Lunchtime!

One big change to bike - packing that we've instituted is having lunch while on the trail.  My cycling friend Roy was convinced of the intelligence of lunch on the trail when our mutual friend Richard declared "That's what normal people do!" a couple of years ago when we cycled to a restaurant in Tulammen for fish and chips (without the fish).




This guy has been having lunch as long as I can remember

On this particular trip, my wife had driven the three of us from Beaverdell  to Mile Zero of the KVR at Midway and the idea was for my daughter and I to cycle from there back to Beaverdell which would take all day.


Signing in at Mile Zero

It was fun to scan the rafters of the cycling shelter at Mile Zero and to find evidence of earlier KVR trips.

Rafter with my name/date and Perry's name/date



After a scenic ride along the clear flowing Kettle River, we found ourselves at Kettle River Provincial Park where picnic tables had been erected near the original railway bridge. While we prepared a hot lunch, a fly fisherman cast his line in the shadow of said bridge and an older European couple cycled up to our table to ask how old the bridge was and to ask about our camping trip.  The bridge was built in 1909 and I'm sure by European standards, that makes it a very new structure.  They seemed impressed that we were carrying all our gear and intended to cycle 50 - 60 kilometers of the trail today.

This was one of my first opportunities to try out my MSR Whisperlite stove (testing it at my firepit in the backyard at home doesn't count).  I was still trying to get the hang of not letting too much fuel fill the starter cup - the first time at home a huge orange and yellow flame erupted from the base of the stove and a cloud of soot blackened not only the stove but the pot full of water on top.  Thankfully there was nothing flamable within a 20 foot range of the inferno (except moi).

What the stove looks like before catching fire

This particular lunch not only gave us nourishment for cycling uphill to Beaverdell but also provided some entertainment as the older couple from Europe quickly backed away when the cigarette lighter I was playing with accidentally ignited a pool of white gas that had inadvertently dribbled onto the picnic table and created an awesome display of flames and smoke which were only extinguished using the clear waters of the Kettle River.