Mountains and Hats

Pincher Creek is surrounded by windmills tht generate a great deal of electrical power. Apparently this area has the greatest amount of sustained winds of any place in Canada. From the time we approached Pincher Creek until the time we left it those windmills were turning. It is quite a sight to look west and see dozens of these windmills with the background of the Rocky Mountains. 

Windmills near Pincher Creek, AB.

One of the objects of this trip was to see Waterton National Park and perhaps ever ride the 'Going to the Sun Highway'. Unfortunately slightly more than half of the road has been cleared of snow at this time, so that ride was out of the question. Instead, we rode to the park, enjoying the scenery and the ride. On the approach there are several viewpoints but one gives a panoramic view of the mountains that are the front of the park. Even form a distance, these mountains are impressive. The land in front of the foothills of these mountains is privately owned ranchland, but the Weston Foundation has worked with the local ranch owners to preserve the land as prairie in perpetuity to protect if from the development that would otherwise be inevitable as the population of alberta increases and people want their piece of this paradise.

These photos combined give a panoramic view of the entrance to Waterton National Park

As we approached the entrance to the park, the scenery became more impressive. The mountains towered over the rolling hills. It was difficult to keep from staring at the mountains and the foothills. The video below, despite the splattered bug on the camera lens shows, in part what we were seeing on our approach to the park.

Approaching Waterton National Park

We entered the park free of charge using our Canada 150 National Parks pass that have been given out to any Canadian who wants one. At the visitor centre we were quite close to the mountains and at that range they were overpowering. The rock strata is clear evidence that these mountains were once the bottom of a sea tens of millions ago. At the centre we were treated to the sight of a mountain sheep walking down the road. It was an unexpected bonus.

Bighorn sheep near the Waterton Visitor Centre

Cyclists in Waterton Park

Views from the Visitor Centre

Two views from Waterton Village

Outside the park there are several lakes along the highway, one of which has on its shore the graves of a famous local resident of the area in the late 1800s and early 1900s - Kootenai Brown.

Kootenai Brown's & his wives' graves are on the shore of this lake.

We returned to Pincher Creek, and headed north toward Longview, AB, because we wanted to ride the Kananaskis Trail which is supposed to be one of the best motorcycle roads in Canada and North America.The ride was uneventful except for a section just south of Longview. For three or four kilometres every fence post, each about three metres apart, was literally capped with a baseball cap. 

Fence posts with baseball caps. The fence goes on for at least three or four kilometres.

When we arrived at Longview, we found that the Kananaskis Trail was closed until June 15th. The young lady at the visitor centre explained that animals are migrating to higher ground and the risk of animal-vehicle collisions is too great at this time. I also asked about the hats on the fence posts. Apparently a local farmer collected hats and began to nail them to the tops of the posts. People driving by noticed this and began to donate hats for the posts. I was surprised to hear that this is in the Guinness Book of World Records. As you can see in the photo above, there are still more hats waiting to crown more fence posts.

I've put a lot of kilometres on my Harley-Davidson Ultra Glide Cassic over the past seven plus years. Today Big Red reached a milestone which I was able to capture before it rolled over. Unfortunately, as curious as this is I was unable to wait for one more kilometre. Still, it is quite a unique number.

100 base 10 in binary numbers

Wishing to avoid Calgary, we rode to Cochrane, AB, to spend the night. We were able to get rooms then walked over to a local Ukrainian restaurant. While we were there, a thunderstorm with very heavy rain began and we were forced to make it back to our hotel on foot. Even in early June the rain was cold. As I write this the storm and rain has passed and we are hoping for better weather tomorrow.

As an aside, today we have seen Kerr Road, Griffin Road, and a sign with Knight on it. Poor Tom is feeling left out because his is the only name we haven't seen on a place sign today

So far, this trip has been not about putting on long distances, but enjoying the ride and the country we are passing through. At this point our ride is turning out to be a real success. We hope that it continues this way.