I described the ‘outward bound’ part of this year’s road trip in an earlier post. After spending four great days visiting family and friends in the Edmonton area I began my return journey. My route used highways I haven’t followed before that took me through Rocky Mountain House, Nordegg, and Radium Hot Springs.

Along the way I encountered Big Horn Sheep, beautiful mountain vistas, and a secret fairy forest… kind of. Definitely a lovely journey on two wheels or otherwise!

Edmonton to Radium Hot Springs

The first day of riding was following a route I don’t believe I’ve gone on before, at least not on my motorcycle. This was not planned for efficiency at all: as is often the case on the motorbike, avoiding major highways was an important factor in my thinking. Day 1 of the trip would cover about 600 km and around eight hours of riding.

I started out by travelling south along Highway 2 after getting out of Edmonton. Exiting the city was probably the only ‘challenging’ part due to construction on the Ellerslie intersection my GPS routed me through, but once past that it was mostly smooth sailing.

I turned West at Lacombe onto Highway 12. This carried me past places like Gull Lake that I had gone for family camping weekends as a child up to Highway 22 which connects to Highway 11 just north of Rocky Mountain House. Highway 11, also known as the David Thompson Highway, was definitely ‘new’ to me, at least as an adult. I don’t recall using this highway before, but it makes a great alternative to the major highways for getting to the Rockies if time is not critical.

I encountered my first real ‘wildlife’ just past Nordegg when I met a herd of Big Horn sheep crossing the highway. This gave me the opportunity to pull over for a bit and admire the beasts before continuing on.

I connected up with Highway 93 aka the Icefields Parkway at the area known as the Saskatchewan River Crossing. Here I turned south on my inefficient but enjoyable path towards Radium Hot Springs. The Icefields Parkway has some really beautiful views in this vicinity of rugged mountains snuggled up to blue-green glacial lakes. I paused again amongst a crowd of sightseers to take a few photos before continuing on to finish my day at Radium.

The Prestige Radium Hot Springs Resort gave me a comfortable spot to rest my head for the night. Directly attached to the hotel is Conrad Kain’s Kitchen and Grill which had many options to refill my stomach after a day of riding. I also took an order of nachos back to my room as a nighttime snack- this choice meant I didn’t go out for a walk around the adjacent Rotary park. Sometimes relaxing in a hotel room with a plate of nachos is just qualitatively better than going for a walk.

Radium Hot Springs to Castlegar (Home)

The second day of riding on Thursday, September 19, followed a path I’ve travelled before from Radium Hot Springs back to my home in Castlegar. I had intentionally planned this to be an ‘easy’ ride: under four hundred kilometres and five or six hours of travel time. This allowed me to set out a bit later at around 10:15 AM: getting a couple of extra hours of sleep was a nice treat.

I always enjoy riding the Crowsnest highway (Highway 3) and this day was no exception. The scenery is lovely and the road is well-kept for the most part. I travelled through Fairmont Hot Springs, Cranbrook, Yahk, and other small towns before arriving at home by around 3:00 PM.

Along the way I briefly stopped at a rest area near Creston that I later found out is a bit of a tourist attraction. Apparently the Blazed Creek Rest Area is also known as “Kootenay’s Hidden Fairy Forest”, I guess because some folks set up little dioramas with gnomes and the like.

I didn’t see any of that- as far as I know this is all completely unofficial and prone to removal by the official site caretakers. All I saw was the tree with all the pins stuck to it, which seemed a bit odd and possibly somewhat hard on the tree. I stretched my legs and got back on my bike, unaware of my brush with an ‘internationally famous’ tourist spot.

Conclusion

My ride to Edmonton and back home was very enjoyable. I’m definitely feeling more pain now after turning 60 when I ride a moderately long day than I did a decade ago, but as long as I keep my days under ten hours or so I still love it. I had really good visits with friends and family around Edmonton as well.

I enjoyed the route home through Radium Hot Springs, probably in large part due to the novelty of the route. I’ve travelled the major routes through the mountains many times, and finding a different path that avoids the primary highways was a pleasant surprise.