Day 370
2 becomes 3
Sometime during the previous evening we had managed to hijack Don. He is a Canadian who is an expert when it comes to riding in Canada, and, never slow to take advantage, we suggested he ride with us. Tom and I set off ahead as a rather large hill was looming and Don was somewhat quicker than us. He also had his daily stretching exercises to do. Tom and I carry a yoga mat but are yet to really use it. One year in, we really must start. Tomorrow, I promised myself.
To start with the ride was a joy, I would say one of the most scenic of the whole trip. Don soon caught up with us, and what with him or Tom stopping to take photos we kept leapfrogging each other. Then we got to the hill. My Garmin warned of 9 miles of uphill and it didn’t disappoint.
First though we rode past the Weeping Wall, a rock face with waterfalls, creating an impression of eyes weeping. I hoped we wouldn’t be joining in as we suffered on the climb. Well, I cannot lie, it was tough, but the views made it worthwhile and we were all grinning by the time we reached the top. Then it started to snow and the smiles disappeared.
Don knew of a hostel a few miles ahead, hang the expense, it was walls and a roof and that sounded just perfect to us. Unfortunately the snow was so thick that we managed to ride straight past it, though in our defence the signage told us to turn right when it was actually on our left. Nothing for it but to carry on another few kilometres and check in at the Icefield tent-only campground. We chose a site, Tom got the fire going to warm up the shelter, then we headed on another kilometre to the Icefield Centre and a hot lunch of a Canadian speciality, Poutin. Basically chips with cheese and gravy, it was truly manna from the Gods.
Back at the campsite, we saw that two girls had found our fire. Fortunately they could think of nothing better to do that evening but keep the fire going whilst drying out enough wood for several more days. Tom and I decided to sleep in the shelter as Big Agnes, our tent, was leaking a bit more each day and the zips were on their last legs. Don was able to suggest some great walks for our rest day tomorrow and we fell asleep dreaming of sunshine!
Don’s walks were awesome. Though for 3 experienced cyclists we were somewhat shamefaced that we were unable to find the start of the walk in our campsite. In our defence it hadn’t been walked since last summer, was under deep snow and was really only a little-used path to join the main trail. After several false starts we finally found it, well we think we did, seriously steep, dangerously close to a steep waterfall we dragged ourselves up. Finally we joined the main path to Wilcox Ridge. We had the mountain to ourselves, I found a stick to help with my balance, then promptly lost it. Somehow though it didn’t matter, I even enjoyed crossing a wide stream. It was such a stunning day with 360° views. At the top we sat and just soaked it up. On the way down we passed another pair of red chairs. By now there was a steady stream of walkers coming up so we had queue to sit in them and pose for a photo!
Safely down , we had time for a quick lunch stop at the Icefield Centre, Poutin of course, then off for hike No.2. We had a short bike ride to reach the start of Parker’s Ridge. We were all a little nonplussed to see the majority heading up carrying skis. We soon discovered there was snow, a lot of snow. After about 20 minutes I realised I was going to struggle coming back down and decided to turn back, a decision that was probably wise but I do regret it. Tom and Don headed for the top, and views of a distant lake and glacier. I waited in the sun. Tom ran down, wildly happy. Don, wearing sandals, arrived about 5 minutes later. Exhausted we headed back to our tents and an early night.
