Day 10 - Sunday August 15, 2010
Kilometres: 512.5
Time: Eight and a half hours (with stops)
Weather:
Fernie: Sunny, 11 C at 9:30 AM
Calgary: Sunny, 29 C at 6 PM
I rode through the Kootaney Valley today, which is lush farming, horse, and cattle country. Surrounding the valley are high peaks, some with year-around snow.
(I'm a day behind on my blog, so I will upload pictures tomorrow.)
I saw the Lake Columbia, the source of the Columbia River (but I think the source is the Columbia Icefield). The river is a lovely turquoise, just as I'd seen in many photos of BC's lakes and rivers.
The ride was scenic, but not very challenging as the roads were straight. It was only when I entered Kootaney National Park that the roads became more challenging and scenery changed from beautiful to spectacular. It was just unfortunate that Albertans (there were very few vehicles from BC in the park) are all used to going at least 120 kph. I'm sorry, but I want to do the speed limit and take in the sights. The speed limit, depending on how curvy the road is, was anywhere from 60 to 80 kph.
I nearly got run over by an idiot trucker. Even though I moved over for him three times to pass, he refuses and just wanted to get cozy with my tailpipe. Luckily, I found a turnout, and he whipped by me as fast and as close to me as he could.
There were a couple of areas in the park that had been decimated by forest fires. Perhaps the fires were from last year as greenery and purple flowers have spouted up rather nicely.
The fun ride was soon over and I entered Banff National Park. I was back on the Trans Canada Highway and heading east. I stopped in Banff for gas. It's a pretty little town but it has too many tourists in it for me to stay longer than necessary.
From Banff it was clear ride through to Calgary. I really didn't want to leave the mountains behind. But tomorrow is another day ... and I'm not finished with the mountains.
Here's the route I took today:
