1135kms in 8 riding days. (200 less than the first tour). The idea was to end it in Revelstoke and hitchhike home. However, getting a ride with a bike is a bit harder than a backpack. I did get a ride to Golden and the next morning I tried for an hour to no avail. I kinda wanted to ride that section uphill to Kicking Horse Pass anyways and the 1A between Lake Louise to Banff....so I did. Smokey from Cranbrook the rest of the way, didn't bother my breathing or eyes at all. No rain...again :)
Day 1 out of Calgary I rode to Kananaskis Lakes and then over Elk pass at 1905m, roughly 10kms of which is closed to motorized vehicles, right on the AB/BC border. Unexpectedley I ended up at an empty cabin with my name on it...sort of: Tobermory recreation site. 152kms. Then 70 of excellent, hardpack gravel forest service road to Elkford and down to Fernie the next day. Then to just south of Moyie Lake via Cranbrook and day 4, 181kms into Nelson via the lake/ferry route up from Creston. 601kms in 4 days. Day 5...a day off and visited friends from Calgary who I didn't know where there and cousin Rick. Day 6 from Nelson to just north of the town of Hills. Day 7, thru Nakusp to Revy and hitched to Golden. Then Golden to just east of Exshaw and home at 10am the next day.
Sorry to disappoint....no road kill shots. I do have some, but they aren't up to my usual high standards 😂 Kinda sums up how I felt when I got home from my first tour. The kids were giving their smart phones a lot of love.
Elk pass at 1905m. 10 km shorter to Fernie...ha ha.
Had my bear spray on this trip...mostly for this pass.
Roughly 10kms of this. I pushed about 4-500m on the Alberta side, because it was steep in parts.
I had no idea there was a cabin available! What a treat at the end of the long ride. Seems to be used a lot by bikepackers riding the GDT....Great Divide Trail from Mexico to Banff.
The next day I had 70k of excellent hardpack gravel to Elkford. About 6-7 vehicles in total! so no dust.
Sunrise
Campsite in Fernie, just below the ski hill on Lizard creek. Creek just below to wash up. A bike allows one access to places you just can't get to in a vehicle.
Jaffray BC. This guy buys old cars in the states and ships/drives them to Mazatlan to have them rebuilt cheap, as he spends 6 months a year there.
Wild camp just a few km south of Moyie Lake...right beside another little creek.
More like the whole bucket Steve 😂
Lemon creek fire, halfway between Creston and Crawford Bay
Ants love Thimble berries
Mostly feasted on Saskatoons on this trip.
Reminds me of the type of cars used in ZZ Top videos and the fact that Dusty Hill died a few days ago at age 72.
Balfour Ferry.
The name of the bride into Nelson is Bob. That's right....Bob. Big, orange bridge.
The Kootenay lifestyle summed up in one word. (They'd probably prefer 'laid back') On a building in Nelson. BTW....I had never been to Nelson! Great art downtown. I didn't fit in very well, as one hippie looked me up and down and said, "you look very vibrant today"....in reference to my neon yellow shirts that I now wear, to distract drivers from their smart phones.
Art on main street/Baker street, Nelson
Music for the soul.....at 6:30am....got him out of bed to sing me a song. He has good chops!
Hmmm....with all the fires raging........
I love to wild camp, but not this 'wild'...in the city. I prefer a bit more privacy.
On my day off, I left the hostel, walked a half block and took a picture of this Yoga studio and sent it to Al. Knowing they visit here frequently and wondered if Lynne had gone to this studio. Turns out they were in town! Al picked me up at the Oso Negro and we went up to his daughter's place, where he watering the vegetation. Then we picked up Lynne at said Yoga studio!
Raiding the raspberry patch.
Chai latte with oat milk. mmmmm. Kinda had a nana nap here at Al's daughter's place.
Best coffee joint anywhere!
Firehall where the movie Roxanne was filmed in 1987, with Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah, who I just found out, married Neil Young....Young isn't so young.
Took cousin Rick to Sprout, where the meat eater managed to choke down half of his meal. He took the rest to go and probably threw it away! Did you Rick? 😆
One half of the dueling banjos.
Carla the Goose has a creek named after her. Ricks water supply.
Rick and his girlfried Ashley are doing an admirable job, living a minimalist lifestyle. Living in a school bus that he is converting little by little, with 3 dogs, 3 goats and 5 chickens, minus one that a bear got last week! With future plans for a garden. I had thought of trying to live closer to the land/more sustainably 8 years ago in Ecuador, when we were thinking of buying land and staying. Alas, I did not have the courage to do so. It's a LOT of work and a lifestyle that can't be romanticized. Kudos to Rick and Ashley for giving it a go, especially in light of all that is happening in this crazy world and the fact that we need to lessen the impact we self proclaimed Homo Sapiens (we certainly are clever apes, but wise I'm not so sure) are having on our home.
Just down the road from where Rick lives. Sons of Freedom and all of that. His mom says you can almost here the dueling banjos playing around these parts....from the 1972 movie Deliverance.
Plenty of room in this old beast!
Lots of heli's flying around with buckets of water.
Mural in Slocan
Slocan lake. I jumped in for a splash as it was in the low 30's.
Fun unincorporated?
Sasquatch?
A scene from the Lorax.
The BEST beans ever. Gotta get me some in Cowtown.
Moon setting around 4:30am, as seen thru the tent bug screen. Is that a planet to the right?
Lots of these little fellers trying to cross the highway at Summit Lake.
Healthy, free roadside breaky
...and a mural in Nakusp
Bit too much of this all over BC. I don't see anywhere near as much in Alberta.
Galena Bay ferry
First one on!
I was tired and didn't have the patience to stick it out for 2-3 hours, which may have gotten me a ride in a pick up, mini van, or one of the many vehicles with bike racks.
Taking the fun out of the twisty bit just out of Golden on the Trans Canada. 4 lanes coming soon.
Dangerous work above! Probably the best reason to finally invest in an upgrade on this section. The whole section is so unstable.
Sunset leaving Canmore on the 1A....headin' for home.....
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