Day 42: 7/1/19: Elkford, BC to Pincher Creek, AB

Happy Canada Day, Canada's day of Independence.  Hopefully, this year I will get to celebrate Canada Day in Canada AND Independence Day in the U.S.  How cool is that?

Woke up this morning to about a 41 degree temperature.  It was quite chilly.  Bid farewell to Eric and Sigita.  Eric will continue south, but will remain on the Adventure Cycling route.  Sigita will head North on gravel roads to Banff.

Pic of sunrise hitting mountain tops in Elkford below.

I decided to take the blacktop today instead of the Adventure Cycling route that I intended to take to Sparwood.  The ride yesterday filled my need for riding downhill on rutted, partially loose gravel roads with 700x32 (not wide) tires.  It was nice today riding on smooth roads, even with the increased vehicular traffic.  I even had the benefit of a strong wind out of the west as I was heading east.

I've seen old tires being used for an assortment of things, but I think this is the first time I have seen them used as No Trespassing signs (pic below).

This part of Canada is definitely coal mining territory.  Below are a couple of pics of coal mining machinery that are on display in Sparwood.

Joy Loader

Shuttle Cart ( can move 10 tons of coal)

Some scenery pics from today's ride.

I went across Crowsnest Pass and entered back into Alberta (pics below).

Near Crowsnest Pass, I went through the  community of Frank, which had a massive rockslide in 1903.  Below are pics of information regarding the rock slide and of rocks that remain from the slide.  To me, the area had kind of a Pompeii feel to it.

The terrain changed a lot today.  I started my days in the mountains as pictured above.  The mountains got smaller and grew into hills (pic below).

By the end of the day, I was back in the prairie.

I ended my day at Veteran's Memorial Campground at Pincher Creek, AB.  The campground host told me the story about how the town got it's name.  One of the first settlers of the area had a couple of fence pinchers, but lost them in the local creek.  Settlers that arrived later somehow found those pinchers in the creek, and named the creek Pincher Creek, which also became the town's name.  Pic of town's welcome sign below.  Notice the pinchers on each side of the sign.

I have been craving a root beer for a few days now.  Pincher Creek has an A&W, so I stopped in for supper, a burger, fries and root beer.

Below is a pic of my campsite, Pincher Creek, and a special visitor to the campground.  I hope it doesn't steal my food.

Miles for today: 77.8