Day 59: Big hill day

After tasty breakfast, Sam and Gunnar waved me off and I set off down the highway in the chill of the morning, the sun just peeking out over the top of the mountain. I rode along the river for a few kilometres trying to warm up my muscles before the mountain. And there it was - a steep hill out of town as always! Granny gear, here I come.

I rode around the first switchback and stopped to admire the views and catch my breath. On the valley side, there were pine trees by the road, and in the valley below the rocky river wound its way through green fields in the shade. The sun was a deep orange orb rising in the haze above the mountains. On the other side of the road was the mountain face I was travelling along, the forest and grasslands filled with singing birds. I looked up and saw the moon just over half full and a heron flying under it in the distance, its dark silhouette moving gracefully in perfect harmony with the pale moon in the clear sky.

Up and up I continued, the sun growing stronger by the minute and the mountain road unshaded, leaving me exposed. Up at 1100m, I passed houses and farms! Unthinkable in the UK, must be something to do with glacial deposits of fertile soil. A few times on the way up, I had to ride downhill for a bit, then regain the hight slowly. I made it to the summit before 9am - but that wasn't the last of the uphill! After a few hundred meters decent, I was climbing again until I made it to the rest stop just 20km out of Osoyoos. It had been getting hot on the last bit of the climb and I was glad it was over by 9.30am. 

I stopped for some second breakfast that Sam had packed for me and noticed an email from my warmshowers host in Osoyoos saying that last night they hosted Lucy, who is heading my way today! 

I waited for a bit at the top but didn't see her so zoomed off downhill and hoped to catch her on her way up. Zoom, zoom, zoom, still no Lucy. I was more than half way down when I stopped at a fantastic viewpoint and saw her pedalling up - hello! We had a lovely excited chat; she started on Vancouver Island and is heading to Ottawa or further east, depending on timing. It's also her first tour and like me she's having a blast and seems to be taking the mountains in her stride in spite of the heat! Rather her than me taking on that climb in the middle of the day, I'm not sure I'd make it. Eventually we had to part ways and carry on. I think we could have talked all day! 

Down, down, down around switchbacks all the way into Osoyoos, stopping at a fruit stand on the way. It was so windy I didn't even need the brakes to stay at 50kmh and travel with the speed of the traffic.

Osoyoos is beautiful! I spent the afternoon at Haynes Point, swimming in the lake and sitting on the beach eating an entire bag of Sam's homemade cookies and a punnet of cherries! When it got too hot, I headed into town to mooch air conditioned shops and cafes and finally get a hair cut before going to meet Kevin and Gay, my warmshowers hosts for the evening.