Highway 40 northbound from Hinton to Grande Prairie was an exercise in dodging trucks, and an instruction on all the types of trucks that we've collectively conceived to harvest natural resources. Full logging trucks. Empty logging trucks. Half-full logging trucks. Semi trucks hauling bundles of OSB. Semi trucks hauling bundles of OSB, tarped. Oil well services trucks. Gas well services trucks. Drilling service trucks. Pumper trucks. Tanker trucks. Steamer trucks. Hydrovac trucks. Offroad hydrovac trucks with huge offroad paddle wheels. Haul trucks full of coal. Tanker trucks for fuel. Tanker trucks for lube oils. Lowboy trailers hauling excavators. Flat deck trailers hauling rig camp trailers. Hotshot trucks with picker cranes. Pickup trucks full of field crews. Pickup trucks full of hunters and stacked with quads.
Whew. Fortunately, they all missed.
In Grande Prairie, I made three pilgrimage stops:
- The Bell store in Prairie Mall, in hopes of a Release Day iPhone upgrade, but no dice due to depleted stock.
- Arby's. Last chance this time south!
- The surprising Windsor Motorsports for a liter of top-up oil. These guys turned out to be a Klim dealership with a small Suzuki wheeled accessory department on the side. Too bad for them, their glove stock was predominantly snowmobile-focused at this time, else they would have sold a pair of insulated and waterproof riding gloves to this guy after another frigid morning. (An electronic billboard sign entering Grande Cache indicated +3 C.)
North of GP, the foothills forests gave way to prairie farmland, and I spent the afternoon watching harvest.
Unfortunately, traffic interfered with the few opportunities for action shots.
All in all, today felt less like a motorcycle trip and more like riding my motorcycle home, but I supposed that's what it is. Tomorrow, touch wood, home.
Day total: 793 km, 10h30m Trip total: 6267 km | Start: Hinton, AB. End: High Level, AB. Soundtrack: The Watchmen, Simple Minds |