Day 17: Going to the Sun

40.2miles

Today was the day we were set to bike the 'Going to the Sun' road. It is said to be one of the most beautiful roads to bike in the US. I must say we aced the 'final exam'.  If I had a 'that was easy' button I would have pushed it.  I didn't even use my lowest gear.  It definitely was not as hard as either of us thought, but it sure was beautiful!

We woke up and got ready to face the day that we had been anticipating for quite some time. We went upstairs to get breakfast to learn that we overslept breakfast hours so we settled for a cinna-paw and coffee and tea. We ended up checking out of the hotel a bit late -- we really aren't your average bike tourers. And off we went after Mike consumed his refill of green tea. Into Glacier National Park we went. Our fifth national park!  

The first 7 miles were pretty easy and nice to get the legs warmed up. We passed several other bicyclists finishing up the ride. Several were even pulling canoes on their bikes and one set was on a tandem. We saw another black bear as well before our first stop to grab lunch at the Rising Sun restaurant. 

The beginning of our ride with St. Mary's lake to the left. 

The blacktop was freshly paved which made for super smooth riding, but also extreme heat since it was very black.  You could feel the heat radiating up from it. We finally began our climb for the day. We took it nice and easy preparing ourselves for it to get steeper later on. Luckily it never really did. It was a consistent 7% grade, but it lasted for about 8 miles. The cars passing us were very polite for the most part. One car professed their love to me. Another woman told me she was proud of me.  I am proud of me too!  Another person told us we were brave and people had some pretty funny comments for Mike, like asking if he was running out of gas. It was a beautiful ride up. I just wish I had made a sign for the back of our bikes saying 'Just married or honeymooning'. I am sure we would have gotten lots of great comments. 

Honey sticks are my new favorite snack!  The sugar goes right into your system to give you a little boost. Looking at a glacier gives you a little boost of energy too!

We stopped at several overlooks to enjoy the vistas and waterfalls and take breaks. We both kept thinking this isn't as bad as we thought, but it will get steeper at some point.  And then all of a sudden I could see the visitor center at Logan Pass and we realized it isn't going to get steeper!  

Taking a break a mile away from the summit. 

Mike decided to cool off in a waterfall!

We even biked by snow!  The road opened up for the summer on June 19th.  Last year it opened July 3rd, the day we climbed it this year. 

We made it to the top!  Mike refers to me as a Billy Goat with strong billy goat legs so I had to take a photo with the billy goat. 

Little did I know moments later I would meet a real billy goat hiking to a vista. 

Two billy goats staring each other down. 

Then we began our descent. It was sooooooooo much fun!  Seriously, being out in the open air and earning it made the trip down spectacular!  Seriously, imagine the best roller coaster you have ever been on, but it lasting much longer. It was AMAZING!  11 miles of no peddling was well earned after the last few days. The way down was so beautiful too. It was a lot curvier than the way up which made it even more fun to fly down. Even through the way down was only a 6% grade we descended over 3000ft.  

Note the sign. 

Enjoying the curves. 

Where did the road go?

Mike on the descent. 

We reached the bottom and still had 11 more to go. It was a fast 11 mostly flat or slightly downhill. We balked at the occasional hills that appeared but made it to our lodging at Lake McDonald. We checked in, saw some other bikers and changed into our swimsuits to hop into the cold lake. It was so refreshing and the perfect end to the ride. The water is so clear, you could see your feet as they dangled below. Our room in the lodge overlooks the lake. I really think we have one of the best rooms here.  Maybe the woman I made the reservation with on the phone hooked us up when she realized we were bicycling here, not motorcycling. 

Dinner and drinks in the lodge were wonderful followed by and evening walk. Then back to our room. We had our window open and light on and soon realized there must be a hole in the window screen. The amount of bugs around our light was unreal.  Mike went on a bug killing spree, we figured out how to seal up the hole and then slept peacefully. No biking or alarm clock tomorrow!

I not only survived biking up 'Going to the Sun' road...I thrived at it!  I think we both agreed that yesterday was tougher. It was longer mileage, and more total climbing. Who would have guessed?

Day 15: HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!!!🎉🍁

Estimated 47.5 miles

We spent the night in Coleman on the Crowsnest Pass which was really fortunate because the entire Canada Day celebration for the towns on the pass was here!  It is also the 100 anniversary of Coleman becoming incorporated. 

We woke up to a lovely breakfast of apple cinnamon rolls and waffles with fresh fruit. Two couples from Holland were also staying at the B&B so we enjoyed chatting with them and got some good laughs about how they should be the ones on the bike and we should be in the car. 

We then biked downtown to watch the parade. It was a pretty neat small town parade.  The fire trucks were spraying the crowd, there was lots of candy, and quite a big crowd. At the end the bugle corps performed as well. 

Enjoying the parade. 

A crow in a nest in honor of Crowsnest Pass. 

A huge stuffed bear. 

Picking up candy!

Our candy stash!

Then back to the B&B to pack up before heading up to the highway to do laundry. We really needed to do some. Mike was out of shirts and socks. I lent him some, however the ones I gave to him were clean unlike what he lent me a few days ago. 😉. I went for a walk and snagged some Canadian flags to decorate our bikes as we ride today. 

Upon leaving town a backpacker talked to us who was also doing laundry. He asked where we were biking from, and once we told him he said something along the lines of, "oh wow, you all are legit!"  Gotta love when you get street credit from a backpacker!

We finally started our journey at about 2pm.  Our latest start yet!  We knew we would be passing through some towns fairly quickly where we would need to get lunch, before a long haul of no amenities. So even though it seemed absurd to stop so soon we did. As well, there was a storm looming off to our right so it was nice to pause in case it decided to unleash. We ended up at an A&W. A&Ws in Canada are nothing like the ones in the US. Their menu is so confusing. You can get a mama, papa, teen, buddy burger but no where does it tell you the differences in these burgers!

We got back on our bikes and biked by 'Frank's Slide' which was suppose to have a really neat interpretive center but based on our late start and the weather we decided to pass and just read the information at the roadside pull off. This was Canada's deadliest rockslide killing 70 people and wiping out a town. It took place at night when the coal mines were operating. It was so crazy to see the huge boulders left so far from the base of the mountain. This picture doesn't really do it justice as far as the magnitude of rock, but you start to get the idea. 

The boulders were piled far and wide on both sides of the road. 

Today we were in the foothills of the Rockies, and don't underestimate foothills. It was super windy and a constant up and down. Flats were pretty rare today. It was gorgeous though. I loved it!  There was so much livestock out in the fields.  Livestock really find bikers interesting. Most of the cows and horses would pause grazing to glance at us. One group of horses even galloped over a hill to come check us out.  We got rained on a bit today, nothing hard but enough to make you worry about chaffing. Luckily it didn't last too long. The cloud cover today was refreshing as well. 

I loved this area. It is where the prairie meets the mountains. It sure made this prairie girl happy. 

We finally arrived in Pincher Creek and found a restaurant that was open for dinner.  We were a little worried since it was Canada Day that places would be closed.

Mike enjoyed his fortune, not knowing it would really come true in a different form than expected tomorrow. 

Then we biked on for our final 10 miles before arriving at our B&B for the evening. The hills did not let up. We saw several deer as the sun was getting close to setting.

Mike was getting creative with his photos. 

We finally arrived at Corner Mountain Inn and Wellness Center around 9pm, much later than we would have liked but that's how the day went. Janet gave us a warm welcome and we got cleaned up and settled. Mike was so excited to find a bowl of cherries in our room and I appreciated the candy bowl!  We watched the sun set on the front porch and met the other guests who were staying for the evening. We sat and chatted for a good while enjoying beer, wine, and delicious peanut butter cookies.  We also got to meet Gracie, Janet's dog who was so well trained and a ball of energy. We closed out the evening by trying to go on the back porch to see the full moon, but we couldn't because of the clouds. Instead all we heard was howling coyotes...quite eerie. 

A sunset jump in front of Corner Mountain Inn.  However, this is when I realized my Achilles isn't healed. It started cracking a lot and I realized its inflamed, but at least it doesn't hurt!  Mike massaged it for a while knowing the next two days would be long days of tough riding. 

Day 14

41.8 miles and climbed 1000ft

This sign in Fernie pretty much sums it up for Erin (and replace coffee with tea and that is Mike).

This is Mike writing again.  Erin and I set an alarm this morning so we could go to 9:00am daily Mass in Fernie. The Catholic Church is just a few blocks down the road from our B&B (as are two other churches). As I type this, I'm wondering: 9:00am is kind of a late daily Mass time, isn't it?

Anyway, daily Mass is short as usual, and Erin and I make it back to our B&B for our 9:30am breakfast time. There we enjoy eggs Benedict, fresh fruit, juice, coffee and tea. Yum!  Patrick, one of the B&B owners, has also kindly offered to drive us up near the ski lodge in Fernie so we can see an old growth forest of cottonwood and cedar trees up to 800 years old -- amazing!

Patrick truly went out out his way to show us the forest as we would not have been able to climb the steep gravel roads on our particular bikes. During the winter, these roads are actually closed with the only way up to the ski lodge being a Snowcat (seen below).

I also want to have my shifting cables on my bike checked before we leave Fernie. During the ride in to Fernie yesterday, my chain began to slip on the rear cassette every once in a while when I got out of the saddle and pushed harder than normal on the pedals. So, I'd like to nip that problem in the bud before it becomes worse and there's no place better than Fernie to get this done -- I've never seen so many mountain bikers all around and for a town of less than five thousand people, it supports no less than three bike shops. Very cool. 

During the hour we have to kill while the mechanic takes a look at my bike, Erin and I walk Fernie's historic downtown, get a tasty bite to eat, and Erin unexpectedly discovers a candy shop selling her favorite bonbon candies. She's quite happy below. 

Anyway, we finally roll out of Fernie around 2pm. We have some climbing to do, but thankfully, we have less miles to do than typical (about 40) to get to Coleman. Along the way, we pass thru a coal mining town called Sparwood where we encounter the world's largest truck, the Titan 33-19. It is enormous (see Erin by the wheels).

We eventually pass thru the Crowsnest along the highway and get to Coleman, our final destination for the day. Dinner is at a plain small town diner, but we clear our heaping plates and then walk across the street to check out the local pub at the Grand Union Hotel. That might be a bit of a misnomer, but we enjoy listening to Tres Hombres while Erin takes her tomato juice cravings to another level, mixing tomato juice with a beer (which seems to be a fairly popular concoction up here in Canada).

We were pretty much the audience at Grand Union.

For a finale, Erin and I hit the hot tub back at our B&B.

 

Day 12: Why did I even bother with deodorant?

57.5 miles in 99 degree heat (seriously Canada?!)

We woke up and had an amazing breakfast. Frittatas made extra special for the hungry bikers, fruit and yogurt parfaits, and bagels with homemade jam.  Our hosts gave us lots of biking advice, short cuts to take and most importantly routes to avoid hills. Off we went, out into the super hot day.  We took plenty of breaks and I was much more aware of drinking liquids and applying sunscreen today. Lodging once again was proving to be difficult so we decided that we would camp most likely. 

We stopped for lunch in Schoomachuck. Seriously quite the name. However, their convenience store was quite barren. I think it was only convenient if you wanted gas, but we did find a pizza pita and decided to split it and eat some snacks we were carrying. (Last night at the grocery store Mike bought a 6 pack of Coke bottles because it was cheaper than just buying two coke bottles). So we were hauling those in the heat today. So at our little break Mike takes the one out of the tent to drink, but then decides the ones in my pannier are colder, so he gets that one out to drink, and replaces the coke taken from his load and puts it back in my bag. I see how this works, lighten your own load...

The odometer at the bottom read 300 miles!  Since the start of this tour, not counting the biking around Jasper pre tour.

We got back on the bikes when the heat in the shade became too unbearable. I think the words, "I'm hot, I just need to get biking" came out of my mouth. With the breeze from the bike it wasn't too bad out, and the occasional clouds providing shade were amazing. 

 

The scenery has changed quite a bit. Hardly any snow capped mountains in sight and the mountains aren't as close. We are in Canadian Ranchland now. 

At one point a very slight drizzle came down on us. They were like little rain drops from heaven. It felt so good. 

We eventually made it to a little pub in Wasa where we stopped for lunch part 2. We could camp here, book at their hotel, or continue on to Fort Steele where we hoped to end the night. We decided to press on.  It was still hot, and uphill, but we made it to the campground.  We got a site, got icecream, and went to set up camp before jumping in the pool. 

We made sure the campground tonight had showers. After biking in the heat they were needed!  It seems so crazy that just a few days ago we were cold up in the mountains and spent days biking without ever taking off our long sleeves. 

After showering we went to play on the playground. Bad idea. We were on this one spin around thing and Mike fell off first, and then me, but I fell super awkwardly and banged my knee really hard just adding to my bruising from yesterday. 

The tent was set up, with the rain fly off. It was only suppose to cool down to 73 at night!  And then it started raining, so we put the rain fly on, but that made inside the tent feel like a sauna, so we chanced it and took it off. Falling asleep was quite uncomfortable with the heat and lack of breeze. It may have been okay with one person in the tent, but this is our happy honeymoon adventure and the mosquitoes were so bad outside the tent that you had to seek refuge inside. We both finally fell asleep, and slept pretty well. It ended up cooling off enough that we both were inside our sleeping bags on the morning rather than on top like at night. 

A little evening snack. I have fallen in love with tomatoe juice up here. This is probably about my 6th can since arriving in Canada.

Day 11

31.2 miles

We woke up and went down for a delicious homemade breakfast at our motel/ B&B. It was seriously such a good breakfast!  If you are ever in Radium Hot Springs, we highly recommend the Piccadilly Motel!  Then upstairs to finish packing, book a place for the next time and to hit the road.  Lodging proved to be a little difficult but we managed to secure a bed and breakfast about 30 miles away (although it was hard to discover because our maps had it listed under an old name). We had hoped to go further, but it was not going to be an option lodging wise. 

So we set out. I didn't even make it out of the parking lot before I crashed. The parking lot was loose gravel, I didn't realize my shoe was clipped in and down I went, loaded bike on top of me. After a few tears I got up, went back inside to wash up and hit the road again.  I was pretty sore for the next few days from the fall, and have some pretty spectacular bruises and cuts on my calf that look like a bear clawed me.  But at least it was a crash at zero mph. 

So finally on the road. We arrived at our first town about 9 miles away and happened upon a farmers market that was sort of a country fair. There was a band playing, we got some quinoa salad, a brownie and fresh squeezed lemonade and sat down to enjoy. It was pretty neat. Then we continued toward town and found a brewery that we had to try.  

Tasting flight at Arrowhead Brewing Co. in Inveremere. 

Then back on the bikes. Our directions told us to take the long way around the lake rather than the highway. In hindsight the highway probably would have been better. The highway would have more traffic, but we heard it is a popular cycle route so it would have been fine.  The road we took was nice however,  more rural and more bumpy, but nice. Our route also involved us backtracking about 2 miles to get to the B&B. We arrived though and quickly were informed that we had been upgraded to the Honeymoon Suite!  

They didn't even know it was our honeymoon!

We walked up the hill to this amazing restaurant called Scratch, were everything is made from scratch. We got take-away since they were closing and found a picnic table in the shade to enjoy our meal. 

I got a chocolate ice tea 😊 to go as well. The 😊 is code for the kahula shot in it. 

Then to the grocery store to buy some stronger sunscreen so I no longer look like a lobster. We also picked up some Canadian wine. We really like the Copper Valley winery, and so we headed home with some to enjoy it. 

Day 13: half way there

62.2 miles

We woke up at what had to be the sleepest campground ever.  We woke up around 8am and there was not a peep. Even when we left around 10am the campground was still pretty quiet and just starting to stir. We got a B&B booked in Fernie (which is our halfway point, and the last town on our first section of maps). 

We got rolling and worked up a sweat pretty fast with our first climb. I decided to wear long sleeves today to prevent further sunburn. I didn't get too much worse the day before but better safe than sorry. I ended up wearing one of Mike's semi dirty long sleeve shirts because the one I had was thicker. Nothing says love like wearing your husband's dirty clothes. The morning was quite lovely. The sky was overcast, there were little raindrops, a slight breeze and it was still cool in the morning. Plus we were on a pretty quiet country road. It was a really lovely stretch. I even saw another elk. Mike didn't though. It was seriously right next to the road again!

We arrived in Jaffrey and got lunch at a little cafe. The food was very good and we connected to the Internet which we normally don't do until the evening. However, Mike realized quickly that our B&B canceled on us. So back to the drawing board for us. We were a little taken aback that they had overbooked but it ended up being for the better. We found another B&B and booked that.  Then finally after a much longer lunch break than we had expected, we hit the road again. We had a choice to take the route that was recommended which was country roads but 5 miles longer or stay on the main highway that we have been on coming into town. I really didn't enjoy the traffic on the highway so we opted for the longer route. The rolling hills had a lot less traffic along with a bunch of dirt bike trails and an intersection with The Great Divide mountain biking trail. Our road finally came to a T where we connected with a different road to take us back to the main highway. I was sure happy that there was an outhouse located there.😉. We began hearing thunder and seeing a storm brewing off to our left. We peddled quickly knowing that our next town wasn't too far off.  We arrived at the highway that would take us into the town of Elko and made a fortunate turn away from the storm, but it was chasing us. Lucky for us Elko is located on top of a huge hill. Jk. The winds picked up a light rain started, traffic was heavy and we were peddling as fast as we could up that hill. We finally arrived at a gas station, got off our bikes, stowed them away under the awning just as the sky let loose. The workers in the convenient store were absolutely wonderful. They let us hang out in the store for about 30 minutes while the storm passed and we enjoyed some cold beverages. They even filled up our water bottles for us.  Once the storm passed we got back on the road down to Fernie. 19 miles to go, but through a tunnel. The road was busy to say the least, but we got to enjoy a downhill ride. 

Gotta love the semi looming in the background. 

The tunnel was super short which I appreciated and the car following us saw us going in the tunnel which helped. Pretty quickly the sun came out and we got a gorgeous rainbow over the river next to the road. 

We rode into Fernie and found our lodging at the Old Nurse's Residence B&B. I think Mike said it best when he said B&Bs are the way to go. The hospitality we received was absolutely spectacular. The home was filled with antiques that I got a quick tour of. We quickly showered up and walked down to one of our hosts favorite spots called The Curry Bowl. The menu looked so amazing it was hard to choose. We sat upstairs on their patio and had a beautiful view while dining. 

Mike enjoyed some local beers as well. We hoped to visit the brewery in Fernie but it didn't work out. But one of their beer cans has a bike on it!

We then walked around downtown before heading back for a good nights rest.

Biking is huge in Fernie, as are most other outdoor activities. We would definitely love to visit here again!

The next morning was amazing our house went out of their way to show us some of the highlights of the town. More on that tomorrow!

Day 10: Hot Springs

18.2 miles

We had a shorter day today due to having to go further than expected yesterday because of lodging. 

Mike wants to note how peacefully I sleep with the rain fly on.

We went to gather our food out of the bear storage area and hit the road. We saw a couple more deer as we left the campground. I am quite glad that was the only wildlife we saw nearby. 

We also had to go up our last huge climb on map 1 today, but the reward was wonderful: hot springs!

I had been talking about these hot springs for days now, and they were finally here!

The climb was steep, 7-8% grade for many miles. We got a nice view at the top.  One other tourist was very impressed by us and took photos of us climbing. We both realized signs you never want to see while biking say 'passing lanes ahead'. Passing lanes mean big long climbs. The worst was over and we got to the pass, but our passing lanes had not yet disappeared. I was not fooled by the tourist telling us the climb was over. Seriously, never tell someone the climb is over when it isn't. We saw another bear on the top of the mountain right next to the cement barrier on the side of the road. Then finally, the magical sign...passing lanes ending in 2km!  We made it over our last mountain on this set of maps! We whizzed down the mountain (this side was much steeper and longer than the side we came up) and saw another bear.  We climbed over 2000ft and descended 3500ft. 

Black bear, black bear, what do you see?  I see two bikers looking at me. 

Then to the hot springs. They were so relaxing.  There was a hot pool and a cool pool that we switched between.  Once we had our fill we finished our descent into town.  It was so weird to be leaving the National parks after being in them for so many days, but our wallets sure were happy.  We grabbed some lunch, and my first ice cream of the trip. It really hadn't been warm enough up in the mountains to crave it. I was happy though. It was well earned!

We checked in to our motel. Which was really a B&B motel mix.  It was awesome. I took a nap, while Mike looked into our next destination. We walked around town a bit, and grabbed some dinner were we could watch USA beat China in the World Cup match.

On our walk we spotted a herd of bighorn sheep in town.  They were panting hard. It was quite hot out. 

 I think I was a bit dehydrated from the climb, heat, and hot springs, so I downed lots of liquids.  We stopped by a grocery store to replenish our supply of snacks and off to bed.