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I was out of Golden by 8:40 and up a big hill right away. At the top I almost rode right by a group of big horn sheep at the side of the road until I noticed a truck parked and taking pictures of them. Five minutes later I saw another group of them including some younger ones.

There was lots of climbing to get up into Yoho National Park which then stayed mostly flat until Field. I had lunch at Hoodoo campground in Yoho, though I would barely call it a campground. It was mostly a field with a bunch of numbered picnic tables to setup tents next to.

In Field I went into the visitors center to buy a BC badge/patch. I’m going to try to find one of these for each province. From Field I had to ride up the “Big Hill” which was once the steepest part of the railway at a grade of 4.5%. The railway now takes a figure-8 route through tunnels in the mountains to climb a lower grade.

At the top was Kicking Horse Pass. I hardly realized I had made it until I saw 3 signs at the side of the road. One for entering BC in the opposite direction, another for entering Banff National Park, and a third for entering Alberta. I’ve completed riding through BC.

In Lake Louise I went into another visitors center to ask about campgrounds and was told I would have to pay the park fee even if I were to stay in the city. So I paid the fee, got groceries for the next few days, and started north up the Icefield Parkway to the Mosquito Creek Campground.

Shortly after proping my bike up against a picnic table at the campground, Lacey (from Oregon), came over from the next site and offered me a beer. While taking the beer, a group of large crows came and stole my cheese bread which I had just bought in Lake Louise and hadn’t had a chance to put away yet. After dinner, Lacey and I sat around the campfire with a group of other people from Alberta, talking until about 1am.

Distance 116.6km
Time 6:24
Max Speed 53km/h
Odometer 981km