I decided to ride and not hike today. I started by riding up to Moraine Lake. I stood by the lake and talked with Steve for a while. It's a pretty popular place. The parking lot was wall to wall cars. The lake is gorgeous, and an amazing shade of blue. Next I headed to Lake Louise. The walkways along the "close-in" part of the lake were absolutely mobbed with people, but I'm sure once you start hiking any distance that it would clear out. This lake is an amazing color too - different from Moraine Lake, but they are both pretty. I took some pictures, but I doubt if the pictures will do it justice.
I rode over Kicking Horse Pass to the Spiral Tunnels. It was interesting ride down because of a very strong headwind. I'm really glad I went over there. Yoho Valley is gorgeous. I think I could actually spend more time exploring there, which means that I'm going to have to come back again. I didn't see a train in the tunnels, but the exhibit was interesting. I stayed there for a good 45 minutes, no train. Since I didn't know the freight train schedule, I figured it was time to leave. The spiral tunnels were built to "fix" a problem they were having with trains - the engines (boilers) were blowing up going uphill, and trains were derailing going downhill - because of the steep grade. The solution was a spiral tunnel to cut the grade. If there is a train going through you can see it going into one end of the tunnel and coming out of the other (at the same time).
It was an easy ride back to Lake Louise from the tunnel viewpoint. I was the first one back in camp - not too surprising because everyone else was going hiking and canoeing. I feel pretty good that I was able to conjure up longer riding options for myself on the two short mileage days. Hiking just didn't appeal to me today, and I really feel like I had a rest - and an easy day - in spite of the 42 miles. I've been pretty careful about letting the Backroads leaders know where I'd be so they wouldn't think they'd lost me, and they don't have a problem with my wandering.
A little red squirrel just came over to me - he stood up and looked at me. When I asked him what he wanted and told him I wasn't going to feed him people food, he turned around and went the other way. (Yes, I do talk to animals!)
It's been interesting being with a group but still doing my own thing. There are a couple of other people in the group who seem to be avid cyclists - but they aren't up to the same level of intensity or drive that I am. Except for Craig, who is too intense even for me! But people have been really nice, and it's been good to have a built-in group of people to talk to.
