Saturday, July 11: Bragg Creek to Cochrane
My last view of the Canadian Rockies
Looking at these pictures you may be wondering if you ever get a cloudy day in Alberta. And you would be right. Once we got past the rainy weekend in Banff National Park, it seems that I've had glorious sunshine every day. Now that I am on the leeward side of the mountain range, its been sunny and dry, which is great weather for biking. In the picture above you now see the Rockies on the far western horizon. At this point my views have not been affected due to smoke; back in Wisconsin, the smoke has reached dangerous levels, and people are advised to stay indoors. The fires producing the smoke in the US are primarily in Ontario, far to the east of my location. These views of the mountains in the distance make for nice scenery.
But the views today are markedly different from the past weeks. This is ranching country now with cattle predominating. After moving to a new motel (Bow River Inn) in Cochrane, today I never use the car, as my bike ride takes off from the motel. Again its a down and back ride. The down part is traveling to Bragg Creek where I pick up the TCT, and continue on it back to Cochrane. I expect to remain faithful to the exact route of the TCT now indefinitely, as the Trail now follows roadways for the most part in Alberta. Today, for the first time in weeks, the route drops below 4000 feet, as my GPS indicates 3777 feet at the Bow River Inn.
Biking north along Highway 22 out of Bragg Creek, one can't help but notice something unusual. Perhaps missed by most motorists, the fence posts on the right side of the road are decorated with children's stuffed animals, tied to the posts with ribbons. 100's of them stretching along for miles. This road borders the Tsuut'ina Nation of Indigenous people, and the stuffed animals began to show up in 2021 to recognize the discovery of unmarked graves at the former Kamloops (BC) Indian Residential School. A tragic episode of Canadian history.
I did finish the ride today after dark. There is a detour like segment of the route that leaves Highway 22 and travels on dirt roads for around 10 miles before returning to Highway 22. The only notable location along the highway that the detour avoids is the interchange with TransCanada Highway 1. To me it certainly didn't seem that there was a need to extend the TCT for this reason, but if the TCT takes a detour route, well then I take the detour route also. The reason I mention this, is that along the detour I had a rather 'spooky' experience. It's after dark, and I'm cycling on a dirt road, and I begin to hear spooky sounds. Really! Like from a movie. This continues for perhaps a mile. What I realize is happening is that there are motion detectors posted along the road. Perhaps they are activated only at night, and I imagine they are intended to keep wildlife away, as in scarecrow fashion. I imagine the rancher is being notified of the motion as well, so I was probably being watched by security cameras along this route.
One other item: the upended RV is still sitting at the scene of the accident. There's lots of time on a bike tour to just think, and so I wonder about the owner of this RV. The trailer is obviously a complete loss and beyond any attempt at repair. So one wonders if the owner is ever going to remove it from the accident site. I guess it would be an easy decision to just leave it, and let someone else deal with it? It would be interesting to find out more about the accident. Was there a collision, or was it just blown over by the wind strong enough to flip both the RV and the pickup truck. I'm glad its not my problem!
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