July 14th (Afternoon)

Well, I've been pretty pumped about the possible new route, so I headed off today raring to go. I took Monarch road up to connect me from Springhill to Gleneagles. I rode this hill a few times the first week or so of riding that I did, and remembered it being a brutal hill. It was short, but if I recall correctly, I was ecstatic to make it, and that was in the granny gear the whole way… Well, I made it today for sure, and in the middle ring. Still a hefty little climb, but I can handle it much better now for sure.

I rode Gleneagles to Summit, and then climbed a short distance up Summit to my trailhead. The start of this trail is steep, loose and a nice corner half way through that caused me to dismount every time I tried it before. However, as it’s been quite a few months now, I rode this with confidence today. Unfortunately, as I came around that corner, a bit too fast, I was greeted with a very overgrown trail where I could barely make out the actual path underneath. And what I could make out of that path, I soon realized, was not good! The rain had dug a nasty gulley in the trail, deep and narrow. I knew if I managed to catch a rim in it, not only would I be kissing dirt, but I would be dealing with bent rims at least… So, I slowly worked my way down, clinging to the edge and pushing through the weeds. I suppose once I know the trail a bit more, it will get a bit easier. The other option would be to try and meander through suburbia to find the “official” Peterson’s Creek entrance, but where’s the fun in that? Soon enough, the trail widened and flattened out and other than a little ditch crossing the trail that I had to bounce/hop through, it was pretty clear sailing. I found the Tom Moore trail easy enough, and other than the sheer drop off on my left, it was an easy trail.

The Tom Moore trail. This fence didn’t last long, but the drop-off it was protecting me from sure did!

Shortly thereafter, I found the trail descending into the valley (Billy Minor South) and it too was easily traversable. Compared to my usual trail down (Billy Minor North), this was a cakewalk.

Billy Minor South trail. While this picture doesn’t show much of the drop-off, it was a bit nerve racking at times. However, what it does show is the nice, easy and flat trail heading down into Peterson’s Creek! Compared to the north trail, easy peasy!

At the bottom, I was suddenly not in the Kamloops desert anymore. It was humid, loads of trees and bushes and undergrowth, and the creek was rushing through. Very green! With the sun peaking through the trees where it could, the area was really quite neat at how diverse it was compared to the desert I had just descended from seconds before. No crossing or bridge over the creek here, but I think it would be rideable through… Although I didn’t attempt it, and instead hopped across on some rocks and managed to stay dry.  

The creek crossing. Apparently, this is about as high as it will get. Looks like an easy crossing in this picture, not sure why I walked it? Hmmm… Guess I’ll have to attempt it today!

The trail on the other side was tough coming out of the creek bottom (I didn’t make it, but I will be able to soon I’m sure), but then just sort of meandered along the valley bottom, slowly making it’s way up the other side. And then, suddenly, the CLIMB. Yep, if you rob Peter to pay Paul, eventually, you do need to pay Peter back… And this hill was definitely pay back for something! I climbed about 1/2 of it, and then walked the rest. Even walking was tough… The picture I took doesn’t nearly do this climb justice. I’m not even sure if I would ride this down?

I made it to about where the two trees are laying down near the trail. The part where the stump is near the top is tough even to walk. UFF DA.

At the top, I actually met up with Phil. Apparently this is his regular route (which explains why I never saw him on my normal trails to the North). He then led me the final bit of the way up to where the trail meets up with the upper road in Frolek’s land. So, basically, other than that nasty climb, the rest was physically quite easy! Technically very challenging. I didn’t get any pictures past the climb, as I was riding with Phil then, but I will try and get some today.

In the end, my time was right on par with my regular route, so this is a no brainer. Phil showed me some trails down that connected us to the lower road on Frolek’s land, but I’m pretty sure I can also stay up high and come down around Rose Hill and avoid the pipeline section? I might try doing that today and see which I like better. It will be nice to now have options for which trail to take. Do I want the physically demanding climb (north), or the technically demanding one (south)?