Komoot BC bikepacking loop, April 2026

I knew I was going for a big ride today. But I had no idea that I was going to end up at Manning Park Resort tonight until I made the decision at 18:30.

When you browse your Komoot feed, it gives you algorithmic recommendations for cycling routes. Most of the suggestions I get are pretty meh: the classic routes for local road cyclists and sightseeing tourists.

This one, though, caught my attention as being rather epic in length and scenery: https://komoot.com/collection/405/vancouver-roundtrip-bikepacking-british-columbia — so I put it in my favourites list for attempting someday. Was it authored by AI? Who knows. The comments ask if anyone has actually done it. Apparently not, so maybe I could be the first to report?

This year, I was looking for ideas for a bike tour over the Easter long weekend to kick-start my cycling season. There's nothing like riding all day in Zone 2, for multiple consecutive days, while carrying a load, to make you go zoom afterwards. I find it to be an effective training strategy, and much more fun than doing indoor cycling all winter.

I figure that if Komoot recommends splitting the route into 10 days, then I should be able to do it in 5 or 6. So I arranged a "six-day weekend" to try it.

It turns out that it's probably way too early in the year to try this Komoot route. This morning, it was raining in Vancouver, so I checked the weather forecast, which reported snow from Whistler to Pemberton (and therefore almost certainly on Duffey Pass too). No thanks, I'm not that hard-core.

So then I thought that I could salvage my vacation by riding the loop backwards (counterclockwise) instead. The Fraser Valley forecast had merely light rain. Maybe I'd aim for Tulameen instead of Lillooet as originally intended.

I found that the Kettle Valley Railway Trail was closed right out of the gate at Hope. A dog-walking woman told me that I wouldn't get far due to downed trees.

With the KVR closed, I decided to ride the Crowsnest Highway (Hwy 3) instead. At 18:30 I reached Sunshine Valley, and faced a choice of staying there or continuing. I called Manning Park Resort as I rode, and found that they had single rooms available at $130 after a seasonal discount.

There was 900 m of climbing from Sunshine Valley to Manning Park Resort, three hours of it after sunset, and cold (-1 ℃ at the end). At the Allison Pass Summit, a salt truck driver pulled over to congratulate me. He must have alerted a colleague, because soon afterwards there was a road maintenance truck driver who offered me an escort for the last few km to Manning Park Resort. It was actually quite helpful to have an extra set of headlights to illuminate the faint road markings, as well as a rear guard to prevent drivers from passing me unsafely.

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This activity is part of a collection: https://komoot.com/collection/4230306

There was some very light snow falling in the morning, which I happily used as an excuse to do laundry and eat a proper breakfast. I set off from Manning Park Resort just before 11 am.

A few hours later, I reached Princeton, resuming Komoot's route, back on the Kettle Valley Railway Trail again. There was a looong 2% climb out of Princeton. Then it flattened out, which made it a slog! The KVR is sandy, so puddles form on the flat section: innocuous water puddles (which over time form sand traps), mud puddles, snow puddles, and some washboarding. You have to stay in a low gear, ready to burst to max power at the slightest hint of the sinking feeling. Even in the best conditions, the fine grit isn't conducive to rolling. For hours, I plodded along on a monotonously straight trail, at constant gradients, getting jostled, occasionally switching between the left rut and the right, and finding that both sides suck. Meanwhile, the sun is setting, and it's getting cooler. The flat segment intersected with no roads for many km, though I could glimpse a parallel road below, to my right. After a few hours, I finally found my escape in the form of a forest service road and made a right turn, taking me down to the Chain Lake Recreation Site.

That happened just at sunset (19:30). It's 4 ℃, but with the wind, it was effectively subzero, so I didn't feel like bivying there. With no cellular reception, I made a guess that I could follow the asphalt road downhill to reach Summerland in maybe 2h30m.

To my surprise, that asphalt road dumped me onto an unpaved road after a while. It's hard-packed soil with occasional potholes, ridiculously wide. The scene was almost an eerie replica of Highway 20 near Anahim Lake, down to the quiet remoteness, bridge construction style, nighttime silhouettes of trees on distant mountain ridges, the sensations of sudden chilliness when crossing hill ridges, and the brilliant starry sky that I was in no mood to enjoy. My assumption that the elevation profile would mirror the constant gentle downslope of the KVR was wrong: this road took me on rolling hills, down to creek crossings and up over ridges. Still, I was flying along this road mostly at 25–30 km/h, and I was determined to never stop for any reason. (I've made that mistake before on long night rides: you can cool down quite quickly, and then you lose your adrenaline rush, your ability to focus, your muscle power, and your speed, which becomes a vicious cycle of lethargy and misery.)

At last, one final climb took me to a luxuriously wide and smooth asphalt road, where I had a thrilling descent down to Summerland. I checked into a motel, then grabbed some food for dinner and breakfast at the 7-Eleven. It all ended well, but oh was that a crazy nighttime adventure ride.

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This activity is part of a collection: https://komoot.com/collection/4230306

This was my second day on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail. Yesterday's segment wasn't easy; it was tedious. It was barely possible to negotiate those sand traps, and it didn't feel rewarding at all, since there was nothing interesting to see.

Today's segment also wasn't easy, but it's challenging. After a well groomed path between Penticton and Naramata that was popular with dog walkers and cyclists, it gradually climbed into wilderness. From Chute Lake onwards (elevation 1180 m), there were many patches of residual snow, and where that snow had already melted, wet packed sand. It was therefore slow going all afternoon. But since it was surprisingly rideable with good bike handling skills, and there was the enticement of seeing Myra Canyon at the end, it all felt rewarding.

Myra Canyon was an overwhelmingly emotional experience. The scenery was, of course, spectacular. The fact that I had to work so hard to get there made me appreciate it even more. At the same time, the absurdity of the reason why I was there at all blew my mind. My Chinese forebears blasted rocks and constructed a dozen magnificent trestles using the technology of a century ago to open a passenger rail service in 1915. That was with a much smaller population than today. Fifty years later, the rail service was retired, and now we've regressed to the point where you can't ride a train anywhere in BC in any practical sense, and all we have left is this sandy unpaved recreational trail. They achieved all that, but nowadays we can't even take a train to Whistler? WTF.

The exit to Kelowna was a thrilling descent down a forest service road. I had ramen for dinner (with extra noodles, of course). Since the rest of the trip is on paved roads with a sunny forecast, I took the time to clean the bike, and then clean up the motel bathroom afterwards.

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This activity is part of a collection: https://komoot.com/collection/4230306

In the morning, I left Kelowna via the Okanagan Rail Trail. It was flat and speedy sparkling gravel, ending with beautiful lake views. Tailwind. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In the afternoon, I rode country roads through ranch lands. Tailwind. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In the evening, I made an unwise decision. I had booked a room at the Logan Lake Lodge, thinking that Easter weekend might be busy, but I realized too late that their posted policy mentioned that check-in closes at 21:00. En route, I tried contacting them and got no response. Fortunately, when I eventually got there at 22:50, I found that the lobby was unlocked, so I just set up my sleeping bag on the bench inside. It could have been a bad situation, but luckily it ended up being not too horrible.

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This activity is part of a collection: https://komoot.com/collection/4230306

The goal for today was an "easy" 160 km with a net elevation drop to Lillooet. I therefore decided to take my sweet time to resupply (since I had eaten my one spare meal the night before) and have breakfast.

While I was eating my sandwich, I saw a comment from my friend Nabil recommending the chicken wings at the Pick and Shovel Pub. I could use the proteins, so why not?

Since it wasn't busy at 9 am, the waitress struck up a conversation with me. Later, she relayed my story to the hotel manager. Apparently, the hotel gets so few transient guests (most of them seem to be mine workers, judging from all the cubbies and trays where guests are supposed to leave dirty work boots) that they hadn't even noticed the e-mail that Booking.com had sent them. Due to a combination of feeling impressed and apologetic, the waitress comped my chicken wings and drink.

The way the incident turned out well despite my poor decision making ended up being a positive experience. It was uplifting to see how the hotel could leave the unattended lobby and washrooms unlocked all night in this small town, such that I didn't have to freeze outside. The housekeeping staff found me in the morning, and let me take a shower using one of the rooms that a guest had just vacated, for free. I'm glad that I took the time to have a chat that mutually clarified everything and that let me experience this small-town hospitality.

Last night, I had found the pedal-mashing force that comes with multiple days of bikepacking. Motivated by impatience to reach the hotel and fueled by adrenaline, I had pretty much used a full 100% effort during the entire climb from Kamloops to Logan Lake. As I started riding today, I found that my legs weren't generating much pedaling force and were quick to fatigue. I had totally overworked myself! Since I really had to recover for a big day tomorrow, I soft-pedaled everything and took frequent breaks today.

One of the joys of riding a bike, which no other form of transportation gives you, is the "4π steradian experience". Marble Canyon is one of the best examples of that. Sights and sounds astound you from left, right, above, and behind, and you get to experience it all unfiltered. Today, I tried to capture that experience on video, but nothing that you see on a small screen can come close to experiencing it for yourself.

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This activity is part of a collection: https://komoot.com/collection/4230306

I was pleased to find that my legs were working properly again this morning.

Lillooet to Pemberton is a more intense version of Marble Canyon, both in sights and difficulty. In these early spring conditions, it was even more challenging and beautiful than normal. Not only do you get to see the usual roadside rockslides, today there were snow-capped mountains surrounding you, more meltwater waterfalls, and a frozen Duffey Lake. Temperature control was harder too! I saw readings ranging between 2 ℃ and 16 ℃, depending on elevation and shade, but those readings don't take into account whether you have been climbing 15% grades or descending such grades while sweaty.

The first foreboding hint that the rest of the day would be tough came as I approached the Joffre Lakes summit and was greeted by a cool headwind breeze each time I crossed a ridge. Flashback to the last time (komoot.com/tour/2483173210) where that also happened, and I had to deal with a headwind from Whistler all the way home.

I was blasted by a tree-swaying headwind at the crest of each ridge as I climbed up from Pemberton to Whistler. I had reached Joffre Lakes around noon, but did not expect that it would take me until 17:30 to reach Whistler.

Clearly, this slip in my schedule required a break to restrategize. I got a coffee and sandwich at the Whistler marketplace, then took a nap on a bench in the sheltered arcade. (I'm learning from my past mistakes! There is no place to shelter between Whistler and Squamish. I had been up since 05:00, and if I wanted to make it past midnight, I would surely need to take a nap, and it's better do do it preemptively in civilization while it's still warm than when you've already hit your sleep wall and you're in the middle of nowhere and there isn't even a place to sit and it's cold and cars are whizzing by you on the highway.)

Just as I started walking off after my nap, a woman asked me my opinion of my Tailfin top tube bag. (It's excellent!) I bemoaned having to continue into a headwind, and she suggested taking the Sea to Sky Trail. Taking the S2S Trail had crossed my mind, but I had assumed that it would be a crazy idea since it would likely be impassable in these early season conditions. She assured me that the trail was rideable until Brandywine Falls; all the hike-a-bike stuff was between Brandywine and Squamish. A massive thanks for that information and advice, kind stranger! What luck that I had had that conversation, too!

I don't normally seek out gravel, but today I had nothing to lose by trying!

- I had gravel tires mounted.
- I had dynamo lights and a helmet light.
- I had a GPS to tell me where to go and where I had been, so I wouldn't get lost, as well as a satellite tracker in case of emergency.
- It was warm enough on the coast, and I had plenty of warm clothes and a bivy bag, so I could hunker down in the worst case.

So, despite my fears, I tackled the S2S Trail, for the first time, in the dark, carrying a full load of winter bikepacking kit. I even took the time to visit the Train Wreck site (whistler.com/blog/post/whistler-train-wreck-hike/), one of my "someday" to-do list items, just before sunset! I was far better prepared than the poor hiker who flagged me down to ask for the quickest exit to the highway, since it was turning dark and he was going by nothing but Google Maps and his phone's flashlight.

My headwind crisis turned out to be the push that gave me a big opportunity for growth. The coffee, nap, and thrilling technical gravel riding turned out to be surprisingly reinvigorating after hours of mind-numbing grinding on the highway.

As I resumed the highway past Brandywine, at that lower elevation, most of the road was sheltered from the wind.

At 23:30, I made a junk food stop at 7-Eleven in Squamish and continued on, confident that the worst was already behind me. (The highway cutting through the mountains creates a wind tunnel effect.)

Riding through the familiar environs of West Vancouver, I realized that these winds were not just a Sea to Sky Highway phenomenon — I had actually been riding through a full-blown windstorm! My final challenge was to cross the Lions Gate Bridge, leaning hard into the crosswind.

I got home at 04:30, raided the fridge, took a shower, and went straight to bed. What a finale to this 6-day adventure!

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This activity is part of a collection: https://komoot.com/collection/4230306