Great Trail wk3 d5

We left Summerland relatively early anticipating a long day on the trail to Princeton. The climb back up the hill from the shore of Okanagan in Summerland was steep and not a great deal of fun. However, this was offset by the continued richness of the land. BTW if you look closely these apple trees are actually a single branch grafted on to an apple tree trunk.Climbing out of Summerland was just the beginning as we had another 700 meters vertical of climbing over the next 30 miles. It’s kind of the same story as we go from valley to valley but every valley brings something new and amazing. Today the trail was disrupted in a few places and we had to climb over some rock slides and avoid some River washouts.Once again we found a strange BC sign. By the time you could figure out what this one meant you were at the bottom of a gorge being washed down the river.To avoid losing our faith and our commitment we typically stop about every 10 miles. During these stops we snack and sometimes do our come follow me lessons or listen to some scriptures. This particular picture is exemplary of our discussions as we retain our helmets in case the discussions get a bit heated.It was a somewhat long day and we rode through about ten miles of drenching rain but that’s to be expected as we get closer to the coast. Despite the rain it was a relatively dry area we read through all those still beautiful.It sure wouldn’t be how I planned it but on arrival in Princeton we were greeted by another Music Festival. We were also in Grand Forks during a music festival. This one Gloria wanted to listen to because it was music for her grandparents. Dhe stood faithfully during the opening while the band played o’canada.Then we were off to our Motel. Remember those really fancy places we stayed in early on in our trip? Well there aren’t any of those in this area. As we approached our motel from the back I was a bit nervous but it’s survivable. And the advertising was not Miss representative as you can see a deer below the motel called Deer View MotelPhotos