The snow on
the road appeared suddenly. One moment we had clear pavement, with patches of
snow in the ditches here and there. And then the next, most of the road was
covered in a couple of inches of snow. We were close to the top, maybe a
kilometer from the summit, but that was as far as we would get. On our skinny
tires, we weren’t going to make it far in this snow.
On a warm day in late May, Strava Jeff
and I had ridden our bikes up to Highwood Pass, exploring, for the first time,
a classic Alberta rite of spring. Calgarians do it all the time, I know, but
we’d never made it down to Kananaskis during the brief window between when the
snow melts and the high mountain road, which is closed for the winter, re-opens
to vehicle traffic June 15.
We parked at
the gate on the Longview side, where Highway 940 (the Trunk Road) meets Highway
40. From there up to the summit, it’s about 40 km, but the climbing isn’t as
hard as you might think, given that it’s the highest paved pass in Canada. The
ascent is long but mostly gradual, with only a couple of moderately tough
stretches.
Having the
whole road to ourselves took some getting used to. At first we rode dutifully
in the right hand lane out of habit, but eventually we slid over to the middle
and even the far lane, to get maximum sunlight. We laughed as we found
ourselves looking back over our shoulders for what, exactly, I’m not sure.
Bears, maybe? Sasquatch?
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| Strava J riding gravel! Believe it! |
Animals must
frolic on the closed road all winter, judging by the plentiful piles of poop on
the pavement. In fact, you have to watch for these on the descent. A
turd-induced wipeout would be a tough way to go.
Highwood in
the spring window is a beauty. It’s gotten me thinking about other mountain
roads that get closed to traffic in the winter, like Edith Cavell in Jasper. I
can see this becoming an annual thing.
The May-June
car-free highway is brilliant concept, and once you get a taste of this sort of
seasonal, mountain version of Open Streets, featuring bikes and wild animals,
it’s going to be hard to go back to riding on the shoulder of anything.
Closed roads are a cyclist's dream! Moraine is a good one after the solar radiation has chased away all the nordic skiers. But, the old highway/Great Divide trail between Lake Louise and Yoho is a shorter favorite of mine (especially in high season). It's a strange, strange feeling having what seems like two utterly different worlds so juxtaposed.
ReplyDeleteI will add those two to my list. Thanks, Aaron.
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun, Jasper! Any ebikes out there? I'm not sure I could do the long uphill, but would love to be on a mountain road with no cars or trucks!
ReplyDeleteThis would be perfect for your e-bike intro to road riding. Let's do it.
ReplyDelete