A Teacher trying to Divide

Monday July 8th

I woke up at 6:30am, put on my riding clothes, packed everything else in my Wildcat Lioness handlebar bag then headed downstairs for another mega-breakfast at Samesun hostel. My planned route for the day had been prepared months, perhaps even close to two years ago which meant I could almost recite from memory the key points on the way; Spray River Trail, Goat Creek Trail, Goat Pond, Smith-Dorian, Spray River Road, Boulton Creek Stores, Elk Pass and the Tobermory Cabin. At last it was happening, before leaving the hostel one of the lovely staff kindly offered to take my photo and I was not refusing - I’m about to ride The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route! There was also no way I was getting lost on day one so I had already recced the first few miles the day before, just to get tuned into the trail and how accurate the cues were on the map and my own notes. On the Goat Creek Trail I caught up with four riders who were also heading south. We shared our excitement about riding this famous trail as well as our nerves about bears. On the first wee hill their big bags seemed to get the better of them and I slowly started to pull away towards the Goat Creek Trail.

At 11.5 miles there was a kiosk (Canadian for noticeboard with maps) which showed the ‘normal route’ to Goat Pond and what appeared to be a singletrack alternate which looped around to the same point. I could see the singletrack, it looked very inviting so I took it. Within a few hundred yards of descent on a lovely swoopy trail I encountered piles of very fresh bear scat and an overpowering smell that I had never experienced before. I hope I don’t experience it again. Inexperience and fear made me keep on the descent which cleared the trees and the scat to emerge near a water intake building, a bridge and a continuation of this trail up and across the hill side. As I climbed up on this more closed in trail I started to make more and more of my ‘bear calls’. Despite being very alone I was still self-conscious about calling ‘Hey Bear’, instead I made a sort of throaty noise that probably wouldn’t have moved on a squirrel, let alone a Grizzly.

I had just crested a high point on this trail and it looked like it was going to start making the descent to join up with the main trail again. Then it happened. Less than two hundred yards or so right on the trail was a Grizzly cub. I knew it was a Grizzly because of its ear shape, As part of my preparation for the ride I had read and re-read Stephen Herrero’s book, Bear Attacks, their causes and avoidance. Time slowed right down for me. Where was its’ mother? What should I do? Get the safety off your bear spray. The cub and I locked eyes. The cub’s ears started to twitch. Was he starting to get stressed by me? At any point I expected the mother to quite rightly come smashing out of the bush to take me out with one ferocious swipe of her claws, then crush my neck with her powerful jaws. I decided not to make any noise. I chose to move backwards with my bike on the trail whilst constantly scanning the bush for the cub’s mother. Once the cub was out of sight I did not feel any better. I kept retreating as quietly as I possibly could. After a quarter mile or so I decided to get on the bike and head back to the junction at the kiosk. Of course this meant going back through the overgrown section of trail with the bear scat. I got there quickly and then jumped off my bike and pretty much ran up the hill pushing it as I thought this was faster than winching back up the steep singletrack. When I arrived back at the kiosk the riders I had passed earlier were just arriving. I explained to them what had just happened and funnily enough they chose to take the direct route to Smith-Dorian.

Even writing this three months later it still freaks me out about what might have happened if I had not seen the cub and ridden downhill right towards it. I felt stupid. I had got into a bad situation through inexperience. What worried me more was that I did not have the skills to determine how to avoid repeating this further down the trail. To be completely honest I might have even considered turning back for a few seconds. Fortunately, I started to take a more rational approach to it all and swore not to take any more ‘interesting alternates’.

Thankfully the ride from the Smith-Dorian/Spray Lakes Road junction to Boulton Creek stores was open and on gravel. I was able to forget about the encounter, get the pedals turning and cover the miles all whilst looking at the most spectacular scenery all around me- except for one really funny experience. The gravel road went on for miles and miles, I was really enjoying the fitness that I had built up for this trip and the headspace that I had for the scenery, especially some of the long straights. Whilst grinding it out on one of the straights I saw something dark in the middle of the road. The closer I got to it, the more I started to think that it was a bear! I stopped, took out Al’s camera and tried to zoom in to see if it was really a bear or not. That didn’t work so I decided to stay put until it moved on. It didn’t move. It didn’t move when a car went past. That’s because it was a fallen over traffic cone as I found out when I finally rode up to it!

I stopped at Sawmill Picnic area to prepare some noodles, a granola bar and some coffee from my GSI Outdoors java drip to finish off. When I got to Boulton Creek I prowled around the store to get some bars, some instant Idahoan Potato mash and a ‘pen’ for the mosquito bites which everyone seems to keep quiet about when they talk about the Great Divide.

It was only ten miles over Elk Pass, the only crossing of the Continental Divide in Canada, to the Tobermory Cabin so I didn’t hang about at Boulton Creek too long. The plan was to stay in the cabin if there was space, otherwise camp at Riverside BC Forest Service Recreation Site. When I arrived at the cabin there was a pickup there and two hunters having a beer whilst they messed about with some fishing gear in the back of the truck. Apart from the kiosk at Goat Creek Trail and Boulton Creek I hadn’t spoken to anyone all day so it was nice to find out how someone else’s day had been. Ryan and Ramsay were two local guys who had planned to be up at the Tobermory Cabin to fish, drink, catch up and drink for a few days. One of their fishing reels was broken so they were unsure of whether to head into town to get it fixed or to stay and presumably finish the bottle of Crown Royal that was being waved in my direction. I thanked them very much but explained that this might not be a good plan if I was going to make it further down the trail. When the guys realised that I had only left Banff in the morning they appeared surprised as most folks take a couple of days. They felt that if I had made that effort I deserved to have the cabin to myself and they would head into town to get a new fishing reel, find a motel and drink some more. I thought that this was a pretty cool thing for them to do. Ryan and Ramsay prepared a quick early dinner on the fire pit, threw some essentials into the back of the truck and left me to it. I thanked them again and waved goodbye. They had assured me that I wouldn’t be visited by any bears but that did not stop me from doing everything I could to lock the door from the inside. The guys told me they would be back in the morning so they left most of their gear in the cabin for me to keep an eye on. The interior of the cabin was pretty dirty but at least I wasn’t outside in a tent waiting for the Grizzly mother and her cub to come and say hello again.

My plan for tomorrow was to ride into Elkford for a second breakfast before pushing onto Sparwood where the decision to head into the Flathead Valley and ‘the bear zoo’ had to be made. I was in bed before dark and absolutely buzzing to have got day 1 under my belt and finally be riding the Divide.

Banff to Tobermory Cabin, 70 miles, 5448 feet of ascent, 11 hours (8hrs1/4 riding + 2hrs3/4 stopped)

A Teacher trying to Divide - day 1

A Teacher trying to Divide - day 2

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