Canada - Day 29 - Hope to Abbotsford

 63.6 miles, 1083’ climbing, deer, blue heron

We made another early departure to cover miles before it got hot, laughing as we left the town of Hope we spotted a wooden carving of a prospector to which somebody had added Google eyes. 

Our route followed a two lane road across the huge Fraser River from the freeway, but there was still a fair amount of traffic. There isn’t much climbing from Hope to the coast. After about 20 miles we crossed the Fraser on a long bridge with no shoulder or walkway for bikes or pedestrians, and it had a tall curb if we had to move over. It was not fun when trucks passed. 

Once across the Fraser, we rode on the Canyon to Coast Trail, mostly on the top of a levee. There were tall trees, fields with crops, wildflowers, and a headwind. We turned off into Chilliwack where we had a 2nd breakfast at the Loose Caboose Cafe, and we chatted with the friendly owner about our ride and his upcoming Alaskan cruise. When we left, he filled our water bottles and gave us instant coffee and tea packets to take with us.

We made our way down to a shady path along the beautiful Vedder River. A local cyclist pedaled along with us and described some local paths. At the Great Blue Heron Reserve we didn’t see any herons, but we saw one a few miles later. The rest of our route to Abbotsford followed levees or dykes, very windy, some shaded river paths, and the loud shoulder of the freeway access road. Looks like hotels for the next couple nights and lots of places to get food.