Every now and then, when the country seems a bit skewed, we feel drawn northward, to spend some time among our more bucolic neighbors, the Canadians.  Also, they have terrific scenery.  Actually, domestic chaos aside, the real reason for our periodic escapes is that we invested in a timeshare scheme a number of years ago, which forces us to go on holiday now and then.  Such is the current excursion, and the timing.  We had “use or lose time,” and decided to revisit the Canadian Rockies, which we last viewed from our trusty old Santana tandem bicycle in the summer of 1988.

So, we found ourselves, after several days of leisurely travel, in Canmore Alberta, having retraced some of our celebrated bike tour before heading east from Banff.  Of course, not being exactly ready for vacation–again–we have brought work with us.  Such is the magic and curse of the Internet…

It’s always a treat to journey to the headwaters of the mighty Columbia River, which is only a few kilometers from its eventual tributary, the Kootenay, already a mighty river as it passes through Canal Flats, near the head of Lake Columbia.  Canal Flats is called thus because David Thompson, for whom Thompson Falls, Montana is named, built a canal between Lake Columbia and the Kootenay to create a water trade route through eastern British Columbia, Montana, and Idaho.

Moving on north along the Columbia (which flows north before turning south toward Washington), we climb through Sinclair Canyon into the Kootenay National Park, following our bike tour path of so long ago.  This view up the Kootenay from Sinclair Pass is near where we cracked a rim riding over a slip in the road surface.  We rode on it, with minor adjustments at Banff, another 400 kilometers to Jasper, getting a new rim on our return.

On this trip, we traversed what was a three-day bike ride from Radium Hot Springs into Banff in about 90 minutes in the car.  After lunch, we did a bit of site-seeing around Banff before moving on to our destination in Canmore.

 

 

So, here we are, an extension of Chaos Central in the far north. It is not quite spring here. This morning in Cranbrook, there was frost on the car, and snow in sheltered areas, and we experienced a few flurries while taking pictures on Tunnel Mountain, though the temps reached the teens (C) in the valleys. We have a week to explore the area, and try to get some work done, before returning to the normal hectic pace.