I can’t say enough how yesterdays simple little hike was so amazing. I will definitely come later in summer when more of the trails are open. I’m sure Vlad is saying what is wrong with hiking in the snow 🙂
I was out of Lake Louise by around 10am and as I headed for the Parkway highway, the trans Canada just looked too inviting as it was super wide, flat and appeared to be downhill whereas the Parkway had an immediate climb and a lot of up and down sections. I made a spli decision and headed down the Trans Canada and what a good decision. Being Sunday (I actually had to look that up as days of the week are now meaningless to me) the traffic was very light, I would say less than 10 vehicles passing each minute. The road was downhill but because it is so wide and long you wouldn’t have known it. I actually hooked up my odometer this morning and though it has the wrong tire size registered I was easily over 35km/hr with effortless pedalling.
The highway is totally fenced off but has over and under passes for the animals. One of them had a camera and I thought about going down to moon it but what if I could climb back over the fence or it recorded me getting beaten up by a bear?
The first 30 kilometers passed quickly and I stopped in Castle Junction to pick up my gear and make a quick meal at the hostel. Bridgette wasn’t there but Takeharu the Japanese tourist who had walked from Jasper, yes walked, was there. I hadn’t really talked to him the last time I was here but Bridgette had told me about him. He had even road a hostel bike with one speed to Lake Louise and back. It turns out he is a mechanic and if I am riding in Japan he will fix my bike or be a guide for me so I got his information. Note: there is an osprey nest on top on the bridge here.
I packed up and headed down the highway, sent a flower to Matt Edwards upon his request and captured some pictures of the rocky mountainsides. A few of the mountains must be a climbers dream, sheer smooth rock face with no snow or trees and probably a spectacular view of the surrounding peaks and valley. The ride into Banff was really easy and I made the trip in no time at all.
I went to the Park office in the centre of town and just outside ran into a former Canadian Forces. We talked about my trip and some of his comrades had been in Haiti during some of the relief work. He was a really nice guy and wished me the best on my trip. Inside I called a couple of the hostels and the two in town were pretty booked, not paying $105 to stay in a hostel. There was room in the Hostel International so I went there which is up Tunnel Mountain road and after an effortless day I was sucking on this small hill – hilarious!
I cleaned up and walked back to town to enjoy a pint on a patio with some nice sunshine.
