Canada O Canada It's great
The people are nice and they speak French too
If you don't like it man you sniff glue
The great white north their kilts are plaid
hosers take off it's not half bad
I want to be where yaks can run free
Where Royal Mounties can arrest me
Let's go to Canada
Let's leave today
Canada O Canada
S'il Vous Plait
- Five Iron Frenzy - "Canada Song"
Golden – Field – 62 kilometers / 38 miles
Happy Canada Day..!!!!
Everyone was dressed up in their Tour du Canada shirts and geared up for our last and final day in British Columbia..!
I was nervous leaving camp as Cue Sheets indicated that the day would s
tart with a 18 kilometer uphill - eek. It was mostly climbing out of the Kicking Horse River Valley. Everyone was anxious to get going and get the ride over with as it was only a 62 kilometer day and we all hoped to have it done by about 11am so we could sit back and enjoy the rest of the afternoon in Field.Either my legs are getting stronger or I am approaching the hills with a more positive attitude because it’s getting easier. Whilst I still struggle to go fast and push on, I am able to get up and get up at a steady pace of about 11km / hour. They key is to not think about it too much and just relax and
enjoy the scenery. I biked on my own for most of the day which was great. The scenery coming into Yoho National Park was spectacular as we left the Cascade Mountains and entered into the Rockies. The road had a wide shoulder and wound its way into the Kicking Horse River Valley.We saw 5 mountain goats at the side of the road cycling out of Golden – they were sitting quietly on the side of the road and at first I thought they were statues..!
The route took us through the gorgeous Yoho National Park which was absolutely stunning. I stopped every 20 kms and had a peanut butter sandwich and chatted with Rick and Jan as well as Tony and Darlene. Everyone was totally chilled out. I had
n’t ever heard of Field but was so pleasantly surprised at how lovely it was set against the base of the steep rocky cliffs which seemed to tower over the village below. We pulled into the ‘Alberta Visitor Centre’ which was rocking with Canada Day celebrations. Fire trucks were winding their way up the streets spraying the pedestr
ians with water – it was a great atmosphere. Everyone was wearing maple leaf tattoos, red and white shirts, and at one point a lady got everyone to sing ‘Oh Canada’ in both French and English. Our timing was impeccable as we pulled into the Info Centre just as they were serving burgers and soft drinks..!A moment of reflection...
One of the firemen asked what we were up to so we told him that we were biking across Canada. He then told us some very disturbing news – a family of 4 biking across Canada who we’d heard about from one of the campground managers before we did the Coquahalla had been hit by a car in Manitoba. This really hit home as the family were biking across Canada to raise awareness and money for Juvenile Diabeties. Andrew had picked up a Readers Digest article about them and a bit of the history of the family etc. It was really disturbing and tragic news. It also really made me realize (as well as everyone in the group) the risks that we were taking. The father of the family was killed and the others were also in hospital. It was on the front page of the Globe. It was very sobering news. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/07/01/cyclist-accident.html
We continued on through to the campground as dark clouds loomed overhead – rain was in the forecast so we peddled frantically to beat the storm. The campsite was set in a giant open field area with grass (!!). Grass seems to be a luxury in campsites these days so it as nice to be able to stick the pegs in the ground especially given that with storms come wind and rain..! Whilst we were at the Info Centre a Eric found out that the Canadian band, “Bedouin Soundclash” was playing at Lake Louise which was about 25 kms up the highway BUT it involved the steep climb over Kicking Horse Pass..! After humming and hawing for a few minutes they managed to get a group of 10 people together to head out to Lake Louise for the concert. I was tempted to go but was pretty tired, had my tent set up and BC and Andrew were both on Galley Duty so knew they’d be takin
g it easy the following day and looked forward to biking the Lake Louise day with them as it was rumored to be one of the best ‘funnest’ days of the trip scenery wise.About 20 minutes later I was sooooooooo glad that I had decided not to join the others on their trip to Lake Louise as the heavens opened and it POURED down. It rained and rained for about 2 hours leaving puddles in the field where our tents were. I decided to brave the rain and ran from the truck to my tent and immediately fell asleep. I haven’t had an afternoon nap in ages and ages and man, did it ever feel good..! It was still raining over the deliciously prepared dinner by Brendan and Andrew’s Galley Crew so we all ate in one of the shelters which was really enjoyable – everyone was in good spirits and had to laugh about the weather. It was bear country so we also had to ensure that everything was cleaned up and put away.
An Oasis... Cathedral Mountain Lodge
I decided to go for a short walk and discovered an absolutely stunning lodge called, “Cathedral Mountain Lodge” (http://www.cathedralmountain.com/) which was located at the entrance to our campground. I quickly checked it out and then rushed back to the camp to tell BC about the little oasis. We quickly grabbed our books and headed down to the lodge to escape from the soggy campground into dryer surroundings. It was stunning. It was advertised as a secluded and luxurious mountain hideaway and that it was. There are 35 cabins which make up the lodge and they are all done in a ‘rustic’ mountain style which are all handcrafted timber frames and made from old-growth wood. The main restaurant area is split level and is a combination of glass and wood. There were dining tables in the upper area and in the lower stage area there is a giant flagstaff fireplace. In front of the fireplace was a huge leather couch, lovely oriental carpets, a large wooden table with giant color atlases and two lovely leather arm chairs. We couldn’t believe our luck and sat ourselves in front of the fireplace, armed with books and immediately ordered beer / wine and chilled.
I must say, I am really enjoying the camping and the outdoors stuff but the opportunity to escape to this little bit of ‘normality’ was soooo nice. I really needed those 2 hours of ‘creature comforts’. It was a little bit of luxury on a particularly dreary, wet day. It was also nice just to sit and sip a glass of wine, read a book / newspaper and listen to Nora Jones. I was clean, warm and happy. Terry, Dave, Andrew and Jane joined us a bit later and we all just had a mega chill-out session. Brendan treated everyone to drinks which was super, super nice – it was one of the most enjoyable, relaxing and much needed glasses of wine that I’d had in ages.
A wonderful, perfect w
ay to end a busy day.
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