Category: moosling
That’ll teach it for being a river.
(All the rocks are his: “Mine! No, that mine!”)
That we would bike the Goat Creek trail today,
And all the way to old Banff town — and maybe back again,
so we needed one more snow bike for the ride.
All the gear was gathered from the cupboards high and low
And piled in heaps upon the hallway floor,
For we’d learned to love hard riding through the snow and mountain air,
And the toddler in his carriage cried for more.
The bikes were fully loaded, so we set off up to Whiteman’s Gap,
The old pass that takes forever just to reach;
But from the top the views around could not be beat —
On a day with such a blue and cloudless sky.
As we reached the trailhead we switched the Chariot to skis,
The better then to glide over the snow;
For things were getting tougher as we pedalled down the trail,
Could be we’d bitten off more than we could chew.
The snowy path we pedalled — staying out of skiers tracks
So the going was as hard as it could be,
For we rode on deep fresh snow, completely uncompressed
A straight line was hard to keep, and so we tired.
Then we halted for a moment, for a snack and sip of tea,
And for the wee young toddler to run about,
Before long we returned sore rears to seats and then were off,
Churning through the snow with heavy legs.
And down by Banff Springs Hotel, where the tourists flock about
The mountains rise majestic up on high,
Where the air is clear as crystal, and the white stars fairly blaze
At midnight in the cold and frosty sky,
And where around the ski trails the pine trees sweep and sway
To the breezes, and their icy beauty cannot be denied,
The snow bikes are still looked at with amazement and dismay,
And the people tell the story of their ride.
(My apologies to Banjo Paterson, I have no idea what possessed me.)
(Distance covered: 30km, Elevation gain: 750m, we didn’t bike back to Canmore as we ran out of time, and weren’t feeling that masochistic anyway)
If you’d like to experience a nice long bout of self-conscious conspicuosity, there’s nothing quite so good as riding a snow bike around the Canmore Nordic Centre in the middle of a sunny Sunday, while towing a Chariot on ski runners. On a related note, the list of things which it’s appropriate to yell out at snow bikes:
“What wax do you use on those tyres?”
“Now I’ve seen everything!”
“You don’t see that every day!”
“I love your bike!”
“Nice bike!”
“Nice tyres!”
“That’s hardcore!”
“Nice work!”
I also got a lot more hellos than usual, largely thanks to the large number of skiers who were staring at me. Whenever I looked about and caught someone’s eye (not hard, as they were generally pointed my way), apparently they’d feel a little obliged to say hello. So it was certainly a very social ride.
It seems to be a little easier than trying to ski with a heavy Chariot, although getting up a steep incline is hard work no matter what (for reference, the Moosling is now just over 30lb, but there’s also the weight of winter boots and blankets and spare snacks and drinks, plus of course the weight of the Chariot itself). Definitely a fun kid-friendly jaunt not far from home, but one I’d rather be doing when it’s a little quieter on the trails.
Categories
Brewster Creek Trail
Along Brewster Creek Trail we skied, from the parking lot at the base of the Sunshine Village access road, and up to Banff Sundance Lodge. The trail was groomed all the way to the lodge, and we climbed and climbed. Finn skied for a while, and then ran for a bit, and then fell asleep in the Chariot.
After lunch on the verandah of the lodge, we headed back downhill, zoom zoom. The day never quite manage to be properly sunny with blue skies, but the overcast weather that threatened never really settled in either. A fun day out, that tempted us with ideas of connecting through to Fatigue Creek Trail, Citadel Pass and Sunshine Meadows for a long summer run.
Distance: 21km return
Elevation gain: 521m