Day 22 - Fort St. John, BC to Hinton, AB

Well, today added the adventure part to the entire trip. Part of this trip was being willing to make it through whatever happens. We have a schedule and we don't have a choice of changing if we ride or not. We ride. Rain or shine.

The day started off cloudy enough that we were all suited up for rain from the beginning. The first hundred miles or so went just fine but it was cold. The scenery has changed here to farm/ranch land that is lush and green. The first city along the way we stopped at for gas was Grand Prairie. That should describe the scenery pretty well.

The exciting thing about Grand Prairie is that just across from the gas station was a Starbucks. Ahhhhh. Time for a break. We get some coffee and tea and have a little snack. Walt opts for the flax seed thingy. (Sounds to healthy for me.) Don has a slice of carrot loaf stuff and I go for the cinnamon loaf. It is quite enjoyable. The morning hasn't been long or too cold but Starbucks just seems like a necessary part of motorcycle ride. We need to find more of them!

Heading south from Grand Prairie we take the shorter route that is more designated for trucks carrying hazardous materials! We didn't run into any of those. It seems to pass mostly through logging lands. Just after we start we see a sign that says next services 178 km. Not much is out here. We've got about 200 miles to cover between Grand Prairie and Hinton where we stop for the night.

Shortly after leaving Grand Prairie we hit rain. Our luck has run out. This is cold rain. Coming down pretty hard. In spots we're running up into low clouds/fog that limits our visibility to 100 yards. There is nothing to do but keep going. Now we get to see how well our clothing protects us. The best description I can give you about this is that it feels like riding in a January rainstorm in California. It is gray and cold. We're climbing in altitude as we go back into the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.

After an hour and a half we get the services that was 178 km away. We get some gas and Don and I decide it is time to alter clothing layers. We each add another one to fight the cold.

We head out again and have 90 more miles of this to fight through....

My helmet keeps fogging on the right side. I have a couple of options. Live with it and the reduced visibility, open my helmet and start getting wet inside but see better, or change back and forth between the options as the negatives dictate. All in all I'm in pretty good shape. All the practice runs has taught me to get the gear snapped, zipped, tucked in ways that keep me pretty dry and warm. Except for my feet. They are the coldest now. Also, I found that my jeans hang out a little from my rain pants. That allows the rain to wick back up to the top of my boot. Have to fix that in the future.

Walt and Don hit spots where the water was deep enough on the road that their wheels hydroplaned.

The worst water problem I had was a big truck passing us in the other direction. They sprayed enough water as they passed to cause whiteout of spray.

We made it to Hinton safely. First thing to get was something hot to drink. Got something to eat then headed to our rooms for the night to hang up things to dry and make plans for how to better handle this situation in the future.

We would never choose to go out for a three hour ride in this weather at home. But because we're on an adventure we just have to do a few things we would not otherwise do. And we did!

I hope the weather is better tomorrow or we'll miss out on the beautiful sights around Banff.