Vanderhoof (6/27/23 Tue)

Cool sounding name and the Geographic Center of BC. Also where I found a hotel for the night. As well as a really good chicken alfredo and entertainment.

Today was more of the same unmentionable mountain scenery. Plus lots of farms with cattle and some horses. Really just a travel day for me.

The big excitement was that my isobutane fuel canister ran out during coffee prep. I had to finish my boil on Richards stove. When I passed a sporting goods store today I stopped and picked up a new canister, as well as a pair of socks to replace the single sock lost to laundry heaven.

Richard went off to visit a lava flow today, and the other guys went to a glacier. I kept wondering where the fur museum he told me about was, but at dinner tonight I found it. Just 40 minutes ride north of my current position. Because Richard as a source has been so great, I'm very tempted to go tomorrow,. At 40 mintes out and back plus the time I spend at the museum, thats 4 or 5 hours total day lost. But Telegraph Creek was well worth my time.

But my next planned stops are Jasper and Bamf. These are the really big attractions, so it's not ideal to show up really late. But if I plan to stay two nights in Jasper then I would have an entire day there anyway. If I can get an early start it should be easy enough to get to Jasper at a decent hour. I'm banking on liking Jasper because it's supposed to be less of a resort town than Bamf. At least less ritzy, which fits me better. I heard from one biker that most of the camprounds in the area seemed closed. So Bamf may prove to expensive a place to stay.

After Bamf comes Calgary, but my current plan is to head to a nearby town Millarville, Alberta where they film the Heartland Netflix series that Anne and I have watched many seasons of.

I may need Calgary for new tires... Mine are getting low on tread. And I will likely need at least a rear before I get back to NH. Everything else on the bike is filthy and purring along smoothly. Even the recently replaced chain and sprockets. I've been wiping and cleaning them every few days and then lubing them with a small can of lube from Home Depot. So far so good, and they've seen a lot more gravel roads than the first set did. The weakest link at this time is the rear tire. And I wore the last set past no tread. This one still has tread, so I'm good for now. When I checked in Whitehorse they said tires shipped from Calgary. So I suspect sourcing tires isn't the issue, it's the install time that seems hard to get. And I would need many tools to DIY. Maybe I can find a local with a garage I could use...