The route today takes us up Highway 5 to Merritt. Known as the Coquihalla and seen on the tv show Highway Thru Hell the route is hilly to say the least. The first 18 km is not too bad but then it starts to climb summiting at 1244 metres or 4081 ft. We stopped to get some water at the Zopkias rest area where there was a food truck that was not open yet. A couple of us asked if we could buy water and the lady was happy to sell us some. Once at the summit a few of us took a minute to take some pictures before descending.
Past the Britton Creek rest area I noticed a couple of bikes and I recognized that they were apart of our group by the yellow triangles attached to the back of both. I slowed and realized that the riders must have stopped to cool off in the water below the bridge. As the temperature was very hot, I decided to jump over the fence and slide down the embankment and found Matt and Kerry cooling off in the shade of the bridge. I immediately joined them and took my shoes off to cool my legs and feet.
By the time Sam and I turned off Hwy 5 onto Coldwater road we were both out of water and desperate to find more, quickly! As we crossed over our first “cattle guard” an older RV followed. We waved at them and before they had completely passed us I asked if they had any drinking water. They did and Sam and I filled all our water bottles and drank quite a bit. After getting back to camp I found out that most riders had similar experiences. Some knocked on doors to ask for water and all riders found people in this area to be very hospitable.
Even though the road into Merritt was only 35km long it felt much longer. The sun was out in full force and there was little wind. The terrain was rolling and I noticed that we were in an area that have Ponderosa Pine trees, my favourite. Sam and I took many short stops to huddle in any shade we could find along the way to cool down and drink water.
Once we got to camp it was straight to the shade with a cold drink. Tonight it was my group’s turn to cook, Team 3, and we made Burritos. They were delicious.
Later on once dinner was over I went down to the creek to cool my legs. A group went earlier but I was preparing dinner. Nobody was down at the creek as it was dusk. I sat in the water so that my legs were completely submerged by piling rocks on them to prevent them from floating.
Tomorrow is a day off which is nice after today. Sam said as we approached the camp ground the temperature was 48.8 C.
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| One summit down many many more to go |
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| Cooling off under a bridge out of the sun |
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| Very generous people offering up life saving water to us. Thank You! |
