Day three.
Our route: A bluff over a river to a little cabin with a fire and mice. 51 miles.
It took well over two hours for us to break camp this morning. So many moving parts and everything needs to be packed just right. Plus we were dragging our feet a little to let the tents dry before folding them up. But the sky was clear.
We met some riders on the trail who told us the real storm was yet to arrive, and that it was going to be bad. Snow and rain for three days, starting tonight.
The obvious problem was that we are not remotely prepared for snow camping. When traveling by bike you have to be very choosy about what you bring and a few nights of bad weather would test our resolve and resilience and resources.
So we put it in high gear to try to get over Elk Pass before the weather. That high gear was a little too much for Max who got a bit dehydrated and bonked. As he napped I started sticking out my thumb to hitch a ride from any pickup trucks that might have room. And wouldn’t you know it, a nice couple stopped to help. People like them are known as “Trail Angels”, helping trekkers and bikers out of the goodness of their hearts. They gave us a ride to a visitor station where we could regroup and make a plan. The park rangers confirmed that the bad weather was coming, but not until tomorrow at noon, so we set off to climb the pass and found ourselves in a rustic little hut for the night.
Oh, and dropping down on the other side of Elk Pass we saw our first grizzly bear. A medium sized guy who was running away from us with great haste. I have a bear bell attached to my handlebar that rings incessantly (thanks Hugh) and we each have a can of bear spray too.
Banff National Park
Bighorn sheep
Tired boy
Victory! We found the little cabin and fortunately it was empty of other humans.
Day two
Canmore, Alberta to somewhere in the forest south of Banff
40 miles on the day
It was a day of headwinds and putting on and taking off rain jackets six or seven times. We stopped at a bike shop in Canmore and the super nice owner guy told us that big storms are brewing. He suggested a campsite on the deck of an off-route ranger station that might provide some shelter. So that was our planned destination.
The route from Canmore to Banff (the official start of our tour) was on a nice paved bike path along an expressway. It was loud, but we were safe from traffic. And the mountain views were spectacular. Riding from the plains to the Rocky Mountains was an experience all its own.
The town of Banff, on the other hand, is just a super ritzy mountain town with a thousand expensive hotels and a million t-shirt shops. We made a stop at another bike shop to buy a strap for Max’s gear and set off from the trail head.
We found the turnoff for the ranger station and we spent a good 1/2 hour looking for it to no avail. But we did find a very nice spot on a bank overlooking a river. We got the tents set up in a bit of rain, but were cozy and tucked in before the sky’s opened up.
We had to visit the famous Fairmont Springs Hotel. $1,800 per night.
Our campsite for the night. $0.
Day one.
Calgary towards Banff. 60 miles.
We spent the morning finishing up the assembly of our bikes , had a breakfast and hit the road. Calgary was lovely. We visited a camping store to buy bear spray and a bike shop to get my front brake adjusted.
Our route led us on some dirt roads that, when added with a bit of water, became impossible to ride on. We couldn’t even push our bikes. Fortunately the rain didn’t last too long and in two hours the road had dried up enough to ride.
Our goal was to make it to a campsite we had reserved west of Canmore, but Max’s chain broke and it took a while to repair. Plus, we just planned on too many miles for a first day.
So we found an amazing place to camp along the banks of the Bow River. Free camping with a million dollar view.
