Change of Plans

Patty said the temperature last night got down to 43 degrees...I believe it...all I wanted to do this morning was snuggle in my down sleeping bag.

Our plan was to stay at Kicking Horse Campground in Yoho National Park.  To get there, I had to ride Canada's Highway 1, which at first, had shoulders as wide as the traffic lane.  It was noisy, and maybe a little unpleasant, but adequate.

Kicking Horse is so named because when the Canadians were building their transcontinental railroad,   a Scot named Sir James Hector, a geologist and surgeon, was kicked when trying to retrieve his horse.  The Canadian Pacific had employed Hector to help with railway routes, and though Hector did not particularly like the present day Kicking Horse Pass area for a train route, that's where the line ended up going, complete with its famous spiral tunnels.

Patty met me at the campground, which is near Field and we decided to press on to Golden because it was only 10:00.  The plan was for her to meet me at Emerald Lake Road, but we had a bit of a communication glitch.  She went to get National Park day passes for us, and thinking I was behind her, waited, and waited, and waited.  Meanwhile, I was ahead of her, riding and wondering where in the world she had parked. We finally saw each other on my way back from Emerald Lake.  Boo!  We stopped and saw a natural bridge over the Kicking Horse River which was spectacular.  I had gotten the idea of the ride up to Emerald Lake from one of Trek's Canadian Rockies brochures...I think it's an 8-day sagged trip where all meals and hotels are included...at a cost of $4800.  Emerald Lake was beautiful and the lodge there is rated #2 on Conde Nast.  It was windy, but people out in the canoes looked like they were having a great time.  Canoe rentals were $40/hr.

Patty drove ahead to Golden to find the Kicking Horse Hostel, and I hopped back on Hwy 1 to ride the 40 or so extra miles.  About 10 miles east of Golden, I was riding a lot of up and down, and lost any shoulder.  The highway would alternate between one and two lanes of fairly heavy traffic and the elevation was high enough that sand and gravel was all over what used to be...my shoulder.  I was not afraid I was going to die, everyone gave me room and cyclists ride this route across Canada every year.  But...it was tense and I worked hard to stay focused on the riding, the road, and the traffic.  I was very glad that I hadn't taken anyone else up here to ride.

I got into Golden a little after 2 and Patty just happened to be out riding and yelled at me.  She had checked us into the hostel and we stashed my bags and went for something cold to drink.

Tanya Connor hails from Scotland and runs the Kicking Horse Hostel.  She is well traveled herself and generously provides showers and space to cyclists that are traveling through.  I think there are 7 or 8 other guests here, some that are taking fire fighting training.

We ate dinner at the Wolf Den, where a lot of locals seemed to be eating.  They had live music playing and the menu had about 20 different kinds of hamburgers. Yes.  I.  Did.