Princeton Campground

I had to contend with something I had not expected at all - cold. It was probably about 12 degrees C leaving this morning, and it got colder and colder the further up I got. The problem is that you sweat going up the hill, and as soon as you hit the summit you go fast and chill off. Coming up it was also very damp (some light rain in places). I changed clothes at the top of the first pass and had my normal winter riding clothes on. Finally, coming down the last 15 km into Princeton, I could feel it get dry as the forest changed away from a rainforest, and the temperature picked up, so my clothes from the first day have finally dried out. Princeton was sunny and warm (relatively speaking). We got a great campsite right on the river, showers were free. Dinner was pizza - delivered to our campsite! I was really hungry and didn't feel like heading back to town to pick up groceries.

It was a great day for wildlife spotting. I saw a moose, a black bear, several deer, gophers, and at least 8 slugs. Or else the same slug 8 times, he just kept passing me. The moose ran across the road about 30m in front of me, then stopped on the other side and looked back. I kept going, but I don't think he knew what to make of me. The bear was on the other side of the road (4 lanes at that point, thankfully!), kind of sitting in the ditch. There were a couple of cars stopped over by him, so I didn't see him til I was pretty much even. As I passed, he kind of looked over. I was on an uphill, so I am glad he did not decide to investigate. However, if he had, I would have done the world's fastest U-turn and headed downhill!