This was the day we rode 105km on our mountain bikes, climbed more than 1,950m, crossed over the continental divide and rode into Alberta.
But it was just brutal. The last 21 km would be a tough workout on their own. Coming on the back of the 84km we had already done (and this was day four), they were an anaerobic hell.
A few first reflections on south-western Alberta – the trails are magnificent, the bugs lurk at trail intersections in the early evening, the water In the streams could breathe life even into us, and the mountains are just incredible.
First order of the day though was a complete snafu. We drove early from Fernie to just past Elkford where we had left off yesterday. All kitted up, we waved goodbye to Liz and set off into a serious morning chill for a very long day. All we can say is thank goodness the patchy cell phone signal was having an on patch. Nine attempted calls from Liz plus texts and we realized Gill still had the car keys in her pocket. So on our longest day we added a bit extra to ride back to find her as she ran towards us.
Calamity averted, we headed off again – about 67km up the gravel road and track towards the Elk pass. Initially the hills seemed, well, hilly. No sight of the spectacular craggy peaks of the Rockies. As is a general theme of this ride, we rode up and down frustratingly, knowing we had to be climbing overall, so every downhill felt like a waste as we gave up hard-earned gains. But then the peaks emerged and they were awesome. Pinky-grey, bulbous, sheer or sharp and jagged. Those views and the alpine flowers mostly kept us amused as we slogged on, keeping strictly to our planned rest breaks.
Up the power line cut we went, fully expecting to see the three grizzlies our fellow bikers had seen only days before. No such luck and the bear spray on Bron’s backpack was just ballast.
We realized how high we had climbed; the air was in short supply and we were looking over at peaks we had previously craned upwards for.
We hit the summit and Alberta border 10 minutes ahead of schedule and, after a short celebration, we headed down the single track, loving the lush, mossy forested trail to Kananaskis Lakes for a quick check-in stop with Liz (no cell phone signal around here).
Then those last 21km smacked us. It must be said the High Rockies Trail is quite something. Gnarly, uppy-downy (mostly steeply up) and winding, it’s a hard ride up and should be well respected. We were again grateful for the technical lessons we had from Kelly at @endlessbiking.
But the Boulton suspension bridge is a short fun interlude that did manage to bring smiles to our weary faces. We knew the last 9km would be relatively flat (which makes sense since the starting and ending altitudes were the same) … hah!! The trail kept appearing like a wall in front of us, and streams of swearing met each steep, crawling climb, especially since we knew we were on a tight timeline to make set dinner at our overnight spot at Engadine Mountain Lodge. But no amount of swearing, wishing or cajoling could make this trail anything but a beautiful lush torture that would usually have delighted us on fresher legs. Note to self – next time do it the downhill way.
Three times today we climbed to 1,950m, three times we gave up the gains on blissful descents only to climb again.
By the time we had a rushed (but wonderful) dinner and fell into our beds in the glamping tent at Engadine every cell in our bodies hurt.
Today: 105km
Total climb today 1,954m
Total distance 1,693km
#thegreattrail
#transcanadatrail
#endlessbiking
#rockymountainbikes
Trans Canada Epic 