Touring the Rockies — Five

Sunday & Monday

The ride from Marble Creek Campground to Banff was short and mostly downhill. Banff (named after Banffshire in Scotland) is a tidy place. It was smaller than I expected. Of course it caters to tourists — something like a blend of Carmel and Santa Cruz. The scenery is a bit more spectacular though.

We rode through town and on up to the Tunnel Mountain Campground. It’s a big place — probably the biggest campground in Canada. There are places for trailers, motor homes, tents, and groups like ours. Some of us rode back to stroll around town after setting up camp.

I went to Coyotes Southwestern Grill, recommended by the bicycle shop, with a couple of my friends. Seemed like a cross between a cowboy cafe and a hippie deli to me. They bill themselves as Southern, Mediterranean and Mexican though. They have wonderful food there. I ate there the rest of the time we were in Banff. Cornbread pizza topped with smoked chicken, and a nice lentil soup are examples of the fare I chose.

We also explored Banff and nearby spots. Downtown Banff is compact and rectangular rather that strung out along a main street like so many towns are. Some of us attended a nice presentation on the history of the Banff region.

The Bow River, which adds some elegance, runs right alongside Banff. We crossed it to ride up to Banff Springs Hotel. It was built as a “railroad hotel” to entice travel by Europeans and wealthy Easterners.

The hotel has a castle motif and a tony shopping district of its own, which takes up most of the first floor. We just strolled on through it.

Tuesday

We left late for the short ride up to Lake Louise. We rode on the Trans-Canada Highway.  It seemed fairly safe, but there were *tons* of motor homes.

The lake sits in a glacial basin, and has a green cast from glacial silt. We were on our own on Wednesday until dinner, so I rode up to the lake. I walked on a nice path to the head of the lake, and came back to Chateau Lake Louise, another railroad hotel, to people watch.

Pretty soon a bagpipe band came marching along. I understood they were the National Bagpipers. Probably there for a genuine “Highlands” experience. They were a sharp looking group, kilts and all.

Wednesday

Now we’re getting into glacier country. We’re on the Icelands Parkway (Duh!). The glaciers are mere remnants of their ice age ancestors. Most of them end at the edge of a cliff. The original flow channels are easy to see.

We saw Bow Lake along the way. It’s the origin of the Bow River. Bow Lake is ten times the size of Lake Louise. With its mountains and glaciers, it is much prettier. It’s not as famous though. The iconic Lake Louise gets its fame from its chateau.

Mike, one of my to riding buddies, wore a hole in his tire along the way. I gave him the “boot” I had made for just such an eventuality. We slipped it inside his tire, patched his tube, and were soon on our way again. We had two great downhill runs down from Bow Pass. I hit 42.5 mph on the first one.

Thursday

Today was a big day (in many senses). We rode from Rampart Creek Campground to Honeymoon Lake Campground. The big climb was up Sunwapta Pass to Columbia Icefield.

A big hairpin curve at one point reveals a long grade going up the side of a mountain. Evidently that spooked several of the riders. There is a lodge at the top of the pass, and I heard them complaining about how bad the “hill” was. It hadn’t seemed unusual to me. I was probably “in the zone.” When I asked, “What hill was that?” they were a little irritated with me.

We went out on Athabaska Glaciars in snow coaches. It flows from Columbia Icefield, which is (was?) about 30 miles in diameter. We walked around on the glacier for a while, and then headed downhill.

The downhill leg was a treat. We coasted at 15 to 20 mph for about 20 miles. We stopped at a restaurant, and had a big hamburger. Then we went on to camp, arriving at 8:00.

Friday

More downhill.  A bear came out of the woods halfway down a steep stretch. I considered swinging over to the other lane for a second or two, but decided to stop. I was about 100 feet away from the bear.

Because there was no cub, I didn’t think there was any reason for concern. My riding buddies were 100 feet behind me, laughing at my quandary. Just then twin cubs popped out of the woods. Oh, oh.

The cubs came up to mother bear, and she looked up and down the road. Maybe she was checking for cars. Anyway, they all rambled across the road, and we continued down the hill. Unfortunately I couldn’t dig my camera out fast enough to get a picture.

My buddies and I arrived at the Jasper campground an hour or two before the rest of the pack. We went ahead to get a site before they were all gone. We were there in plenty of time (we thought). When we got to the site itself, somebody was already there.  Well, we got that kerfuffle straightened out, and then rode into town to check it out.

Saturday

We had a nice Chinese dinner last night, sitting around a big round table. We had French toast this morning. Then we split up the group’s reserve funds, gave one camp stove to our leader, and the other one to Dennis, who had always done the morning chores.

Everyone sort of faded away after that, with no big goodbyes. I rode to town to get a rental car to drive to Calgary. I was flying from there to Spokane. I stopped at Coyotes in Banff on the way for huevos rancheros, and then reluctantly returned to civilization.