July 18, 2005
Day 62: Castle Mountain to Rampart Creek
The transcontinental trains of the Canadian Pacific woke me at intervals through the night, but that allowed me to admire the star-filled sky for a moment, then go back to sleep. I awoke refreshed and ready for riding in the Canadian Rockies. Breakfast and politics with Jim - then off!
A Backroads group in the parking lot of the lodge didn't even return my waves. What snots! It was Monday, but the sky certainly wasn't clear. In fact, it seemed to be clouding up.
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At Lake Louise, I checked the forecast - and sure enough - it was supposed to rain in the afternoon. Argghhhhhh! I mailed some letters, fixed a pesky leak in my front tire, then took off. By now there wasn't much blue in the sky to the north, but it still was mostly sunny in the Bow Valley. So, I took my time - hoping that the sun would push north with me. I had a late lunch at Mosquito Creek and a long cookie break along the shore of Bow Lake nestled in the trees to escape a strong and foreboding wind.
I decided to push on to Bow Pass just a little ways further just in case it started raining. From the pass I climbed up to the Peyto Lake overlook. It started to rain, but I managed to hide under the trees. I was rewarded with a splendid, albeit cloudy, view of this turquoise gem.
I hoped that I could now get all the way to Saskatchewan Junction, but halfway there, the sky literally opened up. I managed to find a kiosk at a closed campground that offered a little cover, but I was wet and grumpy. Then, of all thing, the sun came out - even while it was still raining. So I continued on.
At Saskatchewan Junction I got a burger and a 2-litre jug of milk to assuage my milk habit. I only had 10 kms to go to reach Rampart Creek. But the clouds started to gather and, sure enough, I got caught in another downpour just before getting there. So much for clear weather on Monday.
Fortunately, when I arrived at the campground there was a covered picnic area and a fire, yes a fire, in the stove. Jim, Cary and Shirley from an Adventure Cycling group were there. Cary suggested that I should just put my sleeping bag behind the warm stove. So after draping all my wet thing over the picnic benches, I did just that.
Today's ride: 71 miles (114 km)
Total: 3,338 miles (5,372 km)
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