Ride Report - Adventurey Muppets’ Snowy Ride

Guest Ride Report

Three muppets rolled out of Calgary in the middle of April headed west in search of adventure. This is their story!!!

There’s some stellar pics to come, but they put together a fantastic little video as well. Great vibe and gives the feel of the expedition…

Day One
15 April – 385km
Calgary-Porcupine Hills – Fernie – Wardner, BC

Need to escape. It’s been a long winter but planning a bike trip this early, in Canada? Guess we’ll see how that turns out.

Noon departure – BigMuppet finally gets his road test sorted after riding his bike for 12,000km so he’s ready to roll. MediumMuppet has been packed and ready since January.

We blasted south of town and jumped on gravel heading into the porcupine hills, low elevation foothills…surely clear of snow by mid April…We hoped.

Attempted to ride Skyline Rd but encountered mud ruts and snow at 1600m. A passing farmer confirmed our suspicions about the road conditions ahead – he was in 4×4 mode for 5km sliding around in the mud ruts. Ah…no thanks. We did a shithook and got outta there…but not before BigMuppet plugged his 790 into a snowbank. It was pretty comical to watch.

Rolled into Fernie to grab fuel, beer, and a beef wrap from the Chopsticks food truck (so good). Continued riding west and found a great spot to camp and settled in for pints, fire, stories and great scenery.

Day Two
16 April -400km
Wardner – Balfour – Duncan LakeGreen Track)

Coffee on the lake. Perfect start.
Side stand sensor failure. Not so perfect. Thankfully I carry a dongle/bypass – you katoom riders take note. This was a 5 minute delay versus towing a bike out. $80 well spent.

To lift my spirits further, BigMuppet decided to dump his bike upside down while navigating over a log. Sorry no pics since he needed help. Lol

We rode via Norbury to Fort Steele, twisty asphalt to Creston and Crawford Bay and beyond. After checking out the Marblehead mine we found a great camp spot at Howser rec site on Duncan Lake – the water was so low that it was like descending / climbing a Saharan dune to go for a (very) cold dip.

That night we were treated to fireworks from a family camping down the lake. Then the Northern Lights were on show while we chilled by the fire on the beach. Perfect end to the day.

Day Three
17 April – 365km
Howser – Trout Lake – Edgewood – Kettle Valley FSR (Sandy Bend rec site)

Cold start from an amazing camp.
Stopped for some gravity pumped fuel in Trout Lake. Love these relics that still serve a purposeful existence.

We were then snowed out on west side of Upper Arrow at km 26 headed south. Met Steve (SxS) who warned us of snow ahead, and an English dude on a shiny new 890R who told us the Christian FSR / Kettle Valley FSR is clear to from the top of Lumby pass to Rock Creek in the south.

So we doubled back to the ferry and headed down the east side of Arrow Lake for a late lunch/ beer pickup in Nakusp and down to the Faurquer ferry.

Coming off the ferry was like a LeMans start with cars jockeying around trying to avoid the pace car (a clapped out old VW). I was behind an AMG and M2 for a while until they started their drift session through the twisties and I remembered I wasn’t on a sport bike.

Near the top of the pass we headed south through the snow and finally found a rec site not buried in white stuff. Epic fire ensued. Not a soul in sight.

Day Four
18 April – 348km
Sandy Bend Rec Site – Rock Creek – Oliver – Otter Lake

Amazing sleep fueled by fresh mountain air, river sounds, a full belly and pints…helped overcome seeing prints on the beach below my tent. Medium sized cat?

Chowed down a late (second) breakfast at the Pub in Rock Creek. Despite our lack of land pirate attire we were welcomed in.

MediumMuppet went missing at this point, racing ahead and missing the turn off. Shot him a text to meet us in Oliver and idled up the Baldy Mtn road and down into Oliver where we reconnected with the missing Muppet.

Then deciding not to tempt fate with high elevation snow (the ride up and over Apex Mtn) we rode twisty asphalt the remainder of the afternoon. Riding some dual-track north of Oliver we somehow lost BigMuppet and no amount of texting or phone calls could sort him out. Sometimes you just have to find your own way.

After waiting for 15 minutes we cut the umbilical and headed off towards Hedley where we grabbed gatorade and chatted with the local gentry. A text from BigMuppet – he’s 20 minutes AHEAD of us fueling up in Princeton. How the heck?

Found the missing Muppet and followed the KVR railbed to our camp spot for the night.

Day Five
19 April – 465km
Otter Lake – Spence’s Bridge – Boston Bar – West Harrison FSR

After a civilized night as the only campers in the area, it was a cold start with a s l o w sunrise. The target today is to ride over to Boston Bar, down the East Harrison and up the west side. No idea if this is a reasonable target but looks like there’s several rec site options along the route so no rush.

We got a snowed out twice – on the KVR west of Otter Lake and again trying to connect the Nahatlatch to East Harrison. MediumMuppet dumped his 790 in the snow and finally put a scuff on it. On the plus side, he spotted a cougar crossing the track behind us as we sized up a larger water crossing. Yikes!

Started receiving texts from the missus regarding BC going into some sort of lockdown and restrictions on recreational travel. Well shit, good thing our plates are covered in mud. Just the same, best to head back to avoid scrutiny. The reality is that the few folks we met along the way were friendly and welcoming.

Twisty asphalt to Harrison Mills and headed up towards West Harry – to grab a spot at one of the many rec sites. Fire and beers on the beach and chill vibes until BigMuppet had a few extra pints and blew a tire in turn 3 on the final lap and careened into the wall. That is to say…he overcooked the landing. You know what I’m saying here…

This is MediumMuppet grabbing a few zzz’s before BigMuppet’s escapades. Like I said…chill vibes.

Day Six
20 April – 535km
West Harrison – Lilloet – Sicamous

Chunder fest on West Harry gave way to dusty high grade FSR. The Duffy to Lilloet was glorious! Such a great road.

Day Seven
21 April – 605 km
Sicamous – Radium – Calgary

What can I say. We were racing the clock. Snow in the forecast and travel restrictions pending, time to make miles.

Nothing notable other than the usual circus of aggressive pickup truck drivers between Radium and Castle Junction. I don’t get this mentality – One moron literally hogged the passing lane and when I tried to pass on the right, he sped up. When I slid back in behind him and flipped him a long and dramatic “bird”, he finally relented and moved over. Silly muppet!

Back home, camp gear cleaned up, bike spotless, with a list of maintenance items do do while it snows in typical Calgary fashion….