would be a campground), and hadn’t seen a single sign. It was getting late and we were getting nervous. Then, the “cinnamon bun centre of the galactic cluster” appeared. This morning, we took advantage of the wifi and good food before heading out around 1:00 pm. 

Clouds draped the mountain tops and the rain splattered and sprayed. We didn’t shelter in any dumpsters today. Instead, we pedalled on! 

25 kilometres, 3 hours and 332 meters of elevation gain later, we stopped for lunch at Summit Lake campground. Originally, this was to be our destination for the night, but we had travelled beyond what was planned yesterday, and weren’t ready to call it quits for the day at 4 pm.

After Summit Lake, an altitude of 1285 meters, we proceeded to descend, and had a lot of fun doing so! Amelia spotted three mountain sheep on the side of a hill during one descent, but they were over the side of the mountain before photographic evidence could be captured. 

Knowing where we were going made a big difference today! We cheered as we passed each 5 km marker and enjoyed the varying views.

We ended at Toad River Lodge and (wonder of wonders!) treated ourselves to a night in a cabin! Hot showers/baths, a stove to boil water and enough dishes that we didn’t have to share one spoon. We topped off the decadence with a chocolate mudslide dessert! 75 kms done today and there are warm beds awaiting. 

Lukewarm oatmeal began the day. And it was just up, and up from there…

Just half an hour after setting out, we found reception at the top of a hill and took an extended break that set us back a little bit. 

The last 10 km of the Liard highway, before the Alaska highway, included some lovely downhills. 

The Alaska highway is busier, with packed pavement (thankfully!) and trees set further back from the road. The rumble strips on the shoulder kept us in line and we rolled along nicely. Until, it started to rain. We pushed through, for a bit. When we found a pull out with garbage disposals, we stopped to let the rain pass and then took out our lunch stuff. After a dry picnic on a garbage bag, the rain began again. The garbage disposals were seen with new eyes as we got wetter. It turns out, they open from the back and Amelia discovered she could fit could nicely inside! Gerald’s legs stuck out, but he kept his hair dry while Cheryl kept watch over our bikes and humoured the two people that stopped to check in on her with the secret to our whereabouts. 

The rain subsided, but didn’t entirely stop until a few hours after we had set out again. 

By early afternoon, we were entirely out of drinking water. Towards the end of a 9km hill, Cheryl knocked on the back door of a camper trailer and a Good Samaritan filled our bottles. Her kindness extended to gift us a bottle with a water filter should we encounter a flowing stream. We were so grateful!! 

With the hill over and our tongues wetted, we throughly enjoyed having our breath taken with the wind by the gorgeous views on the downhill. 

Our night stop was supposed to be Stone Mountain Provincial Park, but Google Maps lied to us (we’re making a list of complaints) and we ended up at Tetsa River Lodge. Around 10 pm, while the mosquitoes threatened to eat us alive, we set up our tents and got enough water to from the campground taps to make a hot meal. 

94 km were cycled today—10 more than anticipated and most of which was uphill—and our bodies are ready to rest! 

*Written Thursday, July 23, but posted the following day due to lack of cellular reception. Welcome to the wilderness!*

Today we said goodbye. Goodbye to air conditioning and four pillow beds, goodbye to our vehicle and goodbye to Ray Bock. 

Before departing from Fort Nelson this morning, we stopped at a car wash to hose down our bikes. We wanted to look our best for our goodbyes. 

Upon arriving at yesterday’s stopping point, it took us an hour to unload the van, and secure everything on our bikes. Around 11:30 am, we said our final goodbyes. 

The road felt busier today, but we still had ample opportunity to chat while straddling the middle of the road. Burnt out trees, no more than charcoal sticks, pierced the blue heavens behind lush foliage—a testimony to the re-generative nature of God’s incredible creation. 

Our dreams of sunny skies last night came true, and much fair skin became pink today (even though sunscreen had been applied!). The day was hot and the uphill climbs were tiresome. Riding fully loaded makes a difference…The one upside: when a bike is weighted down, wanna-be pavement (which we endured for the majority of the day) causes less vibrations!

We were grateful for the downhills (which were throughly enjoyed even though they never lasted long enough). On one particular downhill, Amelia stopped before the bottom and started blowing her whistle. There was a medium-sized furry, black shape near the road that looked way too much like a bear to risk further movement. The shape had moved into the bushes by the time Gerald and Cheryl joined Amelia, but the choir of whistles carried on long after passing the sight of its spotting. 

Whistle blowing was practiced a few more times throughout the day. On one occasion Cheryl thought Amelia had started blowing her whistle, so she started blowing hers. Only when Amelia heard Cheryl blowing her whistle did Amelia think Cheryl had seen something and started blowing hers. It was all rather funny after the game of “you started it!” was over (it was a bird with a whistle-like cry that had been the instigator), and the fear of large, carnivorous animals lurking in the bushes had dissipated. 

We cycled 91 km in total and had an elevation gain of 600+ meters today. Arriving at our campsite for the night felt like an accomplishment.   

Our supper (and general state of well-being) would have been quite poor if it weren’t for the water Ray left us at the entrance to our campground. We are so very grateful! 

With gratitude, we will cycle on tomorrow—optimistic that the black flies might be a little less friendly! (We might be stinky,  but nothing confirms it more than black flies swarming around you!)

Shrubs flanked by stubby evergreens make way for towering birches guarded by fireweed and goldenrod. The empty pavement waves and winds under a celestial sky of wispy, white clouds, and we pedal, three in a row, in the middle of the road. 

To get to this point, we endured two 12 hour plus days of driving. Gerald and Ray Bock (a family friend to whom we are forever indebted to for putting up with our insatiable need to cycle in remote places) shared the driving. Being sore from moving is much preferred to the sore that comes from sitting—at least in Amelia’s opinion (and she is quite vocal about this!)

This day, our third day since leaving Winnipeg, began with breakfast at Lakeview Inn and Suites in Fort Nelson. From there we drove over two hours to Fort Liard in the North West Territories, and we almost got there! 10km from our intended starting point the road became messy gravel sludge made worse by recent rain. We took a picture with the Fort Liard sign, and then, 2 km from the town, we turned around to return to where gravel became wanna-be pavement that made our bodies vibrate from the outside-in. Before we could experience this sensation however, we first had to wait out a thunderstorm. We felt very grateful to have a vehicle to shelter in! Around 1pm, local time, we finally began pedalling. 

The afternoon included a stop for berry picking, a face off with a rather large hedgehog thing with menacing front teeth and a shimmy past a herd of bison. 

There was also a report of a wild boar  crossing the road into the bush, but thankfully, we did not make its acquaintance.  

After 70 km of nearly deserted road, the last of which felt like a never-ending uphill climb, we found a great spot to begin tomorrow and returned to Fort Nelson. Boston Pizza once again satisfied our stomachs (for the third night in a row—for some) and we’re now tucking ourselves in at Lakeview, gearing up to dream of sunny skies for tomorrow’s ride.

We have so much to be thankful for in completing our cycling trip. Planning and booking places for this trip began last September. Knowing everything could change due to forest fires or other situations. Our families involvement kept changing, but that was understandable.

Here is a list of things we are thankful for:

-while cycling we had very little rain. We had a few thunderstorms that happened overnight.

-very comfortable temperatures.

-making it to every booked place for night. Having good places to camp out.

-Enjoying clear smoke free days the entire trip. This provided opportunities to enjoy the scenery.

-Not having any flat tires or other bike related issues.

-Meeting so many friendly people.

Dreams of the next trip are always active in the head. Wherever the bikes take us next, we look forward to new adventures.

Gerald/Cheryl Warkentin

Here are some highlights from our final day of cycling. Today we cycled 109 km’s from Banff to Cochrane. The day started at 6 am with a light drizzle to make everything wet for packing.

Tomorrow we will do one more final post that will summarize our trip. We have so much to be thankful for during this cycling trip.

We also fundraise for MCC for the relief efforts they do. If you donated already, thank you. If you wish to donate you can go to our donation page.

A great day for riding except for the first and last 10 km’s, these were the hardest km’s of cycling.

Camping at Lake Louise one needs to see the actual Lake.

We traveled the 1A from Lake Louise to Banff. What an excellent road for cycling.

With a quick stop in Banff, eating a little and picking up some groceries. We headed to our campsite which was 10 km’s out of Banff. Most of it uphill.

Leaving our Motel this morning after having a buffet breakfast was a pleasure. First 3 km’s were downhill. After that it seemed like the next 30 km’s were uphill. It was slow going as we went up.

The scenery was stunning, here are a few photos.

We both knew this was going to be a tough day of cycling. Major mountains needed to be climbed. We left with low overcast skies and a temperature of plus 7, without rain.

It felt like all morning we were climbing. It was very slow going. Road was so steep at one point that we ended up walking our bikes for over 2 km’s. In total for the day we ascended 1,092 metres. Going downhill our top speed was 63.7 km’s per hour. Speed limit was 60 kmh.

We travelled 98 kms for the day.