July 14

So, today I left Calgary.  Really.  It was nippy again, with severe thunderstorms expected in Calgary in the afternoon.  Helen had a golf game starting at 9:35, so we wanted to be gone by 8:30ish.  I dressed as I did yesterday except for the leather pants.  I'm not real bendy with those things on and because I was carrying my gear over the rear saddlebags, I knew getting on the seat with a bendiness deficit would be tricky.  Still, it was mid to upper 50s so I thought I'd be OK.  And I was until just outside Calgary where I ran into a cloud that was right down on the deck.  Temperature fell to 50 instantly.  I was thinking shades of yesterday, but it cleared up in about 15 miles.  Went through Banff to the Kootenay Park turn and headed through new territory.  A short way in, I left Banff and Alberta at the continental divide and entered Kootenay and British Columbia.  A picture, shot blind because I was facing the sun and couldn't see the screen.

The road went downhill for better than 60 miles, wonderful scenery all the way.  A river flowing next to the road and mountains on both sides.  A picture showing Why I Ride.

Another picture, taken in Banff on the way to Lake Moraine, showing the same thing.

After driving through Kootenay, I arrived in the town of Radium Hot Springs.  The temp had risen to 70, I was a bit hungry, and you can't just drive right through a town called Radium Hot Springs.  So I stopped just after noon and am very happy to report that omelets are not a lost cause in Canada.  Had an excellent one with spinach and goat cheese and ham and other yumminesses.  (Boy, did spell check not like that word.)

After bidding farewell to the town - Radium Hot Springs, we hardly knew ye - I proceeded north along the western side of the mountains that form the National Parks.  Another gorgeous valley.  This road had more signs.  Now, I've seen the signs warning of masses of mooses, a few warning of elk, and more telling you to watch for deer.  But just outside town, I saw a warning sign with a big horn sheep on it.  A bit farther on, I saw one warning of bears.  Now, by any test, these are cool signs.  Groovy, even.

I am stopped in the town of Golden.  Tomorrow I will go to the fourth of the contiguous parks, Yoho.  It is, I am told, about an hour and one half from here.  There, Helen says I must see Emerald Lake and have something nice in the Emerald Lake Lodge.  Sigh.  There is just no rest.

Today I passed the 8000 mile mark.  I believe I seriously underestimated my trip mileage.

OK - weirdness I forgot.  A few days ago I walked up to a viewpoint overlooking Lake Moraine.  Quite a few people, as you might expect at so lovely a place at peak season.  But I did not hear one word of English during the entire walk.  I heard Hindi.  I heard French (once).  And I heard - remember I said German was so common in Arches National Park?  Well, here it was Chinese.  And not one time on the walk did I hear English.  Now if I was a left winger, I'd say this was either the global economy or global warming.  Oops.  Climate change.  There hasn't been any global warming for the past 16 years.

(And before I get all kinds of comments, yes, I do believe the earth is warming, and no, I don't believe the global warming models are worth a damn.  To my knowledge, none of them predicted an increase in greenhouse gases coupled with an absence of warming.  "Oh, but 16 years is too short a time."  I repeat, none of the models predicted an increase in greenhouse gases coupled with an absence of warming.  If the model can't predict, the model is crap.  I, The Carl, have spoken.)