As I crossed the Canadian border heading north last week, the dickhead border patrol dude asked me why I was traveling to Canada. I was a bit confused. He made it sound like a place where your typical American wouldn't dare go. My answer to him was to travel, see new things, and ride my bike. During my short 4 days in Canada, I managed to do a whole lot of those three things, slightly hindered by a parasite.
Day 1 - Banff
Banff was a very neat town. Though pretty touristy it had a genuine feeling. I almost felt like I was in a European ski village. In the short time that I spent here, I met people who had come from around the world to enjoy the hiking, biking, backpacking, and sight seeing that there is to do in this area. There was an awesome trail that started in town, winded up through some hills and along some cliffs to meet other trails, and made its way back into town.
Day 2 - Banff to Salmon Arm(pit)
From Banff traveling along HWY 1, there is a whole lot to see and do. It's a bit overwhelming. My parasite was acting at full force by this time, which made me want to get through this beautiful stretch of earth as quickly as possible. Thankfully, my bowels had other plans and forced me to slow my journey by taking pitstops at almost every possible stop along the way. Banff and Yoho National parks were amazing, as were Glacier and Revelstoke, but for some reason I felt the urge to continue on, and post up in what may have been the most depressing single area along the stretch of highway - Salmon Arm - where I pitched a tent in a ghetto, trashy campground/trailer park for a mere $30. I did take full advantage of the gross, but functional flushing toilet which I was conveniently placed directly beside. And if my churning stomach didn't wake me up to go to the bathroom often enough, the train traveling nearly through the campsite every hour sure did.
Day 3 - Salmon Arm(pit) to Whistler
Once I got out of the armpit of Canada, my journey quickly became beautiful again. Though I still felt like complete crap, the views seemed to make life better. As I got into Whistler, I decided to treat myself to a "resort-style" campground which was actually quite nice. No swimming pool with swim up bar, but nice. Right on a creek, and only a couple miles (of singletrack) to Whistler village.
Whistler village was a bit much for me. Even looking past the geared up downhill kids on their $5000 bikes which I'm sure get ridden for maybe a week each year, this place was far too swanky. The same families who come to their million dollar condos during the winter for a ski weekend come in the summer for some bike rides. The same little kids who hang out all day in ski school were hanging out on some of the sweetest singletrack I've seen while in their MTB camps. This town was completely geared towards biking, and I am sure that it is completely geared toward skiing come snowfall. It was nice, but too nice. Nevertheless, I did thoroughly enjoy the cheesy, built up singletrack trails that ran through town and practically all over the place.
Day 4 - Whistler to Vancouver and back to the USA
I took advantage of the fresh "sea to sky highway" which was redone for the 2010 olympics and cruised back toward the U.S. Down to see my step sis in Seattle is where I ultimately headed. I am currently feeling thankful for the ease of obtaining antibiotics which have bettered my life by 99% overnight. I am also greatly anticipating some more domestic adventures.
BA-oowt
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