Distance: Approx 53km / 33 miles
Elevation Gain: U/K
Ferry Transfers: Little River-Powell River
Start Line: Powell River

Departing Cumberland on our big yellow buses, we headed to yet another ferry ride.  While Jodi wasn’t with us, we had brought her with us, small laminated photos attached to our bags so that she knew we were wishing she could have made the trip.  Here’s a photo of Jodi awaiting the arrival of our smaller ferry that would take us to the start of Day 3 at Powell River.

As we headed out in our groups, we sent Angela off, got a pic snapped with Sara (yeah!!) then got into our respective groups to head out into Day 3.  As we found out way into the town of Powell River, we were greeted by kids, taking a few moments out of their school day, to cheer us on and slap some high fives as we headed out into their trails.

We departed in the sunshine but eventually, it got a little damp.  Kathy and I had no problems with the damp, slick roots.  We passed riders that were walking techy sections with baby heads, roots b/c they weren’t used to it.  Yeah! Seattle prepped us for something!   We ended up back out on a fire road and eventually came across Katie and Virginia.  Virginia wasn’t feeling so well and they were in the process of changing her second flat in a row (yikes!).  We checked to be sure they were ok and continued on, knowing that it would be only a matter of time before they caught and passed us.

The terrain stayed mossy and loamy and in some areas it seemed that sections were pretty new, the moss still covered slick roots and rocks so you had to be careful or you’d find yourself flat on the ground pretty quickly.  There were trails of pine needles and with decomposing logs and wood bridges through old growth cedars. Truly a beautiful location but we thanked our experience in Seattle as we were able to ride what those from “dry states” weren’t able to.  As expected, Katie and Virginia caught back up to us and passed us, but not before a quick “high five” and “keep up the good work” and “go bitches!”.  That, of course was the last we saw of them until we got to the finish.

We finally returned home, anxious for some dinner.  My amazing tent-mate Angela had picked out our tent and snagged my luggage so we quickly got changed so we could go to dinner.  Think the only negative to the experience in Powell River was the bus rides to the food.  There weren’t enough buses going back and forth so we had to wait a long time to get to dinner and breakfast the following day.   We were starving and didn’t want to make the 20 minute hike up the hill in the dark so we got out of line and jumped in the back of a truck on the way to dinner.  Yeah for kind drivers that understood that we really, really needed some food!










That night, there was another beer garden (yeah!) but even better, there were representatives from the Sliammon First Nation .   In addition to giving us a short history of the area and welcoming us to Powell River and the Sunshine Coast, they said a prayer in the tribe's native tongue to wish us a safe and successful journey as we passed through their lands.   

Think this was the most beautiful place we camped throughout the week.  We were on the water’s edge, quiet and calm waters with a jetty you could walk out on to get a better view of the sailboats and the mountains in the distance.

For a quick taste of the trails at Powell River – check out Day 3’s video…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p96JBkVSOE