2022 Lost Elephant: Event Recap

Words and photos by Nathan Siemens (@yepyepnotnope)

The 2022 Lost Elephant is done. Well, not really, because you can go ride the routes whenever you feel like it, but if you want to ride it at the same time as a bunch of people who are as sweet and awesome as you are, you’ll have to wait until next year. But the routes will most likely be different. You may wonder why the word route is plural, and that’s a fair question. The Lost Elephant usually has two options: the Dumbo (347km/5,365m for 2022) and the Jumbo (514km/7,536m for 2022), these routes are also more than likely to be changed year on year, or run backwards, or really whatever the route planners decide they want to do.

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The Lost Elephant weekend started Friday, July 22, with a little get-together at a local Cranbrook park. Riders got a chance to chat with each other, ask some questions, and see how much faster everyone else looked. It is also at this gathering that all the prizes are given out, because then you have the ability to show up, get a prize, and then not even do the ride—sounds like a good way to get a free water bottle if you ask me. Some stellar goodies were given out from local shops Purcell Outdoors, Bootleg Bikes, High Country Sports, Max’s Place Bakery, Cranbrook Dodge, and not-so-local On The Road Bags. If you are wondering, Max’s Place sausage rolls vacuum seal terrifically. Their cinnamon buns, however, are best eaten prior to vacuum sealing.

The start and finish of the ride this year was the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce, which doubles as an industrial grade mosquito breeding facility. Riders started trickling in at about 5:30 a.m. and had a bit of time to get intimidated by the other competitors, who were in turn also being intimidated, before unceremoniously being told, “It is 15 seconds to 6 a.m., so you might want to get ready.” At 6 a.m. sharp, 40 heavily laden dirtbags turned the first rotation of their cranks much to the bewilderment and bemusement of the passing roadies who were out for their morning coffee ride.

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It’s at this point that I’ll change from third person to first person narrative, because this isn’t English class, and because I have no idea what was going through any of the other riders’ heads from there on out. The course starts on the Chief Isadore Trail, a packed gravel trail built on a reclaimed rail bed. The pace was pretty sporty and the laughs were flowing, the group was a great mix of locals and out-of-towners, so there was a lot of chattering and hey-howya-doing going around. Six kilometers in, the trail takes a sharp turn through a gate and down a fairly steep grade of super loose gravel. This would be an ongoing theme for the ride: really nice and fast surfaces punctuated with super rough little surprises.

The first real test of both the Jumbo and the Dumbo is Wildhorse Pass, a 32-kilometre, 1,200-metre climb that takes you out of the valley and into the Canadian Rockies. I was truly a bit nervous about this one. I am a Cranbrookian through and through, I have ridden Wildhorse Pass in the other direction, I have hiked and skied many times over my decades of life up this rough forest service road, but up until this very day, I have never climbed the entire pass on my bike.

I am proud to report that it was a real treat. It was long, but the grade was manageable, the scenery was stupendously shocking, and at the time of our ascent, the sun was just starting to show itself over the peaks. All in all top-notch. The climb ends with a steep push up a trail that is being reclaimed by a creek and then opens up to some truly amazing vistas. At the very top of the climb, local rider Lisa Barnes’ brother was waiting on his ATV with cold lemonade, beer, and water for anyone who wanted it. He didn’t make it to the top in time to catch Lisa, but those of us who were a little softer on the pedals got to relish in his generosity.

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One of the things I love about rides that have a bunch of yahoos out in the woods at the same time is the leap-frogging and rubber-banding that happens between riders. The climb and subsequent descent of Wildhorse had many stretches of riding that gave me the opportunity to get to know some new faces and hang out with good friends and riding partners who I see almost every day. After a brief water refill and a beautiful pedal along the shoreline of Alces Lake and Whiteswan Lake, the group I was riding with got a bit smaller as the Jumbo Riders headed south down the Blackfoot/Quinn FSR and we Dumboists continued along the White River FSR. It was also at this time that the heat started to crank up. Riding along the White River is perfect. Chill grades, smooth gravel, and that amazingly beautiful blue river water that the Rockies are so well known for. It felt wrong to not jump in the river, but I had places to get to.

An hour or so down the road is where the Dumbo and Jumbo routes join forces again. It is also where all the riders get to push their bikes up and over Crossing Creek (Koko Claims). It was at this point that I caught up with Cranbrook Local David Paul enjoying a snack before the climb. As we chatted, out of nowhere came eventual Jumbo winner and new course record holder Andy Ward of Fernie. Keep in mind that it was early afternoon and Andy was already 60 kilometers ahead of us (as he did the Jumbo detour), and he was looking notably more fresh than us. He gave us a friendly wave, a jovial shout of encouragement, and then proceeded to sprint up the hill we were sitting at the bottom of. Some riders are wired a little differently.

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Many words have been shared in regards to Crossing Creek, the pass that connects the Bull River drainage to Elkford, BC. I’m sure those writers did a better job describing it than I ever could. This pass plays a role in the Canadian section of the Tour Divide, with Divide riders going from east to west. Elephanteers do it the other way around. The climb wasn’t as bad as I expected. Lots of short, abusively steep hike-a-bike pitches with some reprieves of pedalable sections between them. What caught me off guard was the descent. It is essentially a waterfall of square rocks the size of a My Little Pony lunchbox, that goes on and on. I’m used to riding sections like this in short bursts, but this was extended. At one point, I thought it may be better to walk, then promptly fell flat on my derriere and went for a slide. Apparently, I’m better at riding than walking.

Following the stress-inducing descent is a nice palate cleanser consisting of some flowing singletrack on the Elk Valley Trail that climbs and descends you into Elkford. I had grandiose dreams of having a peaceful snack at the local Fas Gas gas station (not a spelling error). The owners of every over-sized diesel truck in Elkford did not want to grant me that dream. Apparently, idling vehicles is a way of life in Elkford, even while actively filling your gas tank. So, off I continued along the Elk Valley Trail south to Sparwood. A very peaceful and stunningly beautiful section of the route for sure.

Sparwood was the 200-kilometre mark for me. I really wanted to keep on pushing, but I started nodding off while eating a horribly dry chicken wrap at Tim Horton’s, so I decided to try and find a place to bed down. Maybe if the wrap was better I could have continued on. I set my little tent up in the finest vacant industrial lot that BC’s centre of coal mining could offer and fell quickly into snoozy land while the sweet soundtrack of big ol’ diesels ripping down the highway hummed away mercilessly.

After a surprisingly restful sleep, I got back on the trail just before the sun made her full appearance. The trail between Sparwood and Fernie is a real gift. Swoopy, grippy, and playful. The next 30+ kilometres were a treat, but they were a lot slower than I had anticipated. Along this section, I ran into Eric Ross, who was riding the Jumbo in reverse, and any day that you run into Eric Ross on the trail is going to be a good one. He has a way of bringing some positivity with him everywhere he goes.

After passing through Fernie and running into three separate people who I hadn’t seen in years, it was time for the last pass of my journey. Hartley Pass connects Fernie to the Bull River drainage via Hartley Lake and Sulphur Creek. This is a short but steep lil’ guy. The descent along Sulphur Creek is one that has been on my to-do list for a long time, and it didn’t disappoint. The cool air coming off the beautiful rushing water was a nice reprieve after sweating up the Hartley Pass climb.

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I know that I keep saying how beautiful every section of this route is (because it is) but dang nabbit, the Bull River is picturesque. Idyllic fishing holes and perfect blue water. And a monster headwind. Pedaling downhill can get pretty old pretty quick, but the smile never left my face because the surroundings were so good. After filling up with ice-cold water from a roadside spring, I ran into a friend who was driving around chasing the little blue dots on Trackleaders. He mentioned that he had just chatted with a group of three riders from Cranbrook who were a few kilometres ahead of me. The three riders in question had started out half a day ahead of the grand depart and are all cyclists who I hold in extremely high regard; the fact that I had a chance of catching them gave me a little carrot to chase.

Having ridden in this area for untold eons, I was well aware of what the next section had in store for me. The Pickering Hills don’t look like much on the map or the elevation profile, but they are notoriously sandy, dry, and usually unbearably hot. This year was no different, but for some reason my mood was still riding high and they went by enjoyably (except for the relentlessly hot part, that actually did suck).

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Cranbrook has a fairly well-known 42-kilometre trail that is a good mix of reclaimed railway and buffed-out singletrack called the Chief Isadore Trail. This gem seems to be the beginning and end of a large percentage of rides in the area. The Lost Elephant was no exception, with both the Dumbo and Jumbo starting and ending on this trail. A couple of kilometres into the Chief Isadore is when I finally caught up with Tara, Katie, and Gemma, the aforementioned carrot that I was chasing. After having not ridden with anyone for the last day and a half, it was really nice to all of a sudden be in a social group chatting and laughing and swapping stories. It was with this group that I finished my 2022 Dumbo, cruising the overly familiar trail back to my hometown.

An ice cold Slurpee and loving wife and daughter along with some supportive riding friends were waiting for me at the finish line. I was so happy to see them, so happy for the hugs and the support, but I can’t say that I was so happy to be done. I had such an amazing time out on the course this time around that I was a bit sad for it to be over.

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