Walking highway 20 - kilometre 0 to 67

Due to last minute preparations, I wasn't sure if I'd get away today but the beautiful early autumn weather really motivated me. Jane got a photo of me as I left our neighbourhood with a handful of celery from the garden. Last fresh greens for a while!

Looking fresh after 1.5 kilometres! 

A few kilometres from home, I was on highway 20 but even before then, I had a technical issue. The Chariot’s “trailer hitch” consists of two aluminum poles that are bolted to the hip belt through a grommet. This means that my hips were rigidly attached to the 100 pound load, causing the Chariot to jerk against me with every step. This was very annoying and slowed me down. After a couple hours of trying different things, I removed the hip belt and tied the poles to the bottoms of my pack straps with loops of nylon cord. This swinging connection eliminated the jerking and I was able to walk faster. A “test walk” with a fully loaded Chariot before my trip would have been a good idea!

"Trailer hitch", before and after

A few hours from home, a car going west stopped and it was a friend I hadn’t seen for quite a while. It was very nice to have some unexpected socializing while doing first aid on my toes.

My first day was mostly downhill with more than 500 metres of descent from the plateau to the Fraser River.  I was glad to reach the Sheep Creek Bridge because it’s the gateway to the Chilcotin but I had to pause before crossing it. The bridge is unnerving for a pedestrian because it’s 300 metres long with two lanes and no shoulder. I made sure there was no traffic coming either way, crossed as fast as I could, and fortunately had the bridge to myself.

I crawled into my tent that first night with the satisfaction of walking my planned 22 kilometres after a late start.

Unfortunately, I had blisters. I started this trip with a bad choice of footwear and walking on pavement didn't help. So, from my tent the next morning, I messaged Jane (with my inReach satellite device) and asked her to bring different shoes and boots. With a gear swap and spousal encouragement, I spent the morning of day 2 pulling the trailer back up to the top of the plateau. This resulted in new sensations from my leg muscles and I was relieved to stop for lunch at the brake check station. While pulling up the hill, I reverted to the rigid "trailer hitch" but after lunch, went back to the swinging connection. Hard pulling was the only situation in which the rigid connection was beneficial.

Back up on the plateau, walking was easy and I was really in the wide open landscape of the Chilcotin. I also had two more surprise visits from friends and an offer of a ride from a stranger -  unexpected interactions that were surprisingly uplifting.

Reflection in a Beecher's Prairie pond

The weather started out very nice on day 2 but there was a drizzle by the time I passed the turnoff to Farwell Canyon. I heard someone shouting from far behind and it turned out to be the caretaker at the old Riske Creek Fire Camp. It took me a while to realize he was saying I should get out of the weather for the night and asked if I needed a room. Apparently, they still rent out rooms but by then I could almost see the Chilcotin Lodge and I replied that I had accommodation but thanks anyway. I was again touched by the concern of strangers.

Arriving at the Lodge at 5:30, I was lucky to have this historic, cozy place to stay on a rainy night. A shower, a big dinner with a nice couple from West Kelowna, and a roof over my head. What luxury! With the climb out of the Fraser canyon, 19 kilometres was plenty for day 2.

I woke up in a dry room at the Chilcotin Inn after a night of cold rain, then had a hot and filling breakfast. How luxurious these simple comforts seem after a couple days on the road!

Chilcotin Lodge, morning of day 3.
Not shown is the high-vis vest I always wore on the highway. 

The morning was clear after the rain and I cruised along on the plateau with just a few sore body parts. I was getting irritated by traffic but three vehicles stopped to say hi and wish me well so the traffic wasn't all bad. Two were friends who knew I was out here and one was an RCMP officer who asked where I was going and if I needed anything. These little roadside conversations lifted my spirits!

Highway 20 is not busy by most standards but my mood went up and down inversely with the traffic. Another factor was the condition of the shoulder. If there was traffic going either way, I had to get off the pavement and if the shoulder was sloping or narrow, I had to come to a stop until vehicles passed. I started noticing how much vehicle-free time I had and there were not many occasions when I had a stretch of 5 minutes. I walked on the left so I could see the vehicles closest to me and I always wore a safety vest. I wanted to look like this...

Becher's Pond

Professional drivers were very considerate. They moved into the other lane if they could and I always waved at them. Apparently, some truckers who use this road frequently were starting to recognize me because they tooted their horns as they went by!

Toes continued to hurt but it was largely a mental thing - sort of like mosquitoes.

By late afternoon and after covering 26 kilometres, I was relieved to reach my planned overnight stop. As I had hoped, there was a gate in the range fence where I had spotted a branch road in Google Earth before my trip. This was fairly important because I need a gate to get my gear to the other side of a fence and this part of highway 20 doesn't have very many branch roads. I had a nice flat tent site surrounded by juvenile pine trees. My normal evening meal has been a commercial freeze dried dinner but tonight I made one of my homemade instant dinners. This one was instant potato flakes, dried kale, beef jerky, dried bone broth, chilli powder and herbs. It wasn't pretty but it was hot,  filling, and actually quite tasty!

to be continued...