Day 232 and 233 Revelstoke to Golden, B.C.

Day 232, back driving "little bird" for the events team. Only one night in Revelstoke, time to head east?

Revelstoke is surrounded by mountains, including the Selkirks and the Monashee range.

I'm really not sure which range is which!

The relay takes us to Golden today, which means driving through the Roger's Pass.

The roads were bare today, although this was the roughest stretch of road I think I have driven on this entire relay across Canada. Little bird was bouncing all over the place!

but it was a gourgeous drive all the same.

This road can get pretty nasty in the winter time, a lot of snow and narrow stretches. The  day before the road was closed for avalanche control.

Check out this 3-D image from google earth on Albert Canyon

There is a series of snow sheds along the route protecting the highway from the high avalanche areas. That's one.

number 2

and 3

There were numerous avalanche area, no stopping signs all through the pass

everything is slowly starting to melt

finally at the summit of the Roger's Pass

That's 4,364 feet!

WOW!

There was evidence of alvalanche activity all through-out the pass.

number 4

and the last of the snowsheds

heading down from the pass towards Golden

The Columbia River.

We are in Golden (population about 3,700) for two nights, one relay day, and one event day.

Our hotel is right on the Trans-Canada highway, but the end of day celebration for Day 232 is at Spirit Square in Downtown Golden.

It was one of the warmest days on the relay this year, temp close to 17 or 18 celsius. Very pleasant for setting up our event display. 

Right behind the square is the Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge, which crosses the river. This is something the community is very proud of, and rightly so.

Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge is the longest freestanding timber frame bridge in Canada.^[2] Planned as a community project by the Timber Framers Guild,^[3] volunteers from Golden were joined by carpenters and timber framers from the United States and from Europe. The bridge structure is 150 feet (46 m) long, with a 210,000-pound Burr arch structure. The bridge was completed in September 2001.

On the bridge looking down the Kicking Horse River.

There's Max, (our region 4 co-ordinator), waiting for the 25th anniversary Rick Hansen relay to arrive. The end of day medal bearer will carry the medal across the bridge.

Justan and Ronald share a moment!

We were treated to some folk music before the end of day celebration.

Kelly, Wendy, and Jeremy soaking up the sun.

and so is Ronald!

and here come the end of day medal bearer, Christopher, and his entourage of fellow medal bearers. Here is a bit about his story:

I was elected to Golden Town Council in November of 1996 and have served on Council for 15+ years. I think my participation on Council as

well as my involvement in the community have helped make Golden a better place to live. I advocate for access issues in construction and

renovation of public facilities. I try very hard to make reasonable, cost effective suggestions.

an honour guard by the local air cadets.

Our endurance athlete Joey, and his wife Vanessa

Maralyn enjoying the weather as well.

The group end of day shot, followed by our warm-up dance, and day 232 is done.

That night was the start of the Stanley Cup play-offs, unfortunately the Vancouver Canucks lost to the Los Angeles Kings.

Day 233 was an event day, the community of Golden put on a free concert for the entire town and the relay staff.

We set up a small display, a merchandise table, and did a presentation about Rick Hansen's original man in motion tour, as well as the present one.

The crowds start to arrive. There was probably over 300 people attending, a great success.

for a small town, they have a big music community, very talented! and they welcomed us with open arms!

Joey gets up on stage and tells his story and offers words of inspiration

The were quite a few genres of music, including blues, jazz, rock, and folk.

On behalf of the relay crew, thanks to the artists and the community of Golden, we all thouroughly enjoyed the evening!

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