Page 7. Enter the gravel, grizzly encounters, group rides, bike struggles and border problems.
If you’ve read much on this site you may have noticed I’ve mentioned several times that starting this route from Banff was a big deal for me. Initially inspired in 2016 when reading about the Tour Divide race. I remember looking at the numbers and reading peoples accounts thinking that’s cool as, I love it, but also imagining it’s something I could never do. It’s bloody hardcore.
Of course racing it is a different kettle and as soon as I realised it was just an epic mountain bike ride through The Rockies you could go and do however you like, the seed was planted. I just needed the time to do it. So it’s basically been in my head for several years at this point and being in Banff with my bike and a load of time was a strange surreal feeling. I was buzzing.
I took my time leaving town following the Bow river and from the waterfalls it’s basically straight into the off-road stuff towards Spray Reservoir. I had been a month or so on mostly paved road and I quickly remembered why I love the off road riding. Traffic hadn’t been much of an issue but when there’s none it really is nice. Mega peaceful and scenic riding and I got myself 30km in before cooking up some lunch and coffee by the reservoir.
At this point I caught up with two other riders, Dan and Scott, following the trail south for a week or so then finishing off in Missoula. As we where riding together sharing the buzz and chatting away the weather turned pretty quickly and we were soon riding in a rain storm. The whole road lakeside was also quite rough at the time, washboard surface so the pace was slow but we didn’t mind.
There had been several grizzly bears sighted in this area at the time, warnings were received verbally and through various signs on the trail. Although warned, when we actually came across one it was a wild experience experience. I’d seen lots of bears by this point but this was different. Dan and I shouted various things and it turned and hopped into the trees, a few seconds later it changed it’s mind and came charging out back over towards us. I shit my pants basically and bear spray in hand I was sure it was going to keep running. Thankfully it stopped on the roadside again, eyeing us up. We were shouting all manor of things which seemed to work as it then slowly dropped back onto all fours and grunted off into the woods again. In hindsight I should have just deployed the bear spray without hesitation but I didn’t. We soon shot off and got the next driver passing to cruise alongside us for a few Km’s. Close call.
I’d met a fun gang in Banff the previous day, they were group riding from Calgary, Alberta south for a few months together. I caught up with them unexpectedly later that afternoon and they were standing in the track working out what to do. Grizzlies on the road again and it was mum and cub this time. Risky passing we thought but fortunately a driver came and we cruised by with the car beside us. They totally ignored us anyway and was actually cool to watch baby bear rolling about and playing in the rain while mum was trying to get a move on.
Seeing this gang again was awesome and we were happy to merge since we talked about riding at least some of this route together. Of course meeting in a storm with bears running around us was not how we imagined crossing paths.
The weather soon cleared and we continued riding together for the rest of the day conscious of further bear encounters, thankfully none. The washboard road eventually turned into some nice forestry tracks before we arrived at a campsite called Boulton Creek. I think we all underestimated the ride that day and it was about dark by the time the tents got setup. Tough one.
The next day was following the Elk valley trail to Elkford and although there was plenty of gravel climbing it was mostly down hill. A beauty of a valley to ride on nice fast rolling gravel with fresh water streams everywhere from the surrounding peaks. Dan caught up with us too (we lost Scott somehow but he was OK) so it was a crew of six now, I think we all felt like we could have rode further on from Elkford but after a hungry shop at the supermarket we realised it was a done day and setup in the campsite in town.
Bike Choice…
I knew what I was getting into attempting the Divide Trail but there were countless times I was wishing for a mountain bike. So far there hadn’t been masses of single track riding but the third day was full of it. Miles of beautiful flowing tracks through the forestry but I was struggling to enjoy it on a rigid bike with all the bags bouncing around. Every root, rock, stump and hole became very uncomfortable very quickly. A soft tyre pressure helped massively but with all the awkward weight I was carrying it was exhausting trying to find flow. This was just the beginning too, a lot more rough was to come.
It’s not that I regret my bike choice and arrangement for this route as it was incredibly reliable and, on a whole, super comfortable and practical. It just has to be said that the divide trail is a mountain bike route so in my opinion, for the most part, it would be better enjoyed on one with as little weight as possible.
We carried on The Elk valley trail through to Fernie the next day. More scenic single track riding with stops to pick huckleberries and fresh water swims. Arriving in the evening we found a decent pub for a beer and caught the sun setting over the dreamy mountain back drop in the town. Fernie is mountain bike hot spot, loads of cool bike shops and a huge network of trail riding on the doorstep. Before the trip I imagined I might spend a few days in a place like this to do a bit of trail riding on a rental but when it came to it I wasn’t interested. Riding through these places felt like more than enough, getting there resting and having a chill out with people was a pleasure.
I went spare parts shopping in the well stocked bike shops and discovered the brilliance of Voile straps to sort out my rattling pannier bags. Few town jobs, chilling out and the day soon flys by so we aimed for a short ride. 40km of forest road to a secluded lake I saw on the map off the trail. Made sense too since it would be border day after that and it wasn’t far away. To get up to this lake we had to drag our bikes up a silly steep footpath for nearly an hour but it was worth the battle, prime spot for the night.
Border day wasn’t smooth or very fun unfortunately. My friend had met us all at the lake the previous evening to join camping and ride some of the route with us in the morning. After a missed communication on the ride she left before I had a chance to say goodbye, it didn’t feel right so I rode back to see her off, this was all fine really, I was happy to go back it just cost a few hours of the day. When I eventually made it to the US border near Eureka, Montana a border person ruined my day.
The US Border Problem…
Pre start of trip I didn’t acquire a Visa. Research and asking folks showed me that when crossing from Alaska to Canada as long as I was in Canada for 30+ days before crossing back into the States I would be granted a fresh 90 day tourist Visa Waiver as part of their ESTA program. Person at gates was great and realised my plans to cycle through the country, I was sent through to the office to get stamped up for another 90 days. Then a different person noticed the four weeks of time left on my stamp from arriving in Alaska and refused to grant me any more tourist time in America.
Highly confused with the situation at the time I sort of rolled over and walked away without insisting too much. It didn’t make sense to me then but I thought, you can’t really argue with border people and it’s no problem I’m sure I can sort it out. I couldn’t, the officer was in the right technically, the whole system is very ambiguous and access is entirely down to the person you’re dealing with. I felt like a massive mug for not understanding all this fully. I needed at least two months to get through the US, at the time, four weeks felt like a tragedy.
The next morning I did several hours of phone calls, emails and researching my options, I even cycled the 30km round trip back to the border to try and explain my case better. There was no sympathy for me unfortunately, the decision was already made. I’d been processed and there was no going back on that, worth a shot I thought.
Going back to Canada was an option, just cross back in two to three weeks with a better chance of a newen. Didn’t fancy the risk though and those two plus weeks would put me in a difficult position to ride through Colorado further into the colder weather.
I could have also tried ignoring the problem, just stay in the US pedalling along hoping that no one official would need to look at my passport. When I would eventually cross into Mexico there’s no US departure office anyway. This would have been fine I’m sure of it but it didn’t sit right with me and couldn’t go through with it.
In the end I decided to be a good boy and stick to the laws. 30 days was enough time to enjoy plenty more divide trail then get a flight down to the Mexico border and carry on touring. It would be a real shame to miss out on a load of other US stuff I’d been getting excited about but the new plan was cool and I hit the acceptance phase pretty quickly. Shit happens.
I might have spent a day or so in Eureka otherwise, it seemed to me like a cool sleepy American country town and there was a rodeo show on at the weekend. Time was now a big control again though so I was motivated to crack on with the route and keep moving. That afternoon I went off towards Whitefish the next mountain town and gateway to Glacier National Park.
Such mixed feelings around this time as I was on real high touring on a route that was exceeding expectations. Getting snared in the border crossing confusion took the wind out of my sails for sure but I soon got over it. I’d made it to America and was still moving.
Thanks for reading, a lot happens during touring and it’s hard not to ramble details. I’m enjoying putting words to my photos anyway so it does it for me. A few moments from this section of the route here and some with the gang.
CW
My One Year Bike Tour 