Day 18 Marley Lake, BC to Rancharia River Park

July 9, 2014
56.5 miles


Good morning from Marley Lake!

My body is breaking down, I need a rest day. Haven't had one since Tok. Knees are sore and my fingers are still cracked from the boundary waters trip I took a month ago.

It is time to throw the great sponge away. We found it on the side of the road on a very cold, wet, rainy day. It has been a symbol of dryness, providing hope  during times of wetness that things will one day be made dry again. Unfortunately, as a symbol, it serves little practical purpose to us on this trip. Despite its light weight it takes up a lot of space and on top of it all, it doesn't actually help to dry things all that much.

So farewell Sponge, may you soak up toxins in a dump somewhere.

Here is a view of some of the scenery.

We crossed the continental divide, but not the Pacific/Atlantic divide, the Pacific/Arctic Divide. Before this I didn't even stop to think that there would be more than one division in the flow of water across the continent!

People:
The Trucker
Talked to a trucker who told us all about fishing in AK and the Yukon, and about the different road users. We concluded that everyone hates RV drivers for being unqualified to drive a vehicle that large and then driving them poorly.

The RVers
And after we spook poorly of  RVers, a family driving in an RV invited us in for pork chops and mashed potatos! Imagine that! A homecooked meal. We graciously accepted and enjoyed talking with them about bear sightings and the different possible routes: If we stay on the Al-Can highway, we see buffalo and the best hot springs in Canada. But.... it's a longer route and we have been told that the Cassiar is more scenic and probably more manageable for bikes.

The Fishermen
These two middle aged men were funny. One guy said "We left our women at home to go fishing." And the other immediately turned around and corrected him, "You don't even have a wife!" To which he said "Well actually I have a girlfriend." They talked to each other like a married couple. It was cute.

Here's a cool waterfall where we met the fishermen. That's Nick.

Mosquitoes are horrible here. They have pushed me to my tolerance limit. I might have to start using bug spray. Yuck.