Setting up is way easier than packing up. After having my alarm go off early on, I foolishly pawed it off and rolled back to sleep. The extra hour and a half of sleep I gained cost me the shade of the tree I was under, and I woke up again in a steaming hot tent. This also meant I got to cook breakfast and pack up in direct sunlight, which was more uncomfortable than I would have assumed. Once again, lesson learned. After some tasty oatmeal, I got to work packing everything up and rinsing off in the stream before taking off again. Today I made it out a little past Hope, and it was pretty uneventful. Have yet to see any other cyclists, and am learning the importance of frequent breaks and frequent snacks. The water filter has made it ridiculously easy to fill up water bottles, and as a result I've only had to stop in at a gas station once so far despite draining all three once every two or so hours. I decided to call it quits a few kilometers outside of Hope right before the climb up Allison Pass begins, since the book forewarns that it's one of the most difficult stretches of the ride, and I'm not feeling ambitious enough to go at it after a decent days ride and a poor nights sleep. Tonight I have a much better selection of discrete camp sites, and I ended up choosing a pre-loved campsite up a little dirt road along the edge of Nicolum river. This time I was set up in the full shade, and after a big dinner I crawled into bed and slept for 13 hours. No regrets.
When I woke up the water bottle that I use for Gatorade had the edges of the mouthpieces chewed off by some little critter that was willing to eat some rubber to enjoy the tasty red residue left over. From now on waterbottles come in the tent. Food continues to go up a tree so hopefully bears don't smell it in the tent. I have been told this is what to do, but remain skeptical.
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