Roughies – Day 1

OK, so they live in Alberta, but Gary and Patty are originally from Saskabush.  Jeff, I’m not so sure, but I’m out of ideas for smartass titles for the groups right now.  I’ll probably think of a really good one tomorrow.

That’s Patty there, and Gary just below.  Since they did 7 Summits in 35 degree heat just he other day, I thought we may as well do some high elevation XC.  Actually, with temps close to 40 in the valley, the alpine was the only place to be today.

It’s a nice romp through forest at about 6000’ for ten clicks or so.

When you hit the alpine, it goes up a bit more.

OK, make that a lot more.

Top is about 7 150’, on a dual mountain called Sheep Rocks near Apex.

Oh, there’s Jeff.  the odd man out riding a Specialized.  The rest of us were rocking the Knolly Endorphin.

I rode this trail last year with those crazy Welsh, but we did a bit of a different route this time.

More of an out and back with a different descent.  Longer and flatter.  I gotta admit, I can’t decide which one I like better.  It’s a fully rad trail.

It was still sort of early, so we went and did a V-Line for dessert.  Jeff was almost dessert for this big lady…

And what’s a lap on the V-Line without a stop at a winery?  We bring a lot of class to these places, do we not?

Fel Ci Efo Dau Gynffon – Day 3

Another sunny day? What is this…..Wales?

Richard would be taking a rest day. At least he’s not gonna miss much. We hit up some local high elevation trails that I’ve never seen before, courtesy of our pal Vance.

A nice warmup on doubletrack got us ready for some serious sub-alpine singletrack.

This is actually my parents turf. They’ve been cross-country skiing out here for years, and have a small warming hut very near here (if you know where to look).

A couple of sections of the old road are actually almost technical with the roots and rocks, but it’s nothing like the Shore. the singletrack soon took over anyway.

Now it’s almost like the Chilcotin. We’re at around 6500′ most of the time in here, so it’s a bit tough on the sea level types, but oh so worth it.

Once we got into the meadows the elevation wasn’t a factor at all.

Graham couldn’t be bothered with the views. Head down…hammer.

OK everyone, it’s another technical section…..

Whew..glad that’s over.

All smiles.

This is serious Clint Eastwood country.

More smiles at 7000′.

We needed a bit of a rest for the final climb.

The last 300′ are always the hardest…

…right Graham?

7 250′, looking east over the Okanagan Valley.

South.

North.

East again.

Today’s wildlife shot…. probably a Coopers Hawk. Hard to tell the difference from here though. They all look more or less the same.

Northwest.

OK, enough rubbernecking. I’m getting dizzy.

We only got lost a couple of times figuring out the descent. This is a new route for Vance as well.

Fairly technical singletrack, but overall pretty rad.

Just a couple of gnarly sections like this, otherwise it was smooth.

Like this…

We finally popped out on a logging road.

Yeah, piece of cake, right Mandy?

Hmmmm, I wonder of Andre thinks so too.

Another map for ya…..


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