Grand Cache - mountains all around
Casio QV30 photos
I fiddled with e-mail and didn't actually leave Grande Cache
until after noon. If any day could be the polar opposite of the previous,
it was this day. Instead of headwinds, I had TAILWINDS. It was still gray
and cool, but the wind was with me and it was relatively downhill to Hinton,
my next destination.
Before leaving Grande Cache, I bought some groceries and took some photos.
It is a spectacular place, absolutely surrounded by the Rockies.
On my way out from Grande Cache, I stopped at the tourist information
center--a nice new visitor center/museum.
On display, they had an unusual prehistoric Indian hunting tool called a "dactyl."
Heading downhill from Grande Cache, I followed 3 middle-school
age kids with backpacks zooming (I got to 41 mph) down the mountain just
south on their mountain bikes to Canada Day festivities at the beach at
Grande Cache Lake (about 1 mile south of Grande Cache). One of them was
zooming so hard that he rode off into the weeds and crashed. I stopped to
offer my assistance if any was needed, but the kid was fully recovered and
his bike was back in operation.
The bad news of the day is that unlike the new part of the Big
Horn Highway between Grande Prairie and Grande Cache, the older Big Horn
Highway between Grande Cache and Hinton has NO shoulders.
About 10 miles out of town, I kept feeling that my air pressure was low,
so I stopped and checked--70 lbs--just what it was supposed to be; but the
left rear brake was binding. It had gotten pushed against the wheel and
was slowing me down. After muttering a few invectives, I loosened the brake
and started flying with the wind. I came around a bend real fast to realize
I was staring at a deer that was just as startled as I; we both stopped
and stared at one-another. I got a picture. It went back to eating.
And, the clouds opened up to sunshine. I stripped off my leg
warmers and jacket, dabbed on some SPF 50 sunscreen and took off. I felt
great.
I came upon a sign indicating that I was entering woodland caribou winter
range; that 100-150 caribou reside there during the winter (November-May)
and that the herd had declined by 70% since the 1960's. There was a teepee
there, but there was no explanation as to who it belonged to or why it was
there.
My overnight options were severely limited. It is 147 km from
Grande Cache to Hinton. That was too far in my opinion for me to ride in
one day fully-loaded. Big Berland Campsite (20 campsites and 10 day-use
sites) is located 60 km south of Grande Cache. The next campground isn't
until William A. Switzer Provincial Park about 18 miles from Hinton. I stopped
at Big Berland, thinking I might just eat something and then go all the
way to Switzer, but by the time I got my food and cooking gear ready, it
was about 5:30 PM and it was raining by then.
The Big Berland is a fast flowing clear water river.
I was the only person at Big Berland. Here it was, the day before
Canada Day (Canada's equivalent to the 4th of July) and I was the ONLY person
in a large campground (40-50 campsites). I kept expecting other people to
show up, but only Jean Bourdua, the manager of the Grande Cache Hotel (where
I ate breakfast) stopped by to use the outhouse on his way back from whitewater
kayaking in Jasper. I asked him why I was alone, to which he replied that
it was probably due to the bears; that there were quite a few grizzly bears
in the area. When he left, I remained alone all night. Registration =$9.00
CDN.
Out of concern about the bears, cold temperatures and the threat of rain,
I lit the wood stove in the shelter structure and set up my tent in there.
I hung my food from the rafters over the wood stove. Any animal trying to
get at my food would get a hot foot. It got down to the 40's that night,
but the fire kept wafting warm air in my direction in the open building,
so I had a pretty comfortable night.
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Food was my weakest link. I didn't have a clue what to eat on
a bicycle tour. I prefer Tom's cooking or restaurants. I couldn't seem to
come up with simple meals that were weightless. On canoe trips, weight never
meant much. Backpacking, I used freeze dried food for short trips, but you
bought that stuff from outfitters. I couldn't find freeze-dried food in
the food stores I was able to shop at on this trip.
For dinner I bought a package of macaroni and cheese and a can of tuna to
add to it. Because I need reading glasses and left them in my handlebar
bag, I didn't bother to read the directions, or I would have realized that
they called for butter and milk--which I didn't have. I ate it anyway, but
it wasn't very good. Without carrying cans or having refrigeration, its
real tough to build a meal. Several folks have suggested "meals in
a bag." I've looked at IGA and Safeway here in Alberta and don't find
any such item. I looked into powdered milk, but the smallest package at
Safeway weighed several pounds--so I'd have to throw most away.
I asked people through the website to e-mail their suggestions. Those excellent
suggestions are set forth on the Meal
Page.
I went to bed around 8:30, but awakened at around 10:30 to see a gorgeous
sunset.
41 Miles.
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© Ed Noonan 1996, 1997