In the shadow of giants

Banff, Alberta,

 

From the sweltering heat of the beaches at Invermere and our slow pace across British Columbia we have finally headed into the Rocky mountains. With Dani’s mountain bike already bought a few weeks back we have been trying to get one for myself but traveling through small towns and villages has made it hard to find one as choice has been very limited. The bigger towns and cities have far more options for a decent second hand bike so we decided to drive straight through the Rockies and into Calgary to see what we could pick up.

We entered the National Park from Radium hot springs. Originally we had wanted to check out the hot springs but with the temperature in the 30’s who wants to go and sit in a pool of volcanic hot water? Certainly not us poor Northern English folk sat in a perpetual puddle of our own sweat. As we turned on to the Trans-Canada Highway 1 we were immediately plunged straight into the Rocky mountains and spectacular views. They truly are an impressive sight. Row after row of snow capped peaks running in jagged lines throughout the park. The drive through has to be one of the best drives around purely for the mountainous vistas you are presented with at every turn. Surprisingly the drive across and through the mountain range is relatively short. Before we knew it we were nearing the world famous town of Banff. We needed to pick up our National Park Discovery passes as you are allowed to drive through the park without one but if you want to park or stop anywhere to visit any sights you need this pass or else face hefty fines. The National Park turnstile at Radium was closed so we thought we would quickly pop into Banff town to grab them there. Apparently there is no such thing as quickly popping into Banff. As we turned off the highway we were greeted by a several mile long traffic jam of people jostling to get into the small town. Not being one for traffic jams or towns we quickly spun around and headed straight back to the highway to head further East towards Calgary. We would grab the passes another time on our way back from Calgary.

Having crossed provinces in the National Park from British Columbia to Alberta we discovered that free camping spots in Alberta are much harder to come by compared to what we have become accustomed to in BC. So with time getting on and night drawing close we headed to Stoney Nakoda Resort and Casino. They allow you to park up for the night in their car park as well as use their toilets and WiFi etc. most likely in the hope that you will get sucked into the Casino and spend money. This nearly proved to be a very costly mistake. We have been compared to ‘idiots abroad’ during our previous adventures, in particular my experience traveling through Russia and we certainly seem to still live up to that title. Having quickly checked out the casino we decided we would pop to the van to grab some food then head back in for a little flutter on the slot machines. As we got back to the van we realised I had left the lights on and a couple of truck drivers also pointed this out to us. With some food inside us and probably too much excitement at experiencing a North American casino we rushed back inside to play with our $20 limit. A couple of hours later and our small wagers spent we headed back to the van to bed down for the night only to spot that this time we had managed to leave the passenger door wide open! We were horrified. With all of our gadgets and cameras in the van we feared the worst when we saw the door wide open. Thankfully everything was intact and nothing was gone. The truck drivers must have been wondering what the hell we were doing and who the two idiot travelers were. This was a massive let off and a big lesson learned, however I’m sure there will be more stupid escapades as our voyage continues. Speaking of stupid though, we didn’t appear to be the only idiots at the casino car park that night. As we sat out on our camp chairs we heard a strange noise behind us. As we looked round some random guy had appeared from nowhere and this guy was seriously off his nut on something. He kept going down on to his knees wailing away. I’m not sure where he came from as other than the Casino and a petrol station there is nothing in any direction for miles. This guy just stumbled into the car park and eventually wobbled his way out of sight. Thankfully the rest of the night was fairly uneventful and we got our heads down for some rest.

After a good nights sleep in the car park we continued East and into Calgary with a bike already lined up to go and view. The bike was decent enough. An older GT hard tail that would do a job and after a quick haggle and £60 lighter it was fastened on to the bike rack and off we went in search of somewhere to stay in Calgary for the night. Having lived out of the van for almost two months we decided treat ourselves to a room and some home comforts for the night. The cheapest digs we could find were near the airport and having checked in we ordered out for some pizza and wings and settled in for the night charging as many of our devices as we possibly could. Don’t ask me what Calgary was like. I hate driving through the cities here in Canada and we have become accustomed to living out of the van and amongst nature. The only part of Calgary we saw were the highways that we used. We didn’t venture into the city centre to see any of the sights and that’s just fine by us.

With two bikes fixed to the van and our night of comfort a distant memory we headed West again and back into the Rockies. We finally bought our park passes at the Eastern park gate and stopped off at various sites along the way as we headed back through from Alberta to BC. We went on a small hike to Johnston canyon to check out the falls there which were canny enough, but having been spoiled with huge waterfalls in Asia on previous trips it was always going to take something special to impress us. From the falls we stopped off at what is probably the most iconic attraction in the park….Lake Louise. It was late afternoon when we arrived and the place was swarming with tour bus loads of day trippers as far as the eye could see. Don’t get me wrong the lake and it’s glacier back drop are very picturesque but with time on our side we decided not to hang around for too long and we will come back again early on a morning when the the lake is quieter and also when the light is better in the morning sun.

There are no free camp spots within the park itself only paid for sites and it’s easy to understand why. If they allowed free camping I’m sure there would be an increase in the amount of litter left and the impact to the wildlife that lives here. It would most likely increase the number of human encounters with the wildlife, in particular the bear population and that wouldn’t be good for the bears. So we have opted to stay at free sites just outside the park on the BC side. We have found a great spot right on the shores of the Kicking Horse river just 10 minutes drive from the National Park border and have been basing ourselves between there and the small friendly town of Golden for the past week and making day trips into the park to see the various sights.

We spent an afternoon trekking round Emerald lake which to us is just as pretty as lake Louise but less crowded. It has beautiful green/blue water and an impressive glacier at the far end, very similar to Louise. From there we visited a place known as the natural bridge, which is a a solid piece of rock that spans the Kicking Horse river. Canny enough but nothing spectacular really. A place called “The spiral tunnels” was quite interesting but hard to capture with a photo. It is a spiraling rail tunnel through the mountains that allows the trains to climb up a height by spiraling it’s way up through the rock. With the Trans-Canada goods trains being so long you can watch the trains exiting various tunnels whilst further back the end of the train is still visible heading into the lower tunnels below. After the tunnels we drove up to a a spot where the Kicking Horse river meets the Yoho river. Both rivers feed the mighty Columbia river and the power of these two rivers meeting was incredible. White foam and spray everywhere. I wouldn’t like to get swept away that’s for sure. 

The next few days we had our alarm set for 5:30am to get up early, check the weather and decide if it looked good to venture back to Lake Louise. Unfortunately every morning since then it has been raining or overcast so not worth doing. Despite it being the middle of June it still snows in the Rockies. Every morning we would wake up to a fresh frosting on the trees and higher peaks around us. Very beautiful and mystical looking. It’s really been hard for us to adjust top the climate in Canada. When we first came I guess we were naive and expected Canada to be cold or at least a similar climate to the UK. We couldn’t have been further from the truth. In the low lands we have been sweltering in 30 degree temperatures, thankful of the air-conditioning working in Buddy as the heat would be unbearable otherwise. Once up in the heights of the mountain ranges it is the complete opposite. Snow and ice and bitterly cold on a night. There doesn’t seem to be a happy medium. It’s either scorching hot or freezing cold. Thankfully we brought gear to cover these situations and with our various blankets and cushions we are able to stay warm in Buddy on a night.

With a few days of gloomy dark skies and rain we decided to make day trips from our camp spot on the river back into Golden and the surrounding hills and mountains. We checked out a few mountain bike trails now that we have the bikes and I have to say that the biking here is much more brutal than the trails we have back home. We hit the Moonraker trails for a day and started to realise that when they say ‘single track’ in Canada they really mean it. We did the equivalent of one of our red runs back home and it was a very narrow, rootsy and gnarly affair, certainly a lot tougher going than back home. The following day we hit the trails at Mount 7. A section called the ‘Berminator’ proved to be particularly fun. Again the equivalent of a red run back home this cheeky little devil was a 30cm wide trail with a serious drop on one side and a near vertical rock wall on the inside. The tiniest of clips of a pedal on the inner wall and you would be plumeting down the cliff side. The berms were so tight as well, none of these big wide sweeping ones you get in the lakes, these berms were ultra tight and pretty much touching vert every time. It was a great blast and hopefully we can get back there and check out some of the other trails we didn’t manage to ride.

It’s been a cracking 10 days or so since our last entry. The Rockies really are as spectacular as you would imagine and haven’t disappointed us at all.  Golden is a great little friendly town and a great base to use just at the border of the national park between the Rockies and the Dogtooth mountain ranges. Wild camping by the river every night has been an absolute pleasure as well. You can’t beat turning up every evening, going in search of fire wood while Dani starts sorting some food. A few beers sat chilling in the creek and good old mother nature all around. Ospreys nesting at the river banks, feeding their young freshly caught fish. Bald Eagles soaring above and the constant thought in the back of your mind that there are bears out there in their natural habitat left alone to do as they will. It’s a great place and amazing experience being in this part of the world and we are looking forward to making the most out of our Park passes as well as the bikes we now own. I’m sure we will end up here much longer than we expected. It’s always hard to move on when your having a great time.