Coloradans in Canada (2017)

Every year since 2009, a group of us leaves Colorado for B.C., Canada. Typically, this has been a gravity fueled trip, but we have often wished we had trail bikes as well, but the logistics of taking two bikes each has been too much. In 2017, it finally came to fruition, but not without some last minute changes. We initially planned to set out in July, but due to work related issues, we had to re-schedule for September. This year, there would be only two of us, myself and my good friend Wade. The plan was to keep it simple, hop in the truck and drive north to the Fernie area and hit a few places along the way. The week before departure date it came to our attention that the forest fires in Montana and B.C. had closed most of the areas we were planning on riding, we were devastated to say the least and it seemed our trip was off. What was also shocking was how little press there was on these fires. I had a very busy summer and recognize I wasn't paying attention, however, I was appalled by the lack of news on this once I started looking. I hope the people in these areas stayed safe and are recovering well.

I frantically began looking for other options. By noon the next day I had secured two round trip tickets from Denver to Seattle ($84 round trip!), booked a cabin in Squamish and was working on the rental vehicle. Somehow, we were going to pull this off. With the details all worked out, we were excited for a week in Squamish. We packed our bikes and off we went.

We arrived in Seattle and spent the day getting the rental truck and making our way to Squamish. Of course we stopped at Fred Meyer in Bellingham to stock up on supplies. Thankfully it was a rainy day and excitement was growing as we knew the trails needed some moisture. We were hoping to make it to Squamish in time for an evening ride. Unfortunately we would have to wait as the border took awhile and we arrived a little too late. We got settled into our little cabin, had dinner and good nights rest.

The cabin is basic, the internet works sometimes and there is only a TV with a VHS player and a wall of movies. It feels nice to be away from it all as the focus is to ride. The price was right and its clean, has a kitchen and a bathroom and who can resist watching Next Friday and Barber Shop?


Day 1:
We started at the north side of Alice Lake and spent the morning getting acquainted with the area. We rode Rigs in Zen to Crouching Squirrel Hidden Dragon. While Colorado has great trails and many miles of riding, nothing quite prepares you for the steepness found in Canada. It always takes a few steep lines to remember what your bike can handle. We continued our morning with 50 Shades, Entrails to Room with a View and Hueso. A great start to the trip. The rain brought great conditions and the sun was shining. Time for lunch and then ride two.





We headed over to Garibaldi Highlands for ride two of the day. We have ridden this area many times in the past, but this was the first time on trail bikes. We headed up the climbing trail to Half Nelson and then finished with Lowdown. Day one in the books, we headed back to the cabin for a beer and food.

Day 2:
We decided to head to the Whistler valley for day two and check out Lord of the Squirrels. This ride was quite the experience. Its a long steady climb to the top. The scenery was simply amazing and the landscape felt like another world. The trees thinned out and gave way to a rocky landscape filled with boulders, high alpine lakes and flowers.





The descent was a blast and such a hoot we couldn't be bothered with stopping for photos. A good mix of loamy dirt and rocky slabs up top. Lots of twists and turns along the way. The trail had only been open for about month we were told and what started out as a flowy, smooth trail certainly had its share of ruts and brake bumps. We ended the day at the Whistler Brewing Company for a well deserved beer before heading back down to Squamish.


Day 3:
We started off day 3 at the Garibaldi Highlands trailhead to check out a few trails that were suggested to us by a rider we met on Lord of the Squirrels. We climbed the climbing trail and hit the lower half of Half Nelson for a warm up and crossed the road to Another's Man's Gold to STP, to Bonsai and then Somewhere Over There. We had to ride Bonsai twice as we didn't know what direction to go initially, but we got it all worked out. Somewhere Over There was an amazing trail filled with many steep rock rolls that left us giggling. There is nothing like Squamish trails in Colorado and we couldn't get enough. Time for lunch and more Alice Lake Trails.



We had some fish and chips in town and headed over to the southern entrance of Alice Lake to try to link some of the trails together on that side. We found the climb up to be rather easy and made 3 or 4 laps. Rupert was a superb trail with its share of rock rolls, yet had some great flow to it. Treasure trail had some of the most challenging features we had seen to date, while we didn't try them all we were certainly pushing our comfort level on this one. We ended with Entrails on that day. So far, the trip had been a blast, so much to ride, so much to see and three more days to get it all done!





Day 4:
We headed up to Pemberton for day 4. We stopped in the Pemberton Bike Co. shop and asked for suggestions. We had our sights set on Jack the Ripper as its been on the bucket list for awhile. I had stayed with Jack and his wife Laura on my first trip to Canada in 2009. At the time he talked about the trail and of course I had to ride it. The bike shop guy called it "sporty", we didn't really know what it meant. He told us if we made it back before they close, there would be a beer waiting for us. This was a long, grueling day. Over 5000 feet of climbing to get to the top. Wade was starting to get delirious and making great comments.. "Better keep your head down or you might get hit by a plane" and "Can't get any higher unless you climb a tree" were two of my favorites.



Jack the Ripper delivered and we soon found out what sporty meant. JTR was steep and loose (things certainly had begun to dry out by this time of the trip). We had a blast picking our way down the mountain, stopping to catch some views here and there and marveling at Mt. Currie in the distance. Pemberton is one of the most picturesque places I have seen, everything around it feels big. We finished the ride with lower Bob Knarly and sure enough, the bike shop guy came out with a beer for us.



Day 5:
At this point we are starting to wonder if we can pedal any more. The legs are tight to say the least, but we are on a bike vacation, what are you going to do? We started off at the Garbaldi trailhead again, we were determined to ride as many of the Squamish trails as possible. We climbed to the top and rode Powerslave to Skookum, to Freds, Tinder and Your Mom. This was a very fun loop with fun challenging spots along the way.



Ride two was more Alice lake. Getting started on ride 2 hurts. Once we got warmed up again it was well worth it. We rode from the southern side again and rode Marc my Word and Leave of Absence and ending on Room with a View (I think).

Day 6:
We were fortunate to have great weather while in Squamish. Near the end of the week, trails were getting dry and dusty, but we are used to that being from Colorado. The sun was out for most of the trip and temperatures topped out in the 60's, it was almost a perfect week. We started day 6 on a chilly morning on the north side of Alice Lake. We were trying to get to all the trails, but looks like we missed a few. During this morning we rode Credit Line, Value Added and In N Out Burger. There are some amazingly steep lines on some of these trails, many above our level. The dust on the trails adds another level of excitement and stopping now is becoming more challenging.


Last ride of the trip... we are tired and its getting harder to pedal but we are determined to make the most out of our trip. We head over to Garibaldi one more time and pedal up to hit Full Nelson and then climb up the service road towards Word of Mouth. We stop at the bottom of Grin and Holler to take a look at the jumps, decide they are not going to happen this trip and take our final descent.




We survived! Only a couple minor falls and no major bike issues. All in all we rode over 120 miles with just over 25000 feet gained and lost over 6 days. Canada is a truly remarkable bike destination. There are no user conflicts like in Colorado. Trails are mostly designated as up or down, but not both (although most would never even imagine climbing most of these trails). People are nice and helpful, Timmy Horton's has the best maple donuts around and its always nice to grab some quality poutine. See you next year Canada!