After the Kootenays, we spent a long day on the road and drove all the way west to the Coast Mountains, with rides in Lillooet (with Steve), Pemberton (with Phil, Mary-Lyn and Steve), Vancouver (with Holly) and then Abbotsford (with Holly).
One of the craziest things that happened was that Holly and I got stuck on Sumas Mountain. Apparently, they close and lock the gate each day. The gate is around 100m below the main parking area that has the maps and bathroom.
Around October 1, the time that they lock the gate changes to 6pm, which works out to be about an hour before dark. We were still parked up on the mountain (along with two other vehicles) when the people locked the gate down below on the road. We ended up all having to call an emergency number and having a tow truck drive out and unlock the gate for us at an exorbitant rate. Total highway robbery. The driver who showed up told us this happens “all the time”.
Holly’s cell phone didn’t work on the mountain but luckily the other people had two phones and one caught the network.
I couldn’t help wondering how long it would be until someone is badly harmed by being trapped up there. Glad I don’t have diabetes or any medical condition. That would be a terrible night. The whole thing makes no sense at all.
The Sumas trails are really cool. The “blue” trail at Sumas has a pretty gnarly 5 foot blind drop on it, and tons of rock rolls including one that’s a jagged 1-story face. I guess it’s a blue because you can opt out of the biggest moves and there is even a side trail for one heinous stretch…
Total time: 03:39:30