Cypress Point on Stave Lake is a unique place as it's one of few places to

access the east side of this big lake. In May last year, I drove a 4x4 to reach this place located in the back of Miracle Valley, north east of Mission City.

Only a couple of km's before the destination a road washout stopped me

from getting there.

This year, I became a little more ambitious and rode a mountain bike loaded with a camping gear so that once there I could stay overnight. Of course a washout or two won't stop a MTB.

On the trailing end of Victoria holidays I set out on Lougheed Highway heading east. It was a beautiful day.

Right at Mission, I had a flat tire in a year. I had picked a staple.

After the repair. I rode a few km's and at Hatzic, I was turning into a gas station to inflate the inner tube for full, someone called my name. It was Noboru on his 200 km training ride for Paris-Brest of 1200 km in August. We rode together up to the end of Sylvester Road, where the lost creek logging road started. He was on his way of 100 km return trip. He must be flying with wind on his newly acquired cabon composite frame. On the other hand, I started struggling with the steep grade on an cast iron heavily loaded bike. Many km's I had to push the bike and ate dust from speeding 4x4's.

Past the Y junction of Salsbury and Cypress Point, all the traffic died out. I thought it was strange, but soon found the reason. The road was covered by 30 to 50 cm thick snow, extending to 400 m. I had to drag my bike. After the snow patch going became an easy down hill. Then suddenly a big black bear crossed just in front of me. I was surprised; he must have been startled because there should not have been a human on this side of the snow.

The forest campground of Cypress Point left last year's vehicle tracks.

The Salsbury creek emptied into Stave Lake with gusto. The power of the water looked so strong that I hesitated to get even close to the edge. I camped a little away from the creek.

After a lazy dinner I went to a sound sleep besides the thundering water. Often I wondered a signle motor cycle disrupted my sleep in a middle of night on my urban life, though any natural noise conrarily enhanced my sleep.