I made my first ever border crossing as I entered Canada. It was very easy getting into Canada but we’ll see how easy it is to get back into the states. I arrived in Banff via the Kootenay National Park. This was a wonderful place with creek waters that were aqua like the waters of the Caribbean with mountains all around. I made it to my campground and there was an 8 point buck just standing by the road eating dinner. He stayed there for hours but I didn’t take a picture because I thought he came every day by the way he was acting. I never saw him again. The same thing happened with a bull elk I saw eating in the middle of our campground. I awoke the next morning intent on a bike trip to Lake Louise via the Bow River Parkway which is a scenic drive off the main highway. I ran into some rams and got a good picture. I stopped at Morraine Lake first which is right by Lake Louise and hiked around the lake a bit. Then I went to the famous Lake Louise. I thought Morraine Lake was prettier but the scenery behind Lake Louise was much better. The mountains surrounding the lake were spectacular. I then headed to Takakkaw Falls in a nearby canyon as I was told these were very big by the Canadian friends I met in Glacier. They weren’t kidding. Water was surging off the mountain and dropped 254 meters to the bottom. You could walk right up to them and get your shower for the day with the heavy mist coming off them as the water collided with the rocks at the bottom. I called it a day and headed back to camp for a nice meal. I met my neighbors who were from Denmark. They had the whole family there as a celebration for the father’s retirement. They were very nice but I think only a few of the men spoke English because they were the only ones who spoke to me.
The next day I decided to take a long ride down south along a route my Canadian friends suggested. The ride started off in a canyon with great views of the mountains. I stopped for a snack at one of the many lakes and got a picture of some more baby goats. I moved on and the road south moved out of the mountains and into the valley. I stopped to check my map and took off again but my saddle bag did not close all the way so it opened up and I lost my good maps. I decided to trudge forward since I remembered the roads I needed to take. I got to Crows Nest which is a town with a big mountain that looks like a crow’s nest or so is the thought. I saw the world's largest truck there so I had to take a picture. I had ridden a very long way to this point and I knew the way forward was even longer bought I proceeded on because I knew the views would be better going forward as I got back into the mountains. I was enjoying all the beauty but I noticed storm clouds building in front of me. I was hoping to skirt past them or outrun them but I was not so lucky today. I had stupidly left my rain gear back at the camper because there was no rain in the forecast. Apparently their weathermen are no better than ours at predicting the weather. I soon forgot about getting wet and worried about surviving as the storm hit with full fury and the wind gusts reached 60 MPH. The wind tried many times to blow me off the road and visibility was poor. There was nowhere to pull off so I had to continue on through the storm. I prayed for God to spare me and bring me to safety from the storm. I came to a town and pulled into a gas station for shelter and to fill up. I thanked God for sparing my life and went to a Dairy Queen for a celebratory Blizzard. The rain stopped and I headed on down the road. Unfortunately, it was the wrong road. As I was trying to stay on the road through the storm, I had missed my exit without realizing it because I couldn’t see it. One of the bad things about Canada is their lack of road signs telling you what road you are on or where you are heading. I didn’t realize I was on the wrong road until I was almost back in the states. I had gone 45 miles out of my way on what was already a very long ride. At this point I just wanted to get back to my camper and rest but I was hours away yet. I rode on non-stop except to get gas and finally made it back. I had ridden 650 miles and was on the bike for about 10-1/2 hours. That was the furthest I had ever ridden and further than I ever care to ride again.
The next day I decided to take it easy and rest from the previous day’s adventure. I went into downtown Banff and walked around all the stores and had lunch. Then I went to Sulfur Mountain close by and rode the Gondola to the top. I had spectacular views of all the mountains around and the city below. After that I took a short ride by some lakes close by and then called it a day.
My last day I decided to ride to the Columbia Ice Fields up North. I took a detour down a canyon rode that was worth the ride. The mountains again were amazing but another bad thing about Canada National parks is that they don’t have pull offs where the good picture taking would be and the ones they do have the view is blocked by trees. Also it was very hazy and the pictures would not turn out good anyway. So I missed a lot of great photo opportunities and they will have to live in my memory which means they will be lost after a couple of weeks. Anyway, I headed back to my original destination and the road to the IceFields has the best views of all I had seen so far. There were many glaciers and spectacular mountain ranges that of course offered very few photo opportunities. But I would never have gotten to my destination if I stopped to take pictures everywhere I wanted to take a picture. I made it to the IceFields and marveled at Athabasca Glacier with the ice fields above it. I debated on whether to take to $50.00 bus ride up to the ice fields or not and decided not to because it was getting late and they wouldn’t let you off the bus to walk on the ice fields. It turned out to be a good decision because I stopped at the last gas station before you got to Banff and they were out of fuel. I was not empty but I did not have enough gas to make it all the way back. Fortunately the man said there was a gas station about 30 miles out of the way. I had no choice so I rode down what turned out to be another great road for scenery and made it to the gas station hoping they were not out of gas. They still had gas and everyone there was in the same predicament as me. I was glad to get a full tank because I knew somewhere down the line they would run out as well and someone was going to be stranded. I headed back home and saw my first bear in Canada. It was a black bear eating berries on the side of the road. He was only about 25 feet away and paid no attention to the people nearby. I left for my temporary home to get packed and get out of Canada the next day. I had ridden 450 miles this day which was further than I had originally planned. My butt needed a rest from all the riding and I was going to get it. Banff and the surrounding areas offer amazing sightseeing but I still say the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier is the most amazing place I have seen so far. Banff offers more in what women would like with its downtown of shopping and nice restaurants. Glacier does not offer this upscale metropolitan atmosphere that many people like but they are close enough that you can enjoy both on the same trip. I next head back to the states and Mount Rainier for what will be a personal and emotional time for me as I climb up on the mountain to spread some of Janice’s ashes as I had promised her I would do. There will be no blog posting for this part of my trip so I will start back when I get to Lake Chelan where I will meet up with Janice’s aunt and uncle and their family for a few days. I'm having a great time but I miss my family and friends more each day. I look forward to seeing everyone again when I get back.
The next day I decided to take a long ride down south along a route my Canadian friends suggested. The ride started off in a canyon with great views of the mountains. I stopped for a snack at one of the many lakes and got a picture of some more baby goats. I moved on and the road south moved out of the mountains and into the valley. I stopped to check my map and took off again but my saddle bag did not close all the way so it opened up and I lost my good maps. I decided to trudge forward since I remembered the roads I needed to take. I got to Crows Nest which is a town with a big mountain that looks like a crow’s nest or so is the thought. I saw the world's largest truck there so I had to take a picture. I had ridden a very long way to this point and I knew the way forward was even longer bought I proceeded on because I knew the views would be better going forward as I got back into the mountains. I was enjoying all the beauty but I noticed storm clouds building in front of me. I was hoping to skirt past them or outrun them but I was not so lucky today. I had stupidly left my rain gear back at the camper because there was no rain in the forecast. Apparently their weathermen are no better than ours at predicting the weather. I soon forgot about getting wet and worried about surviving as the storm hit with full fury and the wind gusts reached 60 MPH. The wind tried many times to blow me off the road and visibility was poor. There was nowhere to pull off so I had to continue on through the storm. I prayed for God to spare me and bring me to safety from the storm. I came to a town and pulled into a gas station for shelter and to fill up. I thanked God for sparing my life and went to a Dairy Queen for a celebratory Blizzard. The rain stopped and I headed on down the road. Unfortunately, it was the wrong road. As I was trying to stay on the road through the storm, I had missed my exit without realizing it because I couldn’t see it. One of the bad things about Canada is their lack of road signs telling you what road you are on or where you are heading. I didn’t realize I was on the wrong road until I was almost back in the states. I had gone 45 miles out of my way on what was already a very long ride. At this point I just wanted to get back to my camper and rest but I was hours away yet. I rode on non-stop except to get gas and finally made it back. I had ridden 650 miles and was on the bike for about 10-1/2 hours. That was the furthest I had ever ridden and further than I ever care to ride again.
The next day I decided to take it easy and rest from the previous day’s adventure. I went into downtown Banff and walked around all the stores and had lunch. Then I went to Sulfur Mountain close by and rode the Gondola to the top. I had spectacular views of all the mountains around and the city below. After that I took a short ride by some lakes close by and then called it a day.
My last day I decided to ride to the Columbia Ice Fields up North. I took a detour down a canyon rode that was worth the ride. The mountains again were amazing but another bad thing about Canada National parks is that they don’t have pull offs where the good picture taking would be and the ones they do have the view is blocked by trees. Also it was very hazy and the pictures would not turn out good anyway. So I missed a lot of great photo opportunities and they will have to live in my memory which means they will be lost after a couple of weeks. Anyway, I headed back to my original destination and the road to the IceFields has the best views of all I had seen so far. There were many glaciers and spectacular mountain ranges that of course offered very few photo opportunities. But I would never have gotten to my destination if I stopped to take pictures everywhere I wanted to take a picture. I made it to the IceFields and marveled at Athabasca Glacier with the ice fields above it. I debated on whether to take to $50.00 bus ride up to the ice fields or not and decided not to because it was getting late and they wouldn’t let you off the bus to walk on the ice fields. It turned out to be a good decision because I stopped at the last gas station before you got to Banff and they were out of fuel. I was not empty but I did not have enough gas to make it all the way back. Fortunately the man said there was a gas station about 30 miles out of the way. I had no choice so I rode down what turned out to be another great road for scenery and made it to the gas station hoping they were not out of gas. They still had gas and everyone there was in the same predicament as me. I was glad to get a full tank because I knew somewhere down the line they would run out as well and someone was going to be stranded. I headed back home and saw my first bear in Canada. It was a black bear eating berries on the side of the road. He was only about 25 feet away and paid no attention to the people nearby. I left for my temporary home to get packed and get out of Canada the next day. I had ridden 450 miles this day which was further than I had originally planned. My butt needed a rest from all the riding and I was going to get it. Banff and the surrounding areas offer amazing sightseeing but I still say the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier is the most amazing place I have seen so far. Banff offers more in what women would like with its downtown of shopping and nice restaurants. Glacier does not offer this upscale metropolitan atmosphere that many people like but they are close enough that you can enjoy both on the same trip. I next head back to the states and Mount Rainier for what will be a personal and emotional time for me as I climb up on the mountain to spread some of Janice’s ashes as I had promised her I would do. There will be no blog posting for this part of my trip so I will start back when I get to Lake Chelan where I will meet up with Janice’s aunt and uncle and their family for a few days. I'm having a great time but I miss my family and friends more each day. I look forward to seeing everyone again when I get back.
great pictures,maybe one day I can make the trip. what's with the 3 little sheep? one of them looks like it has just got out of bed,it can be lonesome out there.
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