The Great Divide (NOBO)

Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #39 July 7 2022 Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, AB to Banff, AB - 51 Miles Start 8:03 AM Finish 2:09 PM Total Duration 6:06 Moving Time 5:20 Stopped Time :46 Ascent 2,850 Feet Descent 3,764 Feet Tour Total 2,818 Miles Details at: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/95763479 Last night after using the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park visitor center WiFi I decided to stay in the nearby campground. I rode back on the bike path to and selected site number 43. I set up my tent and hung a bear bag ten feet in the air and more than four feet from the nearest tree. I was in my tent studying my maps and planning the next segment when a ranger pulled into my campsite. She wanted a camping fee and made me move my food to a locker down the hill. I complained about the $31 fee and the loud kids in the adjoining campsite. Cyclists shouldn’t have to pay the same as motorists. We have no footprint. I was rattled, and it took me a while to fall asleep. It rained throughout the night a

Off Day in Canmore (Banff, AB to Canmore, AB) July 9 2022 Banff, AB to Canmore, AB - 16 Miles Start 9:49 AM Finish 11:38 AM Total Duration 1:49 Moving Time 1:11 Stopped Time :39 Ascent 284 Feet Descent 753 Feet Tour Total 2,834 Miles Details at: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/95844601 I slept great at the Banff Alpine Center (HI) in a lower bunk bed in dormitory room 101. There were backpackers, travelers, and cyclists sharing co-ed rooms. The hostel was akin to something one would find in Europe. Canadians are so civilized. There was a cafe, a bar, a kitchen for guests to use, laundry facilities, and public space throughout the building for guests to socialize.  Yesterday after I left the brewery I noticed that my front tire was flat, the tour's first. I dealt with it out in front of a Sotheby’s office. Tourists were browsing local real estate prices while I was adding sealant and pumping. My front tire was still leaking when I got to the hostel. I got to work plugging the tire, wh

Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #40 July 9 2022 Canmore, AB to Red Deer River Campground North, AB - 89 Miles Start 7:37 AM Finish 5:50 PM Total Duration 10:13 Moving Time 7:55 Stopped Time 2:18 Ascent 5,219 Feet Descent 4,783 Feet Tour Total 2,907 Miles Details at: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/96212493 I slept incredibly well last night in a queen bed at the Lamphouse Hotel in room number three. Last evening after the brewery I peddled over to the Party Hostel in the center of Canmore. The door lock was broken and a grumpy old man told me that bikes weren’t allowed inside. The manager repeated that I had to leave it outside. When I replied that I didn’t have a lock, I was reassured that no one would steal it. Another cyclist said that I could share his cable lock and gave me his combination. I stripped off all of my bags and brought everything up to the second floor. My room was cramped and there was a couple giggling behind a curtain on a lower bunk. I had an upper bunk on a cheap rickety

Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #41 July 10, 2022 Red Deer River Campground North, AB to Ram Falls Campground, AB - 77 Miles Start 8:14 AM Finish 6:29 PM Total Duration 10:15 Moving Time 8:50 Stopped Time 1:24 Ascent 6,267 Feet Descent 5,676 Feet Tour Total 2,984 Miles Details at: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/96212913 I slept well in in campsite number seven at Red Deer River Campground North. The sun has been setting really late and rising early. The days have been long. There was still plenty of light when I went to bed last night around nine. I was tired but the light effected me and I couldn’t fall asleep. I was a couple hundred feet from the Red Deer River and could hear the murmur of people and music from somewhere. Every once in a while I would hear the rumble of a car on the gravel highway. I eventually drifted asleep. It was warm and I didn’t need to zip my sleeping bag. It got cold in the middle of the night, and I got up a couple of times. I woke up at 5:30 AM. There was plenty o

Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #42 July 11 2022 Ram Falls Campground, AB to Blackstone River, AB - 62 Miles Start 9:09 AM Finish 6:45 PM Total Duration 9:36 Moving Time 6:16 Stopped Time 3:20 Ascent 4,639 Feet Descent 5,938 Feet Tour Total 3,046 Miles Details at: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/96322018 It got really cold last night and I had to completely envelop myself in my sleeping bag and liner. I slept for nine hours and didn’t get up once. It was freezing and I tried to stay as warm as possible. I don’t know what made it so cold. I was at 5320’ elevation. The motorist from Canmore had told me this area experienced huge temperature swings. I slept in this morning because I didn’t want to get up. It was too cold. There was no condensation in the tent. The pack-up was slow and I enjoyed sliced pears for breakfast. A chipmunk was watching my every move, and waiting to grab the tortilla crumbs. I was down to a half a jar of peanut butter, and I disposed all my trash. I rolled out without pa

Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #43 July 12 2022 Blackstone River, AB to Hinton, AB - 89 Miles Start 8:07 AM Finish 6:39 PM Total Duration 10:32 Moving Time 8:36 Stopped Time 1:56 Ascent 5,382 Feet Descent 6,148 Feet Tour Total 3,135 Miles Details at: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/96321119 Last night I slept great wild camping along the Blackstone River. I was perched on a small bluff near the Highway  734 bridge. Last evening after I had set up, a motorist walked into my little campsite and was amazed that I had ridden my bike from Nordegg. I had taken the premier site, and he was disappointed. It got cold during the night, but not as cold as the night before. I was at 4,060’ elevation. I woke up at 5:30 AM and had to go outside. Afterwards I was able to get another hour of sleep. My tent was filled with condensation but I was able to partially sun dry the fly, while I packed and ate breakfast. I had a Nestlé Aero gold bar that had melted and then re-congealed, a Starbucks Frappuccino, and