Kettle Valley Rail Trail Day 3:
Arlington Lakes and Beyond – 69km

Morning came bright and early at Hydraulic lake. The birds were singing and the sun poured in the tent. Thankfully, the kids were still sleeping and we could enjoy a bit of a lie in before getting up and going.

Leroy worked on boiling water to rehydrate our routine breakfast of Scrambled Eggs and some instant coffee sachets. I managed the kids and packing of gear – though I was still learning from Leroy how to stow it so that our whole campsite could accordion down into our two trailers. It was much nicer to be able to enjoy our meal at a dry picnic table in the sun – an encouraging start to our third day. We had some options on where to stay for the night: Arlington lakes not far down the trail, or try to make it further to Beaverdell or possibly the Kettle River Recreation Area closer to Rock Creek. We were learning that a lot depended on the condition of the trail. We had packed enough TrailFare meals for five days but had originally planned on completing the trek in four. After fuelling ourselves, we broke camp and eased back onto our saddles, not sure of what was ahead.

Arlington Lakes

The trail was a lot easier going compared to the swampy conditions of the night before. It was mostly hardpack and occasionally wide enough for us to bike alongside each other. Coupled with a noticeable downhill feel, it was relatively easygoing. We skirted along the top of the ridge to the west of the Kelowna-Rock Creek Highway (BC-hwy 33) with glimpses down to the river and road far below. The drag from the loaded trailers was too much to let us coast downhill, but we got out of our bottom gears, enjoyed the scenery, and made good time. Talking between us we figured if the trail continued like this, we shouldn’t have too much problem making one of our further options for the night.

Arlington Lakes Rec site is 24 km from Hydraulic lake, and we covered it in under four hours, arriving around lunch time. It really is a beautiful little spot, accessible by vehicle from the forest service road of the same name, but we felt like we had just got going and it was too early to stop for the day. We took some pictures, let the girls run around and throw a few rocks in the lake, and kept going.

From here our trail got rough in a whole new way.

The rail grade descends 210 m from Arlington Lakes to Carmi Station over 23 km. It skirts the top of the ridge of a valley with highway 33 at the bottom. There are places where you can see the work put in over 100 years ago to keep the grade at the top of the ridge, with areas cut into the side of the hill and other shored up from below with a lot of rock. There were many of places where the hillside had got away and littered the path with large rocks. Anna had to give up her post on the back of my bike and ride in the trailer as her added weight threw off my balance while we navigated the slides. The worst required us to walk our bikes over and around, bouncing trailers crazily as we went. We lost count of the number of times Leroy’s trailer tipped over. His poor helmet that we had stashed on top of the food bin took the brunt of it and looked a little worse for wear by the end of the trip. These cleared up about halfway to Carmi and our track diverged from the highway, through a clearcut, and up the Wilkinson Creek valley.

Carmi and Beaverdell

When planning the trip and reading through Cycling the Kettle Valley Railway back in March, I recalled reading a bit about detouring off the trail to cross a creek by a forest service road bridge. I couldn’t remember which creek it was, but this was beginning to look the part. The other option mentioned in the book was to ford the creek itself where the rail bridge was removed, and I wasn’t sure how well that would go with the trailers and kids. I’m still not certain if it was Wilkinson Creek, as we never had to leave the grade for a missing bridge, but we did find a very sturdy looking bridge with a “Spirit of 2010” sign on it at the far end of a long loop through the valley. I suspect some of the Trans-Canada trail was upgraded during the run up to Vancouver hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics and installing a bridge in this part of the KVR was on the list. Good thing too, as the Okanagan appeared to be experiencing a high spring run-off and no one would have been fording that creek.

We followed along side the rushing water and enjoyed an easier trail again. Wider and mostly flat we could ride beside each other and talk as we wound through the trees. The only obstacle was the occasional cattle guard. When we started the trek, we would often walk across these, but by now we had realized that it was actually easier to ride over them, provided you maintained enough speed to roll through the gaps in the bars. I generally still slowed down a bit to check for potholes and dents in the bars, but Leroy zipped past me calling “The faster you go the smoother the ride!” As he rumbled over the guard, one of his trailer wheels caught a well placed pothole and launched his trailer up off the ground. I watched it sail through the air, tilting slightly, then land crazily, never touching the cattle guard at all. Miraculously, it stayed upright. Apparently, if you go fast enough, its only the landing that’s rough.

As we diverged from the river, we started seeing signs posted along the trail by businesses in Beaverdell. The most enticing offered camping spots and hot showers only a few kilometres ahead. We were making pretty good time again but it was approaching dinner time again and everyone was getting hungry. It sounded like a great spot to stop, especially seeing as the next option was still a long ways off. Our spirits were high when we came across an information board complete with roof and carved sign posted by the trailside. “Carmi” it proclaimed. We stopped to have a better look.

Carmi was a station on the old KVR. There is a small town on the highway by the same name now, with a Carmi Station road curving back to the trail as a reminder. There is a small house on the property bordering the trail, and a lot of derelict vehicles, but it looks like someone had a set up to cater to KVR trekkers at one point. There was even a rubber stamp with a complicated train and station name design and some stamp pads for tourist use at the information board. Of course we tried it out on our Backwoods Mapbook – the ink was a little gummy, but it was proof we made it that far. We didn’t stay long though, it was only another 7 km to Beaverdell and I was looking forward to a hot shower.

Shortly after leaving Carmi, we passed the first people we had seen since Arlington Lakes. Another couple on bikes with a young child in a trailer were heading in the other direction, playing Elton John’s I’m Still Standing on some bluetooth speakers. They looked more tired than we felt. They also didn’t look like they were packing a lot of gear, and we wondered where they were planning on getting to – they were leaving Beaverdell after 5pm and there was no real place to stop until Arlington lakes – all uphill – in the direction they were headed. Strange. Then with a few more kilometres to go, Leroy’s bike pedal started squeaking incessantly. We decided to stop and check it out before something important broke. In the end, the tool broke. We added “socket” to our list of things to look for in Beaverdell and squeaked the last couple kilometres into town.

As we rolled into Beaverdell, we tried to keep our eyes out for more signs like the ones on the trail. It appeared that there was some kind of car rally going on, and the little town was busy. After the solitude of the trail, it seemed harsh and loud. We got a lot of funny looks from the people sitting around the general store with drinks and food. The overall atmosphere was uncomfortable. We finally found the RV and Tent site advertised along the trail and my heart sank. We wouldn’t be staying in Beaverdell. Maybe the couple heading out to Carmi had a similar experience – it would have explained the song and the looks on their faces. Apparently there’s a nice cabin you can rent in Carmi Station, too bad I only just figured this out now. It looks a lot more welcoming and even has showers. Anyways, we gave the kids some granola bars to tide them over and hightailed it back to the rail grade.

Beyond Beaverdell

We biked another 12 km or so along the trail, keeping our eyes out for somewhere suitable to put a tent up out of the way. Things got a little complicated when we were forced to navigate between some very large cement pillars. Each was about six feet high and three feet across, placed in with only a narrow gap between. The bikes fit okay, but the trailers had to be removed. Even then, the Wike trailer was too wide, even with the wheels removed, and we had to hoist it up over our heads to get it through. Anna and Alice thought it was great – like flying! – as we didn’t bother to take them out of it beforehand. I guess they really want to keep the ATVs off the trail. Dinner was cooked and eaten on a monotonous section that stretched out straight ahead through the trees. Lasagne for us, Stroganoff again for the kids. Then as the dusk started to settle, and the trail made it’s way back to the creek, we found a spot to pitch the tent – 69 km and 10 hours after leaving Hydraulic lake.

“One more day on the trail,” I told Anna. “Are you looking forward to getting back to the truck?”

She thought for a minute, then said:

“I like biking.”