Day 37- A Welcome Respite

Woke up at 5 AM this morning, Im working on getting back into the habit of early rises. It was a rather chilly morning, and a cloud of fog hung over the small inland lake that gives Penn Lake Park its name. I was ready to go by 6, and climbed the long steep hill out of Marathon to get back on the highway.

After a few Km on the highway, I hit my first large descent of the day, and I had a view down into a forested river valley blanketed in a dense fog. I rapidly descended through the thick fog bank, and crossed the river over an old trestle bridge also blanketed in the mist, before ascending back out of the fog on the other side, not to be seen again.

Today's riding was mercifully much easier than the previous two days'. The hills were much shorter and gentler, and the space between was longer. I still had to work, but the KMs went by at a much smoother and faster pace. It was another hot day though, and I was thankful for any cloud cover I got.

By lunch I reached the small town of White River, and on the outskirts of town I passed through a large area of fire blackened trees on either side of the highway. I couldnt tell if it was from a forest fire or a controlled burn off, because the way it was on both sides of the road yet didnt extend very far back seemed odd to me. Once I entered town I noticed that the bear decoration motif of BC was back, but rather than foreboding fierocity, it was a little more....cuddly. That is because White River is the birthplace of Winnie the Pooh, and they are quite proud of it. Going by the fire damage outside of town, Id say theyve got the wrong bear mascot.

I continued making my way up and down shallow rises around inland lakes towards Obatanga Provincial Park. I could see a large dark rain system creeping up from behind me as I went, and thus the world's slowest chase began as I tried to outrun the system to my camp for the night. This went on for about 30 KM, but with around 10 KM to go, it caught me, and it began to pour. Given the heat it was refreshing, but I didnt want my stuff getting too wet. I pulled into the provincial park to book a site, and since it was a long way to the site, the park employees kindly gave me a lift to the site through the downpour. Just as we arrived a few minutes later, the rain stopped and the sun returned. I set my tent up and put my stuff out to dry. It is only 2:30, so I have plenty of time to relax before getting back at it tomorrow.