5 days through the mountains, but on a bike this time.

I'm just finishing packing for my next little trip. I've been looking at different cross country routes to get me from Calgary down to my Parents place at Baynes Lake and I finally settled on a good looking plan. First part of the bike trip isn't biking at all, it's hitching out to Banff with a perfectly good bicycle, hopefully fully assembled in the back of someones truck. The winds always blow from the west, and being the lazy type of cycle tourer I am, I'd rather just catch a ride instead of fighting the headwind on the side of the busy transcanada highway all day.

From Banff I take a cross country ski trail along goat creek until I get up above Canmore, then the Smith Dorien gravel road takes me 80 km to Kananaskis Lakes. From there it's another cross country ski trail up over Elk Pass and into Elk Lakes Provincial Park, 70something km of gravel road to Elkford, and then I'll ride the paved highway until Sparwood. If time permits I'm hoping to take a side trip 25km out to Crowsnest Mountain where I'll hide my bike in the trees while I scramble up - I've always wanted to climb Crowsnest Mountain, what better time than while on a cycle tour? Then it's back into BC and up Corbin Creek into the Flathead for another 160 or so backcountry km. I could never find a route through there that I liked, but the other night I found out that there is a foot trial joining two forest service roads that get within a few km of each other. That lets me take backroads right up to the Canadian/US border at Rooseville, just south of Baynes Lake and what will probably be my first cold beer and shower all week. The hardest part of the whole trip seems like the hitch out to Banff... best get going, I still need to pickup extra spokes!

Here's pictures of the route:




t

Doing all the things I missed while on the trail.

The last few weeks went something like this:

-Bus / Hitchhike from the coast to Greenwood. ($20 bus ride to get out of the tough hitching in the fraser valley).

-One week visiting my Grandparents, helping on the farm, getting firewood, and eating ALL of grandma's wonderful cooking nonstop (I gained 6 pounds that week!).

-4 day roadtrip through the Okanagan with Sarah and her Mom.

-Weekend at Koocanusa / Baynes Lake visiting my Parents and Sarah again.

-Week of reading/relaxing/hiking/biking/eating/working/planning/not updating the blog in Calgary.

Sandra is in Calgary now from Switzerland, and Brian gets in this weekend, so we'll have lots more adventure into September. Confirmed is a 3 day 2 night trip across the Rockwall Trail in Kootenay National Park, another week in Greenwood visiting and helping on the farm, a week visiting in Baynes Lake, probable another 3 or 4 day hike, and mixed in somewhere I'll be riding my bike half across BC. I'm still figuring out where that one fits in though...