Sicamous to Canyon Hot Springs. DAY: 110.99km. ODO: 837km. AVS: 20.8km/h. MXS: 51.0km/h. ATM: 5:19.

Another hot, sunny day (the weather report indicates rain coming Saturday, when I anticipate cycling through Kicking Horse Pass). Great roads again – the shoulders are mostly quite good), though there is generally a lot of truck traffic.

After Revelstoke, the highway began to climb, and then dropped into the valley that precedes the Selkirk Range. I aimed for the Canyon Hot Springs, as the whole idea of hot springs at the end of a hard day is very appealing. This place charges $20 to camp, $6.50 to sit in the “hot springs” (really a regular old swimming pool with hottish water), and $18 for a 12” pizza. If you’re not using the pool and want a shower, it’s $1 for each three minutes. They have a pretty good scam going here. Shame about the train the goes past my tent every few hours.

I paid the big bucks to use the pool. Not too crowded, and no kids, so it was pretty relaxing. Skipped the pizza and made my own dinner. This stupid stove I bought seems to have, contrary to the information I was provided, two settings: off or super-boil. As I was holding a pot of Rice-a-Roni well abve the nuclear flame, it slipped and fell onto the stove. It landed upright, but splashed chicken stock all over my sweater and the picnic table. So much for my ‘bear-aware’ precautions.

The people camping next to me, from Humboldt, SK, are camping in a style completely opposite to me. They are a young-ish couple with a dog and a minivan, no kids. Their tent is, literally, big enough to park the mini-van in. They have a trailer to carry all their luxuries, such as the portable wood-burning fireplace that they sat beside at night.

A break in the sun…