At the start of the Terminator Ridge Hiking Trail on our 1st afternoon in Kicking Horse. This hike was recommended by our friend Katherine. It is at the top of the Golden Eagle Express Gondola, the start of which was situated literally just a few metres away from the Glacier Hotel where we were staying.
This hike was going to prove challenging though..
and I would need to check for gaps in the clouds..
At the "Superbowl" ridge part way through the hike.
Although we got caught in a shower on the way back it was still a great way to start our visit!
Day 2 in KH saw us "attempt" to go mountain biking. The 1st challenge was actually finding somewhere near the trails that rented bikes. After talking to the Visitor Centre they recommended we try out "The Eco-Adventure Ranch", from where we should be able to gain easy access to the "Moonraker" trails. On arrival it turned out they only had 4 bikes and none of them had been particularly well serviced. Just after we had picked up the bikes it started to rain, but we guessed it would just be a passing shower, so we waited and it cleared. We were advised in the shop that the best trail to go to involved a steep climb at the beginning where we would have to push the bikes up hill for around 15-20 minutes, but after that we would gain access to some great terrain! This steep uphill climb turned out to be our first mistake. The rain meant that the path up had become very slippery and almost impassable for hikers let alone pushing a bike! If this wasn't difficult enough, the hill was next to a river and this combined with the rain seemed to turn the local mosquitoes into blood thirsty vampires! Unfortunately, as we got stuck on the hill we were sitting targets, and our mosquito repellant seemed to count for nothing! 30 minutes later and covered in bites we reached the top (and that was only after Svan had to help me!) This was then followed by us getting lost and going through an abandoned trail where Svan went over the handle bars of her bike twice before we then had to cycle solidly uphill for a further 20 minutes. At the top, where the photo above is taken (at Sander Lake - bites don't show at a distance) we decided we had had enough and called it a day and cycled back to the rental shop, before driving home to shower and apply plenty of anti-itch cream. It turned out that between us we had nearly 100 bites, Svan had been bitten through her clothing and on her face, and I had been bitten on my head. Suffice to say we did not make a pretty sight!
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After our "bad mosquito" experience the day before we took it easy on our final day in Kicking Horse and visited a couple of places recommended by the Visitor Centre that were based on the way out of town towards Revelstoke. The first of these was the "Wolf Centre", where we saw real life wolves up close! While we didn't dance with them Kevin Costner style we did howl with them! Check out www.northernlightswildlife.com
On leaving the wolf centre, we had the option to go for some Canadian fast food..
...funnily enough we declined...
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Then just down the road we were lucky enough to turn up at the Buffalo Ranch at a time when we were the only visitors there and to have the undivided attention of the owner Leo Downey (shown above). He moved up from California in 1998 to set up the ranch from scratch. He is clearly a man of many talents! By trade he is actually a musician, but after working with animals in California and then talking to some old guys who had reared Bison for many years he decided to set up his own ranch in Canada after falling in love with the place on his honeymoon! Leo was full of interesting stories. One of these was that (both female and male) bison are very aggressive and will charge you if you enter their pasture. This in itself is perhaps not that unexpected I grant you! However, with the females they will apparently charge you (running at the speed of a horse) and if you stand your ground, they will, he assures me, stop within a few feet of you! This he puts down to their intense dislike of being touched. Well, at least they stop 99 times out of a 100.....it takes a brave man to take those odds with an animal weighing in at around 1500 lbs charging at you! Then of course you wouldn't want to get the sex wrong either as the males don't stop....ever! I think I will give this a miss, there are plenty of other "extreme" things to do...
Above is a picture of "Chester" the 2,200lb bull sire of the hurd.
If you are ever in the Kicking Horse area check out: www.rockymountainbuffaloranch.com it is a great way to spend some time if you have a spare afternoon!
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We finished our trip to KH with a great meal at the Kicking Horse Grill with Lisa and Dan, who have a weekend place in town. We first met Lisa snowboarding back in Val Thorens in 2007/08 and have stayed in touch ever since. It was great to catch up again and to meet her fiance Dan for the first time!
Strangely enough the Kicking Horse Grill did serve bison ribs!
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