August 2, 2023
To Canmore: the David Thompson Highway
On the drive south, between watching out for vista points and wildlife sightings I have my mind on which ride to take to break up the drive today. We have two mapped out and loaded to the Garmins, both starting at Saskatchewan River Crossing. One backtracks up the Icefields Parkway to the base of the Big Loop, the long, gradual climb up Parker Ridge. We biked this route (and then some) five years ago, and for a change I thought ahead of time to reread our post of that day and was tempted to repeat the ride because we enjoyed it so greatly the first time.
The other one is a ride east along the North Saskatchewan River on Highway 11, the David Thompson Highway. We’ve never ridden this road, but just from zooming in on the map view it looks tempting. So I asked my local domain experts Lyle and Kirsten for their thoughts. Lyle reported back that they’d never ridden it themselves, but they had driven it in the car and he thought it would make a fine ride: scenic, good shoulder, and quieter than the Parkway.
In the end, Lyle’s recommendation and the fact that it’s somewhat smoky along the parkway anyway tipped the scales. We park the car at the Crossing and start biking east.
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We follow the DTH for our entire ride, which for Rachael translates into a twenty mile sprint downriver before turning back and just a modestly lesser distance for me because someone has to stop and take a photo every now and then or we’d forget we’ve ever even been here.
The ride amazed me. As Lyle said we could expect, it’s scenic and very quiet in comparison to the parkway. The photos here are a pretty fair representation of what we experienced - long stretches with very little traffic; a generous and smooth shoulder the entire away; and stunning scenery that just kept pulling us in and was every bit as spectacular when we reversed direction and backtracked to the car.
I was sorry when I saw Rachael coming, because I’d really just as soon have continued to see what was around the next bend in the river. She was nice enough to turn around and continue with me for another mile, but really another ten or twenty would be best if we had the time nd the stamina. It might have been my favorite ride of the tour, and one I’d be happy to repeat if we ever come back this way.
Later Lyle and I were discussing this ride and he raised the idea of a possible five or six day loop that would begin and end in Canmore: north to Rocky Mountain House on Route 22; west to the Crossing on the 11; south to Lake Louise on the Parkway; and back to Canmore on 1A and the Heritage Trail. With the right conditions and maybe younger bodies, it would be amazing.
I spent some time trying to identify the ranges and mountains along this route, but it didn’t help me very much. Anything I say is likely to be wrong anyway, so I’ll mostly just show and let the photos and video do the telling.
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9 months ago
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Rachael gets back to the car before me of course. I arrive to find her distressed - no key to the car, no money, and no way to get water or ice cream. She thought there’d be water when she biked up thinking she saw a spigot outside the store, so she emptied her bottle of hot water out in preparation but then couldn’t refill it.
That crisis resolved when I arrived with the cash, we’re soon on the road again headed south. Back on the parkway, it’s hazy or smoky the rest of the way to Canmore so we aren’t tempted to stop for photos until we’re forced to by an interminably long train when we enter Canmore itself. Finally though it passes, and soon we’re knocking on Levi’s door for a furry head to pet and offering the exposed toes in our sandals suitable for licking as a fair trade.
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Video sound track: Lulubia, by Anat Cohen and Trio Brasiliero
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Jacinto has a lengthy story about extreme thirst and no money to buy a Gatorade. It made such an impact on him that he has zipped a little coin purse with a $20. bill inside of his pannier for emergencies.
I need to put some money on my bike right now - a lemonade on the way home would be a tasty treat!
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