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Day 15 – Mount Fernie Provincial Park Trails

Day 15 – Mount Fernie Provincial Park Trails

by | Aug 2, 2017 | Adventure, Mountain Biking, Wedding Adventure

Jay wanted to hit up another trail system in Fernie called Mount Fernie Provincial Park which is located west of the town.
We climbed up Phat Bastard which is a tough climb with some steep rooty sections. Then onto Mushroom Head, which was more mellow.
Soon enough, we began climbing again onto Moc-Assassin which had a lot of steep ups and many hike-a-bike sections closer to the top.  We slowly ascended into the alpine and crossed over on Stupid Traverse which had a few exposed areas.
Finally, we made it to the top of Slunt. The trail that would finally bring us down!
As we began heading down, I started to zone out a bit. Mostly thinking about body positioning over the bike and making micro adjustments to see what felt better.
This may not have been the greatest trail to be making micro adjustments on. Something went awry and I completely endo-ed and knocked the wind straight out of myself.
Right after the crash when I began to breathe again, I did that move where you wiggle your fingers and toes… just to make sure everything is still working. This was quite the scare and the biggest crash I’d had in a while. The scariest part was that Jay was pretty far ahead as it was, so he didn’t hear me or see me fall.
After a decent chunk of time passed, he realized I wasn’t coming and came sprinting up the trail to see if I was okay. We agreed that it probably would have been good to bring our walkie talkies on this ride. Since our phones were off due to international roaming costs.
I was lucky and walked away with just a few bruises/cuts and still was able to ride out the rest of the way down Brokeback Ridge.
Back in town, we grabbed a small bite to eat. I was still pretty shaken up, but Jay always knows how to make a gal laugh.
We rode by a pretty happening event downtown called “The Social” with tons of locals and tourists alike. Everyone was having a great time drinking beer and enjoying music.
Day 14 – Mountain Biking (and drinking beer) in Fernie

Day 14 – Mountain Biking (and drinking beer) in Fernie

by | Aug 1, 2017 | Adventure, Cool Towns, Mountain Biking, Outdoors, Wedding Adventure

Fernie Alpine Resort sits to the west of the town. Since we were there on a weekday, the resort only runs 1 lift and it was pretty slow. But weekdays = less crowded so that meant we had more of the trails to ourselves.
The trails were fun and challenging, though conditions weren’t the best. The trails were super dry they a bit rutted out in spots but the wooden features were neat!
Afterward, we made a b-line for the Fernie Brewing Co. (on the opposite side of town) for some tasty beer.
Later on, we rode from the RV resort and brought Cooper with us to the Ridgemont trails. One of the nice fellows at a bike shop downtown gave us this little loop to try. If you’re looking for a nice loop from town, we’d certainly recommend this!
Cemetery bypass >  Queen V > Eco Terrorist > Deadfall > Oh Dear
Here are Cooper and I taking a break right before the descent into Deadfall/Oh Dear.
After a long day of riding, we cleaned up and quickly rode downtown to get something to eat.  We jumped at this burger night special at Northern Bar and Grill. You really can’t beat a pint of Fernie beer AND burger/fries for $12 CAD.
Day 13 – Exploring the town of Fernie – British Columbia

Day 13 – Exploring the town of Fernie – British Columbia

by | Jul 31, 2017 | Adventure, Cool Towns, Mountain Biking, Wedding Adventure

In the morning we packed up, did a load of laundry at Andy’s, and got ready to head out to our next destination, Fernie, BC.
We met Andy at Purcell Coffee to say our goodbyes, and hit up Long John’s Doughnuts on our way out of town.  We were so excited about the donuts that I forgot to take a photo before we started devouring them.
On our way down route 95, we drove through a pretty large forest fire. These forest fires have been going on for the past few weeks in BC and down into Montana. I had never seen a forest fire, let along this close to the road before.
The road we were on had been closed just the day before.
We went straight to the Fernie RV Resort so that we could get set up. This RV park is really nice. It has quite a few spots and is very open compared to our little spot in Bow Valley. Full-hookups are always nice.
We decided we’d head out for a quick little ride right from the RV park. When you look at Fernie on Trail Forks, this is what you get:
We could really just head in any direction and we were bound to run into some trails. We decided to do a loop in the Mad Cow/Swine Flu area which climbs and descends about 1,700 ft.
The climb wasn’t too bad and there’s a bench at the top and we stopped for a breather and enjoyed the views of the town.
We took Swine Flu to descend.  What a super fun and flowy trail. Plus, you gotta love these trail names. Yes, that is a pig with a thermometer in its butt.
FYI – Dogs weren’t allowed on this particular trail system since there are real cows that meander nearby. So Cooper had to sit this one out.
We decided to ride the town loop on the way back and head through downtown on our bikes to see what was going on.
Fernie has a cute little downtown with nice shops, bars, restaurants, and literally 4 bike shops within 2 blocks of each other. Every mountain biker’s dream!
Day 12 – The Golden Adventure Continues

Day 12 – The Golden Adventure Continues

by | Jul 30, 2017 | Adventure, Mountain Biking, Wedding Adventure

Jay and I went for a quick brunch over at Whitetooth Mountain Bistro. They had THE best breakfast potatoes. Seriously.
Afterward, we met back up with Andy and Miranda to head out for another quick ride. We rode a loop, starting with a nice mellow climb up CSB then down Mighty Quinn; a machine-built, fast, fun downhill trail.  It was just nice to be able to bike directly from town to the trailhead. (Something Jay and I really admire about certain towns)
Later on that evening, we all planned to make dinner together so Jay and I walked a few blocks to one of the local grocery stores. On the way back to Andy’s we happened upon at a little outdoor gym… so we decided to work out  goof off for a bit. Gotta stay fit on the road!
For dinner, we made a kale salad with fresh greens from Andy’s roommate’s garden (with her blessing of course). Andy made some yummy ribs + veggies on the grill. To top it off, Miranda made a cherry pie that was to die for.  We felt pretty spoiled.
Our stay in Golden has been pretty magical and we were grateful to have Andy and Miranda as hosts, but tomorrow we must move on from this place and onward to our next destination, Fernie.
Day 11 – The beautiful and friendly town of Golden – British Columbia

Day 11 – The beautiful and friendly town of Golden – British Columbia

by | Jul 29, 2017 | Adventure, Cool Towns, Mountain Biking, Wedding Adventure

We’re lucky enough to have a group of amazing friends back east. Our one friend Amy introduced us to her brother, Andy, and his girlfriend, Miranda, a few weeks back when they were visiting Ithaca. They mentioned if happened to wander out to Golden to touch base, and so we did!
We rolled in Golden later than expected. Jay and I didn’t anticipate such a gnarly, curvy, steep mountain pass once we crossed the continental divide.  Andy lives on the end of a quiet, dead end street in town. Perfect spot for a giant shiny Airstream to park.
The locals are nice, they love being there.  Andy works for Golden Tourism, but despite the fact that he sells the town for a living, you can tell he loves living and working Golden. He’s very proud of the town and after being here we definitely could see why.
Our first morning, Andy and Miranda made us a delicious breakfast and gave us a tour of one of the mountain bike trail systems closest to Cedar Lake. The forest there is beautiful.
I’m a big fan of smells. And I’m telling you… this trail smelled good. Tall pines and undulating singletrack make for some really fun, fast and flowy cross country trails. We covered around 5-6 miles with ease.
After our quick warm up loop, we shuttled up a pretty wicked dirt road to the top of Little Sir Donald (LSD). Having experienced the trail ratings in Moose Mt., I knew that this black diamond trail would be no joke either.
Boy was this trail gnarly and technical. LSD starts pretty mellow and then quickly turns into a fast descent complete with wooden features, loose corners, and steep rooty areas with 3-4ft drops in some sections. The trail was conveniently marked with arrows and warning signs along the way for the Enduro race happening the next day. I was very thankful for the signage.
After LSD you pop out on the Canyon Trail with amazing views. We had to be extra careful around some corners because of complete DROP OFFs in some spots.
After the ride we drank some beer and went for a quick dip in Cedar Lake while Andy + Miranda went to grab the shuttle vehicle.
Back at Andy’s place we took the dogs for a walk on the trails adjacent to his place. They had been recently damaged from high winds and micro bursts the ripped through the area a few days before (scary stuff). Entire trees had been uprooted and strewn across the trail.
After our adventure hike up and over many down trees, we biked through town on the bike path over to Whitetooth Brewing and ordered a pizza from Red Tomato Pie. Nothing like ending a great day with good company, pizza and beer!
 
Day 10 – Banff + Laundry Day

Day 10 – Banff + Laundry Day

by | Jul 28, 2017 | RV-life, Wedding Adventure

Today we’ll be saying goodbye to Canmore and headed through Banff National Park and over to Golden where we’ll be boondocking outside our friend Amy’s brother’s house.
Up until now, I haven’t mentioned a whole lot about the town of Canmore.
Compared to Banff, it’s a less touristy (but still touristy) town. Canmore sits right before Banff National Park and is only about an hour or so out of Calgary. So it’s a doable weekend trip for Calgarians (<—— I may have just made up this word).
Canmore is a really cute little town, expensive, but cute. There’s plenty to do and to see. Just the simple fact that they have a Sotheby’s is telling.
On our way to Golden, we stopped in Banff to do laundry and run some errands… or maybe just to pose with their cool sign…
 
Doing laundry in a busy town might not sound like a great idea and in fact, it wasn’t. But we made it work. We had to park our RV about a 15-minute walk from the downtown and carry roughly 3 loads worth of stinky laundry through Banff’s busy streets while walking Cooper in the heat of the afternoon.
 
The good news is, we managed to finish all 3 loads of laundry, do a quick grocery run, see the town a bit and get back on the road in just a couple of hours. Next stop – GOLDEN!