Aug 14, 2012 - Day 112, exploring Golden

Day 112, Tuesday, August 14, 2012 Today we drove a back road on the east side of town called Blaeberry Road. It heads back up into the mountains following the Blaeberry River valley. There is a bridge we were going to cross to the other side of the river to get to Thompson Falls. When we got to the bridge, it was closed because there was no road left on the other side. It was completely washed out by the river. We just continued on the Thompson Falls forest service road which kept getting narrower and rockier. Mountains were all around us,...

Aug 13, 2012 - Day 111, Yoho N.P. & Lake Louise

Day 111, Monday, August 13, 2012 We passed through two National Parks to get to Golden but just to the east are four more. Jasper, Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay are all adjoining parks along the Rocky Mountains right along the border of British Columbia and Alberta. From Golden, we drove through Yoho and into Banff to get back to Lake Louise, thawed version. Silty, blue-green water, the glacier behind it, flowers all over the hotel grounds, and a zillion people. Except for the color of the water that you can’t see when it is frozen, I think it...

Aug 12, 2012 - Day 110, on into Golden

Day 110, Sunday, August 12, 2012 I slept so much better with my new sound machine and Rob made me chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. We left Sicamous and continued on Highway 1 east. We passed the Enchanted Forest. In an old growth forest they have carved out a fairy tale thing with castles and characters. I couldn’t see a lot from the road but it looked really cool. We are following the Eagle River and the railroad tracks through mountain valleys and forests. When we turned a corner, we saw snow capped mountains again headed into the...

Aug 2, 2012 - Golden Day 2

Second day in Golden was spent white water rafting. 5 of us on tour selected to do this. We had to be there at 9am. However by the time we waited for others to arrive and we were fitted in our wet suits and taken by bus to the start site is was about 10.45am. On the first part of the trip we went down the easy part of the Kicking Horse River, finishing with a grade 2 rapid. This was our induction to levels 3 & 4. It was so good, 4 of us went back for another go. It was 4.45pm when we were collected to be taken back to our hotel. We all...

Aug 2, 2012 - Kamloops to Golden

Travelled today from Kamloops to Golden in Yoho NP. Arrived 2pm then left for photo stop at Natural Bridge and then a walk around Emerald Lake. Approx 5.5 klms. It was wonderful to be able to do some exercise. Am sharing tonight with Kieko so young ones can be together. Decided to withdraw from group lunches of stale bread with processed meats and lettuce cucumber and sauce. Too much bread and processed meat. I will buy my own lunch each day when we stop at rest stops. Another thing we were told to do was to buy supplies for breakfast as...

Jul 8, 2012 - Koontenay NP and Peyto Lake

Well today our adventure took us in a 380 KM circle. We left Golden BC and traveled South to Radium Hot Springs, a town with a geothermal thing going on. You can bath in the springs that are as hot as 104 degrees(hot tub temp.) This is where you will encounter 10-15 Big Horn Sheep in the road and on the side eating grass. This town is located in the Kicking Horse Valley, which Golden is as well. In an effort to find a quicker, more direct route to Calgary, a road was carved through the Kootenay Valley. Workers labored in harsh conditions...

Jul 7, 2012 - Travel Day to Canada

The trip up to Canada was uneventful, other than the traffic in Calgary. We entered Canada at Piegan border crossing in Montana...with out incident. The road up to Calgary is all rolling prarie and agriculture. If you did not cross the border, you could not tell the difference between the Northern USA, they both look exactly the same. We did see one coyote cross the road in front of us and a airplane spraying crops with a fertilizer or pesticide....something you don't always see back East. Calgary is a very clean Metropolitan city that just...

Jun 30, 2012 - A Golden Rest Day

Day ten – rest day Golden Before I get on with describing our second rest day of the Tour du Canada, I need to explain about a light at the end of the tunnel. This happened coming down off of Roger’s Pass yesterday. On the east side of the summit of Roger’s Pass there are a series of avalanche sheds that cover the TransCanada Highway. The first one encountered on the way down is dark, completely dark. There are no lights in the tunnel; there are no wall perforations. Cycling into this snow shed is a test of faith: that the road surface is...

Jun 29, 2012 - Golden

Day nine – Golden – 118k This was another separate the cyclists from the sissies day. We were going over the Roger’s Pass today. It wasn’t as tough as the Coquihalla but it was a rainy day and there was a second ascent that one isn’t told about. I knew about and told those within earshot of it. I had set my tent up half way under a tree. It rained last night and when it wasn’t raining it was dripping on my tent. And “listen to the rhythm of the falling rain…” is much different when it is open rain and when it is drips. Drip, drip, drip,...

Jul 13, 2011 - Golden, BC

We left Fort Steele a little earlier than we had planned but we wanted to beat the rain. It was a lovely ride on a nice quiet two-lane road. We stopped a couple of times to get Foxy out and kill a little time so we wouldn’t get to the campground too early. We arrived just about noon time and had a less than easy time finding our way into the park. There is a major road construction project on TCH 1 and it made it a little difficult to figure out where exactly the turn-off to the frontage road was. Luckily, our instincts were good and we...

Jul 3, 2011 - Lake Louise

July 3 Day 10 Golden to Lake Louise Over the Kicking House Pass K’s 103 k Time 6h Average speed: 17k/H T to D 882.13 The normal tour stop would be Field but the campsite that was used was wiped out by a slide so we complete the Kicking Horse and ride to Lake Louise today. Makes for a longer ride but will shorten the next day’s ride B.C. behind and enter into the blue skies of Alberta. This turned out to be the toughest day so far. We packed up camp in weather that was threatening rain and it was cool as well. Six of us decided to have...

Jul 2, 2011 - Golden Rest Day

The usual chores here with bike cleaning and laundry. A must when there is time. Admit to sleeping in after the super ride through the Rogers pass. The campsite was good but it we had to lug our camp gear a long way from the truck and all facilities were a distance. Good exercise or maybe cross training after the bike ride. I had a loose front wheel bearing that was not a big problem but I wanted a mechanic to look at it as while it was not major it caused some wheel wobble at high speeds and that could cause a crash coming down steep...