The speedo at the start of our roadie was 101,235 on Wed 27 May. We have been in Whistler since December 18 of last year. The snow was average initially but then it started snowing early Jan and basically didn’t stop until mid-Feb. It was unfortunately a bit warm – which meant an unstable base and some soggy powdered days – except for one 4 day spell in which it got down to -25 degs. Our skiing was blessed with the company of our family from NZ and Australia as well as a little BC roadie to SunPeaks, Revelstoke (phenomenal), White Water and Red Mountain. We also managed to get a week on Vancouver Island and a few lovely weekends with the Bliss Thomas clan in Vancouver.
The mountain closed on March 11. It was then simply a matter of waiting for travel restrictions to lift so we could get on the road and explore the west coast of Canada. The National Parks open on 1 June so we decided to get on the road a bit early so we could arrive in Banff in time for opening. It was a magical time in Whistler, getting to know the town and surrounds as well as getting to know all the Bliss/Thomas clans and their friends. The highlight was our room pub crawl in Whistler in which we all got to theme a room to host a pub stop. Fun night. The lockdown certainly had a silver lining. However, we were getting itchy feet and it was a relief to be back on the road again.
We spent Wed night at the BT clan in Vancouver before heading away midday the next day. Our destination was Osoyoos, basically 400km from Vancouver and a decent part of the journey to Nelson, our first proper stop. It was an uneventful drive, with a couple of stops on the way – once in EC Manning provincial park (albeit roadside) for lunch and then in the cowboy town of Princeton. We arrived at our motel – The Westridge Motel Inn – around 5. The motel was lovely. We unpacked and grabbed our bikes to explore the town. It was a lovely little lakeside town, eerily empty given the Covid situation. The lake of Osoyoos stretches across both Canada and the US with the main dam in Washington State. I felt that we had driven though the town on our mid-winter roadie, but Deryn was adamant we hadn’t. We stopped at a pub on the way home – first time we had been in a pub since March. It was an expensive stop with a beer and wine costing $23! Still nice though. We ended covering about 10kms and realised the bikes were going to be a real asset when it came to exploring towns.
We had a leisurely start to the next day as it was only 3 hours to Nelson along SH3. The first thing we realised when we got to the top of the mountain leaving Osoyoos was that we had in fact been through the town 3 months earlier. It was the view and the amazing metal statues along the road. It was lovely being back in the Kootenays and even better being back in Nelson. We swore we would come back in summer and so glad we did. It still had the same hippie vibe, just a lot warmer. The check In at the historical Adventure Hotel was very formal although the chap they had behind the counter was incompetent. I went for a decent run along the Kootenay River with Dits joining me on the bike for the first 4.5km half. We then went for a quick wonder around the town before grabbing some takeaways in a local cafe. The guy serving was a local whose parents were holed up in Nelson, NZ due to the C9. From Nelson,BC to Nelson NZ. Go figure.
The next morning, after a marvellous breakfast in the Vienna Cafe, we headed off to Morning Mountain to explore some of the local bike trails. We decided not to risk the bike rack over the bumpy dirt road so had to cycle up the last 1 km which was a bit of a chore. We chose the green trail Bottoms Up which 1/3 of the way turned into Upper Bottoms. It was a another 4km to the peak and after 2 of those we decided that our lack of water (duh!) meant it was too risky going all the way. We turned around and headed back down. For a green trail there was certainly some challenging bits, although nothing compared to the blue trails for the final 1/3. The berms and bumps were amazing. I got airborne over one, feet came off the pedals and I very nearly went over the top. An hour and 10kms later we were back at the car a bit disappointed we were so stupid as to forget water. We made up for it by heading out for a 16km ride later in the day, including visiting a waterfall which we visited in winter. The increase in flow was amazing.
We had a fantastic Mexican meal in the Cantina Del Centro. We started off with a round of mezcal and then moved on to the Majitos. The prawn and fish tacos were amazing. Also so nice to be sitting in a bar eating. We sat in a newly erected outdoor area out on the front pavement – a lot of new outdoor eating facilities had been set up outside bars/restaurants – kudos Nelson council. I bet they stay post C9.
We rented Roxanne (Steve Martin & Daryl Hannah) that night because it had been filmed in Nelson way back in 1987. I really do I think Nelson had aspirations of becoming another Aspen (as the Nelson mayor – played by the recently deceased Fred Willard – said in the movie). I’m glad it never happened, probably because the Red Mt ski field is just a bit too far away. We decided to try another mt bike trail, this time part of the Nelson Salmo Great Northern Trail. We decided to ride up the road to the blue Una Canuma. I bailed out half way deciding there was just too much uphill. Deryn bravely continued on and managed to do a bit of Log Jammer and a black Long Svoboda. I headed down a blue Called Lower Hangrail. We both agreed the rating system in Canada is far more challenging than Aus. Many of the blues here would be categorised black in Aus.
A big storm was due that night which could impact our travel plans down Route 6 to SH3 as its very narrow and flanked by steep mountains and rivers. There was a hell of a lighting display around 10pm but not as much rain as expected. We checked BC roads for closures but there was nothing closed local (a lot up by Kamloops so the storm must have hit hard there). It was pouring down while we packed the car but we coped knowing we had another brekkie at the Vienna Cafe due. There certainly was a lot of debris on the road for the first hour but nothing major. We stopped a couple of times to marvel at the fast flowing river, often with huge logs hurtling down them. It was a 4 hour drive to Fairmont Falls and our lovely little B&B in a golf resort. Our B&B, RiverView Retreat, was part of a family home. We were the first guests since November last year. They owners were very friendly and obviously missing the company of their guests! We drove to the local bar for dinner and were entertained by 3 ladies at another table celebrating a 65th. The real character was a 90 year old. After dinner we walked up a hill to explore the original hot baths in the areas. The old baths were still in use although 2 out of the 3 were in a pretty bad state of disrepair. The views of the Fairmont valley were amazing. It was freezing cold so we didn’t last too long before heading back to the sanctuary of our B&B.
While it was only a 2 hour drive to Banff, we wanted to try go to some hot pools and possibly do a hike in the Johnson Canyon so we were up early. As expected by Dougie Downer (my new name from Dits), the hot springs were closed and disappointedly for both of us, so was Johnson Canyon. We stopped briefly at a mini-canyon in the Kootenay National Park so marvel at a deep but very narrow canyon over a 15 minute walk. The rain forced us back to the car.
Just before Banff we stopped at a little roadside cafe and noticed quite a few people waiting around. We mistakenly thought they were waiting for the road going to Lake Louise to open – which it did while we were sitting there wondering what to do – great, we thought we would be the first up there. Little did we know that the road had been closed for roadworks not Covid and the main road to Lake Louise was still open. Lake Louise was still as busy as we had seen any attraction to date, but given the size of the 3 car parks (and the overflow car park down the access road), numbers were considerably less than usual. We agreed that being there in peak tourist season would be horrific.
The lake and the Chateau were stunning. There was still a lot of snow and ice covering the lake and surrounding mountains. We walked to the far end of the lake continually amazed at the surrounding beauty. Interestingly there were still quite a few Asian tourists – they had to be local given the border closures although in most cases they spoke Cantonese. We had a lovely encounter with some very friendly squirrels – they must be used to being fed by the tourists as they were very friendly. Again the rain chased us back to car and accompanied us for our 30 minute drive to Banff.
We had booked ourselves a room at the Blue Mountain Lodge B&B, in the heart of the town. Finding a park outside the B&B was a doddle, a miracle normally when the town is busy. The place was small and a bit constrained given the Covid. We also were a bit concerned that there was a French person isolating there as the place certainly was cosy. The bed in our room was tiny but the views of the surrounding mountains more than compensated. We grabbed our bikes and spent an hour exploring the village before enjoying a Vietnamese meal – my first tofu dish came with beef which became a takeaway for our B&B host.
We got up early and had breakfast out on the front lawn – the only place possible for social distancing. Breakfast was brilliant – coffee, croissants, yoghurt and eggs. We then headed off firstly to Lake Minnewanka and then Lake Johnson. Unfortunately the heavy rain over the previous week meant the lakes were not their usual brilliant blue. However they were still amazing. We didn’t spend much time at Lake Minnewanka as there was a cold wind blowing. Lake Johnson was more sheltered to we had a lovely 40 minute stroll around the lake. On the journey back to Banff we stopped at the Cascade Waterfall and climbed a 1/3 of the way up to admire the views. Spectacular. Following our now favourite lunch of a supermarket cooked chicken and salad, and a gummy bear for energy, we set off for a ride.
We headed towards the Fairmont Springs Golf Course along the Bow River before following the Spray River Loop trail that followed the Spray river 4 km upstream before crossing a bridge and heading back on the other bank. It was a lovely ride with very few other people on the trail. Quite amazing to be enjoying Banff with so few people around. The day was finished off with a meal on the rooftop bar of the Rose & Crown. I enjoyed my fish and chips given it must have been at least 6 months since I last had some.
It was another early start the next day to enable us to climb Tunnel Mountain before heading away. We had breakfast on the lawn again and enjoyed a good chat with the locals(?) running the place. A local lad plus German and Aus females. The 350m climb wasn’t too challenging although the views over the town were hindered by the biting cold wind. Again we appreciated our luck in. avoiding the tourist numbers as the trail was very quite. We grabbed our bikes for another quick tour of the town, I grabbed a burger and Dits a fish sandwich before we packed up and headed off to the plains of Alberta and Calgary.
