Day 20: Nelson to Gray Creek Pass, BC

What a cheerful morning riding the rolling hills along the exquisite, still and bucolic Kootenay River out of Nelson towards Balfour. Coffee and snack stop at the Tulsi Conscious Cafe was delightful and then we headed on to the ferry stop after about 35km of riding. Here we could buy Kootenay tie dyed shirts (and did), and some local baked goods for the ride across to Kootenay Lake on the free Osprey ferry. Calm clear waters, friendly staff and a local commute-turned holiday ride feel kept our spirits in the happy zone.

That was the morning. By late afternoon we would have climbed 1,430m and cheer had fallen off the menu.

Having checked in to the Soul’s Paradise cabins (the Fairmont of Kootenay Lake) near the ferry terminal on the other side, we hit the road up the hill towards Gray Creek. Well, that was a nasty surprise – the climb from ferry stop over the ridge into the town of Crawford Bay is not pretty. And that’s being kind. But we tried to think of it as a warm-up for the notorious Gray Creek pass ahead. More like a hot-up.

In Gray Creek the General Store is the hub for all things local. As recommended, we checked in there to find out the conditions of the pass (all good), took a big breath and headed on up. It seemed appropriate that the turn-off pointed to the Gray Creek Cemetery.

This was what we have trained for. But no training could really do it justice. Sharp, steep and nasty, this hill never gives up and there is definitely no shame in pushing your bike over gravel on a 16% climb. This being B.C., the mountain views were mostly obscured by trees. It was pretty though, with the logging road we were on bordered by wildflowers and running along the creek the whole way up. Occasional glimpses of the Kokanee glacier kept us hopeful for the higher parts of the climb to come.

Our goal was to go up 11km today, our wonderful roadie Liz would pick us up and she would drop us off at the same spot to start again tomorrow. And all that coordination worked to perfection.

We have never been so happy to see our car as we were when Liz came around a hairpin while we were stretching out the sore legs.

She comes with great dinner ideas too – after a quick shower we piled on to the ferry back to Balfour for fantastic burgers at the Duck n Dock, then grabbed the last ferry in the dark back to Kootenay Lake for a night’s rest in our cabin (which incidentally has a great line of sight to that Kokanee glacier).

Up and over the rest of the pass tomorrow. And we have those views to look forward to above the tree line.

Distance today: 60km

Climb: 1,430m (ack!)

Total distance: 1,822m

#thegreattrail

#transcanadatrail