2010 Northwest Passage, Day 2: Kelowna, BC to Banff, AB

Our hotel room in Kelowna is amazing. A three-bedroom suite on two levels. I could live here. See yesterday’s updated post for a panoramic view from our deck.

After breakfast we pack and climb in the 65E, top down still despite very light drizzle, and prepare for the day’s rallying. After two false starts – the first when we can’t find our rally clock, and the second when we realize it is way off time, we finally get rolling.

The first stage is a ~110 mile Monte Carlo stage to Three Valley Gap, British Columbia. Getting out of Kelowna proves difficult with lots of traffic and construction delays and detours. The detours mess up my odometer by well over a mile! Thankfully the rest of the segment driving north out of the Okanagan Valley is simple and goes by fast, and the weather improves dramatically with no rain and a bit of sunshine thrown in. The mountains however are still swathed in clouds, obscuring the views. We arrive at the first checkpoint and zero the segment, and then wander around the sort of ghost-town, train & car museum located at Three Valley Gap.

The second stage is much shorter, around 70 miles long, and takes us to lunch at “Glacier Peak Lodge”. The Navigation is so simple that Chris tells me “wake me up at mile 50”, puts his iPod in his ears, and zones out while I drive. The scenery is spectacular, though the clouds still cling to the mountains obscuring views. When they part just a little, very tempting snow covered spires are revealed. Drizzle appears now and then, interspersed mainly with sun or high clouds, so the top stays down and we motor on.

Lunch is a quick buffet of cold cuts and hot soup, and followed by a long transit stage to Banff. It is filled with construction delays and threatening clouds. I stop for gas in Golden BC, and also stop by a hardware store for some duct tape and my roll of famous yellow “speed tape” is exhausted and we need some aftermarket weatherstripping should the clouds open up and start dumping rain.

Obviously my ploy of being prepared scares away the big rain and other than a few drops here and there, we stay comfy and dry. The clouds lift a bit and we are able to see more of, though not ALL of the Canadian Rockies as we slog through backed-up construction traffic on the Trans-Canada highway from Lake Louise to Banff. Having been here before fairly recently I’m able to navigate to the hotel and we park, check-in, and take a nap secure in the thought that we’re still tied for 1st place two days in.

Dinner is served in a Baronial Hall deep within the bowels of this legendary old CP hotel, and despite the exceedingly dim lighting I’m able to get some good photos to share the splendor with you:

After dinner we repair to the hotel bar for a nightcap to celebrate the day. I have a Drambuie, Chris drinks a ginger ale.

Tomorrow is an “off day” with no competition, to allow us to explore the scenery and relax a bit.