I slept in just a little longer than my roommate at the Hostel which was around 10:30. The only plan I had was to relax at the hot springs which I did for a good 4 hours today. The Banff hot springs area is $7 but it is only one small pool. In every way except one, the fantastic view of the mountains, Radium hot springs is a superior facility to the Banff hot springs. If you had to choose, go to Radium!
Day 15 – Lake Louise to Banff – 62 kilometers
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.
Day 14 – Castle Junction to Lake Louise – 27 kilometers
Today definitely an off day since Lake Louise was only 30 kilometers away. I took my time eating lot’s of the leftover food and repacking everything since I was only taking two bike bags nd leaving my camping gear at the hostel. That way I travel light and pick things up on my way back to Banff. So off I went down Parkway road instead of the trans Canada. I was quickly passed by two women road bikers in uniform. The put on a good pace and I tried to keep them in eye shot. This road is very up and down with limited views as the trees are tall and close to the road. There were tonnes on cyclists coming the other way in all shapes and sizes.
Day 13 – Radium Springs to Castle Junction
I finally got up reasonably early and had breakfast by 8am. I was sorting out my gear when a guest who runs the Hostel at Castle Junction (where the highway I am taking to Alberta meets the Trans Canada highway). We chatted for a quite a while as he is a bit of a cyclist as well and he gave a donation too! I left around 9am and made my way up the steep incline to the Radium Hot Springs. I decided to film myself riding near the big crag the highway goes through and was fairly successful and it was easy to trim the video because I had to run down after and get my camera. Now I understand how tough it is for Survivor Man Les Stroud.
Day 12 – Relaxing at Radium hot springs
After the somewhat big ride from Cranbrook (145km) I decided I should sleep in for a bit. Then an hour later I thought naw, stay in bed. Eventually hunger got the better of me so I jumped in the shower and organized. Today would laundry, food, blog and sit in Hot springs day. Stepping outside I was greeted by the snow capped Rockies and the sound of the rushing river below the highway and out of sight.
For those that care the laundry mat is beside the Petro Canada, the food store by the Visitor Centre and the wifi is of course free at the Centre so I uploaded a bunch of video while I ate a sandwhich.
Back to more interesting stuff I dropped off my supplies back at the Hostel and rode up about a kilometer and a half to Radium Hot Springs. As soon as you enter Kootney park the highway cuts right through the mountainside and I recommend stopping here to looking at the rushing river pooring out from some diversion under the highway. At the Hot Springs there is a hot tub (40 degrees), a hot pool (35 degrees) and a cold pool which is regular swimming pool temperature. I was hoping they had a supper cold pool for legs but there wasn’t and I wasn’t going in the river either as it had some pretty intense flow.
Day 11 – Cranbrook to Radium Springs
Today’s post has to start early in the morning when my tarp blew off my tent. It wasn’t windy when I went to bed but it became quite blustery in a matter of hours. At first I thought nothing of it, it had woken me out of a deep slumber so I didn’t really care about some stupid tarp. I eased back into sleep. Then I awoke with a start, hmm wind sometimes is followed by rain. I looked at the sky and saw some clouds but still the stars and planets were looking back at me, a good sign. Something nagged at me though so I got up and secured the tarp properly over the important parts of the tent (mainly where my head lay). At sometime between 2 and 3 am it started to rain lightly, then a little heavier until it was full blown rain. I was still dry but concerned that my tarp didn’t fully cover the tent and from there I couldn’t get back to sleep. Eventually a puddle developed near my feet on account of seepage through the bottom of the tent and small drips were landing around the same area. I toughed it out until about 4:30 when I decided to pack and move to David’s carport.
I hung my tent up against the wall to dry and packed up my bike so I was ready to go. Then I put on my Stormtech gear and got in my sleeping bag on the cold pavement. It really made me think of the homeless since I was cold and uncomfortable but better equipped and knew no one was going to kick me out or steal my stuff. I guess we take a lot of things for granted.
Day 10 – Creston to Cranbrook
I woke up pretty early considering yesterdays epic ride and was off by 10am. I stopped in at the Visitors center which has free wifi for those wondering. I posted yesterdays ride and added images but wordpress always removes the html tags and brackets. While I was getting that sorted out I decided to upload video onto youtube and contact bell support explain why I only get a signal when am in towns but no where else. I was told because I was on newer network phone there is less coverage but the phone should automatically switch to the slower network on its own. When that doesn’t work I should turn my off phone and turn it on again to recalibrate. So basically no support at all thanks Bell for expensive crappy service.
I was about to leave town but saw the post office and had an idea. I found a service station to dump the gas from the oven that doesn’t work, cleaned it out and sent it home. The current stove I have is pretty much fail safe so why bother carrying the old one across the country.
Day 9 – Castlegar to Creston or bust
128 kilometers – Click for ride details
Last night was a warm cozy sleep. I still wore pants but only needed a shirt instead of a fleece and jacket. In the morning I was in the shade so I put my sleeping bag, tent and laundry in the sun on a spare picnic table. Oh yeah, I do laundry in the shower, well at least my bike shorts, shirt and socks and then dry it out the next day. I tested my new stove which worked well and boiled water for one of my pre-dried meals. The meal was horrible and I only ate half of it before storing for later (which I eventually through out). This makes pre-dried meals 50/50 so far.
Off on my journey I stopped at the airport for some reception so I could post yesterday’s blog then slogged up the epic climb out of Castlegar. The view for the first few kilometers is of the entire valley showing Castlegar intersecting the mighty Columbia and Kootney rivers. There is some serious flow in the blue green waters of the Kootney, what a site!
Day 8 – Grand Forks to Castlegar – 98km
My ride: 98 km to Castlegar
I spent most of the morning catching up on the blogs since I know everyone is waiting with “baited breath”. In the kitchen Nancy was making me some breakfast which included egg tortilla wraps, strawberries and blueberries. We talked over breakfast and met the family living upstairs. One of the boys Brennan (6 years old) donated $5 from his birthday gift which his parents Amy and Dylan matched! By the time I left it was noon.
There is only a gradual uphill out of Grand Forks with a little up and down but you wouldn’t notice unless weighted down like I was. The scenery is of course awesome like the previous day but with less ranches as the river is close to the highway.
Day 7 – Osoyoos to Grand Forks
The ride: 124 kilometers!
Well after a great rest day it was time to hit the road again. The goal yesterday was to reduce the overall weight I was carrying but with the added food I think I am heavier. By the time I got going it was starting to sprinkle a little rain. No matter this was now the norm!
I suited up and bid my new friends farewell. I grabbed a quick sub sandwich in town and ate half of it before heading back onto the Crow’s Nest highway. As many of you know it turns into a 16 kilometer climb out of Osoyoos and it is reasonably steep but thankfully consistent grade. There is one quick corner and then a long switchback that snakes up the side of the mountain. By now it was lightly raining but the views of the twin lakes were breathtaking. Little Osoyoos with a small town centre bridging between the twin lakes and Haines point a green oasis in the middle of the southern lake.
