Solitary Sun

Sunday, August 1, 2011

Day 38

It's after 6 pm and I'm at Swan lake Campground about 20 km SE of Dawson Creek eating an eclectic dinner of Thai chicken noodle salad and quiche purchased from the Safeway in town.

My campsite at Swan Lake.
Here I was fortunate to meet Larry and Markie Runnalls, a fine and generous couple who have hosted this camp this summer. The rest of the year, Larry produces the Abbotsford International Airshow, one of the largest and most prestigious in the world. Check it out at www.abbotsfordairshow.com.
Both Markie and Larry were concerned and discouraged by the apparent disregard of many campers for their environment and cleanliness.

There seem to be few or no mosquitoes here. Whether that's because there are none, or because the 50 kph wind is blowing them away, it is welcome, just as was the sun today.

Yet, for the first time on this trip, a heavy feeling of melancholy gripped me and I've been trying to identify why.  

Road construction and delays for one-way pilot car zones have been frequent ever since I began driving north along the California Coast Route 1. It's just an expected part of a trip like this. All of these areas experience extreme winter weather and the roads take a beating, consequently in the short summer months the construction crews are everywhere at once!

I drove thru an hour of rain to begin the day. That was a bit disappointing and a contributing factor. The first TV I've watched in a long time was The Weather Channel at the hotel last night, and their forecast for Fort nelson was for rain ending by 8 am, a partly cloudy but dry afternoon, and then sunny days for a while, with my route to the south and east expected to be outside the rain zone for some days to come. The rain was light but my boots and socks did not dry completely last night despite my best travelers tricks using materials found around the spartan hotel. I was tired of putting shopping bags over my boots so I did not do that, and after a while the wetness soaked thru and my feet went from damp to cold and clammy. Even though the rest of my body didn't feel cold, I turned on the vest so that part of me could feel really warm, but it didn't balance out.

The rain ended and ahead looked drier and the clouds seemed to be breaking up. I stopped to pee and the rest area did not have the usual green outhouse pit toilets but instead a real bathroom with running water, flush toilets and heated air hand blow dryer. I don't care much about what kind of toilet I use, but that hand dryer really put out...hmm, I'll bet that could dry my socks and boots in a hurry. The way I was feeling, it was worth it to take off most of my clothes so that I could remove my boots and socks and dry them , even if the relief was temporary and they just got wet again. I am quite tired of wet feet.

 

These BC rest area bathrooms are a definite step up from the green with white trim jobs in Yukon, tho less frequent.

A Welcome Amenity!

Things are looking up, weather-wise

Fields and fields of flowers, as if by going south time is reversed with the seasons going backwards, from winter to fall and back to summer

It turns out it did not rain again, and though driving away from the rest area there were threatening clouds ahead, the road soon tuned in a brighter direction. I saw more sun this afternoon than in all of the last several weeks combined.

Visited the Alaska Highway Museum as I came thru Dawson Creek. It's free and does a good job documenting its purpose and construction history.

Aha! The explanation of the name of the place I camped a few nights back, Contact Creek.

The woman who ran the museum, a first-year triathlete, kindly came out and took this photo.

Of greater mood affect are loneliness and a nagging suspicion that the noise my bike makes when starting off in first and second gear, which is becoming louder and more gravely in tone, is indicative of a serious problem that I have yet to discover and will soon manifest its cause via a serious failure that will render the bike undrivable. The thought of having to delay to find parts and make repairs multiplies my sense of isolation and feeds the loneliness.

It's been great fun to go far from home by myself, but the trip back is just as long, and at some point the desire shifts to returning. I seem to have reached that point.

I seem to be going backwards!
It matches today's theme.