FERNIE - BIKING FUN

 FERNIE


We have learned that when you have no reservations for camping and need to get a first come first serve site you need to get there before 11am, or shortly after. For this reason we left Brooks early. We tried for 9am, but did not get out till closer to 11. Ugh. I was stressing that we would not get a site. We arrived around 2:30ish and were so happy to get the last tenting site. Yay!  Great provincial park- flush toilets and warm showers included.


We thought Cumberland was a great biking location, well it has nothing on Fernie. It is a town of 6500 and it is surrounded by mountains. If you have the Trail Forks app, take a look. So many trails, all throughout and so close to town. The ski hill is only a 3 min drive from the city centre. No 45 min windy road to get to it. 


The next day we went to town to rent bikes as we had slept in and didn’t want only a partial day at the ski hill for downhill mountain biking . We rented regular bikes from Gear Hub to explore the cute town. The people were so fantastic. We clocked 18-19 km. Taking mostly green, but a few blue trails around the city. They have an area designated to helping young and older riders learn how to handle the trails and jumps/drops with ease.  The only draw back to this fun day was the pain in my rear end. By the end of the day I could barely sit down on the narrow, hard seats.  I don’t know how I will survive tomorrow.






I found this little gem of a place so friendly. Sometimes you go somewhere and you feel that you are putting people out by asking questions or talking to them.  Not here. People here, at all the bike shops, local art stores and clothing shops were eager to help and chat. I have been trying to hit up all the thrift stores in the communities as I like to buy recycled items, if I can, vs buying overpriced merchandise that we don’t really need. I was super bummed that the Salvation Army was closed till the day we were leaving :( No treasures this go around.

Can you believe that the main industry in this cute, outdoorsy town is coal?! It seems so counter productive to internally cut down the mountains that you love to explore just to earn the money you need to enjoy them. Crazy! I did not realize how much mining really goes on in BC.


Downhill mountain biking day. Wyatt woke up with butterflies in his stomach. He was so excited to go. He wants a dual suspension bike so bad (even though he has never been on one) and is so eager to try one on the hill today. For him, the Fernie Mountain Resort hill did not disappoint! He had a blast of a day. Even Adam was comfortable and taking jumps by the end of the day. Me…. well, I lasted one run. My entire body was too tense and I could not relax. The first run was so stressful for me. As you rip downhill I felt such a loss of control that I was a mess by the time I got to the bottom. I bowed out of the rest of the day and promised to bring water and lunch to the boys through out the day so they could continue biking. The boys biked all day till the lift closed at 4:30.  Now my son needs a job to buy the high-priced bike he desires.  I got a great day in the sun reading my book, even if it cost me $175! Everyone was exhausted by the end of the day, so it was an early night.  We decided to head home a day early. Tomorrow we were homeward bound for 2 weeks…… and then I have to become a teacher for a year. Eeeek!








Travel Advice: Don’t put anything on the car roof that you are not willing to lose! Adam was shaking out Gibson’s blanket full of skittle sugar, that he had dumped on himself, and then hung it on the roof rack, while he finished cleaning up Gibson. It was quickly forgotten, and not remembered until we were 1/2 hr down the road. The blanket was long gone. So, today Adam has taken Gibson blanket shopping! 


Side note; we got a message from Bernard from Michigan! The boys plan to FaceTime Bernard when we get home and now want to try and make it to his farm in Michigan. A  place we might visit during our school year travels. Michigan was not on my list of places, but I guess it is now. 

I’m going to take a break from writing as we do some 70’s house keeping items while we are home. 

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