My former golf partner, Doug, joined me on this 20km uphill section of the KVR to Chute Lake Resort. We were warned there by the proprietor that the mosquitoes were out in 'droves', but they were actually not quite clouds of bugs... more on that later. The tunnel was interesting and we went off the TCT slightly to explore it. It's still closed from a collapse, and there are signs up about donations to get it open again. It's certainly the longest tunnel on the KVR. I told Doug it reminded me of Lord of the Rings. Back near Chute Lake we observed the power of Mother Nature and the way the high water this spring was truly 'high': the KVR was washed away down to the bedrock, still passable but not much fun on a bike no doubt. On our return to the resort the little old lady told us she'd been shooing a bear since before lunch, so much so that her tool (a pot and ladle) broke. Sure enough, as I went back to the car, I saw the mangy brown male bolt up the side road into the brush. The most amazing sight on the trek was the large pine tree; my photo doesn't do its size justice. And the mosquitoes? There were 10x more following and landing on me than on Doug! And if you have to pee, my advice is to use the outhouse if you can find one: not even one bug in there!
