After a string of challenging longer rides, we have an easier one in store for us today. We can sleep in a bit, enjoy a hot breakfast (a treat, after the last several days of bread and muesli in our hotel room), and lie around catching up on the journal while the day warms up a bit. For a nice change, I have some ‘help’ with the blog:
We finally get started about ten, unloading our bikes from the Jetta in preparation for our ride to Banff on the Legacy Trail. Our start is held up a bit when the bobtailed cat slips between Rachael’s feet, dashes out the door and under the deck. We’re instructed to not let the cats out, so there’s a moment of panic while we try to entice him back. Fortunately the silly cat is so attention starved that he soon comes around for a fix.
Canmore is so different than I recalled from 30 years ago. I’d thought it was out of the mountains, but it is surrounded by grey peaks. Perhaps I was thinking of Cochrane.
The Legacy Trail is a paved, well maintained recreational path that connects Banff and Canmore. I wasn’t too excited to ride it, to be honest.It looks pretty tame, and runs right next to the busy Trans Canada Highway - we got a good look at it on our drive into Canmore yesterday.
Actually though, it’s a terrific ride. It runs a beautiful course, following the Bow River, threading the gap between the CN rail line, the river, and Mount Rundle on the left (starting from Canmore) and the highway and the Fairholme Range on the right. It’s heavily used by a wide variety of cyclists - racers, families, toddlers, the works. We saw several skaters zipping down the trail too. If you were in the area with a bike and wanted to see some dramatic scenery without killing yourself on the mountains, this would be a great choice.
The Legacy Trail is very family-friendly. Also very scenic, following the Bow River between the Fairholme Range (shown here) on the northeast, and Mount Rundle on the southwest.
Scott AndersonTo Bill ShaneyfeltI know. I was thrilled with it. Usually we see nests from below, with at most a bit of a head peeking out. Reply to this comment 5 years ago
It’s roughly twelve miles each way between Banff and Canmore on the Legacy Trail. We were after a bit more of a ride than this, so I tacked on a pair of loops at the Banff end of the ride. The first was a loop around Tunnel Mountain. It’s not a bike path, but it is on a very quiet road that is marked as a recreational bike route.
It’s a quite scenic loop, about eight miles long. For a modest bit of climbing you enjoy some great views of the valley and the peaks surrounding Banff. We enjoyed a typical trail lunch - bread, peanut butter, a banana - sitting in the shade at a dramatic valley overlook. Afterwards we dropped down to Banff itself, and then closed the loop by returning to the Legacy Trail.
Looking east from Tunnel Mountain across the Bow River to Mount Rundle
An immense waterfall drops down the east face of Mount Cascade. I wondeed if that’s where it’s name derives from. Closes, but not quite -it’s named for the even larger falls on the southern flank.
Our second extension, a loop off the north side of the trail, never really got off the ground. We crossed under the highway on the bike path to Cascade Ponds, a pretty wetland park at the base of Cascade Mountain. The planned loop went north from here to the south end of Lake Minnetonka; but almost as soon as we started off it began to rain. We holed up under a picnic shelter for awhile, chatting with a young Danish woman out on her own day ride.
Once the rain stopped though, we decided to just head back to Canmore. The weather looked uncertain enough that it seemed like the rain could resume at any time. Fine with me - we have a significant pass ahead of us tomorrow and I’m just as happy to be getting a bit of a rest day.
Looking across the Cascade Ponds at the west end of the Fairholme Range. It’s amazing how white the range looks in this light.
One or the peaks in the Fairholme Range. I think Princess Margaret, but perhaps Lady Macdonald. The range consists of a series of eight mountains, each over 8’000’ in elevation.
