It’s been a while since Act I, so I think I’ll give you a short recap. Act I of our summer vacation had us make the trek from Calgary down to the Crowsnest Pass then West to the BC Kootneys. We spent a couple days with family around Nelson and then a couple more days finding a new family at Toad Rock Motorcycle Campground. We then had to make a bee-line for home to handle some personal business. After a couple days of hanging at the homestead it was time to hit the road once again. OK, that should get you up to speed.
Act II - Part 1
This is Highway 532, connecting Highway 22 to Highway 40
For Act II of our vacation we wanted to try something a bit new; camping off the motorcycle. The challenge here is to fit two people, a tent, sleeping bags, clothes, food, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera all onto one dual sport bike, without ending up weighing as much as those Harley riders (the bikes not the people). It was a challenge but in the end not bad; you just need to have the discipline to say “no I don’t really need that” a few dozen times.
| Act I of our vacation ended up being almost all on pavement, something that needed to be corrected for Act II. I had always wanted to see the southern portion of Highway 40. Many of you will know Highway 40 as the road that takes you from the Trans-Canada Highway south into Kananaskis Country, one of the most popular camping and hiking areas in southern Alberta. However, you may not realize Highway 40 goes all the way to Crowsnest Pass. This southern leg is all gravel but well maintained. There are campsites all along and we checked out a few of them for future reference. You do notice a distinct difference in these campsites. There are less big trailers, although still plenty, the sites are less crowded and, things seem to be more laid back and quiet. Yes, this is a perfect area to recharge and recoup. Did I mention the quiet? |  A fully loaded bike |
Our route for the day took us south west to Okotoks, Black Diamond and Long View. South of Long View the fun really started because this is where the gravel started. We took the 532 connector to Highway 40 which is an amazing ride on its own. This was also the most challenging part of the trip to ride. You go through a bit of a pass along this highway and near the top we had one section that had a lot of golf ball sized rocks which tend to push the loaded bike around a lot but, we got past that without incident. The payoff for this little bit of adventure was beautiful vistas of the foothills and the mountains along with a herd of mountain sheep that we shared the road with. They were in no rush to clear off the road but, we were OK with sharing.
How often do you get mooned by a Big Horned Mountain Sheep
We ended up at the last camp site before Crowsnest Pass which is Racehorse Creek. We found a very nice site within view (and sound) of Vicary Creek. There’s nothing like falling asleep to the sound of a creek flow past your tent site.
Racehorse Creek is only about twenty minutes from Coleman in the Crowsnest Pass. As it turns out Highway 40 ends pretty much at one of our favorite café’s, the Cinnamon Bear. After setting up our camp site I set out for a solo ride into Coleman to get some needed supplies (Beer, wine). This gave me a chance to enjoy the gravel road. With a much lighter bike I was able to ride much of the road standing up on my pegs. This is before I took my off road training course, but that is a story for another day.
 Vicary Creek provided ambience as well a cooler for our beer |  Peek-A-Boo |
Back at camp we heated some chili for our supper and shared a bottle of wine. We had bought a couple of bundles of wood from the passing campsite host which I managed to chop up with my tiny backpacking axe. It’s interesting that less than an hour away, just across the border, BC was under a complete fire ban. But here we had the privilege of enjoying a camp fire as the night wandered away.
 One of the real joys of camping is camp food. Somehow it always tastes better when cooked on an open fire |  Some of our next door neighbours |
The next day we saddled up once again but this time with no gear to haul and went off to do a little exploring. We ended up at Chinook Lake (after once again stopping at the Cinnamon Bear for a second breakfast). Here we got out of our gear and had a pleasant hike around the lake, taking in the sites of plants, flowers, bugs and butterflies all with the backdrop of Crowsnest Mountain.
Crowsnest Mountain, always majestic!
We made our way back to our campsite but not before stopping for another bottle of wine and more importantly, a big rib steak for supper. There is something about a steak cooked on an open fire that just can’t be duplicated in any restaurant. The key to a good campfire steak is to take your time to prepare your fire. Your need to build up a nice size fire and then let it burn down till you have a good pile of hot coals. If all goes well, you end up with a nice medium rare steak that just can’t be beat and we got just that in deed.
Half way around Chinook Lake
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Act II - Part 2
The morning came slowly as we enjoyed a cup of coffee and then packed our headquarters back onto the bike. After a quick stop for breakfast once again at the Cinnamon Bear (do you see a pattern here?), it was west into BC along the now very familiar Highway 3. We made our way past Cranbrook to the small resort town of Kimberly. I’ve wanted to return to Kimberly for many years but never have been able to make it work till now. I visited my sister here many years ago with my parents on one of our very few family vacations. I was only 15 and my sister was just married and living in Kimberly. What I remember most is the old Bavarian style town site and I was looking forward to seeing it again after all these years. I was sad to find out that they are no longer actively promoting the Bavarian roots of the town and much of this has slipped away into the past. There are still a couple of Bavarian restaurants one of which is shut down due to a fire but it sounds likes they will rebuild. One thing that they have decided to keep is the giant cuckoo clock at the center of the “Platzl”. This is in fact Canada’s largest fee standing cuckoo clock. All in all I was a bit sad to see the state of Kimberly which seems to have fallen on hard times. Downtown had all kinds of places closed and for sale and just didn’t seem to have the energy that you expect from a tourist town.
Our lovely hotel, downtown Kimberley
After spending two nights crawling into a tent and sleeping on the ground, we were both looking forward to a real bed. As it turns out we found a gem in the Chateau Kimberley Hotel. Chateau Kimberley is at the edge of the Platzl and is relatively new hotel in a fully renovated historic building. They are only open in the summer which is a bit odd as Kimberley is basically a ski town and the high season is winter. The walls of the hotel are all filled with artwork from local artists and the thinking is that this doesn’t mix well with the normal ski crowd. Our room was pretty amazing. Very spacious with a king size bed and our own Keurig coffee maker meant we were in heaven. To top it off they let us park the bike in a little alcove just outside our window. Preferred parking for the bike is always a bonus!
 Giant cuckoo clock on the "Platz" downtown Kimberley |  The pizza oven at Stone Fire |
At night life on the Platzl seems to pick up a little. Much if this seemed to be centered around two popular restaurants. We managed to try both. We had pizza for lunch at Stone Fire, which was amazing, and we had a late supper (after an afternoon nap) at the Pedal and Tap. This place is bicycle themed and they managed to work that theme in many creative ways. From the pedal coat hangers to the bicycles in the fence, it was all very cool. Oh the food was also very good. (If you every find yourself here you must try the Muck Fries).
 Coat Hangers at the Pedal & Tap |  Interesting Ride |
From Kimberley we decide that we had enough of Highway 3 and we instead made our way home north to Golden and then west along the Trans-Canada Home. The Trans Canada is never my first choice but when you’re going through the mountains sometime the options are a bit limited. The hoodoos around Dutch Creek, just south of Fairmont Hot Springs are pretty incredible. This is another area that is relatively close to home and yet we never seem to find the time to explore it. So many places, so little time.
Hoodoos south of Fairmont Hot Springs
And so our little summer vacation draws to a close. It seems for all the miles of road travel on the motorcycle we always find a new roads to try and few that we have to leave for “the next time”. Some of these we will give us reason to return to an area and some will fade into the collection of roads not taken.
Till next time, Happy Trails.
Till next time, Happy Trails.
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