Category: travel

Whistler is one of the top mountain biking destinations in the world.

There are a LOT OF TRAILS.

I like singletrack, twisty forested green trails best. Last week I cycled mostly around Lost Lake.

The easy trails are free.  You do probably need to pay for parking.

This video gives you an idea of the terrain.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

 

This sounds ideal to me.

The Four Rivers Trail, launched 2012, runs from the N.W. corner of South Korea to the S.E. corner spanning almost 600 km.  Some claim Korea has the most advanced bike-touring infrastructure on Earth.

You can start from either Incheon or Seoul.

It’s mostly a flat paved route dedicated to cycling.

Read a 2013 trip report.

There are many other excellent long distance cycling paths in South Korea, as well.

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17 days July 2020. No zeros.

One flat tire. 

The scenic Trans Canada ‘Great Trail’ is the best route as it tries to keep you off busy highways. However, it’s not possible to cycle it precisely as a few sections are ‘hiking only’, too steep and technical for a bike.

Happily there are often alternative routes.

I’m glad I skipped the 91km Gray Creek Pass, for example. It’s very steep on the west side.

The Great Trail Elk Valley is the best way to cross the Continental Divide to Alberta. Elk Lakes are a highlight.

I skipped a couple of other sections as well based on information I got from cyclists coming in the opposite direction. Each year there are unexpected detours, washouts, etc. Some years forest fires may force you to off the Great Trail.

I can’t recommend any apps for navigation. Certainly you should have the free OFFICIAL Great Trail app, though it’s crappy. Keen should be embarrassed to sponsor such a shoddy product.

Remember to click the Offline Maps (BETA) link and download the sections you need. Obviously offline maps should be the default as there are many sections with no service.

I used the free Maps.me, as well, though it doesn’t always show the Great Trail route.

I used Google Maps when I had service.  It doesn’t include the entire Great Trail, however.

BEST would be to download the route to something like the paid Ride with GPS app or a dedicated GPS navigation device.

I found it easy to resupply with food en route. Easy to recharge my batteries.

There are plenty of bike shops en route, but all were BUSY during COVID-19 2020. I had to beg in Cranbrook to have my steed looked at immediately.

I did not have much problem tenting free en route. Any crown land not posted is legal. There are campgrounds too, of course, but many cater to RVs not cyclists.

I love my gravel bike but for B.C. a mountain bike would be better. There are some rough trails. Some steep downhills.

Mosquitoes were bad in 2020 due to the late, wet spring. On the other hand, no forest fires to worry about.

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July 24, 2020 – Elk Lakes to Calgary 

I awoke early in Elk Lakes Provincial Park to another day of great weather.

Coffee in bed.  Then I packed up quickly before enjoying an early morning hike to Upper Elk Lake.

This may be my best photo from the entire trip.

This is a lovely part of the Rockies.  I’ll definitely be back for more hiking.

It’s an active logging area, however.

I rejoined the couple who convinced me to try this route.  A combination of cycling and pushing over the Continental Divide.

George had told me the crossing was fairly easy.  And it was.

Still, we were relieved to get to the top.

Cyclists take this Trans Canada Great Trail powerline route, much easier than the alternative Elk Pass Trail most often used by hikers.

It was mostly downhill from there.  A combination of fun paved bike paths in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and busy tourist highway.

I planned to push hard all the way to Calgary.  The end of my trip.  It would be my record for distance covered in one cycling day.

Feeling great, I wasn’t surprised to see a big storm looming in the Calgary distance.  My home town seems to be cursed in 2020.

When heavy rain began, I cycled harder.

When lighting appeared, however, I started to consider finding shelter.

Seems I was on the edge of a supercell thunderstorm.

Finally, a flat rear tire on my puncture resistant 😕 new Marathon Plus.

I huddled under the Trans Canada Highway about 30km from Calgary until Brian drove out to rescue me.  Bringing pizza!

“This is the way the cycling ends / Not with a bang but a whimper.”

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July 23, 2020 – Elkford to Elk Lakes 

Getting to Elkford Municipal campground from Fernie the previous day had been a highlight day of the entire trip.  😎

Today was not nearly as exciting.

It started well.

The Trans Canada Great Trail winds through Elkford …

… and loops above town on scenic pathways.

But most of the way north is on gavel road. About 70km of good gravel road from Elkford to the Park.  It seemed to take forever.

I’d only seen one small bear on the trip, so far, but there’s plenty of scat in this part of the B.C.

Not much traffic.  But many logging trucks.

Most slowed down to reduce dust as they passed me.

Though most campgrounds in Canada are full July 2020, there are plenty of excellent free sites sitting empty on the Elkford highway.

Late in the afternoon I caught up with my friends who had set up camp already …

… but I carried on, keen to camp — for the first time — at Elk Lakes Provincial Park.

I’d like to go back, actually, as there are a number of trails and routes never busy.

Next door is Height of the Rockies Provincial Park, even less visited. You can get to 6 trailheads via logging roads and trails.  But there are no campgrounds or other park services.

After seeing hardly any people all day I was surprised to find a dozen campers at Lower Elk Lake.  Most had hiked in from Alberta on the Elk Pass trail.

I was too tired to do more than click this one photo at 8:16pm.

Impressive.

I planned to do some hiking next morning.

And I did enjoy some time sitting around the campfire with a group of 4 friends, each of whom had carried in their own tent — COVID-19 physical distancing.

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July 22, 2020 – Fernie to Elkford

I was early to Timmies in Fernie.

At this point I had not yet convinced myself to try the more challenging highway 43 north from Sparwood.

The route into Elk Pass is a remote and challenging journey, and travellers should be self sufficient and be prepared to turn back if necessary due to the topography, lack of roads and possibility of washed out bridges.

I was defaulting to busy highway 3 west from Sparwood.

The day started on an excellent and challenging mostly single track routes called the Elk Valley Coal Discovery Trail.

Moving east, wildflowers were still in bloom.

Eventually I reached quiet dirt backroads that would take me to Sparwood.

I bumped into a couple cycling who had crossed from the Elkford highway into Alberta twice previously. They quickly convinced me I could do it too.

In fact, I cycled with them on and off for the next 2 days.

If you ever stopped in Sparwood it was to see the Terex 33-19 “Titan” truck, once the highest capacity in the world.  Of course there are larger capacity trucks today.

The bridges of Sparwood are really impressive.

Sparwood to Elkford on the Trans Canada Great Trail was perhaps my favourite half day of the whole trip.

Lovely ranch land with almost no traffic. Very few people.

A good breeze kept the mosquitoes off for once.

Though I did get lost en route, I managed to find the sulphur springs. Not hot enough for me to swim, however.

I rolled into Elkford late, getting a spot at the Elkford Municipal campground for $10.

Free hot showers. The end of civilization heading north.

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