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Published: June 15th 2017
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Early morning.
Still freezing at this stage The alarm went off at 5:30am as usual. By 5:30:05am we had decided to sleep for another 30 minutes. It was cold. Very cold. Not surprising really considering the altitude we were at.
The ride out was gently pointing up and we were wearing every article of clothing we had, the temperature was 5C. What a difference a few days make. The gentle climb is great to help warm the body up, fingers and toes were the last to stop aching. For me that was after about 20kms.Today was our day to climb to our highest point up to Wolf Pass at 3300m above sea level. How epic is that. The climb was about 6% and a steady grind rather than super hard. We were unsure if the altitude would get to any of us but we all managed fine. Dave let me out on the road about half way up the climb and took over the driving (thanks Dave!). What a magnificent climb. Towering snow capped mountains, deep green valleys, waterfalls, simply stunning. We climbed well above the snow line getting to the top. The high point was also part of the great divide in the Rockies. A point where
water drains either east or west depending on which side of this imaginary line it falls We also ran into Bob Dibble at Wolf Pass. An Aussie driving his 110cc motor bike with side car around the world. We had a drink and a bite to eat with him and then when and had some fun in the snow that was all around us. Dying of thirst in the desert one day frolicking in the snow the next!
Needless to say the descent was a blast. Cruising downhill for 15kms at over 50km/hr. We went through a couple of tunnels on the way down to add to the experience. You just never get sick of the view. Hopefully the photos will help convey some of what it was like. The last 77kms was meant to be a very gentle easy downhill. I say meant to be, because we weren't counting on a head wind that made the ride quite challenging. The road itself is on a high plain with snow capped mountain ranges either side. The plain is about 30 to 40 kms wide for the most part. There seems to be a lot of elk and cattle farming along
Scenic lookout
Part way up to Wolf Pass the road. Somehow the wind changes for the last leg of 22km. We pick up speed and there is train chugging along beside us - only one thing to do, chase it down. We passed it easily doing 35 km/hr and got a toot from the driver for our effort. But the train wasn't finished. It picked up speed and passed - off we chased again. We chased that train (or rather Tommy chased and Jeff and I hung on) for about 10km doing 42km/hr, it slowly pulled by us as we cruised in to finish for the day. It was a pretty good end to a sensational day through the mountains.
We're exploring a route change for tomorrow so not sure where we'll end up.
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