With my children happily en route to “Camp
Aunt Robin,” The Husband and I headed out of town for 4 days of off-road
adventures. I like to try new trails in
new areas, it gives me a chance to test my fitness and skills on unknown
adventures. Mission successful! We chose Revelstoke for a couple of reasons:
it’s close enough to drive in half a day, and I have been hankering to ride The
Keystone Standard Basin trail ever since I heard about it 18 months ago. More
on KSB to follow….
Day
1: Drive from Calgary to Revelstoke and get organized
After we finally got rolling late Friday
morning, Revelstoke welcomed us with blue skies. Our B&B, The Courthouse Inn (loved it! Highly recommended!), is located within 10min walk of historic
downtown, and the owners and hosts were warm and full of great ideas for local
eateries and attractions.
We also checked out one of the local bike
shops, Flowt, who were keen to share their knowledge of local trails and were a
great source of info. Thanks guys! They
also freely dispense the local trail maps, good for helping to determine routes
and distances.
We decided on a “short” trail run before
dinner, and both the B&B and Flowt agreed that the “5k” loop would be a
good choice (note: the 5km goes in one direction to the apex of the loop, making
the total distance a 10km loop). We
started at the Rail Museum and headed UP through the trees, under Hwy 1, and
continued going UP for almost 5km! There is an add-on loop at the end of the
trail, “Inspiration Loop” and while it was an absolutely gorgeous Ewok forest
trail, I was finding it tough to be inspired – until I started to run downhill,
which was certainly a relief after climbing for 45min. I’m pretty happy with my running this year,
my feet move faster and I have better longevity. I’m not positive I’m faster on
the trails (certainly faster on pavement, but it’s tough to judge off-road),
but I am able to keep my feet underneath me while climbing most hills, and I
certainly take fewer walk-breaks than I used to. Consistency has been the name of the game.
This loop trail is used in winter for XC skiing, but it’s perfect for a quick
trail run during the summer, loamy underfoot and well-trodden singletrack.
We headed to The Village Idiot post-run for
some supper, where the local brewery, Mt Begbie, was on tap and the pizza was
delicious, filling, and large enough to take for lunch the next day!
Day
2: Keystone Standard Basin
Our B&B had amazing, 3-course, 5-star
breakfasts. I enjoyed a large bowl of
fruit topped with crème fraiche, egg soufflé, and “dessert” each morning.
Dessert was fresh banana, blueberry or chocolate muffin-cake-morsels of
goodness. Yummy.
KSB is not for the faint of heart, but if
you want to ride through high-alpine meadows bursting with wildflowers, watch
waterfalls tumble and rumble from astonishing heights, and challenge both your
technical and fitness skills, you will be in heaven.
It is located approx. 50km north of
Revelstoke on Hwy 23, where you then drive along a fire road for close to 14km.
The trailhead is well marked and has a unique outhouse.
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| At the trailhead for KSB, excited to ride! |
The initial 100m out of the parking lot are
hell: large, loose rocks, steep pitch, and an adoring audience in the parking
lot as they assemble their kits. After
that, you have to survive the cardiac-arrest inducing technical 1.5km climb through
a clearcut up to the tree line.
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| This view awaits you - if you survive the first 1.5-2km! |
It is
worth persevering, because from this point forward, you enjoy clear, almost 360
degree views, with panoramas of the entire basin as you circle
counter-clockwise around the basin before heading up and over the ridge. The
trail continues to climb, descend, climb some more, then descend, climb again….
You get the picture! From the first viewpoint, you can see a tall waterfall –
that’s your first checkpoint.
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| Time to start climbing again... |
From here, you ascend a large boulder field (we
encountered some large snow patches to traverse), and head up a very steep
z-switchback. I would love to meet the people who can ride this beast, it’s
wicked! Once up the switchback, you traverse the cliff, surrounded by
wildflowers whose stems and greenery hide the true extremity of the pitch. I
didn’t appreciate the exposure until the return trip, which was downhill along
said cliff. Eek!
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| Gorgeous ride thru fields of wildflowers on a wicked pitch, whose true steepness is (thankfully!) masked by the flowers. |
Once off the face of the mountain, you head
up some more into true alpine, where the floor is blanketed in moss campion and
saxifrage and more wildflowers than I could dream of! Here is where the 50mm of
rain that fell in the previous week were noticed. The early sections of the
trail were well-drained and virtually mud-free.
Once over the ridge, we noticed considerable stretches of mud and
standing water. I’m sure a few days of hot sun would dry this out, but it did
look like some serious trail damage could be an issue, both from trail braiding
and from deep trenches. We did our best to ride through the muck and tried to
leave minimal impact. We started to descend to the small lake and seasonal
snowmobiler cabin, where we luxuriated in the view, relatively free from the
dreaded mosquitos and horseflies that are rumoured to live up here. Our day was relatively cool – only 18 C with
a bit of a breeze – so the monsters weren’t around. I would put good money on
an infestation and feeding frenzy if the temp were about 20C in a few days
time!
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| No flies - today... |
We took our time eating lunch, and
eventually mounted up for the 2km climb out of the valley and back to our
trail. The ride home was net downhill, but the trail has plenty of ups and
downs along the way. The dreaded exposure on the cliff, and the steep
z-switchback gave us some pause along the way, but the ride ended all-too-soon.
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| The Husband followed my example and opted out of the tricky descent, there can be high consequences if you miss the line. |
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| I survived the first climb, ready to enjoy the Basin. |
Overall, this was a tough, technical ride that required good fitness to finish
without being a complete mess for a week post-ride. It is entirely worth the
effort and I would claim it is the premiere ride in the area!
We dined at the Woolsey Creek Bistro – OMG,
gourmet food at the end of a long ride is the best way to celebrate! The chefs
here are stunning. Go check it out.
Great effort, time, and money has been
invested over the past few years into the Mount MacPherson trails, located
within 10 min of Revelstoke on Hwy 23 south.
Here is the trail combo that we rode:
Flowdown to Dusty Beaver, up View to Buff
Enuff, along Tight Rope to go down Berm Donor, across Tamtrum (I almost had
one!), back up Buff Enuff, across Tight Rope again to go up the other side of
Berm Donor to Dusty Beaver and descend Flowdown. Thanks to the boys at Flowt
for this route, it was kick-ass!
Good note: the local trail-building
association organized a sponsorship for printing the maps, which are FREE and
available at both bike shops and at the BC tourist info centre. The maps are
incredibly accurate, but not very durable (I taped mine with packaging tape to
keep it from splitting along the seams).
The trails climb and wind their way through
an old-growth forest that belongs on Endor, across a cut-block that has
regenerated into a lush patch of beauty, and along the edge of some
ridges. The trails are truly buff,
well-maintained, well-signed and rated according to their difficulty. We even
ran into a Spin Sister along the way (hi Gwyneth!). There is a little something
for everyone in this forest, smooth riding for beginners, roots and drops for
those who have a bit more experience, and thrilling DH gnarly technical shit
for the advanced riders. We are looking
forward to returning to Revelstoke to explore more of the trails in this area,
they were excellent!
This was our “easy” day, so after 4 hours
of fun we headed for Halcyon Hot Springs, an hour drive and ferry ride
south. We dined like royalty and enjoyed
a soak in the world’s best mineral springs. No kidding, these springs are
reputed to have the best mineral concentration of lithium, sulphur and others
that are ideal for healing. All I can say is this: my legs, after three days of
pretty extreme output, felt recovered and zippy on Day 4.
Day
4: Frisby Ridge
All weekend long, we encountered other
riders who positively raved about this trail. We had it listed as our #2
must-ride for the trip, so we were looking forward to seeing how it would ride.
We were worried about reports of snow at the higher elevations, and we had been
warned about extensive mud, and of course, the annoying, ever-present and
painful horseflies (these monsters have bodies roughly the size of my thumbnail!). The
locals are proud of this new trail, and it’s been groomed and sculpted to
perfection. We were also prepared for some amazing views and enjoying another
day of mountain biking in the high alpine meadows.
All of it came true!
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| Almost at the Lake - beautiful alpine meadows in bloom |
The trail was incredible: I didn’t fully
appreciate the technical elements on the way up. We rode for just under 2
hours, entirely uphill. There were a few spots that I would consider
“technical,” but I was heavily focused on keeping my legs moving and riding
uphill. I think my Garmin recorded a steady heart-rate of 153bmp for approx.
1:15 before I decided to refuel for the final push to the top. When riding this
trail, it’s not a tough technical climb, it’s just relentless, you have to be willing
to keep the legs spinning with some torque on the pedals for a long time, all
while tolerating the steady, unrelenting buzz of the horseflies that keep you
company for the duration of your ride. If you can do this, you will be rewarded
with vistas and wildflowers and alpine lakes that are unmatched. The trail
ultimately descends to a small lake (good for filtering some water for the
return trip – bring a water filter!) and a cabin where you can take refuge from
the horseflies, which is almost anti-climactic in comparison to the views you
had on the ridge.
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| Cabin beside the lake offered respite from horseflies. |
The ride down makes
all the climbing even more valuable, because you will get to appreciate the
technical side of the buff trail you muscled up, while still marvelling in your
surroundings. Yes, it sounds like I’m
gushing, but the scenery was amazing.
Post-ride we headed to Williamson Lake, the
local swimming hole, to go for a quick dip before jumping back in the truck for
the long drive home. A great little lake fit for families on a hot day.
Overall, riding in Revelstoke has something
for every level of rider, but the big rides, both KSB and Frisby, require some
strong base fitness and technical chops. Both are a great way to step up your
abilities while still enjoying the panoramas.
I feel very honoured and blessed to visit these amazing areas.
