Day 40: 6/29/19: Canmore to Elkwood Campground, AB

It has been great spending time with Lisa and Hannah the past few days.  Today, we said our goodbyes and I started my return trip to Chattanooga.

Okay, call me a wimp.  I will be riding on Adventure Cycling's Great Continental Divide Mountain Bike Route for a few miles.  I was looking at the cue sheet, which looked like this...

I thought to myself, "That looks like a bunch of foolishness."   I then studied Google Maps, and saw a more direct way on a gravel road.  I decided to take the easier route, the gravel road.

Most of my day was spent riding on a dusty gravel road. There was a moderate amount of vehicle traffic on it that kept the dust stirred up.  The scenery today was just as beautiful as the scenery we have enjoyed the last couple of days (pics below).

Because of all the dust, I wore this for several miles.  It worked really well.

I ran across this mountain goat on a cliff right beside the road. It must be losing its winter coat because it looked kind of mangy (pic below).

I met Tim, Mark, and Margaret during my ride today. They are from Idaho, and are cycling from Banff to Idaho.  Below is a pic of them as I was coming up on them.

I then came across Eric, who is riding from Canmore to Detroit.  He is a teacher from Seattle.  This is his first bicycle tour.  We rode together for several miles, and ended up sharing a campsite at Elkwood Campground.  We were fortunate to get a campsite tonight because most campgrounds are full because this is a long holiday weekend.  July 1 is Canada day, which is like the United States' July 4.  Below is a pic of Eric and our campsite.

As I was riding up behind Eric today, he suddenly stopped his bike and let it fall to the ground. As I approached him, he told me to stop because there was a bear ahead.  About 30 yards from us was a bear hanging out beside the road (pics below).  It stayed there, and we stayed out, for several minutes.  We eventually decided to go to the other side of the road and ride past the bear.  Due to the slope of the road, we could not see the bear as we rode by. After we got past the bear, I looked back and the bear was standing upright on his hind legs looking at us.  When the bear saw me looking at him, he got down on his all fours and went back into the woods.  I'm pretty sure it was a grizzly.  Before we decided to ride past the bear, Eric and I had the conversation that we don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the other person :) I'm glad we didn't have to see who the faster rider was (I'm sure I would have been the bear bait).

Total miles today: 46.3

Day 39: 6/28/19: Rest Day

First of all, happy birthday Hannah.  For her birthday, we went on a 10-mile hike to Johnston Canyon and Ink Pots. It was a pretty challenging hike, so we were all nice and tired after the hike.  Pics from our hike below.

Then we rode over to Minnewanka Lake and took some pics of the views there.

We took Hannah to Grizzly Paw Pub in Canmore for her birthday dinner.

Total miles today: 0 (on a bike, about 11 walking)

Day 38: 6/27/19: Rest Day

We got up at 3:30 a.m. today so we could be at Lake Moraine to see the sunrise there. That is apparently something you want to do in Banff National Park.  We got to the lake at about 5:00 a.m., in plenty of time to watch the sunrise.  Unfortunately, it was rainy and extremely cloudy, so there were no sun rays to be seen anywhere.  At least it got us started early, and we were able to see a lot (pics below).

Lake Moraine

Athabasca Glacier

Edith Cavell Mountain

Angel Glacier

Athabasca Falls

And to top it off, a BEAR!!!

A few more scenic pics from today.

Total miles today: 0 (on a bike, but a whole bunch in a car)

Day 37: 6/26/19: Lac des Arcs to Canmore, AB

I woke up a little before 5 a.m., packed up and hit the road.  It was a chilly 12-mile ride to Canmore.

Below are a couple of mountain pics around Canmore.

While waiting on Lisa and Hannah to get to Canmore, I rode a little on the Rocky Mountain Legacy Trail, which is about a 12mile paved pathway connecting Canmore to Banff.  I met Renaud (pic below) on the trail.  He is traveling from Seattle, WA, to Montreal, where he is from.

Below are a couple of pics from the trail.

Lisa and I at Canmore.

When Lisa and Hannah arrived at Canmore, I shifted gears and went into car mode.  This is the first time I have driven a car in about a month. Hannah was giving me a hard time about driving so slow.  I'm used to traveling about 10 mph, 35 mph feels like you're going light speed.

We went to Lake Louise, and hiked up to the Lake Agnes Teahouse.  We saw a lot of beautiful scenery (pics below).

Lake Louise

Mirror Lake

Lake Agnes

Total miles today: 22.4

Total miles this trip: 2,741.2

The next time I'm on my bike, I will be heading home.  I will be giving the bike a break for the next few days while Lisa, Hannah, and I do some sightseeing around Banff and Jasper, AB.