My Trans Canada Bike Journey

Eastbound on the  Banff Legacy Trail (Mount Rundle forms the right edge of the photo) Today's start: elevation 4616 feet   After three rest days, I am looking forward to returning to the bike, and extending my travel eastward on the TransCanada Trail.   Sunday was a dreary day;  I'm sure many vacationers were disappointed, because Banff  really shows off its beauty and grandeur when the sun is out.  Audrey and I took the day to drive up to Lake Louise.  Early on the route we travelled past  Cascade Mountain, but could barely see it through the fog.  However we could make out the cascade for which the mountain is named, water rushing down the side of the mountain.  Monday was a car trip to Calgary, so that Audrey could catch her early Tuesday flight.  Tuesday was a tourist day for me in the townsite.  I checked out the Whyte Museum of the Rockies, which is mainly an art museum, and stopped for a couple souvenirs on Main Str...

(Jun. 28) A close bear encounter! (Jun. 28) These pictures were taken from inside the car.)   These photos are miscellaneous, taken on June 24, June 27, and June 28.  On June 24 we took a rest day in order to do some Banff sightseeing, just like the millions of visitors that Banff receives each year.  We first took in a narrated boat tour of Lake Minnewanka.  We had a good narrator who provided a lot of information that was new to me.  Lake Minnewanka is the largest lake in Banff National Park, (BNP) and for many tourists, the first attraction they see upon arriving as  the turnoff  from TransCanada Highway 1, comes first after entering the park.  This area is the homeland of the Stoney Nakoda Nation, the aboriginal people who were settled here when  the Canadian Pacific railroad decided to lay tracks in the Bow River Valley.  The Stoney Indians were given that name because they would use stones warmed by fire to cook their food.  T...

  Spray Lakes Reservoir A very rainy day! While all days on a vacation of this nature are memorable, some days really stand out. Today was one of those special days, one I will remember long after the last mile of my Canadian journey.  Our last day of intended riding before Audrey would leave from Calgary to return home to St Louis, it was going to be an ambitious day.  If you pull out an Alberta road map, you'll see a grey road that leaves highway 40, shortly north of the Highwood Pass, and ends at Canmore,  I believe it is about 70 kilometers long.  Our hotel is in Canmore.  But now imagine a roadblock on that gray road, which is the Smith-Dorrien Road, just on the city limit of Canmore.   This roadblock created so much annoyance for us!  Instead of leaving the Canmore hotel, and taking the Smith-Dorrien Road,  directly to my starting point along the south end of the Spray Lake Reservoir, we had to backtrack on the TransCanada Highway ...

  High Rockies Trail crosses a reservoir - photo taken from the top of the dam Today we got back to the TransCanada Trail.  Its been a week since we departed the TCT along the Elk Valley Trail in Sparwood, and I was excited about getting back to it.  The Elk Valley Trail ends at the the Continental Divide, which in this area is also the provincial boundary between BC and Alberta. The trail however doesn't stop - it has to continue because it carries the TCT, which is continuous across the country.  In Alberta the trail becomes the High Rockies Trail.  An evocative name which had me thinking about a singletrack path above the treeline.  Audrey and I checked out a tourist information center in the Elk Lakes area, and the ranger told us it would be easy to find behind the  local campground.   So I told Audrey to take the Smith-Dorrien Road and I would search for the High Rockies Trail and meet her along it. Not super clear instructions, especial...

  The climb up to Highwood Pass For readers looking for a blog entry for June 24, there isn't one. We used the day as a rest day from the bike. Our hotel is now close to Banff National Park. The weather forecast predicted one final nice weather day in the park followed by rain every day for the next 9 days or so.  I wanted to have nice weather for a sightseeing day in the park, so that is what we did on June 24.  It turned out to be a good decision, as rain had a significant impacted on my riding, as future pages will explain.   Like the say, "its all downhill from here".  Today I can confidently say that I have rode my bike to the highest elevation I will ever achieve by bike in Canada.  Because I rode up and over the Highwood Pass on the Kananaskis Trail today. At 7239 feet, it is the highest point on any public road in Canada. These last few days I've been keeping a secret from you.  When we decided to take the detour away from the TransCanada Trail...

A beautiful view from Highway 40 gravel road Today, on our third day, of the detour, we completed the gravel portion of Highway 40.  I really like the photo that headlines today's page of the blog.  I could see myself doing a jigsaw puzzle of this view.  It was taken as we were nearing the end of the ride planned for today. The countryside of today was basically similar to yesterday.  We were trying to avoid raindrops again, but the skies cleared up nicely at day's end. But I'd like to take you back to an area not directly along our biking route, but an area we would pass through, traveling between our hotel in Pincher Creek and the daily bike rides.  We enjoyed a three day stay at the Econo-Lodge at Pincher Creek.  It seemed to be a brand new hotel. We had chosen it at a time when we expected to be traveling on Highway 22, a good deal east of our route on Highway 40.  But consequently we now had long rides from the hotel to the riding area for me....