Hard-Sided Camping

Leaving Calgary was a maze of suburbs, and Hwy 1A was too wide and busy to bike happily on. It took me about 2 hours to make it to the city limit, though I did find some nice bike paths along the way. Shortly after leaving the city, I saw the Rockies for the first time. I am really happy about this.

As I continued towards Canmore, the mountains became more visible and the road more hilly. I follow 1A along the Bow River and it was a nice ride. Canmore is a touristy mountain town with lots of shops and restuarants. I went to the Grizzly Paw Brewing Co. and it was okay. I found a spot to camp in a park next to a tennis court.

At 8:45am a lady said "Hello?" to my tent. I responded "Hello?", and then she told me I wasn't allowed to be there, so I left. She wasn't a park ranger, just someone who likes to tell other people what to do. I went to The Hogshead for breakfast and it had the slowest service of any place I've been in Canada, although the Elk Burger was okay. I went to a gas station and got a soda (I've been doing this most mornings) before heading out of town.

I went up Road 542 to Grassi Lake Pass, to try to find the Goat Creek trail, a 25km mountain bike trail which went straight to Banff. The climb up to the pass was the hardest I've done in a while -- 400m of climbing on a dusty, washboarded, gravel road. It ended up being worth it. The Goat Creek Trail was a beautiful trail with a ridable surface most of the way, although I did dismount and push my bike up a few hills and let it pull me down one. A decent mountain biker would have been fine, even on a road touring bike. It was really fun to ride after riding mostly on highways for the past 3 weeks.

Banff was really fancy and touristy. The cheapest motel available was $268/night. That's 5 nights worth of motels! I went to a mexican place and ate 3 tacos and had a litre of beer in a large Mason jar. (Also illegal in Massachusetts.) After dinner I find an inconspicuous spot to put my tent on the opposite side of the Bow River from the downtown area. I stayed until 11am the next morning and not a single person walked by.

I left Banff on Hwy 1, which was busy and the shoulder was dirty. After 7km, I noticed there was a bike path parallel to the highway. I crossed all 4 lanes of traffic and got on the path, only to have it end 1km later at the intersection of 1A. I took 1A, named the Bow Valley Parkway, all the way to Lake Louise. It was a nice road with rolling hills and no trucks, since they were all on Hwy 1.

I arrived in Lake Louise at 6pm and it was really busy. It was much smaller than Banff or Canmore, but seeemed to have just as many people in it. I went to the liquor store and the gas station. I rode to the campground and they told me it was full. I asked them what they suggest I do, or if there was anywhere in town I could pitch my tent. They told me they have an overflow area, but that it is for "hard-sided camping only." They said this was for bear safety. I'm not sure how it is safer for me to wander the town and in all likelihood end up camping in the woods rather than be in a designated overflow site.

I went to the hostel and asked if I could stay there and they told me it was full. They told me that I could check back at 10pm and if there had been any no-shows I could get a bed. A French couple on bicycles showed up at the Hostel. I had also seen them heading to the campground. They also were confused about what one should do if everything is full and all you have is a bicycle and a tent. (Camping anywhere on Banff National Forest land was also prohibited.) I guess it's sort of like being homeless -- having nowhere that you're allowed to sleep. Tourist towns should have a plan for this though, since it seems to happen frequently.

I found a picnic table next to the town's recreation center and ate some food. A softball game started at 8pm, and ended at 9pm. While the players were leaving, I asked one of them if he thought I'd get in trouble if I camped on the far end of the field. He told me he's never seen anyone patrol the park, so I should be fine. I ended up just putting my camping pad on the bench of the visitor's side dugout and sleeping there. It was an incredible sunset and sunrise to see. It must be the baseball diamond with the nicest view in North America. At least with the nicest view of mountains.