Sturgis North, Canada's Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and Festival, Merrit, BC - Part 2 - Motorcycling Pemberton to Lillouett, Lyton, Ashcroft, Logan Lake, and finally Meritt

What a glorious day in Paradise.  I woke to the wet alarm clock of a cockapoo insisting that it was our normal 7 am time for rising.  I quickly dressed and took him for a walk along the river trail out back of Pemberton Valley Lodge.
I was glad to get an early start looking forward to the spectacular ride through Mount Currie and up along the so called Duffy Lake Road.  I’ve hunted through here for a couple of decades as well as camped and fished. Joffre Lakes, a favourite hiking and fishing destination is just before Duffy Lake.  Lots of wildlife.  Deer in abundance.   Beautiful wild flowers. The road has been asphalted so it’s hugely improved over the difficult road of a few years back. I loved the ride letting Gilbert run about at Duffy Lake while I took some pictures. The tough section for a biker was coming down hill still before Lillouett, still some ruts coupled with sharp turns.  Nothing terrible just has to be taken seriously.
The town of Lillouett is a really sweet place. I’ve stopped other times and enjoyed their market as well as the little restaurant.  This time Gilbert and I kept right on going.  I had to use the iPhone GPS and map or I’d have continued on to Cache Creek. As it was I missed the turn to Merritt at Lyton and ended up going up to Ashcroft, something I that added a few miles to the journey.  It was such a perfect ride with little traffic, sunshine and great roads and views.  BC Interior after the coast is kind of Arizona like in some ways. Then the trip up the Thompson River is amazing.  We actually got to see the train go through those picturesque carved tunnels along the river.
I’ve passed Ashcroft dozens of times on the way north but this time drove through the town and enjoyed stopping at the bakery.  Really pleasant little place with a lot of gentile history.  It’s still a popular retirement place and the hotel is known for it’s week and month stays for tourists wanting to explore this remarkable region.
It had been a long time since I’d driven down to Logan Lake. I forgot all the major industrial work in the area.  A few deer were kind enough to come out and look at Gilbert and I. One actually waited till I got a nice photograph. Lots of motorcycles along this stretch. As we got closer to Merrit more and more large groups.
The Sturges North Veterans Run occurred that morning and I think I may have been passed by some of the stragglers coming back from wherever the riders had got off too.  With rallies also a lot of riders just take advantage of the central place from which to ride around the neighbourhood. Lots of gas sales were happening in Merrit.
It sure felt good coming into town.  Gilbert was such a great trooper.  We stopped at the A&W so I could have a burger and he could have a burger paddy. He deserved a treat. Other bikers there told me where the venue was. Down by Moonshadow Campground. Moonshadow is one of my favourite places for camping. We;ve come up a few times even left the old RV up here as a place to come one fall.  A cool creek runs along the campground. The Sturges North Festival was along the gravel road from Moonshadow, along the creek.
First there was the big MainStage with lots of nearby kiosks for a variety of food and tents selling leather and tshirts.  Further along were other stages and finally the campground.  Entrance for the whole event was $300 but a day was a hundred and something with $25 for camping.
 I specifically asked if Gilbert was welcome and was told that he certainly was.  Later when I’d be told by security that he couldn’t be present I explained that I’d been specifically told he could accompany in all events.  I explained that he was a ‘pet therapist’ and that he was really well behaved and safe around people and other dogs. It’s okay then, ‘he’s your therapist and you have to have him with you”.  That wasn’t quite what I said, but it seemed to work.  I might well be violent without the calming influence of Gilbert.
We got a great place for the tent by the cool creek. Lots of Harley sound.  People were riding their Harleys from the tenting area to the venue area.  It was picturesque and everything was just great. We were here. Sturgis North.  This is the third year and we’d so loved the first one Salmon Arm with Steppenwolf. Only there I’d taken the truck and trailer with the Honda 250 enduro motorcycle having no place to bring the Harley. This time Gilbert and I  arrived on our big bike.  It was terrific.
After the vague seeding of an idea with Dave, and wondering if Gilbert could tolerate a long ride, here I was arriving  by bike with a tent and  ready to rock and roll.  This, after a spectacular ride through some of BC’s most awesome motorcycle country.  I was really stoked setting up my tent. Gilbert was happy to just roll in the old cow manure that dotted the field.
 

Sturges North 2011 & Eric Burdon and the Animals

Eric Burdon and the Animals was the band I was waiting for. I'd heard "House of the Rising Sun" as a teen ager and learned it on guitar, playing and singing it for years. "Warm San Franciscan Nights" was a song I must have made love to somewhere along the way. I marched through the streets of San Francisco and later lived there.  "I'm just a man whose intentions are good, Oh Lord, Please don't let me be misunderstood" may well have become my personal song of relationship.  Eric Burdon stepped on stage, the band so utterly professional with music to their very toes, and that voice of Eric Burdon's, well, I was 40 years younger with tears in my eyes, wondering where it had all gone and laughing. "Spill the Wine, take that Girl," had some of the answers.   It was a full moon. There were bikers all around. So many of us were older.  The women still looked good.  There was that funny smell in the air but mostly it was pine smell and the smell of the recent rain on the grass.  We'd done the drugs and been drunk and fought and free loved but now had RV's to go with a $10,000 to $100,000 machines.  There were children up late and as many grandparents past their bedtime hanging in there for Eric Burdon and the Animals this Sturgis North 2011 Motorcycle Rally and Music Festival.  There was more Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance than LSD in the crowd.  Eric Burdon's words spoke to youth and maturity, the dreams and idealism."It's my life and I'll do what I want with it" had us all dancing and cheering.  The skill of the musicians wasn't something that came with "just hanging out'. There was real discipline and the play beyond that hard preparation.  This  patch of laughter was something earned..  The applause was incredible.  Standing ovation and roars filled the air with" House of the Rising Sun". The keyboards, bass guitar, drums and lead all entwined with Eric Burdon's voice and the unique sound of a band whose music captured an era. Tonight it was as alive  as it was back then.  Just phenomenal.  I rode back to the RV at the First Nation Pierre's Point Campground on the motorcycle, with the girl on the back, wind in my face, spectacular clouds and a a full moon. If I was a wolf I'd have howled!

Sturges North 2011 & Dr. Hook

I rode the Honda 230 to Sturges North. I really wanted a sticker that said "my other bike is a Harley Electraglide".  I think it was the smallest bike in the line up. I put it near a Honda Goldwing in hope someone thought it was a baby that had tagged along. There were alot of big Harleys, some touring BMW's, and big Kawasakis and Yamahas.  It was a big biker event.  I traded my online ticket in for a bracelet but they couldn't give me Laura's.  It almost proved a problem because at night they were closing up at 10 pm when she came along for the concert.  In the morning I'd bought the t shirts. "You're our first Sturges t shirt sale at the grounds", the biker babe told me as I got xlarge for me and medium for Laura.  Having found the place and figured my way around for coming back in the dark I headed into town.  Salmon Arm was filling up with bikes.  They even had a shuttle bus going to the all day stripper Outlaw Saloon. Shuttle buses ran to the parking lots and down town venues, a great solution to avoid drinking and driving on motorcyles. I stopped for coffee and a breakfast bagel when the skies opened. Then I sneaked back to Pierre's Point Campground to have the mandatory afternoon snooze in preparation for an 11 pm to 1 am concert.  Bands were playing all day but Laura wanted to see Dr. Hook.  There was a huge thunderstorm in the afternoon with hail even then thankfully the rain let up and skies cleared just before we headed out at 10 pm.  We took the Ford 350 Harley Davidson Diesel truck given the iffyness of the skies.  But the rain had ended.  At the fairgrounds people were sitting on the lawn or had brought folding chairs. I laid out the poncho then got Laura and I some coffee and grain fed beef jerky.  Azzkkrr Custom Bikes had the best exhibits. Then Ray Sawyer came on. The crowd exploded. Dr. Hook was a blast.  Laura's favourite was "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" and "Staying the Night Together."  The moon was magnificent over the fairground. I loved when Ray Sawyer screamed "We love you William and Kate!" Then he rode right into "Cover of the Rolling Stone" to a roar of applause.  The bikers went wild.  What a great opening headliner concert.  We love you Dr. Hook!

Pierre's Point Campground and RV, Salmon Arm, BC

This is a lovely campground and RV park. it's run by the local First Nations Band, situated on their land.  Approximately $40 a night with all the facilities, sewage, electricity and water. There are a lot of more basic sites. Further there are sites where people are obviously staying the season or year round.  It's right on the lake with the beach just the next lane over from us. We can hear the water lapping .  Dogs aren't allowed on the beach but there's a dog beach further down.  There's also a concession with hotdogs, pies and such plus a store.  The downside is the train tracks are next to the campgrounds.  We're 8 km from Salmon Arms with celluar and wifi coverage.  We're here for the Sturgis North Motorcycle and Rock Concert.  It starts tomorrow.  Eric Burden and the Animals, Steppenwolf, Doctor Hook. A young pretty girl talked to Laura and I when we were walking Gilbert around the park. She said she was really looking forward to hearing Nazareth.  I'm here for Eric Burden and just don't know whether to torch my 'Depends' or just wave them.  I don't think the Nazareth crowd would applaud if one of the performers smashed a walker on stage.