Saturday, July 4: Exshaw and Dead Man's Flats and Ocgrow Reserve?

 

Mount Lougheed - Along TransCanada Highway

Today was a day of mundane travel along the TransCanada Highway 1, but lots of interesting other items today.  So its the 4th of July, but nobody cares up here!  Considering what's going on in Washington, sounds like I didn't miss much.  I took a rest day yesterday.   So today the plan was to continue on from the Town of Canmore Trail which was Thursday's ride. 

 I am in an area called Dead Man's Flats, and  according to the TCT website, the trail now becomes a water trail intended to be covered by kayak or canoe.  So one is supposed to kayak down the Bow River for this stretch of maybe 5 miles.  I stopped at a gas station principally to buy some snacks for the ride and I asked the clerk if he knew anything about the TCT in this area.  He said its closed, for your own safety. At that point I did not yet know that the TCT was actually on the Bow River there.  Yes, it would have been crazy kayaking on the flooded river!   On the TCT website map, there a a fair number of areas where the trail is shaded blue.  The highest priority for the trail builders is that the TCT  is a continuous route that completely covers the entire country.  

A quick math related joke I made  up:  How is the TransCanada Trail like the real numbers?  Answer:  They are both continuous and complete.  (Your calculus teacher should enjoy that)

Usually these water routes are situated in areas where there is a busy highway nearby, and the trail builders don't want to force cyclists onto these busy routes.  Maybe I should learn more about kayaking!

Heart Mountain - In real life, the top looks like a heart shape

Heart Creek Trail - closed due to flooding

 So my only recourse was to ride on the TransCanada Highway  which runs right next to the river there.  (In Canada, cyclists are permitted to ride on the TransCanada Highway.  There is usually a really wide paved shoulder, so I feel safe and its always the easiest path.)  After five miles or so, the TCT emerges from the water, and continues along the Bow Valley Trail. Now that I am in Alberta, there is no longer a  published guidebook for the trail.  So I rely on the TCT website.  Below is an excerpt from the TCT website which gives directions for this area:

On the Bow Valley Trail, start out just outside of Canmore by the Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park and journey east through a gorgeous setting en route to the Heart Creek Provincial Recreation Area. Travel through forested and valley trails and take in the beautiful natural surroundings. Stop for a picnic and a break at Heart Creek and enjoy the wilderness views.

 So it sounds like a good section for the TNT which travels on the bow Valley Trail.  But now lets compare with reality for the Bow Valley Trail.  The next three photos describe what the Bow Valley Trail is really like:  At first glance, there is no apparent trail.  The Bow Valley Trail turns out to be barely discernible inside the overgrowth.  At the head of the trail there are two signs.  The yellow sign indicates this trail is a double black diamond, the most difficult category.  The white sign gives information on the 5 types of trails, an cautions that only expert mountain bike riders should use this trail.

 

Do you see the Bow Valley Trail?  

Its there, beyond the green gate!

Double Black Diamond Trail

Use at your own risk

Sign says:  Is This Trail For You?

I've mentioned on previous pages that one of my initial goals for this journey is to remain true to the trail, by staying on it even if there is a much easier or shorter path available. At least as much as possible. But I decide that this is an occasion when prudence dictates that I take the TransCanada Highway instead, so I ride about 5 miles further on it to where the Bow Valley Trail returns to the highway.

So this was a tough day in not being able to ride the  two official sections of the TCT.  But it still was a nice day with perfect weather and awesome scenery.   After finishing the day's ride,  I traveled on to Cochrane where I would be spending the next several evenings.  The Calgary Stampede was taking place, and hotel rooms were scarce and expensive.  My reservation for the next 4 nights was at a place called Ocgrow Reserve, a strange name for a hotel it would seem?

Securing my room became quite the odyssey.  I arrived around 11:30 PM at the building that matched the picture on the internet.  There was a large sign which said Ocgrow, but it certainly wasn't a hotel. It was an office building, with a large parking lot, and absolutely nobody around.   This area was adjacent to a large real estate development which comprised many city blocks,  I drove around looking for a place that had parked cars, and that appeared it might be open.  Soon I realized that this subdivision was in the process of being built, and the building company was called Ocgrow Reserve.  There were  streets with single family and duplex homes, apartment buildings, and townhouses. Nobody up and about.  I made the first of several calls to Expedia telling them of my situation. After a long hold they gave me the address associated with my reservation,  I don't remember, but let's say it was Washington St.  But there  was no building with any lights on at that address, a far as I could tell.  However Expedia did have additional information for me, telling me that I was in townhouse 111, and they gave me a code which I was to use at the door to get a key which would let me in.

Eventually I got close to the given address, that was on a city block, which contained a parking lot and three apartment building One of the four city streets on this block was Washington St.  There were cars parked, so I figured finally, I was going to get into my room.  What I found was the real estate office for Ocgrow, as I could tell by looking through a window, but nobody around.  The door was locked, and there was nothing around to enter a code. I continued driving around, and eventually I saw some people in the parking lot get out of their car.  I believe the time  now was around 1:30AM. I caught up to them, and told my story, and yes, they were occupants of a luxury apartment,  but they knew nothing about  hotel rooms. Normally I would just have given up, but I was reserved for 4 nights.  

I noticed a police squad car that had been patrolling in the area, and I figured he would stop me since I was obviously lost.  He didn't,  but eventually I caught up to him, and flashed my lights to get him to stop.  I told him the story and asked him if he knew where I could find this hotel, giving him the address I was looking for. He also had not heard of this hotel, and didn't recognize the address either.

My next step was to stop at a different hotel several miles away.  They had no rooms (Calgary Stampede) but they were able to give me a direct  phone number for Expedia.  But they were not able  to give me any new information.  But I do have to admit, they continued to try to be helpful through this entire escapade.  They couldn't understand why I couldn't find this hotel.  Eventually we got to a point where they were able to give turn by turn instructions, that directed me to an intersection.  When I got there, I recognized this was the same place I had been at earlier with the locked door.   One of the streets was Washington St.

By this time, I had figured out what was likely going on.  The Ocgrow real estate company was developing lots and buildings.  There is no hotel but Ocgrow was advertising on Expedia,  using some completed residences which were not yet sold, but were furnished,  and available to rent out as hotel rooms.   At this point I was now on the phone with the Expedia representative, and driving around telling him what I was seeing.  All of the addresses were 4 digit numbers in this area, and I was looking for 111, which I realized was probably an apartment number, and not an address. Finally a couple blocks away I saw a building with a parking lot which had a couple cars in it.  I drove slowly by and saw numbers 100 -110.  I went around the back and finally found 111.  The door had a combination lockbox hanging from the handle. I entered the code, the box opened with two keys inside.  The time was around 4;30AM.  I had spent 5 hours looking for this place.  The address of this building was two blocks away from Washington St.

So what happened?  My guess is that they expected hotel guests would usually arrive before darkness, and there would be a Ocgrow person there at the real estate office.  The clerk would give the guests keys, and direct them to the townhouse building.  But I arrived later, and the Ocgrow clerk put the keys in a lock box and hung them on the door handle for No. 111. This building was 2 blocks away from Washington St.  Then they called Expedia and told them the information they should provide to me when I would arrive.  

I will have further stories about the Ocgrow Reserve company, but for now, what I will say is that if a company wants to advertise like a hotel on Expedia, they need to follow through and act like a hotel - meaning some guests will be late arrivals, so they need to staff the real estate office until all guests have arrived.

If you feel you are having a bad day -  I bet its not as bad as this guy!

 

Distance  today:  approximately:  20 miles