Great Divide (NOBO) - Day #39 Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, AB to Banff, AB

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

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 and I had to pack up a wet tent this morning. The picnic table, my bicycle, and everything was soaking wet. After packing I rode back down the hill to the bear box where I took my vitamins, applied my creams, and packed everything back up.

I got back on the route which led me back to the asphalt trail and then a paved road. I turned off on Smith Dorrien / Spray Lakes Road and passed a sign that I was entering avalanche country. The sky was filled with scattered clouds, but the sun was out and keeping me warm. My fingertips were still freezing. I was wearing my socks, leg-warmers, and jacket.

The road turned to gravel and I started climbing, which heated my body in the cold air. I cycled over the first bump. I noticed Mount Black Prince, which stood out because it’s sheer vertical walls didn’t permit snow accumulation unlike the adjoining jagged slopes. I was following the Smith Dorrien Creek upstream between the Kananaskis Range and the Spray Mountains. I crossed over James Walker Creek.

I passed the trailhead for Bristol pass and was now headed downstream towards Spray Lake Reservoir. After a few miles I entered Spray Valley provincial Park. I was following Smuts Creek downstream.

I passed two southbound dividers who were ostensibly on their first day out. I shouted, ‘Enjoy your tour!”. I rode around the lake and then crossed the dam. I stopped to enjoy the magnificent views and flip my map. I realized that the wind was from the south and that I had a tail wind. Next I got on the High Rockies Trail. It was 11:30 AM and I had ridden thirty miles. I had twenty miles to my destination in Banff. The trail began as double-track. There were a  couple of nice bridges and a nice boardwalk across a marsh. Then the single track began.

A mama and baby moose were standing in the middle of the trail. I had to stop to remove my socks to get through a large mud puddle. On the next climb I stopped to remove my leg-warmers and jacket. It was a good thing I was wearing sandals, because I had to walk through another stream. I had a nice section of trail. While riding down towards Goat Creek I passed three heavily loaded south-bounders, two guys and one girl. After the crossing I got on the Goat Creek Trail, which was six foot wide chunky dirt and gravel. I passed three female south-bounders and one of them shouted, ‘You’re almost there!”.

I rode down and crossed the nice wooden bridge over the Spray River. I passed two pairs of male and female south-bounders as I neared Banff. The first pair was hike-a-biking up a hill. And then all of a sudden, I was in Banff! Boom! So weird. One moment I was out in the middle of the woods. The next moment I was surrounded by thousands of tourists. I rode by the handsome Fairmont Banff Springs hotel, where the Tour Divide had begun. The sky had turned dark and it was forecast to rain. I rode to the Three Bears Brewery and Restaurant where I ordered several Happy Boss Brown Ales, a Mac N Cheese Gratin with bacon, and a Tuna Tostada.

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park Campground site #43

Gravel ahead!

Stupendous Canadian Rockies from Highway 742

Highway 742

Spray Lakes Reservoir

High Rockies Trail

Mama and baby moose

Spray River

Map/Elevation Profile

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