The Canadian Rockies

Day 5 - Oliver to Banff

I woke up at that really nice campground with the sun shining on the private lake and felt almost sad to be leaving this quaint little oasis; I started to pack up camp anyways. As I was packing up the couple next to me offered some coffee but I took them up for some conversation instead.

They were traveling with their daughter and family in two fifth-wheels and we got to talking about a lot of things. We talked about the bikes he had from the Suzuki 850 he just sold to the Kawisaki Waterbuffalo (the 750 two-stroke!!!) but finally the conversation seemed to settle on bear stories.

The most impressive story was of them meeting a couple in Revelstoke that had camped the previous night in Banff. The most notable tid bit about their stay in Banff was that they were sleeping one tent over from where a couple was killed in a grizzly attack... That got me thinking about my food situation with it being packed in with all my clothes and whether that would be a good thing to mix with camping that night.

So off I go on my day. The weather heated up quite nicely and was around 90*F only an hour into the day. As I continued on towards Revelstoke I took in the amazing views of the looming Rockies and the countryside.

I made fairly good time and stopped for a nice break at the location of the connecting stake for the Candian Pacific railway. As I was walking around, reading the placquards and information about the railway I heard an ominous rumbling off in the distance and saw some dark clouds hovering over my route. I took a deep breath and continued on.

About 70km outside of Banff I finally caught up to the storm. I stopped to don my rain gear and more layers and enter in to the storm. The majority of the way in was a construction zone with a speed limit of 70km/hour so I had a ways to drive. The rain was coming down pretty good and I was having problems keeping my face shield clear so visibilty wasn't that great. I was able to see the long line of cars in front of me slow to a crawl for no reason, at least there was no reason until I crept by a gigantic elk on the shoulder of the road. That was a a little creepy. The drive in was amazing once the rain slowed and you could see. Of the many many mountains around Rundle Mountain was my favorite.

Once I got into Banff I decided against camping and stayed at the local hostel and warmed up a bit. I met some very cool people from all over the world.

The next day I just wandered around the park taking pictures and enjoying the now clear skies. I stayed in Canmore (the next town over) that night with Beau (Rockthepylon) and had a great time meeting him and hanging out.

So here's the proof that I was there...

Day 5 and Day 6