Wednesday, July 16, 2014

I feel that I haven’t adequately painted a picture of just how hot it is here, and the effect is has on….well, everything. It has been 37 degrees every day since I got to Oliver.

Even as we checked out of the motel I was starting to sweat. I had my jeans and leather vest on as I rode a very packed Silver south out of Oliver. Scott and I had to return our wrong bottles to Gold Hill Winery, and after parking there we decided to visit a few more wineries quickly before we both had to leave. I jumped into Scott’s car because it was air conditioned. It was only 10:00 in the morning.

The first visit was to Silver Sage. We went here for old time’s sake. While they have some of the most unique wines in the valley…a selection of sweeter table wines and outrageously good fruit dessert wines…and we mostly go so that we can hear the same stories and jokes that the host tells every year. They never get old…I guess. Anyway, it’s quite the show. I recommend. We were the only ones there at least, usually it’s packed.

We went across the valley to Hester Creek next. I really just went here to get their Trebbiano, which is always sold out when I come here just like the Muscat Ottonel at Hillside Estate is. I lucked out again…it was available. We were also presented with the chance to do a food and wine tasting for only $10 each. We opted for that, although we’d have to return in 45 minutes until the next scheduled time.

In order to use that time effectively, we went to Kismet Estate Winery. Neither of us had been here before, and the host was incredibly knowledgable…he’s been growing wine since 1993 and has only recently starting making their own wine. It was pretty damn good, so I bought a bottle before we returned to Hester Creek.

The wine and food experience was basically three spreads on three pieces of bread with three wines. It was a neat concept and the woman who led us through it was quite pleasant. We ended up doing a full tasting at the bar afterward, and I was able to buy the much sought-after Trebbiano.

We left Hester Creek just before noon and the heat was pounding down. We said our goodbyes in the Gold Hill parking lot and went in opposite directions…Scott going west back to his home and family in Port Moody, and I was heading east into the Kootenays. It was really great to spend a few days with Scott, and we both went home with a pretty good haul of wines. The cool thing about wine touring is remembering the purchase…for most bottles I could tell you the weather, some details of the tasting room, the time of day, etc…it makes drinking wine more interesting than just buying them from the liquor store.

This trip resulted in 49 bottles being added to our wine collection. When I drink each of those bottles I’ll remember this wine tour experience. Luckily, most of that was being shipped home. Silver was already packed pretty tight.

After our goodbyes I went to fuel up. I was already sweating pretty hard. It was at least 37 degrees out and being in full clothing and exposed to the sun made the heat unbearable. I wanted to get on the road just to get some wind in my face…I thought perhaps the heat was isolated to the south Okanagan…I was wrong.

Silver and I climbed out of Osoyoos on the Crowsnest and the heat got even worse. I stopped a few times to drink some water, but each time meant standing on the asphalt, which just made the heat worse. We rode all the way to Rock Creek and into Boundary Country, which is almost as dry as the Okanagan is, and sparsely treed. This was like a continuation of the desert and I found that I couldn’t drink enough water.

After a few hours I reached Grand Forks where I found some escape in the gas station where I fueled up. This was short lived, and it was here that I had to choose where to stay…I left a few “floater” days in there to decide on the fly…and the winner was New Denver. I chose New Denver because it is a) a beautiful little town, and b) they have a lake. Swimming in a cold, glacier fed lake was like a dream right now.

I crawled back on Silver and we headed out of Grank Forks,and thankfully we were saying goodbye to the dry Boundary area and into the Monashee Mountains. By the time we started the climb out of Christina Lake I could feel the temperature start to drop as the dry, brown landscape turned into a green, lush landscape. It took me an hour and a half to get to Castlegar, mostly because of construction stops on the way. As we decended into the Columbia Valley around Castelgar, the heat was returning back to its 37 degree level. I guess the 2-3 degree drop in temperature as I rode over the Paulsen Pass was only a short enjoyment.

I cruised right through Castlegar and headed north toward New Denver. The last leg was bittersweet…bitter because of the heat. I was starting to feel dizzy and slightly nauseated…and sweet because of the scenery. The road up to New Denver sits high above Slocan Lake, offering some spectacular views. I was able to reach my destination at around 6pm, and prompty checked into the Valhalla Inn. This motel is famous amongst motorcyclists, and the parking lot was full of other bikes by the time we got there.

During check in I was sweating profusely. I got sweat on the desk, my shirt was sticking to me, and I was incredibly uncomfortable. After paying for my room I unloaded Silver, dropped my bags off in my room, and threw my trunks on. I took the quickest route to the beach and wasted no time getting in the water.

It was a fantastic swim. The lake was crystal clear and cold and it cooled me right down. I was able to swim right where the Carpenter Creek flows into the Slocan Lake. The sand was dark and looked to be made up of ground up shale and slate. I watched the sunset from the water, and looked to the west and north to see the lake ess around the mountains that plunged into the valley. After such along, hot day…this was perfect to end it.

Actually…the day ended with a famous burger at Odin’s Pub next to the Valhalla Inn. I’ve read enough motorcycle journals with such rave reviews that I just had to try it…and I wasn’t disappointed.