my Dad offered to drive us up to the border from Dallas. After 3 full days of driving, we finally made it to Port of Roosville, British Columbia (near Whitefish, Montana) on July 21, 1999. WIth months of planning behind us, all it took was a final shakedown of our gear and we were finally on the trail.
The second day we had our first long climb. All you can do is put it in 'granny gear' and spin your way up the mountain. After 15 miles of climbing, we hit the first of many snowed in passes. It was late June and a few of the passes didn't clear until July.
As we were hammering up the mountain, a border patrol truck stopped and warned us of Grizzly bears. Just a week earlier, a man had been mauled by one in this same area. After hearing that, I decided to take out my bear repellent. Bear repellent is really strong pepper spray which supposedly slows down a bear attack. It's kind of expensive and no one really knows if it works, but my dad gladfully bought us a can.
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