48.3 miles, 4600’ climbing, 3 separate groups of bighorn sheep, some deer, another wolf possibly
Before leaving our fancy Canmore hotel (hot tubs, laundry, fluffy white robes to lounge in), we had coffee, croissants, and fresh fruit purchased the night before. It was 5 miles up hill to rejoin the route, some steep trail and then a road that had an average grade of 9-11% for a mile or two. What a way to wake up!
Near the reservoir at the top of the climb we saw two separate groups of bighorn sheep. One group had two lambs, one very small, but they all crossed the road and leapt over the guard rail, the little ones kicking off the top.
Soon we arrived at Spray Lakes. Coming in on the Tour Divide route was a group of 6 touring cyclists. They joked that they had been 7 the day before, but they hadn’t brought enough food, so one made the ultimate sacrifice. They also said everybody in their party had taken a fall the day before. Ouch! We hope to see them again, but we separated as they took the road and we got on the High Rockies Trail next to the lake shore.
After about 2 miles we crossed the road to where the trail continues. It was very beautiful and also more strenuous than the road, with lots of dips and rises through the forest. Some snow was on the ground, but the trail was pretty perfect, not like the muddy, wet, snowy mess we rode on two years ago.
After a couple hours, we moved to the road to cover some ground a little faster. It wasn’t nearly as washboarded as in the past. We saw a rider coming at us and stopped to chat, quickly identifying him as the “Fuck Yeah Guy” who is riding the full GNBR all the way to Newfoundland from Victoria. For whatever reason he has chosen the trail name of the Fuck Yeah Guy, he has recently been in Tucson so it was cool to make that connection. He was funny and enthusiastic. We exchanged stickers and photos and trail impressions, then parted ways. It got colder and some corn snow came down on us.
Ed and I got back on the High Rockies Trail, seeing a few hikers near the suspension bridge, enjoying flowy singletrack that even has some banked turns. Definitely this is the best riding we’ve had so far!
Soon we descended to Peter Lougheed park. Our trail became a paved bikeway for several miles, and we didn’t see a soul. We got a campsite at the registration area and a coke. The park isn’t nearly as busy as on our last visits, with lots of empty camp sites. We settled in to our site and had had chili mac burritos for dinner, a favorite.
After dinner we walked our campground loop to see if the group of cyclists we saw earlier today were camped here (nope). Only two other campsites are taken, both RVs. As we got to the end of our walk, we saw a large dog-like animal trotting towards us on the shoulder of the road. It was large, beige, and moved like a fluffy dog. We stood still waiting for it to go past, but it disappeared into the woods. Seemed too large to be a coyote. Did we just see another wolf?
Did we mention it’s cold?
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