Pedal the Highwood Pass – Kananaskis Country / by Barbara Baker

 

Every June, before Hwy 40 is open to vehicles for the summer, my husband and I ride the road from the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park to the Highwood Pass (highest paved pass in Canada). David and I take off earlier on our x-country bikes because we haven’t crossed over to road bikes or electric bikes yet like our friends have.

 

Do I love this ride? I’d be a liar if I said yes. But I do love parts of it. Like near the beginning where there is a downhill. The scenery is breathtaking. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I get to the top. And the descent is a thrill. But the grueling uphill makes me want to swear. A lot.

After the initial downhill, I check my odometer. 5.3 km. Only 11.7 km to go. Insert a big sigh.

There’s lots of bear scat on the highway. I scan the blooming dandelion filled ditches for movement. The jagged peaks of the Eastern Slopes make the plate shifting events more visible and there’s little snow on top because it’s been an unseasonably hot spring.

“Drink lots of water,” David reminds me.

I nod and force myself not to look at the odometer until the next corner.

Our friends pedal with us for a few minutes of chatter.

“If it’s cold at the top, don’t wait for us,” I say.  “Just photoshop us into the group picture.”

Off they go. Part of me wishes I hadn’t said no to the e-bike for my 65^th birthday. I was adamant I didn’t want one until I turn 70. I’m not quite so adamant right now.

When I see more bear scat, I run the bear rule scenarios through my head. If it’s a grizzly, don’t look them in the eyes. They feel it’s a challenge. If it’s a black bear, look tall, speak with confidence and make slow movements to retreat. If it’s a momma bear of any type and I’m between her and the cubs, kiss my ass goodbye. The visual of me kissing my ass goodbye makes me chuckle. The bear scenario – not so much.

 

My eyes peek at the odometer. 12.3 km. If I round down to 11, I have further to go but if I round up to 13, who will pedal the extra .7 km? I chastise myself for checking the distance again.

A group of road bikers zip past and say, “Good job.”

I force a smile and glance at David. “Would this really be faster if I was on a road bike?”

“Yup.” 

“But this is the only time I ride on a road.”

“Yup.”

“I need a break.” I quit pedaling and coast to a stop. “My crotch and toes are numb.”

It takes a few seconds to get the prickles out of my foot before I can set the other one on the pavement. We both do our own version of stretches, eat a granola bar and wash it down. Off we go again. Only 3 kilometers left and a short flat stretch ahead. I stand and pedal until the uphill starts.

I start to count the pedal rotations to see how many it takes to make a kilometer. But I get lost around 276. Don’t look at the odometer. Focus on the line in the middle of the road. The hill is endless and after yet another corner, at the top of the hill, I see a sign. I KNOW that sign.

Tiny people wave. Crank. Crank. Do it. Just do it. Don’t stop now.

And there we are, in time for the group photo. 

After a quick sandwich, I put on all my warm layers, get one last picture taken and start the thrill of the downhill.

                                               

                                 2017                                                                    2023

I feather my brakes when I get to 52 km/hour. There’s no time to take in the scenery now as tears run down my cheeks.

You can contact me at: bbaker.write@gmail.com

Summer of Lies: Baker, Barbara:9780228615774: Books - Amazon.ca

What About Me?: Sequel to Summer of Lies : Baker, Barbara: Amazon.ca: Books

HIking Season

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Today - Wednesday - is my hiking day. Ten years ago, after my husband Will retired, we joined a local hiking club. In a recent radio interview, I talked about the enjoyment we both get from heading out each week to the Rocky Mountains, a couple of hours drive from our city of Calgary.

"When I'm there, all my cares vanish," I said. "We carpool, too, and socialize with an interesting group of people."

The broadcaster commented that mystery writers might imagine insidious actions that could happen on a hike. He asked if I'd ever included this in a novel. All I could think of was one scene in my first book. Afterward, I realized that hiking appears in all three of my novels.

Overlooking Arnica Lake, Banff National Park

The scene I recalled at the interview happened in Deadly Fall, book one of my murder mystery series. Insurance adjuster sleuth Paula Savard hikes the Mount Indefatigable Trail in nearby Kananaskis with three suspects in the case she's become involved after the death of her childhood friend. As Paula reaches the trail lookout, she starts to think the two men on the hike are plotting something sinister. During a moment of panic and paranoia, she fears one of them will push her off the cliff. 

Will and I hiked this trail before we joined the club and had bought proper hiking gear. I found it a treacherous climb to an awesome view of the turquoise Kananaskis Lakes. I'd like to try the trail again with good boots and poles, but it has been closed for fourteen years due to grizzly bear activity. 

Mount Indefatigable south peak

Ten Days in Summer, the Paula Savard sequel, doesn't include a hike. But a suspect is an avid hiker and mountain camper. I felt this interest showed seventy-year-old Florence's physical fitness and spunk. Florence is camping in the back country when a fire damages the building she lives in and kills the owner, who occupied the ground floor apartment. When the fire is deemed suspicious, she refuses to provide the name of her hiking companion, even though he could give her an alibi. Florence is, by nature, defensive and doesn't let anyone push her around. She's also more daring than I am, since I'd worry about bears if I tented in a mountain wilderness.  

Not much protection in these little tents

Hiking plays the largest role in my third novel, To Catch a Fox. The book is partly set at a fictional self-help retreat in southern California. While personal growth and empowerment are the New Dawn Retreat's primary goals, the body is also viewed as important. The retreat's co-leader, Sebastiano, leads two hikes a day in the hills that enclose the valley location. Hiking struck me as the ideal physical activity for this spiritual place. Climbing trails is non-competitive, accessible to anyone who's reasonably fit, and requires little equipment.    

Rummel Lake hike, Kananaskis

It makes sense for writers to use interests and hobbies in their stories. Whether it's chess, doll-collecting or hiking, this is the author's passion and a subject he or she knows details about without the need for research. But I also want to create a wide range of characters and there are many Calgarians who give zero thought to hiking. So it might be time for a novel without one single reference to my favoured activity. My next novel in the Paula mystery series will take place in winter, when most Rocky Mountain trails are covered in snow and have avalanche warnings. Hiking will be far from any character's mind. 

Unless someone ventures on a mountain trail and the situation turns treacherous and suspicious.