Day 4, 5, and 6 Banff to Sparwood, Bc

Day 4. Today we rode 28 miles and had 2300 ft of elevation gain. We had planned to do the Canmore cut off but it was closed do to a rock slide. We drove to Banff and continued our adventure  there. We got a late start, 10:40, but our hopes were high to get in some miles. The trail started out as a nice double track but soon turned  into a tuff single  track. We made it back to gravel and made it to Buller campground. We were warned there were Grizzly bear in the area but we did not see any.

Day 5. We rode 43 miles and had 2400 ft of elevation gain. We woke up to frost on the table, but the sun soon warmed  us up. We started out on a gravel  road that turned into pavement, then into a paved bike path. There was bear scat everywhere  on the trail. No bears in site. We got to the end of the trail and started the climb to Elk Pass. We had three 25% climbs to get over the pass. We were able to finish  the day on a gravel  road to Weary creek campground. There was a heard of mules that wondered  by our campground. 

Day 6 We rode 57 miles and had 2900 ft of elevation  gain. We started  on some rough gravel  roads then hit some pavement. We saw our first bear on the trail today. A big black bear came up othe trail, saw us, and was gone.On the pavement we had a monster  hill, 3 miles and 8%. We got on trails at the top of the hill that led to single track  with steep climbs, rocks, and roots. I had to walk a good portion  of it. It eventually took us back to a gravel  road with lots of long  descents. We hit pavement into Sparwood, Bc. We got a campsite  with showers and WiFi. Are we having fun yet.