Mile 0
Kettle Valley Provincial Park
Sprinklers in 36C
Camping in Beaverdell
Trees down and maybe other things!
Myra Canyon
Chute Lake memorabilia
Rock Oven's
Naramata View
Greyhound Shipping
Water Sources
 

Our interest in riding this part of the Trans-Canada trail network was driven by the description of the Myra Canyon trestles and tunnels, high in the mountains, rugged and pristine, and accessible to only mountain bikes and hikers.

Well anyone that's been there knows that’s not quite true.

Midway to Beaverdell

Our ride started in Midway, B.C. after a very beautiful and restful night at the Midway Riverside Municipal campsite there. $10.00 a nite, right on the Kettle River, with excellent water and a wonderful campground host named Steve. He also will provide very reasonable canoe services as well. For $10.00 he will rent you a canoe and shuttle you to the Ingram Bridge for a leisurely 3-4-hr. canoe trip back to the campground. Heck of a deal! The KVR museum is open from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm. Monday to Saturday, and there is a registration board for all trail goers. We left our camper there for the duration of the trip and they ask for a donation to the museum, which is an extremely reasonable request.

For the first 1.5 kms they have put down some new gravel which causes some riding challenges but the trail gets better after that and after negotiating the detour provided by Pope and Talbot lumber we were on our way. Steve at the campground provided an updated detour map, which was very helpful. The other 2 groups that were cycling the trail at the same time as us didn't have it and we ended up being the guides to this area.

At Ingram Bridge definitely take Bubar Road until it reconnects at the Memorial park. We encountered two locked gates that caused some backtracking.

This part of the trail to Rock Creek is extremely scenic and we did it early enough in the day, which got to 36C at Paul Letard's place that it was pleasant. Bring lots of mosquito repellant, they've had a wet spring. We were joined on the trail by lots of day bikers starting from Rock Creek with kids, or coming from the Kettle River Provincial Park so watch for lots of bikers some who are not as skilled or trail wise as you might be.

The bridge at the KRPP was welcome relief since the temperature had already climbed into the mid 20's when we got there. The sand bar got us from just wading to a full dunking in the river. Here we had an early lunch and got acquainted with one of the other groups. The second group was 3 male German riders who rode Kamikaze style and we'd always catch up to them again as they fixed their bikes at the side of the trail.

Coming out the upper end of the KRPP was a bit confusing for us since there was a trail sign that read "non-agricultural use of this land prohibited". There was another great swimming hole close by and a fellow with local knowledge advised to ignore it and ride on, which we did.

From here the trail enters a series of farmers fields which were tall in grass and weeds. At the end of one of the fields we encountered the other group of 2 men that were cycling with one of the bikes stripped down and the rear wheel off. He had paralleled his friend on the lesser-worn part of the track and picked up some grass in his spokes that broke 2 rear sprocket cluster side spokes of course. The wheel would no longer spin between the frame members. He did not have a cluster tool for removing the cluster, the spokes wrench and they had was inadequate for applying torque to the spoke nipples. I helped them out with my tool stuff and was able to get his wheel operational so they could continue riding and they were successful in riding to Beaverdell hoping for some bike repair assistance there. None was found and they decided to return to Midway with their trip plans dashed. As a long term bicyclist and previous extensive repair experience please respect your bike during this kind of ride and have it in good repair before going because you really have to be self supported as there are no on trail bike mechanics around.

After the one-hour repair we continued on to Westbridge and to Paul's place. Please stop there, this guy is so generous and feels so insulted when people don't that the legacy and gifting he does is part of that "Pay it forward" experience. And you feel so much better after 2 quarts of cold water in 36C heat.

The trail from his place to Beaverdell gets worse as there is a lot of 4WD use that has made the trail washboard. Our arrival in Beaverdell saw us get there after everything had closed for the Sunday, so if you are counting on eating out get there before 5 pm. We camped at Zacks as did many other cyclists; cost is $7 per adult, showers free, random camping. As the Trail guide mentions this is the last place to provision, the general store opens at 8:00 am. But found us there at 7:30 am. and opened when they saw us. Very friendly people.

Beaverdell to McCulloch Lake

The trail from here to McCulloch is all up the grade but the trail is much improved from the washboard of the day before. The new bridge at Wilkinson Creek is beautiful and it would be a great backcountry camping spot if you choose.

We stopped at Arlington Lakes for lunch and continued on to McCulloch. The trail guide is very accurate regarding washouts etc. The night before (June 29^th) there was a huge windstorm that has brought some trees down on the trail, and the worst was just before Arlington Lakes. It was at this tree blockage that I found an older couple around their 60's drinking a beer in their Dodge Dakota and looking to 'get it on' in the back country. This guy was not good at telling the lies about how they were trying to drive to Beaverdell on this road but his pants zipper told a truer tale (pardon the pun).

I used the water source at Cookson Creek crossing as a water source to filter and replenish water for our bottles and it was of excellent taste. When we arrived at MCCulloch Lake "Resort" we were shocked by the lack of decent facilities associated to this place, so much so that we chose to stay as did many of the other cyclists at the forestry service campsite across the earth dam from the 'resort'. Wayne the forestry campground host offered to provide water if we needed it but a group that was just leaving gave us 3 litres of water in containers and filled all our water bottles and pots and were extremely friendly and generous. Many thanks again if you read this! The campground store had 1 bag of Chips and 2 cans of soup in it, so make sure you are provisioned. The washrooms were filthy at MCCullochs and the outhouses at the forestry campground were very clean in comparison. Go figure??

McCulloch to Penticton

The next day as we headed out it was quite cool and I was wearing a bright yellow long sleeve jersey. Whether is had anything to do with what happened I'll never know but at about mile 6 on the trail I was riding with my mouth a bit open I guess, when a bee flew into it and bit me on the lower fleshy part of my mouth. WOW did that hurt. Within a couple of minutes my lower lip swelled to twice its size and I started to look like Mick Jagger, my teeth began to ache and lower jaw swell as well. I took 1 antihistamine immediately and another 10 mins later and was able to control the progress I looked like hell for the next 2 1/2 days and was in a fair bit of pain. Fortunately the lip balm we had really soothed the lips.

Myra Canyon was very nice as expected but it was Canada Day and every Tom Dick Henrietta and "Lexus" the new girl's name of the day was out. Even at that the trail was still very personal to enjoy. You'll love this part of the trail best.

We continued to enjoy the downhill run towards Chute Lake and were looking for a picnicking spot. I missed the note in the trail guide that mentioned the trail entry of Crawford trail had a picnic bench at the base of the steps so we rode by and eventually stopped Bellevue Creek trestle to prep some lunch. We arrived at Chute Lake about 1:30 pm. And after receiving the warning on the website about being gouged for camping and getting the Ripley's smallest ice cream cone on earth for $2.50 we decided to continue on to Penticton. So did all the other groups that stooped there as well. I am hopeful that some of these BC campground operators will read this and realize that just being there doesn't warrant high prices, providing a service provides for a fair price, providing exceptional service will allow for a higher price. A warning is you will always be looking for new customers because you will never have repeat business treating people the way you do. And repeat business and favorable word of mouth is what makes it happen in business.

The Rock Oven Park was a nice development and certainly the scenery of Okanogan Lake coming to Naramata and Penticton was great. Our only regret was not being able to stop at the Hillside Winery and enjoy lunch there since we pushed on from Chute Lake the same day.

Shipping with Greyhound

On a final note, the next day we traveled back to Midway via Greyhound which was a fun experience. It cost us $65.00 total for the 2 of us and shipping our bikes. We could have done it cheaper had we booked the companion fare in advance. A word of caution though, Greyhound does insist that the bikes be boxed for shipping but does not carry bike boxes to provide for the purpose. They recommend you go to the Bike Barn 4 blocks away to get a box. We did and secured 2 20" framed bike boxes for the purpose. You will have to remove your handlebars and stem, seat, front wheel and pedals and reposition them inside the box. Dependent on your bike you may have to loosen the rear carrier struts as well and push the carrier down inside the box. Count on 10 mins. to disassemble and pack the bike, and Greyhound will lend you tape to secure the box. Don't make your box heavier than it needs to be since you pay for shipping weight. You are allowed to take to items with you under the bus and what we did was use our panniers taped together as one item and our sleeping gear in their water proof bag as the other. This will save you shipping money since these aren't weighed.

Water Filtering and Sources 

I wasn't able to get information from anyone who had cycled the trail before about the need to replenish water during the trip so hopefully this will help people out.

First from the good people at MEC I got some great information about filtration systems or chemical treatments. I bought a Katadyne Guide filter pump and it worked great. It was nice to have the sense that you were not dependent on getting to the next place and it packs up reasonable compact to take. I liked it much better than what Pristine or Iodine does to water chemically and they still will leave it clouded if the source was clouded, a filter won't. At $75.00 it was a decent price as well.

Second, there are many treated and back country water sources with Paul's rest stop being top of the list. When you pass thru Rock Creek or Beaverdell you can easily get water there. Bottled water is available at Westbridge, the Kettle River Provincial Park's water is good, and water from Wilkinson creek and Cookson creek is excellent filtered. I can't attest to it otherwise. Water isn't available at any of the Myra Canyon trailheads and McCulloch Lake Resort water is yellow. Mmmm, mmmm. Chute Lake you can scavenge water until you get to some of the creek crossings that provide a good water source for filtering and using water.

My cyclometer was set in miles and the trip was recorded as having traveled 160.1 miles total. Pretty good for 3 days of travel on backcountry bikes and trail conditions!