The wife came early -- said she wanted to give me a chance to climb Paulson Pass before the heat of the day. I was on the road just after 8:30. Psychologically hard to start the day on a steep incline!
The descent into Castlegar was (mostly) gradual, as promised. Stopped for second breakfast and to charge my phone / update this blog at the first coffee shop I came to, right off the exit ramp into town. Rode into town to meet Doug from Warmshowers, who would have hosted me the night before if I'd been a bit faster up the pass. He loaded me up with Gatorade then pointed me across the street to a Greek restaurant for lunch. The Greek restaurant was closed, so I went to the German restaurant next door. The owner had an accent that sounded oddly familiar: almost Russian but not. She's from Moldova, married to a German.
I feel like the routine every day now is to climb at least one pass. Leaving town (around three) I ascended 800+ meters to Bombi Pass, walking much of the way as it was steep and the sun blazingly hot. The descent was, per usual, death defyingly fast. I was worried about getting cold because the temperatures were notably cooling but instead it was just pleasant feeling the sweat blasted away. I think the cyclists are foolish to avoid this route; the scenery is amazing and, when the climbing gets too hot or hard, there's always walking.
The last 11km to Salmo were along a narrow valley. Stayed in the municipal "overnight rest area". When I took off my cycling shorts, I saw what I hadn't in the morning when I put them on: something had chewed a nice round, fairly large hole in the chamois lining! Thankfully the underlying fabric is undisturbed, but I will need a new pair of cycle shorts from the next cycle shop I pass. Must have happened when I was staying at Mud Lake (I slept in the cabin, which I discovered afterwards I wasn't meant to do), but I had the shorts right beside me and never noticed a thing!
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