Marvelous Montane

It was yet another spectacular day in the Bow Valley... great temps, blue sky... and Todd and I dusted off the ol' two-wheelers and went for a spin on the Montane Traverse trail, which is on the north side of Canmore. We departed right from our house and rode up Cougar Creek to get to the trailhead.

Now I am not a mountain biker by any means, and my relic of a bicycle is concrete proof of that... but I seriously loved ever inch of the trail! It was so much fun cruising through the gorgeous fall forest, and the views we got of the Bow Valley were pretty darn nice as well.

Cher's 'mountain bike' - circa 1990's

 

  

 

 

The highlight of my day came at the west-most end of the single track portion of the ride, when I saw a black bear scrounging in the trees some 30 feet or so from the trail. This harmless scenario was so unexpected - although I'm not sure why, since it is the season after all - and in a startled flurry I pedalled past as quick as I could, yelling at the top of my lungs for Todd (who was out of sight ahead of me). What the hell good would that do?? you are wondering... and after the fact I wondered that myself... because I doubt the animal even gave me a second look, and I'm betting had I not caused such a commotion, the poor bear would never have even known we were there! Instead, he's probably laughing with his buddies right now about the freaky human he saw today. Oy.

Anyway. Aside from me overreacting to a not-anywhere-near-close-encounter with wildlife and Todd losing about his eighth pair of sunglasses, the day was mega enjoyable!

Cheers!

Montane Traverse Trail - our house, to Cougar Creek, to radio tower in Harvie Heights, back to our house

Time (door to door): 3-1/2 hrs

Distance: ~20km

Elevation Gain: ~250m