To Mica Dam, I Hope

The pain in my shoulder is back. It is now a certainty that this pain is driving related. I don't know how or why it happens, but a day of road tripping is enough to cause it to flare up something fierce. I've already taken a couple Tylenol and I expect more will be needed later in the day. It looks like this situation will remain, a kind of constant companion when I take road trips. It's just another thing in my life.

Speaking of road trips, this one did not work out as planned yesterday. It doesn't mean it didn't work out well. The Meadows In The Sky Parkway is closed until June; too much snow in the high country. It's been an interesting winter here in Revelstoke, or so the locals tell me, with plenty of snow up on the mountains but almost no snow down here in the valley or on the lower slopes. There's still a lot out there, way up on the mountain peaks.

My options were open yesterday, so I took a short drive around Revelstoke, explored the surrounding countryside, even going up to the Revelstoke Dam. I explored the downtown of this evolving mountain town, drove down the riverside until the road ended, then wandered up the snowless lower slopes of Mount Revelstoke, the ski hill now closed for the season. Then I watched the Flames lose to the Anaheim Ducks for a second straight game. Oh, there was beer too, along with the excitement and smell of a young boy vomiting all over the floor. All in all, a fun night.

Today is a late start; I was in bed until 11:30 AM. I didn't have a bad night last night, nor a particularly difficult day yesterday. It's just one of those days, the days where nothing works quickly or easily, where arising is difficult, dressing is a challenge, and getting mobile seems the last thing I want to do. Nonetheless, I did it. I will soon take off on an exploratory drive up BC's highway 23, a minor highway split in the middle by Revelstoke. It starts down at Galena Bay, moves north to Mica, and, before the dam went in, used to come all the way round back down to Golden.

You can still make the whole of the Big Bend if you don't mind logging roads. In fact this stretch was actually part of Highway 1 before Rogers Pass opened up in 1962, although the portion from Mica Creek to Golden was a dirt road. Most of that part, the dirt part, is long gone. The rough roads cut by the BC Forestry Service and various logging companies are the only way through.

I hope to make it to Mica Dam today. I say hope because my arm and my body in general are tired and worn. If it gets to be too much, I'll turn around. I can come with friends and do it again in July, when I come back to see the Meadows In The Sky.