It was very hazy and smokey today. I asked someone in Castle Junction about it. It turns out that there are two big fires in British Columbia that started with lightening strikes two day ago. Apparently they were evacuating people yesterday. One fire is in Kamloops, and I'm not sure where the other one is. I hope they get the fires under control soon - both for the people the fires are affecting, and for my selfish wish for a clear view of the mountains! The person I was talking to about the fires said that this happens every summer.
Back to Banff. I checked into the bed & breakfast at about 2. (I had made reservations for 3 nights of my trip - the first night in Lewiston, ID, tonight in Banff, which is the night before the start of the Backroads portion of my trip, and the last night in Edmonton, AB.) The B&B is lovely, and just a short walk across the river into Banff.
I walked into Banff to pick up the package I had shipped to myself at Mailboxes, Etc. Unfortunately, when I got there I was told that the package was in Calgary because I owe duty on it. I should have known better - I should have taken the time to find a UPS office in Lewiston instead of asking the hotel to ship it for me. I almost told Mailboxes Etc. to tell UPS to ship it back home, but then realized it would cost me more to replace the contents here than to pay the duty. UPS has promised a morning delivery tomorrow. The package only contained personal belongings, but without the right paperwork they charge duty. I could probably straighten it out if I had enough time, but it just didn't seem worth the effort. So I paid the $15 (US) to get my duffel bag for packing everything in for the plane trip home, along with the extra sunscreen, contact lens solution, and a couple of books I'd thrown in for the plane trip home. I also took the opportunity to ship my cooking gear home since I won't need it for the rest of the trip - with the appropriate government paperwork for unaccompanied belongings this time!
Right now I'm just waiting for my laundry to finish, then I'll wander around town for a while and find some dinner.
...after dinner I went to a presentation on bears at the visitor center. After the presentation I talked to an interpretive ranger about the animals I saw yesterday. She said that the fox here are small too. At first she said that the animals might have been coyote - until I told her they were gray, fairly large, and that there were 5 or 6 of them. She's pretty sure that they were wolves. It's pretty unusual to see wolves, but they were the wrong color for coyotes, and the coyote is a solitary animal where the wolf travels in packs. And there is a wolf pack in the area. I guess I was very lucky. It was early in the morning so there weren't any cars on the road, and the bike is so quiet that I didn't scare them.
This B&B ended up being in a great location for me. It's a ten minute walk to town. They had me put the bike in their garage, which has a central support post that I could use as a "locking post".
Tomorrow I think I'll start at Cave & Basin, and then I'll probably ride the Vermillion Lakes area. I'm not sure what else I'll do - besides stopping at Mailboxes, Etc. at noon to pick up my package. I meet the Backroads group in the afternoon, so I'll still have plenty of time to sit by the river and relax.
