Okanagan to Alberta! Pt. 2(4) - Paulson

Our ninth day on the road was one of our favourite riding days. The cycling was really a delight even with some hill climbing. 

We left the Boundary Creek Provincial park and climbed from around 600 altimeters to around 900 at a nice manageable slope. 

The downhill from there into Grand Forks was sublime. A perfect angle that required almost no braking and almost no pedalling for a solid 30-40 minutes

Grand Forks treated us very well for a restock and we slipped off the highway onto a nicely packed (some of it even paved) trail system that led by creeks and over bridges.

We watched for a while as teenaged dare devils hurled themselves off the bridge to the river below. 

An hour later we came upon another set of young cliff jumpers launching themselves from the rocks while their mum made conversation with us to avoid watching her daughters fall into the void…. Looked fun! Dad was down in the water and these gals knew what they were doing!  Poor mum.

The trails through this area, away from the highway, take you through some of the most enjoyable scenery and riding you can do anywhere on Earth.

We popped off the trails at Christina Lake and went down to the beach at about 4pm. We were told it’s the warmest lake in Canada, and the swim was spectacular. 

Christina Lake is what we wish the Okanagan was. There were no obnoxious super ski boats blasting obnoxious music, no strip developments, just families enjoying the lake…like from a bygone era.

After an extended afternoon break at the South end of the lake we lit out for a campground at the North end of the lake around 16 kms up.

We arrived just in time to see the ‘FULL’ sign go up at the campground and with no legs left the panic started to set in. 

We must’ve looked pretty forlorn because camp hosts Steve and Libby took us in right away and got us a secret overflow camp spot, offered the showers and cold drinks, and watched our bikes while we went for another swim in Christina Lake……which they said is the warmest in Canada. “Sweet!” We said, pretending we’d never heard that as we hopped in for another glorious swim. 

Christina Lake is magical! 

In the morning while packing gear onto our bikes, came a harbinger of doom. A couple old fellas out for walk came and sat with us to ask “where from and where to?”.  “Castlegar” we said, which received a looooong side eye.  “Oh you’re going over The Hump he said as they got up….,”well, good luck!”

Well we conquered that Paulson Summit. And we did it on a 39-40 degree high humidity, full sun day.  It took these two middle-aged non athletes pretty much all of that day to do it.  It’s around 35 kilometres of steady climb, averaging 6-7% grade, with some sections up to 14%.. We were climbing at an average speed under 5km/h and each of us consumed close to 10 litres of water. (some with electrolyte powder) 

There will be some debate when our trip is over, but for now the Paulson Summit is the most summit.

The downhill side was plenty reward. A 50 km section that took us a little over an hour brought us down to Castlegar, which is a beautifully situated town along a huge fast flowing river in a sweet little pocket of mountains.

Castlegar ended up being a long stop for us getting late in the day and hampering our chances of getting a place to camp.. We stocked up and took our time enjoying the locale.

It’s easy to see why locations like this hydro dam inspire dramatic action scenes in blockbuster movies. The scale of this is quite fascinating from our little a bicycles on the side of the highway.

A little push-back from rural BC

And finally into a creative campsite where we ran out of the legs to keep going. A gruelling but highly rewarding travel day, and we are very much hooked on this form of travel and sightseeing. 

READ NEXT:  Okanagan to Alberta! Pt. 3(4) - Gray Creek