Late-sleeping crew at the hostel. There were still quite a few people sleeping when I left at 8:15.
I headed into Banff. Spent a while talking to a somewhat eccentric guy in front of the post office. He's hanging out here until September - he recently came into what he said was a lucrative inheritance and has just cut himself loose from the business world. He told me that biking to Canmore wouldn't take long, and it is only about 20 kilometers. And he confirmed that Kananaskis Country would be worth the trip. I shipped a stack of maps home, visited a bike shop to borrow a floor pump, picked up a book, some bagels, and some fresh fruit. I also stopped in the visitor center to pick up a map showing the route to Kananaskis, and was told it was 74km to the village. Of course it turned out to be 50 miles, which is more like 85km. Not that big a difference, but on a hot day (again!) with a headwind, it did make a difference. I think what got to me was about 5 miles further than I expected on the highway (Trans Canada highway 1 - which was the only way to get from point A to point B). Riding on the highway wasn't bad since the shoulder is actually wider than a driving lane. But it was noisy, and there was still a bit of a pull when the big trucks went flying by. I finally got to the exit for route 40 and found that it was uphill most of the 27 km into Kananaskis Village with most of the ride into a strong headwind. I must admit that there was a time when I considered turning around. But I didn't, and the ride was definitely worth doing. It's beautiful in here.
I ended up staying at the Ribbon Creek hostel because most of the campgrounds are quite a bit further in. I passed one group campground, and one lodge/campground that sounded a little odd to me. They actually rent teepees!
I haven't decided what to do tomorrow. I'll either stay here and do an out and back bike ride without any panniers and then ride back to Banff on Thursday - or I'll ride back to Banff tomorrow and do a ride in that area on Thursday. I'm afraid the ride back is going to be a hard one. I believe that most of the 30 miles on Highway 1 are at a slight uphill grade.
Had a nice dinner tonight - ate with a woman who is moving from Wisconsin to California. She's actually from California but has been living in Wisconsin for the past year. She's taking a month to drive back. I told her about Glacier National Park, and she decided to go there tomorrow. She's actually meeting some friends in Idaho, so continuing down 40 to 22 and then to Glacier actually makes a lot of sense.
Later on...
A family of four from Edmonton joined me in the common area. 2 girls - 2 and 6. Their parents have done a fair amount of biking and are pretty familiar with Kananaskis. I asked him about the road going south, and he said it is pretty much the same as what I've already seen. There is a lot of good hiking in the area - but that's not what I want to do tomorrow, so I guess I'll head back to Banff. Friday will be a light day, and I'm thinking I should really ease off tomorrow too. I do know that I'm going to have to come back to Kananaskis someday to do some hiking here. It just doesn't seem possible for me to be happy with going to a beautiful place only once!
