My time in Nelson was all too short, as I knew it would be. I spent my day off in Nelson, playing, climbing a mountain, going to a free meditation class, sitting by a waterfall, sharing a meal with my friends, and attending a street party complete with dancing and xylophone band. The aura of Nelson was superb. As my teammates and I were expressing how sad we would be to go, we realized that it was the community appeal that Nelson had, and that similar activities and community aura could be created anywhere, regardless of geographical location (though I do think the mountains and lake had some effect...)
As we left Nelson on a scorcher of a day, we cycled into Castlegar, and were feeling hot hot hot, and low low low...until we found a public sprinkler park to refresh ourselves in. It's funny though, how I felt guilty. I felt guilty for using an obscene amount of water to 'refresh' myself. Though, it did constitute as my once every 5 day shower, so I felt okay about it then...We stayed one short evening in this town, at a neat middle - school - turned community church and centre. The next morning, we mentally prepared ourselves for what we knew would be one heck of a ride. We cycled from Castlegar to Grand Forks: 96.79km in 6.5 hours (not including rests!!) according to my trusty bike computer gadget. And what en epic ride it was. The weather was upwards of 30 degrees, and we started our day with a 40 km climb. and I mean constant climb. We got up so high, to Paulson's summit, that the trees got shorter, and there was heaps of snow on the earth! We cycled so slowly up the Monashee mountain range, stopping midway up for a homemade granolie bar snack, and for a (very cool) skinny dip at a beautiful subalpine lake. As we boarded our two wheels once again we wondered how far it would be before we were 'up'. As we passed the stark and startling clear cut swaths, and as trucks crept up beside us, being restricted to almost our speed because of the gradient, we thought this climb might never end. As we turned a corner, it suddenly felt as though we were going to fall off the edge of the earth if we kept going, for we saw only white on the horizon, and not more mountain or trees beyond that. Rozzy and I continued up and up on our bikes, to see the rest of our team cheering and jumping and pointing at the sign "Paulson's summit, 5093 feet" we had reached it, and it was time to celebrate!
And then...we went down. And down. And down. The sights were fantastic, free of development and low in traffic, the speed was almost dangerous, and the feeling was euphoric. As we cycled onward, we stopped for another swim in a beautiful lake, entering what is known as Boundary Country, which is the area between the Kootenays from which we have come, and the Okanagan Valley which we are venturing onwards into. As we cycled our last 20km very lethargically, we noticed the markedly different landscape. What used to be mountains covered in conifers had changed into scrubby grasslands, reminiscent of dessert like areas, with wild mountain goats and white tailed deer being spotted, and rock outcrops seen everywhere. It was phenomenal to see such a landscape change in just one day of cycling. As we ate a warm meal that night outside, we considered our weary and sun burned bodies, gazed out at our view across the rushing river to the hill on the other side and once again gave thanks for our privilege to be on such an amazing adventure, with such an amazing group of people, and such an amazing world to explore.
The next day, we departed for the short 15km ride out of this 5000 person town to the location of our mid-tour retreat. (Please Time, slow down). We stayed with a 55 year old women on her organic sustainable homestead. It was one of the most fantastic places, I have ever been in my life.
This wonderful women welcomed us onto her land, into her home, and shared her asparagus and rhubarb with us, her passion for Sacred Dance, her wisdom and education in living in sustainable housing, living in community, and living off the land. She had such a welcoming, calm, beautiful spirit, and I was so invigorated and extremely inspired by our stay. The days were hot as we work-shopped our theater performance, explored our successes and failures and discussed some group dynamic issues. We cooked our meals in our new friends 'outdoor kitchen' and used her crisp well water, and clean outhouses. We used her fruit cellar, because she does not have a fridge, and we camped in our tents on her beautiful land, never hearing a car, and gazing up at the stars through the tent roof (no fly required...it was that warm). I can't begin to express all the emotion I felt on these past two days, as I learned it was possible to live an alternative lifestyle, to live off the land, in community. We finished our retreat last night with an affirmation walk. Each member of the group takes a turn walking down a channel of your peers, with eyes closed, and they whisper positive qualities about you into your ear. An amazing experience, that lifted the spirits and love in all of our hearts. This morning, it was back to the reality of a town, and a chance to put our hard work into action - we tried out a number of new things at our performance this morning, hoping that our impact on the young people we preform to would be even greater because of our improvements.
The more I live out this amazing journey, the more I am learning. About myself, about alternatives, about my spirit, about communities, about communicating my passions, and about environmental sustainability. I can't believe what an amazing month it has been, and I can't wait for the next moment in time.
Peace and love.
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