Canadian Rockies

Great Divide part 1 | Canada | Day 7

Wow, Canada is gorgeous. The Great Divide brought us through some of Canada’s finest via single track, jeep track and some good old gravel side roads. Starting The Divide in Banff going South, we were immediately thrown into storybook forests and beautiful mountain lakes surrounded by dramatic snow covered peaks. Unfortunately, we did not train at all before beginning this trip. Our steady diet of Margaritas and queso proved inept at prepping our bodies for getting up those Canadian Rockies on fully loaded bikes. Our first few days we only averaged around 30 miles; now, a week in, we’re slowly creeping our way up to 40+ mile averages.

Keith and Leslie

We flew into Calgary and were greeted by Keith at the airport. Keith and Leslie are friends of Eric’s from the Pacific Crest Trail, and had invited us to stay in their home in Banff. They are a couple who have made adventuring their lifestyle. Keith is currently donating his time to counting endangered sheep in California and Leslie is hiking the Canadian Divide solo, a new long distance “trail” stretching through the Canadian Rockies. They do awesome things like this every year. 



Banff

Our first day we spent assembling bikes and trekking around Banff. Luckily, we were able to catch a ride out to Lake Louise and Lake Moraine, totally worth it! We also climbed to the top of Tunnel Mountain, which has a regal view overlooking the town. 



Leaving Banff on The Great Divide has introduced us to all kinds of people, luckily July 1st was the starting date for quite a few folks.



Chung 

Chung is from Taiwan, he climbed mountains for a living and is now riding his bike around the world. We met Chung our first day, he had already been cycling for two and a half months making his way down from Anchorage, Alaska. Chung is also a badass photographer and showed us some of his art while we camped out the first night. We bumped into Chung off and on for our first few days on trail; now that we have reached the Canadian border we have lost him as he has another route in mind to get him through the states. 

  

   


Alpha Crew

Our first climb out of Banff we ran into the “Alpha Crew,” a group of 8 women riding the Divide down to Mexico that had assembled themselves through an Adventure Cycling forum. No one knew each other previously, but they seemed like old friends riding together.  

  

   


Trail Angel Linda

We stopped in Elkford, a small mining town, to stuff our faces with all the MSG an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet could offer, here we met Linda. Linda didn’t know she was a trail angel until she offered us a place to pitch our tent in her back yard. This eventually led to a cozy bed in her spare bedroom and a stomach full of eggs in the morning. Linda, Rob, and Stephanie shared their home and generosity just because Linda overheard us strategizing about where to pitch our tent … “should we pay $7 for the campground or cycle 5 miles out of town to camp?”

  

   


Andy

Andy is cycling across America and only has a few weeks to do so before getting back to California for Grad school. He is doing impressive 100 mile days on the Northern Tier of the Trans America. We met him in a grocery store parking lot. 

  

   


Bear

Almost everywhere we look there are warning signs about bears, more specifically grizzly bears. We each carry cans of bear spray and diligently hang our food far from our tent at night... But just outside of Fernie, BC a bear got our food bag.

Thats right, we’re idiots.

The next morning we went to fetch our food, only to find a dangling rope from a tree. Not only did we loose all our food, but also our pot, bowl, silverware, bear bag, and hygiene products. Our apologies go out to our contribution to the bear problem, moving forward we will be more careful in the way that we hang our food. 


Everyday had brought at least a threat of rain with looming clouds as we wove our way through mossy forests and lush landscapes down through the mountains. As we reached the border the landscape has changed; now surrounded by flowing hillsides full of ponderosa pines and golden grassland reminiscent of the high desert of southern California.  

Reaching the border provided us with a boost of morale as we hit our first land mark, and the changing landscape has marked this turning point. We sipped coffee on a stoop just outside the “First and Last Chance Bar” just state side of the border, looking out into the big skies of Montana. 


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