Small

Small is how I felt much of the morning. I covered almost exactly 25 miles in 4 hard hours of riding . . . very hilly, very mountainous terrain. I suppose the terrain (by which I mean the road I am riding) had a good deal to do with the feeling of insignificance I had much of the day. I have never been a good climber on a bike, and it was a daunting day. Looking about me at the northern terminus of the Rocky Mountains surrounding me made me feel pretty puny. It did get better, and after another grueling 5 mile climb after lunch, the rest of the day was more down than up, and a pretty east go. I chatted with the contractor who is doing road work, and he assured me that the worst is yet to come . . . "Steamboat"---that crusher of mere men! I understand that it is at least a 2 1/2 mile long 8% grade, and that is only a portion of the days climb. In addition, I am about 120 miles from Ft. Nelson, and as near as I am able to determine, there is not much in the way of services between here and there. Stay tuned for where I land tomorrow, as I am not capable of that many miles in this terrain!

Wildlife sightings for the day

I saw the buffalo! There were about 15 of them on the left side of the road, and as I approached they stampeded across the road in front of me and continued to trot along the shoulder of the road beside me for quite a distance. After a bit they veered into the distance on my right, and immediately I saw that there were 50 or more in a grassy area next to the road on my left! They are big----really big! I kept hoping they wouldn't decide to storm across the road, and as I drew even with them, the big bull looked right at me and started to stir. My heart also started to stir, but at that point I was going a little faster (go figure) and they stayed put.

Later I saw mountain sheep (4), caribou---maybe 15, and for the second time in my life saw a Lynx, an animal that few people ever see at all.

Wild high mountain Juniper---for the Gin connoisseurs among you, and I happen to know there are some. I have always wondered how they made anything drinkable out of the Juniper berries I know. Well, today I picked a few wild high mountain Juniper berries, a very blue berry, not green as I would have thought, and when squished they made my mouth water! What an aroma, pungent yet sweet---I have never smelled the like. If a person could gather enough of those buggers to distill into some Gin, I think it would be worth about $1000 per pint.

I know, this is a long post and you can feel free to stop now if you want, but I must wax philosophical for a moment. It seems to me that doing something that makes a person feel small and insignificant (compared to the grandeur of nature, in my current case) is somehow very freeing and uplifting to the spirit. It really eliminates any feeling of control or self importance, for the moment at least. I'm sure it can be obtained in many and varied ways, but I do think a requirement is "putting yourself out there" in one way or another. Enough already.

Oh, yes, I am at the "Toad River Lodge" for the night. Curious point----the little packs of crackers that you get with soup have three crackers in them up here - how odd is that?