August 2017: post-Enduro World Series "Crankzilla" and in the middle of the worst fire season on record in British Columbia. We hit the road just as residents of Williams Lake and surrounding communities were allowed to return to their homes after a lengthy period of evacuation. Our destinations: Smithers and Burns Lake for new terrain, forecasted precipitation and simpler days on bikes.

Aerial smoke show (and not the good kind).

First stop, Smithers' local gem. We heard about the riding here while skiing this place last winter. The other way to town.

Backdoor's subalpine singletrack.

Sarah's first taste of wet dirt and necessary Gore-tex in August.

Oldschool, meet Newschool. Now gunning for her second-career Canadian Olympic Team spot (this time in skicross), Britt Phelan is pretty new to mountain biking but not new to good times.

Looking down on The Bulkley Valley from Hudson Bay Mountain.

We shuttled to the trailhead of the Cronin Trail along Babine Lake Road. Our bikes were worked before we even started. (Dis)organized Chaos: road strip status.

It seemed stupid to take shoes off for a river crossing after Britt held a clinic on how to ride through it.

The "mellow" fire road approach to the climb for Cronin Pass was complicated by soaking wet overgrowth. Adventures aren't worth sharing unless they enter the type-2 category for at least a little while.

Old mining cabin.

This was a Saturday in prime bike season, out there all by ourselves and not sad about it for a minute.

Once out of the slide alder climbing and river crossings, Cronin Pass, in the Babine Provincial Park, proved to be worth the 1000m haul in gale-force winds and October-like temperatures.

The Skeena Mountains putting their best Mordor mask on for show.

It's amazing what hiding behind this rock did to ease our strained voices out of the wind.

After gaining Hyland Pass along the Cronin Trail, the views were delivered in spades.

To the car wash!

Back in Smithers.

Final day in Smithers: trailheads with sound advice. We're not dealing with Whistler bears out here.

"Piper Down is gnarly, take it easy," said one local to us as we dropped in. Perfect dirt in perfect singletrack.

Does it get better than pinning down a new stretch of singletrack after a night of rain?

After we invited Britt on this trip, she found this feature in her sleuthing on Trailforks and reminded us a few times how much she wanted to ride it. She hit it several times just to let the memory sink in.

Piper Down has it all.

On our way back home to Whistler, we stopped in Burns Lake for a rip.The Burns Lake Mountain Bike Association is a small group of committed riders who have painstakingly carved out a beautiful ride centre on Boer Mountain. Trails are perfectly marked, manicured and easy to navigate.

Pigasus is a new addition to the Burns Lake trail network.

Sarah rode this section of Gravity Logic's Charlotte's Web 7 years ago and has been haunted by the beauty of the Aspen forest it travels through since then.

Looking down on Keger Lake outside of Burns Lake.

Britt Phelan Sarah Leishman

_____Catch up with Britt Sarah and Robin on Instagram.Notable places in Smithers Stay at The Bulkley Rental Suites Eat at the Two Sisters Cafe , have a beer and a burger at the Alpenhorn Bistro or grab a fancier dinner at Telly's Grill More about the Burns Lake Mountain Bike Association