The mountains are calling

Hi Folks,

The truck arrived June 30th and got loaded up.

It arrived in Rossland July 7th, 2 days after I did. Here is the truck parked in front of my place.

As you can see, the streets are steep!!

A few surprises awaited me. The grass was 3-4 feet high, like a hay field.

So one of the first things I did was go and buy a weed whacker and mow the harvest. And guess what I found in the grass?

No, not a snake, but a big old rusty freezer.

There were also some old rotten stairs and a bunch of rotten deck boards. The deck was all bare wood. All the solid stain that was on it when I bought the place was gone. You can also see the start of my dump pile. I started tearing out walls and crap as soon as I arrived. Another surprise awaited me there......

I was told the place had a dry basement. There was on odd looking bench built into one of the basement rooms. I decided to open it up and have a look. This is what I saw inside.

That is a pile of deteriorated concrete you see. There is also a chunk of footing that has come loose.

Out came the bench! The dump pile got bigger.

It has not been all ugly surprises though (more of them later :-)

Here is a view of town from one of the mtb trails in town.

My friends Alan and Sandra came far a visit in July. We rode 3 days. Here is a pic of them at the top of Monte Cristo on ride 1.

And here is Sandra on the same ride.

Day 3 we rode the 7 Summits trail - 37 km of single track. It has 3 major climbs, the first one being pretty huge.

There was still snow on the trail 3rd week in July.

Here are a couple more pics from that ride.

Needless to say, I have been riding lots. Shop road rides out of Gericks in Trail and local mtb and road rides from Rossland.

I was very fortunate to get introduced to a bunch of mtb riders called the Holywow the 2nd week I was here, and I have been riding with them once or twice a week since.

Here is a pic of us getting padded up to ride Crown Point.

This picture was taken at the end of a gravel forestry road. It is astounding to me how much gravel and pavement riding some here do to ride a short bit of trail.

Doing that has been an adjustment for me!! Some of you know how much I like riding a mountain bike on roads......

However, the trails are amazing, with a huge variety.

Here are a couple of pictures from forest service roads (FSR on the maps)

This one is from the Malde FSR, a climb that I have done often. It is access to a bunch of descent runs.

That is Rossland in the background. Monte Cristo is centre picture on the other side of the valley.

Here is a pic of a friend going down Whiskey. It is a super fun trail. The top section is called Whiskey on the rocks.

Lots of technical rock slab steeps.

My house is coming along. I replaced deck boards and stained the deck. I wondered if I'd live long enough to stain all the spindles! :-)

The freezer is gone, and the dump pile is bigger.

The classic local hike is to a peak called Old Glory. There is an old decommissioned weather station and fire watch on the peak.

          

I have been working for about a month. I worked for a local painting company for 3 weeks, and just finished my first week with a renovation company.

Things are going well. I am starting to settle in to a routine.

Like most people here, I am looking forward to winter. People here love winter! and go on and on about the skiing. All types of skiing with fantastic terrain.

Bring it on!!

Rossland is also dog crazy, There are lots of them, many running free. 

A friend owns the local pet shop and helps run the local dog rescue so I have volunteered to foster rescue dogs from the north. I am looking forward to it. 

I did a night ride last night with a couple of buds. One of them (husband of pet store owner) brought along their dog "Dave". It was their first ever night ride.

We all had a blast, but Dave was a little sketched out at times trying to figure out where to be. 

The weather here has been fantastic since I arrived. Hot and dry, and it continues. The trails are dry and dusty, so last nights ride reminded me of night laps at Albion Hills after a hot dry summer.

Well, that is enough for now. I have been working on this email/post for weeks, so it is time to send it.

Hope all is well,

Scott