Ok fan, here we go again, you know the format by now. We set off on a bike trip, take photo’s along the way and I write a little monologue in the evening posting onto the Blog for your delectation. Not today unfortunately, well, not the posting bit anyway. As the title suggests, we have set off from Stony Plain, and spending night 1 at the very quaint Num-Ti-Jar Lodge. Unfortunately, the lodge boasts many facilities, but modern internet is not one of them! So fan, I will write the Blog and keep it safe until tomorrow night when we should be safely ensconced in a Best Western down in the US of A. That is tomorrow, lets deal with today shall we.
All of our packing was completed on Thursday afternoon; we even managed to get the bikes loaded and ready for the road. We both looked at our meagre pile of luggage to be stowed on the bikes, there seemed so much less than previous trips. We went through the list of clothing that was needed, biking gear and ‘civvies’. Nope, nothing missing. All we could put it down to was a lack of bulky bike suite liners. The weather forecast for the next week, especially where we are headed looks quite hot, so not much need for bulky jackets and Gortex liners – I hope!! We were planning on a 9am departure on Friday, so not even any great rush to get to bed. A nice leisurely start to the trip.
We got up Friday morning and the weather looked pretty perfect riding weather. White puffy clouds bobbed about in a beautiful blue sky. The temperature was about 16’C, but we knew that it would get warmer as the day progressed. First things first, feed the dogs! Toby always seems to know we are about to head off and leave him, but Lucy just wants her breakfast! Dogs sorted, we climbed into bike gear. I have only ever ridden once without suitable protection and paid the price. A nice round scar still sits on my left shoulder, a reminder of when I dumped a bike while wearing only a rugby shirt! Now we both wear jacket and pants that are high tech garments, designed to protect the wearer not only from the elements, but also from a ‘spill’, should one occur. Once we were suitably ‘booted and spurred’ we got the bikes out of the garage, put on helmets and gloves, plugged helmets into the bike to bike radios and with the GPS set up, we were ready for the off. Not that the first leg was going to be that challenging, or long!!
With a house move imminent, food stocks in the ole ‘Hacienda’ are pretty depleted, not even enough for a humble bowl of ‘soggies’ before the off. Oh well, guess we’ll just have to pay ‘Micky D’ a visit! The MacD’s in Stony is near completing a massive refurbishment and what a transformation. It looks more like a large Starbucks than the humble burger joint. So for the first and probably the last time this trip, Wendy led the way from home to Stony – 10km…….. Ahhh well fan, tis a start! Fed and watered, we climbed back onto the bikes, but not after I gave another sales pitch about the Spyder, to a passing admirer in a truck. Wendy usually does this bit, but the call of the bathroom was too strong after a coffee and about two and half hours of riding ahead.Our first night stop was to be the Num-Ti-Jar Lodge at the head of Bow Lake in the Rocky Mountains. We have passed the lodge on previous bike trips and it always looked wonderful sat on the edge of the lake. So this trip we thought we would actually stop over and take a closer look at this quirky but beautiful log built lodge. The ride down to the Lodge was uneventful; we have ridden this route on a number of occasions now, so there were no surprises. First stop as usual was at Rocky Mountain House, by this time we had been riding for about two and half hours. Wendy needed gas for ‘Sydders’ and we both needed water as the day was heating up. With ‘Sydders’ full of gas again, we popped over the highway to ‘Tims’ for a bottle of water and a cookie! After a short break, we are back on the bikes heading into the Rockies.
The riding conditions remained pretty perfect, the sky became a little bluer and the temperature climbed to about 23’C – very pleasant. We made the Icefields Parkway in good time and made a brief stop at a rest area as we joined the north south highway. It doesn’t matter how many times I have driven or ridden this stretch of road, the sheer majestic beauty of the huge mountains around you always leaves me speechless. Even more spell binding, are the icefields high in the mountaintops that give the road its name. It is difficult to ride down the twisting highway and not risk the odd long glance up to a huge hanging ice field/glacier. As I sit writing this piece near the window of our room, I have a wonderful view down the blue waters of Bow Lake and I can see three massive glaciers. What ever it costs to stay at this lodge, this one view makes it worth every red cent.
time. Once checked in, we threw on shorts and T’s and headed out to explore. The lakeshore is about 100m from the Lodge, so we didn’t have to venture too far! Out of the lodge, we didn’t know where to look first for wonderful pictures, as the shore was only a few steps away so down to the waters edge we walked. The narrow beach was not sand, but rather a fine gravel. You certainly needed something on your feet or it would have been quite uncomfortable walking. It was a glorious sunny afternoon, but the waters of the lake were very cold as I found out when Wendy suggested I go stand in the water for a photo………..! There was a lovely cooling onshore breeze coming down off the mountains. The result was to create small breakers on the lake surface. Listening to water is always calming, but listening to the gentle break of the swell onto the shore and the gentle ‘hiss’ of the gravel was very tranquil.
After a while on the shore line, we headed back to the sanctuary of the room. It is time for showers, then head down to dinner at 7pm. The menu in the restaurant is quite limited, but then I don’t suppose they have too many staying here at a time. However, with a four-course meal that includes seared tender loin of Bison for a starter, I think dinner should be pretty damned good!
Oh yes, Num-Ti-Jar! Did you wonder if I would ever tell you what it meant fan? I asked at the front desk as soon as we arrived. It is pronounced ‘Num teejjar’ and is a First Nations word for a Pine Martin! There you go fan, just for you!
That’s it then folk, time to get scrubbed and ready to savour dinner. Hopefully our stop tomorrow night will have Internet, then I will get the Blog on the go and download some of the photos. Bye for now then and to all our friends on two wheels, ride safe and keep the black stuff down.
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