Banff - U.S. Border
After a hot shower and lots of calories, we leave Banff a day later. To the U.S. border we will ride on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR). Passing the imposing Fairmont Springs Hotel, we follow a quiet forest path to Spray Lake.
Along the Spray Lake to the Kananaskis Lakes we have a great sun cloud mix which makes the Rocky Mountains look even more powerful.
However, the weather should change and we drive from Kananaskis up to Elk Pass and through the Elk Valley along a powerline. The weather is cold and it rains, but there is a lot of Arnica D6 growing along the way :-)
Just before Elkford there is a huge coal mining area on the left. This provides many jobs to the Elk River and Sparwood region. This open pit mine produces 20 million tons of steel coal annually, about 80% of Canada's steel production.
The largest tandem axle truck in the world also works here. The Titan 33-19 can carry 350 tons of material.
We hurry to get to Fernie because the weather forecast says heavy rain for the next two days. In front of our hostel we meet P.L. and Kristen, a nice couple who want to travel five continents by bike and try to collect 2.5 million dollars for various charities. They told us their whole story during dinner. If you want to know more about it, you can find information at www.cycle5tosurvive.com
We leave Fernie in the rain towards the Flathead Valley on a deserted gravel road. The bikes are so dirty that everything squeaks. A white tail deer visits us at the camping spot.
On the first sunny day we actually see a Bigfoot at the Sasquatch Crossing. The scenery around the Wigwam River is beautiful, many flowers and butterflies.
We crossed the U.S. border in Roosville in the state of Montana. Here we leave the GDMBR and will follow the Western Wildlands Route (WWR) for the time being.