Common PURPOSE

Day 10—Thursday, August 11—from the cabin at Tovermory to the campground at Elkford, BC

38 miles, high of 87°F

First light: view of the cabin, which was occupied, so we tented

Got an early start at 8:30 am, but think that with the weather getting noticeably warmer we’ll need to get started even earlier. Good ride from the cabin at Tovermory to Elkford, BC and the campground managed by the town. Made 38 miles in four hours which was a good pace. The net gradient from beginning to end today was generally downhill and that was fast fun. (Still lots of climbing!)

Sights along the way from the cabin to Elkford

Water is abundant in streams and rivers out here. We have not always had sources for potable water so we have begun filtering stream water as a precaution.  Just have to remember to drink all the time. Although there is enough moisture in the air to sweat, it dries up very easily in this arid mountain summer air.  Drinking 4-5 liters of water per day which doesn’t seem like quite enough so will step up my hydration routine.

Passing bikepackers going north: these are brief conversations starting from an understanding of why we are riding bikes in the middle of nowhere. Unspoken common purpose?  Or just acknowledgement that you have to be a little crazy to be doing this.

People along the way have been lovely and pretty much ask the same questions but it’s fun to engage even briefly. I’m definitely on the upper age end of the spectrum but there are plenty of people in their sixties!

Val

Had a long chat with the camp manager, Val, and learned much: she is native (Cree) and adopted when she was a one-year-old. It was known as the "60's scoop"—when the residential school system had started to wane in the 60s, the Canadian government opened up adoption procedures to “save” indigenous babies from their lot with their band/tribe. Perhaps there was some benevolent motive; surely it was a lot less expensive to the government than improving the tribe’s status as a whole. Val grew up being taught to disparage native people until she realized, in her teens, that she was native. When the tribe/band had a ceremony to welcome her back, she rejected the overture since she felt the tribe had given up on her. So, as touched on in an earlier post—it's complicated.

Val is a fascinating and good-hearted person who manages the cleanest campground facilities I have ever seen. I appreciated her speaking with me!

Elkford is only 2,500 people in size and it seems nearly everyone works for the local coal mine. We’ll see more of that as we head into Sparwood tomorrow.