Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Bow Valley Parkway

After 3 days in the mountains we were looking for a nice ride along the Bow Valley Parkway and Legacy Trail to Canmore.

Around 2300 the night before the power went out in the hotel.  It also started raining quite heavily.  The power was still out in the morning.  We went down to the restaurant for breakfast but they were only serving a cold continental.  More importantly no coffee.  We grabbed what we could from the diminishing food supply at the buffet.  Going out to the van, Ben made coffee on a stove which was appreciated.  It had stopped raining or at least was raining more lightly.  

We headed out of Lake Louise passing over 2 cattle guards and up the hill to the Bow Valley Parkway. The Parkway heads thru the forest with occasional views of the mountains.  There were more hills than I remembered but it was overall downhill.  The road was smooth and fast.  Along the way we passed a large group from Backroads heading in the opposite direction.  After about an hour we arrived at Castle Mountain junction when Ben met us, we had a snack and refilled our water bottles.  From there we pushed on along the parkway until we hit the highway at which point we went on to the Legacy Trail.  

While it was cloudy there had been no rain up until then but we were hit with a deluge just before Banff which we rode thru and met Ben at the Banff train station.  From there we headed thru Banff and then back on the Legacy Trail but were hit with another rain storm.  We met Ben in the park on the north side of the highway.  It was raining quite heavily by that time and we ate lunch in the van.  We had planned to ride the Minnewanka loop before heading for Canmore but we decided to just make a run for Canmore.  

Of course back on the Legacy Trail after about 300 m it was not raining and the trail was completely dry.  We rode on to Canmore only getting the odd raindrop.  Mary and I often ride the Legacy Trail between Banff and Canmore and after riding so far it was funny ending on a familiar trail.  We wine to the Ramada where Eric and Theo were staying and then Mary and I went to our house in Canmore.

Later in the evening we ate together at the Brazillian Steak House in Canmore which was a pleasant surprise.

The next day was a rest day before pushing on to Waterton.

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