The High Country

Woke up to a chilly morn in Yahk Provincial Park. Due to an underestimation of my own pace, I did not have to make it to Fernie, 180 km distant until two nights later.
Another strong morning too! Must be finally getting the hang of rest and nutrition. About an hour into the day, I was surprised to see that I was already into Mountain Time. I guess I am already in line with the border of Alberta only a little ways to the north.
Spent most of the day not really paying attention to the ride. It was hot, uphill more often than not, and something ib the air was giving me hay fever. This also happened around Princeton about a week ago and I have yet to identify the culprit.
Got into Cranbrook, which actually sits at a respectable elevation when I assumed it was in a fruit tree valley, and visited the local brewpub. Beers were decent but nothing spectacular.
Met a very enthusiastic cycle tourist from Quebec at the cafe, who insisted I sign his flag and get a local to take pictures of us with our bikes. Actually getting a bit tired of answering the same questions about my tour over and over so I'm kind of looking forward to a few days off duty in Calgary.
Was about to give up on reviving my phone from 4% battery life when I found a Starbucks. Sat and drank iced coffee for an hour and brought my phone back to life . Super caffeinated, I headed north.
The promise of free camping at a rec site off a side road on Google Maps led me to brave unknown road conditions and possibly running out of water.
Lo and behold! The rec site was on a small, but crystal clear lake and very popular with locals but relatively quiet. Honestly the most beautiful campsite yet, and free to boot. Swimming in the lake, finding new and exciting plants and watching the sunset, I felt like this was one of the nebulous experiences I was searching for on this odyssey.

Since I had a warmshower host scheduled for rendezvous at around 5 pm in Fernie, about 80 km away, I didn't want to go to hard the next day. For some reason though, I did. Oops.

Crushed the 80 km by lunch time and rolled into Fernie at about 12:30 Mountain Time. I was hurting a bit from my fast morning and rounded up some beers and groceries before poking around the main drag. Tons of bicycles in Fernie. It's crazy! I went by the McDonalds and saw about 10 leaned up outside and not a single one was locked!

While sitting at a cafe a bit later, I was engaged in coversation by a guy at the next table. Turns out he runs a website that tracks Cross Canada cycle tourists and links their journals, blogs, etc. Got myself in on that. Gotta promote the brand. 

Shortly after, I met up with my hosts for the night, Gail and Gary. As seems usual for warmshowers hosts, they lived at the top of a hill. Great conversation, dinner and the last period of the Stanley Cup Playoffs followed before I snuck in a hasty shower and some writing before bed. Originally planned on going out to town and checking into a bar but after the hot day, and weeks since my last actual rest day, I had to opt for a quiet night. 

Into Alberta early tomorrow and over the last mountain before the prairies. Wanted to write a BC review tonight but nope, too sleepy. 

Goodnight BC