Oh, Canada
avoiding fires in the Canadian Rockies
My original plan was to enter Canada from Glacier and then travel west, returning to the U.S. near Metaline in eastern Washington.  Forest fires in upper Washington state convinced me to stay in Canada until nearly reaching Vancouver.  This turned out to be pretty wonderful as it meant more cycling in the Rocky Mountains.  There would be a couple of days in a row when I crossed two mountain passes in one day.  There would be the day of road construction that resulted in no traffic for fifteen to twenty minutes at a time.  Finally, there would be the Canadian cyclists and other tourists I met along the way.

Chief Joseph Mountain rises above all else.  It sits on the edge of the high plains which extend to the east of the Waterton area.
Chief Joseph Mountain Highway crosses a mountain pass to enter Canada.  I'm happy to be there after a wonderful climb.

Dave is from Australia and is on a trip around the world.  He will end the cycling portion of his trip in Canada after visiting Waterton.
Sue, Phylis, Steve, and I met on the road to Blairmoore.  They are from Seattle and are biking a loop that includes Jasper, Banff, and Waterton.  They used the railroad to carry them to the Canadian Rockies.

Besides camping, I would often stay in motels.  On just one occasion I stayed at a B & B, the Old Crow's Nest in Blairmoore, Alberta.  Crowsnest Pass is not steep but a strong head wind resulted in a later than normal arrival (6 P.M).  Including this day, I can count on one hand the moments of serious headwind.  I recall more help from the wind than hurt but mostly it was not a big factor.  Many people told me that I would regret traveling east to west because of the prevailing winds.  As luck would have it, they were wrong.
Salmo/Creston Pass makes for a wonderful ride.  The locals gave me many looks of dismay at my choice to go this way.  Besides having good weather, a coincidence of road construction on each side of the pass resulted in a wonderfully peaceful ride through the densely forested Canadian Rockies.  I would continue to head west on Highway 3 until reaching Chilliwack, BC which is on the far edge of the greater Vancouver area.

The haze in this photo is from smoke.  The smoke is from the wildfires burning in eastern Washington across the border.  When I arrived at Lake Christina, BC they had just banned all boats from the lake because of a close call between a firefighting plane and a boater.  The plane was attempting to land to scoop water from the lake when the boat crossed its path.
After crossing two passes and an amazing bridge (left) I met Vaghn and Norm on the road just north of Christina Lake, BC.  They took the train from their home in Alberta to Vancouver and are cycling home.  At this point they would have been smart to turn around and stay in Lake Christina but they seemed determined to continue, despite eight miles of difficult climbing to the top of the pass.  Perhaps that's what they did or they found camping sooner than the Provincal park near the top of the pass.  This day for me, from Salmo to Grand Forks, was one of the more challenging days in the Canadian Rockies. 

The town of Osoyoos is in the center of a fruit and wine producing region in Canada.  It also sits on a beautiful lake lined with campgrounds and parks.  They have a lot of pride in their fruit and much scorn for the inferior varieties from California.  I liked the apricots best and would recommend peaches.  As for plums, I'd stick to the California varieties.
The promenade along the main road near downtown Osoyoos is lovingly maintained by the person who took this photo.
For reasons unknown, I didn't take any more pictures in Canada.  I traveled from Waterton, Alberta to Chilliwack, BC with over nights in Blairmoore, Elko, Cranbrook, Creston, Salmo, Grand Forks, Osoyoos, Princeton, and Hope.  I enjoyed several good passes, especially Salmo/Creston and Hope/Princeton.  The over nights were generally good with some of the best camping of the trip in Creston, Grand Forks, and Osoyoos.   In Creston, I joined with four from Australia to see a planetarium show but I fell asleep during the presentation.  The camping in Elko was the strangest of the trip as I found myself staying at a site that's normally leased by the season.  I found everyone to be very accommodating.
From Chilliwack, BC I would head to Washington State and to the end of my tour.