Canada - Day 4 - Icefields Parkway, Lake Louise to Banff

 38.0 miles, 981’ climbing, 🐻 1 black bear

We met PJ at 8am and rolled the back way out of our hostel on a path and across some pretty bridges. At a coffee shop, hanging flower pots had been wrapped in plastic to protect against freezing. In one we spotted a couple of birds which seemed to have been relaxing in the flower pots and gotten trapped. After releasing them, we went into the coffee shop for breakfast.

After breakfast we rolled out under a light drizzle headed to Banff, leaving a day early due to the weather, skipping out on our reserved camp site. It was cold out, temp said 36 and it felt it.  

As soon as we started riding down the Bow Valley Parkway, known for beautiful scenery and wildlife, we saw signs that our intended route for the day was closed for a special event.  Being stubborn, we rode past those signs, hoping bicycles would be able to get through.  Since most cars had heeded the closed road warning it was a really nice ride with hardly any traffic.  

After about 5 miles we encountered a medium sized black bear on the roadside happily munching on the plants.  He seemed unconcerned with us and eventually ran into the woods when a large truck approached.

We passed many potential stops along the parkway to view scenery but everything was obscured by clouds.  Still the woods were very beautiful. Eventually we arrived at a store where we found out that the road ahead was closed for a Sunday morning marathon, and we’d have to make a detour on to the busy highway or wait 5 hours for the event to end.  We opted for the divided highway and soon we were riding along with the semis and other traffic.  The shoulder was very wide, so it wasn’t that bad, and the trip into Banff was mostly downhill with a slight tailwind, but it was wet and chilly. The entire highway is enclosed in electric fences to keep wildlife off, and there were two wildlife overpasses with trees and greenery growing on them.

Finally we made it into Banff and headed to a pizza place we had visited on prior trips for a delicious lunch.  Then we headed to our hostel for the night, hung out in the comfy lobby until our room was ready. We were lucky to get a private room on short notice since hotels are so expensive in Banff.  The hostel is a bit out of town, so using the free bus passes we received we went into town for resupply. Then back for a tasty dinner and drinks at the lodge next door.

Tomorrow we will take a rest day since the weather looks wet and cold. It’s early in our travel for a day off, but word from cyclists on the route suggests it’s better to wait. We will move to the campsite tomorrow which we reserved a few weeks ago.