Perhaps you will sense a different feeling to this post when compared to the earlier ones from the ride. Of course, one of the reasons this post is different is because of what I did to myself at the end of the day. The other reason is more sentimental. I want to acknowledge my travel companions. The focus is not just on the scenery but on the people who accompanied me. I am going to break my own unspoken rule and specifically mention names. I am hoping that nobody minds. We start in the morning as we get ready to depart Lake Louise.
Being his usual helpful self, Rick had packed our luggage into the back of Ben’s van for the last day’s ride. He was quite proud of his effort. Rick also did his bit to keep us entertained as we rode every day.
Here is Ben giving us instructions for the last day. Ben was very thorough in his support. Go ahead and take a tour with him at Mountain Madness Tours. You will not be disappointed!
We had been riding thus far on the Icefields Parkway. From now on we are on the Bow Valley Parkway. The funny thing is that my bear sighting was pretty soon after we saw this sign. 
The road ran beside the Bow River.
Here is a picture of the riders on the move. You may notice that the road markings here are very different from those encountered on the Icefields Parkway.
A freight train awaits beside the road.
Koushik, the heart and soul of our riding team.
One way to smell the flowers, perhaps on another planet (get it!?).
Nancy and Stacy, old college mates.
Ben in his vehicle, after overtaking one of the riders.
I stopped with KP at a memorial point for the Castle Camp internment camp. Even though this episode happened during WW1, it is not difficult to imagine something like this happening even in our modern times.
The last paragraph in the wayside marker for the internment camp below reads “In total, eight thousand five hundred and seventy-nine men became prisoners of war in twenty-four camps located across Canada during the internment operations of 1914-1920. Most were foreign nationals, a few were British subjects or Canadian citizens. The majority were non-combatant, unemployed civilians – victims of the 1913 depression, racial prejudice and wartime hysteria. Many of the internees came from western regions of Ukraine, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.”
Stacy, Nancy and Sally.
The Bow river.
Ben’s van and trailer at the last stopping point.
Resting before the last push.
Sally and Bob, our riding leaders. They were the youngest and the oldest in the group. Bob, a former triathlete, took on the hills we encountered as if he was on a mission. Sally was not too far behind.
A squirrel observing the goings-on at this last stop.
This was the last picture I found on the camera after the trip. I did not take this picture. The time stamp on the picture leads me to believe that it was taken after I fell off the bike. I suspect that Bob, who had retrieved the camera and eventually delivered it to my home, took a picture to see if the camera was working. A great picture from that perspective. The camera ended up in better shape than I did!
That was the end of the ride, but not the end of my adventures.
If you want to continue to read about how I got home from Canada, start with this posting.
Plans for today are a little different than usual. Since the ride is going to be shorter and mainly downhill, we are going to do a three hour hike to the Bow Glacier Falls at the far end of the lake before we start riding. The falls are probably visible in the first picture above if you look at the full resolution version of the picture. The picture below was taken with a zoom lens as we start our hike.
These are pictures from the hike. Note how the color of the water is already beginning to change.
There was time to slow down and take pictures of the flowers that lined the trail. Here is one sample.
The other side of the lake is pictured in the morning light below. The sun has yet to make its way completely over the mountains in the east.
The early sections of the trail ran along the lake shore.
Wild flowers grow among the rocks.
Here is where the trail left the lake shore.
Then it was time to begin the trek back. We had to make it back in time to the lodge to check out by noon.
We noticed that the color of the waters of the lake had changed in the meantime.
And then it was time to get on our bikes once again and ride!
Some of us stopped at a location on the Icefield Parkway to take parting pictures of Bow Lake.
Here is a picture of the Crowfoot glacier from the road. The picture did not turn out as well as I hope for.
The bike ride to Lake Louise today runs along the Bow river. Bow river is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan river.
This is a picture of Hector Lake from our lunch stop. The Bow river flows in and out of the lake.
And then it was time to speed down the hill into Lake Louise. Folks had told me that it is possible to ride much faster on a road than on a trail. I could not believe how fast one can ride consistently at under the conditions. We arrived at Lake Louise in no time. All in all, this was a short riding day.
After resting for some time, we went to the Lake Louise Station restaurant for an early dinner. The trains pass right by the station. It was delightful dinner in a delightful setting with delightful friends. We even had a squirrel wander into the restaurant looking for scraps. (It was chased away by a waitress who did not seem the least bit annoyed by the squirrel’s antics.)
The Rocky Mountaineer also stopped beside the restaurant as we were leaving.
After dinner Ben then took us on a ride to Lake Moraine in the mountains. 
We passed by Temple Mountain on the way.
Here are some pictures from the lake.
My camera battery ran out at this point, and I could not take pictures at our next stop, Lake Louise.
Crossing the North Saskatchewan river early in the ride.
I actually saw a black bear today! I was at the back of the group and managed to get only one picture!
Mt. Chephren.
We had a long picnic stop at a spot along the Waterfowl Lakes.
Then it was time to brave the cold, glacier fed, waters of the Lake.
He was the first to actually be brave enough to go all the way in for a swim.
Others followed.
I did step into the water myself, up to my knees. It was freezing. There was a discussion among the folks experienced in swimming in cold waters and those who were scientifically inclined about what the actual temperature of the water might be, since it was flowing down from a glacier, and since it also felt pretty darned cold! My somewhat unscientific guess was that it was in the 40s – degrees Fahrenheit that is.
The downhill slope below is actually just before the start of a brutal climb, this time to the highest point that we are to encounter during during this ride. 
Bow Pass, the point that we were just about to ride though, is at about 2069 meters. I was on the lowest gear going up for most of this long and challenging climb. My thigh muscles were screaming, and I was simply hoping that I would not cramp up and have to stop, because starting up once again on the 4-6% slope in the condition that I was in would have presented an additional challenge. Obviously, I did not stop for pictures. The ride seemed never ending, and every time I came around a hill or over a hump, with the hope of the end of the climb just beyond, there was yet another challenge to overcome. In the end we all made it to the top in grand manner!
At this point, we got off the main road and rode to an even higher elevation on Bow Summit. From the parking lot for the buses, Ben took us on a hike to an even higher elevation, to a somewhat isolated spot where we could have our lunch.
Peyto Lake below us. Off in the distance you can see the direction from which we rode this morning.
This little guy popped his head out from among the rocks, looking for some scraps, or perhaps the leftover muffin grabbed from the breakfast table that was in a backpack.
I was hoping to make out the road that we rode on this morning, and perhaps even Waterfowl Lake where we stopped by for snacks and swimming, in the picture below.
Then were heading downhill to our place for the evening. 
This is our place for the evening, the Num-Ti-Jah Lodge.
This is a picture of Bow Lake from a window of the lodge.
I was sitting outside the lodge with some of the others waiting for dinnertime when I took this picture.
Slept well last night after a scrumptious dinner and the company of the wonderful friends, both old and new, who accompany me during the ride.
The following pictures are from the Forefield trail.
I joined the others for breakfast after the walk. Then it was time to get ready to depart. I saw Ben outside our hotel window getting the bikes ready for the day’s ride.
Today we crossed over from Jasper National Park to Banff National Park as we went over the Sunwapta pass. This is the second highest pass that we will cross during the ride, and it is at about 2035 feet.
We stopped for hike at Parker Ridge. We crossed over the mountain ridge to the other side to see the Saskatchewan Glacier. It was a pretty steep climb.
We found this chap beside the trail, taking in all the tourist traffic going by.
You could see the support vehicle at the bottom of the mountain as we returned from the hike.
Then came another challenging section of the ride. This one was a little scary, but we all came through in good shape. We were essentially speeding down a mountainside on a road that was not in the best of shape, a road that was also lacking a good shoulder, or even a shoulder in some parts. We were riding besides other motor vehicles on the road. It was bone rattling ride at high speeds. Ben had a stop for us at the halfway point, where he instructed me on how better to hold on to the bicycle handle so that I could take the rough road without wobbling too much. One of our riders hit a speed of 70 kmph coming down, a personal best for her. I was just a little slower. 🙂 The picture below shows a very short section of that descent.
And then we were riding the rest of way to our destination for the evening on the flats beside the North Saskatchewan River. This river flows into the Hudson Bay. The Columbia Icefield is a source for rivers that flow into the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans.
We were riding beside a wall of rock for a certain distance.
After a certain while, the river disappeared behind some trees and woods. There was less things to stop for, and the rest of the ride became more about the sheer enjoyment of the experience of riding. Folks were speeding along all the way to our destination, which was a place called The Crossing Resort. It was located at a spot just before our road, the Icefield Parkway, crosses the North Saskatchewan river. Here is a picture of our digs for the night.
These are some views from the resort.
After dinner we drove to the Mistaya Canyon where we could take a hike to a spot where the Mistaya river goes over a waterfall. The Mistaya river feeds the North Saskatchewan river.
That evening a few of us stood outside our rooms hoping to see some colors in the sky at sunset. The show was a little disappointing.
We are halfway through the ride at this point!
Splattered Brains 