Esther and I met Deanne at the Oasis Cafe in Agassiz. Her family is one of the Agassiz pioneer families so she is a true 'local'. It was great to meet you Deanne!
From Agassiz I followed Hwy 7 to Hope and then went on Hwy 3 towards Manning Park. I took very few pictures along that stretch because I was mostly concerned with getting as far up the mountain as possible today. I stopped to take a few pics of Skunk Cabbage though and I just missed a beautiful photo op of a bear which ran across the highway no more than 40 meters in front of me. I had just put the camera away a few moments before so that was too bad. He was a gorgeous, healthy looking black bear and he seemed to have absolutely no interest in the neon yellow cyclist.
Thousands of Skunk Cabbage plants in Manning Park.
My campsite on the Dewdney Trail Trailhead parking lot. I had to stomp through deep snow for a little ways to get to it but it was well worth the effort. I was very grateful for my highrise rain booties at this point. My bike got locked to a tree in the woods and my food paniers were stashed away in an almost empty, bear-safe trash can. There were even some outhouses on site. The mess you see in the picture below is part of my effort to once again reorganize my things in a more logical yet weight balanced fashion. Not an easy task for a first time touring cyclist ;-)
Funny! . . had to laugh when I read your post! I kept repacking my trailer too . . I think I finally got it right now after 2200 miles. I also started taking things out that I didn't absolutely need and sent them home in a little box . . about 5 pounds of stuff, but as you know, anything helps! It was rough going over the Rocky Mountains, and soon coming up I will be going over the Appalachian Mountains . . last climb. I have about 600 miles left on this trip. I am only 31 miles from Buffalo, New York, and my wife will be there in 4 days! Heeeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaa!
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