Sufferfest Day 6 - Banff to Canmore and climbing at Grassi Lakes

We got up at 6:30am to go enjoy our free pancake breakfast. I hadn't slept great, eventually figuring out that the clicking sound I was hearing all night was from the heater in the room, which was probably also why I felt pretty warm sleeping, kicking off the blanket.

We got under way just before 10am, when it had warmed up and gotten sunny. I chose to ignore Google Maps (which said to head back down the way we'd come up to the hostel yesterday) and instead continue along the Tunnel Mountain Road. I figured we seemed to be at the top of the hill, we hadn't seen this part of the road yet, and it should link up to the Legacy Trail to Canmore. We had great views, it got us down to the bike trail, and was generally flat or downhill with only a couple of small climbs, so I call that a success.

All loaded up and ready to leave the Jasper Hostel

 

Riding the Legacy Trail to Canmore was fast and a great time. It seems such a great way to encourage summer bike commuting. In addition to cyclists, we saw a bunch of people out on rollerskis using the trail for training for cross country skiing. It's definitely a lot nicer and family friendly to have a path like this off the roadway to encourage people to use it, as opposed to having to worry about motor vehicles, or to have just trails that don't lead anywhere, which don't facilitate commuting.

When we got into Canmore, it was time to trust Google to find the hostel (to drop off our bags before heading to climbing) and a place to grab lunch, and the the Grassi Lakes trail. The first it found without difficulty, although we did need ot hunt a bit as there were no big signs, and it was in a plaza. The plaza, however, proved a blessing for us, as we were able to grab an awesome lunch (falafels wrapped in naan bread with veggies and chutney, which were so good, samosas, pakora, and bagia, although we waited to dine.

Getting to Grassi, well, I should have known Google was doing something weird and followed my intuition. You see, I somehow knew Grassi was near the Canmore Nordic Centre, so I started following the signs towards there, but my phone kept telling me to turn onto a Spur Trail, which I eventually figured out was a multi-use trail. This worked great, at first, once I found it.

Then we got to the hill.

I saw the trail climbing this hill, with steep stairs as one option, and switchbacks as the other. With my trailer full of all of our climbing gear I managed to ride up these, but then, at the top, Google said to go straight up a steel, loose-gravelled trail, so I began pushing. Through force of sheer stubbornness I pushed bike and trailer up, learning there was another trail of which Google was unaware we could have taken. At the top of this was yet more gravel to the road to Grassi, but I gave this a pass when I saw a lady pulling a stand-up paddle board on wheels up another path, which at least led to a gate on the road.

Once on the road, we had yet more climbing to do to get to the trailhead where, around 1pm, we finally had lunch before hiking up to Grassi Lakes and the climbing area.

We climbed a couple of easy climbs there, with my getting to climb each one twice - the first time on lead and the second time on top rope to retrieve the anchors and rappel, as we were both a bit out of practie, but I at least had years of experience in doing this.

Grassi Lakes - getting ready to climb

Climbing at Grassi Lakes

Grassi Lakes

Stroller abandoned on the path up to Grassi Lakes

 

I felt good with the climbing and the day, so suggested we head back and check into the hostel. I know in my had that this will be the last real rock climbing of the trip. Although I've heard good things about climbing in Lake Louise, I don't think we're going to be up for it after the ride there tomorrow; we're going to get to Parker Ridge Wednesday after one of the biggest, steepest climbs; and we'll pass Kerkeslin (which has a longer approach) with still over 40km to Jasper, but, we will just have to see.

We started talking about next Saturday, when we're back in Prince George. We'd already talked roughly about taking Astrid's canoe out for a paddle, and I suggested we take a day to paddle it from Miworth to Lheidli T'enneh Park, which evolved to Cottonwood, where we could have a closer retrieval vehicle.

Riding back to the Hostel we stayed on the road, descending a long way into town, through downtown, and back to the hostel.

We had dinner with Marieka's aunt Debra and uncle Stefan from Calgary, and schemed plans rto get a hearty breakfast tomorrow while also having an early departure (around 8am, when the desk opens up and we can get our bikes form the secure underground parking).

Soon, I'll turn off my light and ggo to sleep, already having the curtain drawn around my bed, although I hope the people in the common area quiet down, as that will make it tough for me to sleep.