I was up early, hoping to make Paulson Summit before the heat set in. My plans were to head for Nelson, somewhere I had always wanted to visit, if I could make it that far and take my first rest day. It turned into a very long day!

If yesterday was a tough day, today was not the most enjoyable. The distance ridden was not large, and the climb quite gentle, but it was very hot, with the heat hitting as I closed in on Grand Forks. Today surpassed the heat of the previous day. I did get to finish with a swim in Christina Lake, which aided in my (mental and physical) recovering.

It was a tough one today, with a long climb some describe as the most challenging of the ride from Vancouver to Banff: Anarchist Pass. I started the day after a good rest, enjoying the stay at Stemwinder—though with a flat (the previous day’s tube repair did not hold). I also started to wear board (surf) shorts over my bike pants to protect my legs from exposure—which helped a lot!

Following my only icy morning, I headed off on the cruise down to the east gate of Manning Provincial Park at 8:20am. I stopped at the store just east of the gate (the east gate diner iirc?) to pick up a ‘sports drink’ and a snack for breakfast. As I was setting up to leave a car pulled in that had passed me on the climb the day before (3 bicycles on the roof). We had a good chat about cycle touring. The occupants were moving back to Ontario after living out in Vancouver for a couple years. Their trip east was a journey! They had planned for three weeks travelling south of the border through exploring National Parks. After leaving the Provincial Park, the smallish climb up Sunday Summit was next.