The campground was by the lovely Dutch Lake and it was a lovely novelty to be able to sit at the picnic table in the twilight, with a clear(ish) sky and no rain...
The next day we turned off Highway 97 and headed up the hill from Little Fort. We'd been warned it was 'a bit of a climb' and it was. 12km of unrelenting uphill; which at 7km/hour makes slow-going. We arrived in Bridge Lake just as the rain started; luckily there was enough of a break in the weather to set up the tents at Sheridan Lake. We had dinner at Del's diner just up the road - it was a simple dinner but we didn't want to leave his warm, dry, cosy building! The prospect of sitting in a tent in the rain didn't really appeal...
The next day we rejoined Highway 97 and pedalled our way to Clinton. As we entered town we saw a campground offering $9.99 BBQ buffet; which of course got our attention. We went to the local museum and information centre and got talking to Mike, who has lived in Clinton for 40 years. We asked about the campground and BBQ buffet and he entertained us with stories about the owner; also called Mike, from Mexico. "He annoys me. No-one in town likes him. He said to me once "I think half the people in town don't like me" - and I said back to him "don't be so modest; it's more than that". Museum Mike then talked about the BBQ buffet "I'm not sure about the hygiene - I mean, no-one has actually DIED eating his food but...."
The campground did have a charm about it, and nice green grass to pitch a tent, so we stayed there; and had the buffet. The buffet consisted of various slow cookers containing mashed potato, zucchini casserole (amazing); fried green tomato curry (very nice) - but I could imagine he would use the same curries night after night.... We told Mexican Mike that we'd met the other Mike and immediately he said "What did he say about me? Everyone in town is just jealous that I make money". I think we met the two biggest characters of Clinton, and could imagine them butting heads at all the community events....
The next day we turned onto the fantastic Highway 99; a highlight of the trip for me. It is a narrow tourist Highway with no trucks. We cycled first through the Marble Canyon which was dramatic with it's sharply rising rock faces. We stopped at the Hat Creek Historic Ranch and had a coffee and muffin. Jimmy was eyeing up everyone else eating large hot breakfasts; and said "I'm still hungry". So we ordered pancakes with an extra side of hash browns. Out came two plates of pure carbohydrate. We both suddenly felt quite daunted just looking at it! I wolfed down the hash brown (which was just pieces of potato fried up); then started, quite a bit slower, on the pancakes. I was really quite full even before I'd finished the first of the three pancakes, but as I had ordered them I had to eat them..... I gave up halfway through the last pancake and couldn't face another bite. Having an overfull stomach while riding does take away from the enjoyment of the experience somewhat (and Jimmy enjoyed teasing me by saying "pancake" and hearing me groan); I just can't believe I keep making the same mistake over and over.....
Usually I need to eat every 20km of cycling; but after the carbo-loading at Hay Creek it wasn't until mid afternoon and 60km that I could face looking at food - Jimmy thought that was very efficient and suggested we make a regular habit it loading up like that..... (he was kidding).
We arrived in Lillooet and camped at the Cayoosh Campground by the river.
The next day we were heading from Lillooet to Pemberton. Various people had warned us about the 'big climb' out of Lillooet and we were curious to know what it would be like - different people have different ideas of what 'big' is; and we'd done a few big passes already, so we weren't worried. It was nice and cool at 8am and there was no wind. A good start.
The quiet road wound it's way up the valley, with snow-covered mountains coming into view. Stunning. It was a steep grade (13% in places) but the seal was good, the road was quiet, the scenery stunning and distracting. We were loving it.
After about 10km we had some downhills, and were saying to each other that it was disappointing the uphill was over - was that ALL? We spoke too soon.
The steep grades were over but the relentless uphill continued for kilometres. We arrived at the beautiful Duffy Lake, after 50km of uphill.
I was expecting the promised downhill to begin. It didn't. We continued up. We were expecting to do 100km this day, to make it to Pemberton; and I started to doubt we would be able to. I was running through my mind what food we had if we had to camp out a night - not much. It would be strict rations of muesli, 1 egg, 1 sausage, 1 bread roll, no milk with our coffee.....
Finally, by about 2;30pm and 68km of uphill we reached a sign that made us smile "Steep grades downhill next 13km"
.
It was up to 15% gradient on the downhill and you could smell the brakes from the cars. Jimmy's rear brake overheated and stopped working.... I was flying ahead of him so didn't know until afterwards. I said mine must have been fine as they didn't get used much....
It was a wonderful feeling cycling the last 15km into Pemberton. Suddenly my energy returned and the flat (it was even slightly uphill as we were following a river upstream) felt like a downhill.
Pemberton is cute. It's tiny, with just a few shops. It's a flat valley, surrounded by hills and mountains. I like it. Immediate first stop was McDonald's for a sundae. Then we headed to our Warmshowers hosts, Niki and Anna. It was a magic evening swapping stories about cycle touring (always a popular topic) and life in general. It was also magical sleeping inside and on a bed..... In the morning Anna offered to make her special porridge; which i have to admit was better than mine (and I think my porridge is pretty good).
Today we are off to Whistler, a 'short' 32km uphill ride; we are running ahead of schedule with a few days left up our sleeves. We pretty much have only 2 cycling days left - the rest will be spend exploring Vancouver and shopping!
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