Kettle Valley Railway

Day 4, 74km.
Kettle River Provincial Park to Lakevale Station
Carmi Subdivision - KVR

 The section of the KVR from Midway to Princeton is known as the Carmi Subdivision and is probably the most travelled, especially in the Myra Canyon area. Up until this section we had seen virtually no other cyclists on our route and surprisingly, even on this popular part, we only met a few.

 Another early start to beat the heat had us on the road by 7:00 a.m. The trail was only passable in short sections until Rhone Station, and as Highway 33 parallels the trail we alternated between both for quite a few miles. As we were passing through Rhone, we noticed a fellow was calling to us from a house on a hill, so we slowed down and turned into his driveway. It turns out that his name was Paul Lautard and he was very proud to be the custodian of the Rhone World War II memorial in his front yard. He related some of the history of the veterans from Rhone that fought and died in the War and were now commemorated on the plaque of the memorial. He stopped all cyclists that were passing through by calling down from his house on the hill and then running down with a large jug full of cool, sweet, well water; very refreshing for thirsty pedalling people. He also built a beautiful covered picnic area for cyclists to rest up and a "hitching post" for leaning one's heavy laden bike against. A very amiable and interesting guy!

 We said goodbye to Paul and thanked him for his hospitality, but time was dragging on and we had quite a few more miles to pedal that day. We rode on for another 30km and had some snacks but our stomachs were leading us to the town of Beaverdell for a late but hearty breakfast! In fact it was almost lunchtime but the local coffee shop served breakfast all day; that made us happy. The service was really slow, but the wait was worth it as we were served the biggest pancakes we had ever seen. In fact, if you can believe it, some of the guys couldn't eat them all! We did find out that by folding the uneaten pancakes in half, they fit nicely in our panniers and travelled very well to be eaten as a "snack" later on!

 Full of pancakes, eggs and coffee we did some grocery shopping in Beaverdell and headed back over the bridge to rejoin the KVR. After just crossing the bridge, Larry Mc's tire went flat. Not just a puncture though, the tire was ruined as his brake shoe had been set too high and rubbed a slit in the sidewall. Luckily he had a spare tire and before long we were on our way again.

 The next obstacle on the trail was not far away. Wilkinson creek has no bridge, as the actual steel girder rail bridge was moved and was now the road bridge we had just used in Beaverdell. Luckily the creek was very low and we easily forded it. Up the embankment at the other side of the creek and we were back on the trail. Off we went, oops, not quite! Larry Mc jumped on his bike, took a couple of strokes and "ping" went one of his spokes! Rear wheel, cassette side of course! He wangled it out of there and loosened his brake off, away from the now wobbly rim, so that he could continue on and get the repair done later.

 We passed a couple of other cyclists and one was pulling a Burley trailer that was bouncing around all over the place as the trail was quite wash boarded. Then just after seeing them, we passed a field on our left, and not too far away in the field was a bear with her two cubs; we speeded up considerably!

 After another 18km of riding we arrived at the site of Lakevale Station and the wilderness campsite of Arlington Lakes. A very nice spot, good swimming but no water source other than the lake. The water filter came in handy again! The couple with the trailer pulled in a little later, and lo and behold, there was a little toddler in the trailer! I thought that he must of been really shook up, but the couple said that he loved it and that he laughed and giggled all the way.

 I think that it was about that time that I noticed that Tim was having "Chunky, the soup that eats like a meal" again for dinner. He seemed to have an endless supply of the stuff! I grilled him about this fact and apparently he had brought quite a few cans along as he didn't know what to expect! No wonder he said his bike felt heavy at the beginning of the trip. But he was eating his way to a lighter bike though!

Day 5, 75km.
Lakevale Station to Chute Lake Station
Carmi Subdivision - KVR

 The next morning we were off pretty early again and made a bee-line for the McCullough Lake Resort, which was about a 22km ride. Why? They had food there and we couldn't pass up a hot breakfast! The lodge is in a beautiful place with cabins and a campground all on the shore of Hydraulic Lake. A little further on was the remains of McCulloch Station, named after the chief engineer of the KVR, Andrew McCulloch.

 Our stomachs full again , we ventured on and found that this part of the trail has been widened and is actually used by logging trucks. Thankfully though, we didn't meet up with any, but the trail surface was seriously wash-boarded.

 Soon we were entering the one of the most spectacular parts of the KVR, Myra Canyon. There are 18 trestles to cross and a couple of tunnels to negotiate. The trestles are a marvelous example of engineering, even in this day and age.

Some of the trestles at Myra Canyon

 At the end of Myra Canyon we once again had a shared trail/roadway. The surface appeared to have been graded very recently and unfortunately for us was very loose and sandy, our wheels were sinking in making the ride exceptionally tedious. After a few miles we saw a dust cloud ahead of us and it turned out to be the grader that was working on the trail! We ate a lot of dust until we eventually passed him and arrived at Chute Lake Station, dusty, thirsty, and tired. Chute Lake has excellent camping, but the food menu at the lodge is limited. When we arrived, we went straight into the place and asked for a cold beer to slake our dusty throats, and were told that we had to have something to eat as they only had a restaurant license. Yeah right! Like we needed persuading to eat! We slaked our thirst while we admired the historic artifacts and other interesting paraphernalia in the lodge, that dated back to the old railroad days.

Update, 2003...

 2003 was a very dry summer in BC and there were many forest fires burning out of control in the whole Province. One such fire spread out of control to burn many acres of forest on the outskirts of the city of Kelowna. The fire razed somewhere in the region of 250 homes, then changed direction and regrettably spread to the Myra Canyon. The majority of the old railroad trestles were destroyed, thereby leaving this section of the KVR impassable. This was a great loss of some irreplaceable heritage and an absolute catastrophe for this portion of the Trans Canada Trail.

 There is a notion of plans to rebuild with some form of bridge for cyclists and pedestrians; obviously the structures would not be carrying railroad stock and therefore could be less substantial than the old trestles.

 In conclusion, I can only add that I was very fortunate to ride across the original structures on my visit to the KVR trail; the trestles were really spectacular and a credit to the railroad builders of yesteryear.

Update, 2008...

 It has been over 4 years in the making, but the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society are very happy to report that the trestles have all been completed, and it is now possible to travel over the 12km route between Myra and Ruth trailheads. The Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society maintains a very informative website with regular updates to the KVR Trail and trestles in that area.

Update, 2013...

As a result of a large rock slide in April of 2013, Trestle #3 was severely damaged and was rendered impassable. A by-pass route was opened in August, 2013, but it requires hiking ability and the need to push/walk one's bicycle. The Trestle is being repaired and should be operational by Spring, 2014. Check out the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society website for more information.

Day 6, 32km.
Chute Lake Station to Penticton Station
Carmi Subdivision - KVR

 We planned for a short day by taking the 4x4 Smethhurst Road short-cut and hence by-passing the 14km switchback of the KVR after Adra Station, which would then make it only 32km to Penticton. Penticton is a resort town, and we thought that it would be a good place to be tourists for an afternoon. Also, Penticton has some good bike shops which would allow Larry Mc to get a new spoke in his wheel and be able to have full use of his back brake again; that was the plan anyway!...

 Leaving Chute Lake we were riding in deep sandy trail bed, but fortunately we were on a downhill grade and our only problem was trying to keep a straight path. It was slow going all the same, with a very hot sun again, as we entered rattlesnake territory! During the building of the KVR this Naramata section claimed many a life of a railroad worker, as periodic blasting shook angry rattlesnakes from the rocks above. We kept our eyes peeled!

 Almost immediately after the remains of Adra Station is the Adra Tunnel. The spiral tunnel is 489 metres long and has been blocked due to it's unsafe nature. There is short by-pass trail which we took and then continued on to find the 4x4 road. This shortcut took the full grade of the downhill run that the railway couldn't take and hence had to switchback. Hair-raising is a good word for the road for it must have been a 20% grade and very rough to boot. Our brakes were just smoking trying to keep a safe speed. Larry Mc went sailing past all of us and his mountain biking experience sure came in useful there. I thought he was nuts going that fast, then I realised that he had no back brake because he had loosened it off after he broke the spoke and the rim went out of true! We all made it OK though and were grateful that we didn't have to go up that steep grade!

 We picked up the KVR trail and were into deep sand again. Two small trestles were missing at Arawana Creek, but the trail was filled in with sand, creating two gullies. I thought I'd be smart here and take a run down the first gully and gain some momentum to get up the other sandy side and then down and up again. Well I made the first one and then went down the second one; the bottom of this one was quite abrupt and my front pannier stuck in the sand. Over the handlebars I went, whacked my head and ribs pretty good, and acquired a nice patch of road rash on my knee and elbow. Never, will I use a low-rider front rack for off-road use again!

  I was quite shaken up, the bike was OK though and I just had to fix the pannier hook. Then I could dig out the sand from my bloody knee and elbow, ouch! The first aid kit and hydrogen peroxide came into good use again.

 The remainder of the ride to Penticton was relatively uneventful although the sandy trail surface was a constant nuisance, albeit less and less so, as we approached the town.

 Our first stop in Penticton was "The Bike Barn" which is a fine bike shop with a good stock of parts, accessories and bikes. They installed a new spoke and re-trued Larry Mc's rear wheel in no time and soon we were on our way to lunch at the Kettle Valley Station Pub. Mmm, cold beer and a big pasta lunch!

 We camped not far away from the pub at the Park Royal RV Park, and although they catered more to the RV community, we shared a nice grassy pad/campsite; between the six of us the cost was very reasonable. The afternoon was spent touring around Penticton. Also for me, a quick visit to the walk-in medical clinic to check my painful bruised ribs, as I was concerned that I may have cracked one during my acrobatics! All checked out well though and I even snagged some free antibiotic ointment for my road rash.