Well, it's been a while since I've shared any photos or trips here on MIACVW and since 2023 is finally coming to a close (gosh, it's been a year for me!) I figure I should make the time to do so.
Hard to believe this trip as over 5 months ago now! Better late than never? I sure hope so.
Back in July of this year I took a mostly solo trip out to Fernie, BC and back in my bus. A couple friends of mine decided to tackle a bikepacking race that starts in Merritt and ends in Fernie. The BC Epic 1000 is a mountain/gravel bike race that takes riders through rail trail, service roads and single track and is entirely self supported.
www.bcepic1000.com/ I dropped my friend off with her fully loaded bike in Merritt and me and my bus went on our own multi day trip meandering through some stunning parts of BC that I'd never been to before.
On the Okanagan Connector leaving Merritt. Lots of road ahead of me at this point.
Needles, BC waiting for the cable ferry to take me across to Fauquier.
Travelled along Arrow Lake via Hwy 6 to Nakusp where I stayed in a Rec Site on Box Lake for a couple nights.
Summit Lake Provincial Park. Absolutely stunning.
New Denver, BC just off of Slocan Lake. Leaving Hwy 6 behind for Hwy 31A. New Denver to Kaslo- possibly one of the most beautiful drives I've ever done and such a privilege to be able to do it on a clear summer afternoon watching the scenery through the big bay window.
Drove south along Kootenay Lake to Balfour to catch the ferry across to Crawford Bay.
Camped in Gray Creek for a couple nights. Snagged a beauty of a spot just off of the creek. Even in July the rushing water was ice cold. This campsite was just at the base of Gray Creek Pass- an unpaved gravel road that travels up and over from Gray Creek to Kimberely. For my bikepacking friends, this behemoth mountain pass is over 50 km long and over 5000 ft of elevation. Apparently it's the highest dirt pass in Canada and no joke for the riders. It took my friend over 5 hours to complete. Lots of time spent hike-a-bike-ing!
Finally made it to Fernie! I've been to Fernie a few times and have always felt at home in the little mountain town. A ski town in the winter and a mountain biking, hiking, outdoor playground in the summer. Which brings me to one of the main reasons I chose to go on this trip...fly fishing! One of my goals of 2023 was to learn how to fly cast and Fernie is world famous for the fly fishing it has to offer. Many spots of pull off on the highway and fish on the Elk River. I caught my first fish on the fly rod here! I'll be back.
Spent a few days in Fernie with my friends. While they recovered, I spent hours on the water. There's something magically cathartic about standing waist deep in crystal clear water with the big beautiful mountain backdrop waving a stick around in the air!
The trip back home to Vancouver was quick and other than getting rear ended in Castlegar would've been rather uneventful. Some loser bumped into me while I was trying to merge. Luckily the bus wasn't so damaged that I couldn't drive the rest of the way home, but nonetheless the bumper took on a big dent. The Jamie Rivers trailer hitch I had installed on my bus was what saved me from any worse damage. Unfortunately the hitch was toast and turns out Jamie no longer makes these hitches.
A bandaid for the boo-boo.
It took several tries to find an AutoBody shop that was willing to work on my bus. Special thanks to Peter at Jetway Auto in Vancouver for setting my bus straight again. A new bumper and a new trailer hitch made by a guy I found on the classifieds on thesamba.com who makes them in his garage in Virginia.
It took several months to get my bus fixed, but of course worth the wait. 2023 was a pretty challenging year for me for several personal reasons, but this solo trip to Fernie in my bus gave me time to reflect and re-center myself. Sometimes you just need to hop in your bus and drive. Thanks for reading.
