3rd July
I wake early - too bloody early and, despite all efforts, can't get back to sleep. I eventually get up and dress and I'm the first customer at the Internet Cafe which is just behind the motel...
...who provide me with an excellent breakfast whilst I upload my photos from the last couple of days. I return to the motel to pack...
...the sockets halfway up the wall between the doors are to plug in the 'block heater' for your car. It gets cold here...
I'm on the road at 1100 and find that I've apparently not got the right map loaded into the GPS - it doesn't seem to want to work, anyway. So for today I'll join the Amish and use a paper map...
I ride west - my plan is to join Highway 22 and follow it north towards Banff. I come across the disarmingly named 'Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump'.
Apparently the indians in this area used to herd the buffalo at speed towards a cliff, then butcher the animals that fell over the edge. One young brave apparently decided to watch this happen from the bottom of the cliff. When they went to recover the buffalo, he was found dead, with a fractured skull. This particular 'Buffalo Jump' was thereafter re-named 'Head Smashed In'. An early nomination for the 'Darwin Awards', I should think...
Soon after, I find a dirt road...
...this one leads through a huge wind farm. None of the turbines are turning, despite a brisk breeze from the west.
I get back onto asphalt after 30km or so and fill up with fuel at Cowley. The petrol storage tanks are above ground - another feature required by the severe weather here...
I go inside to pay - it's marvellous - a real Alladin's cave...
I ask if he's got a 55w H1 Halogen headlamp bulb (my dipped beam went out yesterday) - he disappears into some recess at the back of the store and eventually returns with the item. I'd bet you could ask for almost anything here and he'd have it...
I join Highway 22 and start heading north. I pass a field where the farmer has adorned each fence post with a baseball cap - surreal...
Not long afterwards, I stop at the Memories Inn Restaurant in Longview...
...where, over an excellent Greek salad (the owner, John, happens to be Greek - something I was unaware of when I ordered), I meet Justin and his wife Claire, who are having lunch with their 2 small daughters.
Justin is from Edingburgh and is spending 5 months working in Calgary. He's a director for the BBC - apparently they're making a drama series with Canadian TV (I think he said it was called 'Shoebox Zoo' or something like that...it will air in September in the UK). The BBC have rented a house for him and flown his wife & kids out for 3 months as part of the deal.
He tells me that there's another film crew based in Canmore, my 'target for tonight' - apparently Ang Lee is making a film about 2 cowboys falling in love - with one another... Anyway, he advises me to stop early to check for accomodation, as it may be hard to find...
I'm soon back on the road, turning west on the 541, before turning north on Highway 40...
The scenery ahead looks spectacular - unfortunately, so does the weather...
Cattle grids (guards)here are called 'Texas Gates'...
I find some very manky looking 'Bighorn' Sheep (apparently only the males have big horns - these are poorly equipped females...
I ride through a few light rain showers, but the threatening thunderheads never deliver...
The air here (I'm at 7k+ ft at times) is amazingly clear - the mountains look like they were made last week and dusted down this morning...
Eventually, I reach the Trans Canadian Highway and turn west towards Canmore. Following Justin's advice, I book into the Days Inn, which is expensive ($140 Canadian - about 55 quid), but has a room (the first 4 motels I passed had 'No Vacancy' signs up), wireless internet (only in the lobby) - and a very pretty and helpful receptionist...
I wake early - too bloody early and, despite all efforts, can't get back to sleep. I eventually get up and dress and I'm the first customer at the Internet Cafe which is just behind the motel...
...who provide me with an excellent breakfast whilst I upload my photos from the last couple of days. I return to the motel to pack...
...the sockets halfway up the wall between the doors are to plug in the 'block heater' for your car. It gets cold here...
I'm on the road at 1100 and find that I've apparently not got the right map loaded into the GPS - it doesn't seem to want to work, anyway. So for today I'll join the Amish and use a paper map...
I ride west - my plan is to join Highway 22 and follow it north towards Banff. I come across the disarmingly named 'Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump'.
Apparently the indians in this area used to herd the buffalo at speed towards a cliff, then butcher the animals that fell over the edge. One young brave apparently decided to watch this happen from the bottom of the cliff. When they went to recover the buffalo, he was found dead, with a fractured skull. This particular 'Buffalo Jump' was thereafter re-named 'Head Smashed In'. An early nomination for the 'Darwin Awards', I should think...
Soon after, I find a dirt road...
...this one leads through a huge wind farm. None of the turbines are turning, despite a brisk breeze from the west.
I get back onto asphalt after 30km or so and fill up with fuel at Cowley. The petrol storage tanks are above ground - another feature required by the severe weather here...
I go inside to pay - it's marvellous - a real Alladin's cave...
I ask if he's got a 55w H1 Halogen headlamp bulb (my dipped beam went out yesterday) - he disappears into some recess at the back of the store and eventually returns with the item. I'd bet you could ask for almost anything here and he'd have it...
I join Highway 22 and start heading north. I pass a field where the farmer has adorned each fence post with a baseball cap - surreal...
Not long afterwards, I stop at the Memories Inn Restaurant in Longview...
...where, over an excellent Greek salad (the owner, John, happens to be Greek - something I was unaware of when I ordered), I meet Justin and his wife Claire, who are having lunch with their 2 small daughters.
Justin is from Edingburgh and is spending 5 months working in Calgary. He's a director for the BBC - apparently they're making a drama series with Canadian TV (I think he said it was called 'Shoebox Zoo' or something like that...it will air in September in the UK). The BBC have rented a house for him and flown his wife & kids out for 3 months as part of the deal.
He tells me that there's another film crew based in Canmore, my 'target for tonight' - apparently Ang Lee is making a film about 2 cowboys falling in love - with one another... Anyway, he advises me to stop early to check for accomodation, as it may be hard to find...
I'm soon back on the road, turning west on the 541, before turning north on Highway 40...
The scenery ahead looks spectacular - unfortunately, so does the weather...
Cattle grids (guards)here are called 'Texas Gates'...
I find some very manky looking 'Bighorn' Sheep (apparently only the males have big horns - these are poorly equipped females...
I ride through a few light rain showers, but the threatening thunderheads never deliver...
The air here (I'm at 7k+ ft at times) is amazingly clear - the mountains look like they were made last week and dusted down this morning...
Eventually, I reach the Trans Canadian Highway and turn west towards Canmore. Following Justin's advice, I book into the Days Inn, which is expensive ($140 Canadian - about 55 quid), but has a room (the first 4 motels I passed had 'No Vacancy' signs up), wireless internet (only in the lobby) - and a very pretty and helpful receptionist
...
