Day 11 – June 28th 2018 Golden to Lake Louise

 

Today's ride took us from Golden BC to Lake Louise Alberta. RJD and I are in the hostel in different rooms so I can only give you the MapMyRide details.  The Alberta border is the highest point in our ride this year and probably on the ride across Canada.  It is downhill to Calgary.

In the first 10 k of the ride, we left behind any sights of the Purcell's and climbed higher in the Rockies.  The TCH has changed in the last thirty years coming out of Golden so there are only two climbs and one descent.  On the second climb, RJD reminded me to look around because I was climbing too fast and he knew therefore that I was focused on the road, not the ride.  It was not totally correct but it was close.  I did miss one train bridge crossing the Kicking Horse.

 

And one point we stopped and saw the three ways a route can be built through the mountains.  The Kicking Horse took many years and wore a route that was defined by rock hardness and minimum effort.  The railway was built over fewer years but followed the river closely.  The TCH rose up and down and at times blasted 200 m deep canyons through a rock outcropping to enable five lanes (two bike, two traffic, and a passing lane) to descend through the valley.

 

We stopped for second breakfast where the highway crosses the Kicking Horse River around km 38 and saw two deer who probably used the culvert to cross the highway.  I noticed Wood Lilies in the ditch.  They usually are blooming around Canada Day.  For the next 10 km, the ditches were painted with daps of orange.  If you like Tiger Lilies or Wood Lilies, this is a good time to ride this section of road.  Bad time to drive though because bridge work meant that cars were in a queue 6.7 km long heading west.  The west direction actually had the green light for about thirty minutes and this allowed RJD and I to cycle in peace for about seven km uphill.

We rode into Field and both RJD and I found it awesome.  If it is the glaciers, the river, the mountains, the quaint CPR town or any combination that catches your eye, you know why this is a beautiful section.

The uphill out of Field seems long and unrelenting but it eases off after a bit and you fall into a rhythm of climbing.  Soon you are at the provincial boundary, the Banff/Yoho boundary and the continental divide.  After riding up River for what seems like days (there are no rivers coming out of Roger's Pass that I take notice of), everything changes.  The Bow River with its blue waters replace the silty Kicking Horse and Columbia.  Then in to Lake Louise and to the bakery which was out of cinnamon buns and then to the hostel.

My neighbour in the hostel rode here from Anchorage via Yukon and BC making our one province ride seem mundane.  But he had no WiFi to share the trip with others.  More bugs but less traffic so you never have to think about anything but the scenery.

It is 8:08 PM and well past my bed time.