I had an excellent view this morning as the rising sun lighted up mountain peaks on all sides. Absolutely spectacular!

I doubled back this morning to have breakfast at the Truffle Pig. I was held up in Field by a really long train. I spotted another mule dear feeding on the shoals of the Kicking Horse River as I left Field.

The road climbed for the last time before the Kicking Horse Pass Summit. I stopped at the lookout for the Spiral Tunnels.

Trains are not good at negotiating steep grades, so two tunnels were blasted in the mountains to reduce the grade. The tunnels accomplish this by looping over themselves. The signs at the lookout state that if you are lucky enough, you might see a long train actually enter one end of the tunnel and cross over top of itself as it emerges from the tunnel's other end.

There was a large Japanese tour at the lookout when I pulled in. They took some pictures, but most seemed disappointed that there was no train present to demonstrate this feat. Just as the tour guide began to herd the crowd onto the bus, a train whistle sounded in the distance. Of course, I had no idea what the tourists were saying, but I could sense their anticipation as a train appeared and entered one end of the tunnel. They waited anxiously for about a minute, and sure enough, it emerged from the other end and passed completely over itself. The Japanese erupted in cheers, applause, and camera flashes. To top it off, the train looped around and passed immediately below us while the last cars were still entering the far end of the tunnel.

I continued up the climb to the pass summit, the continental divide, and the Alberta border. Nothing interesting, but I enjoyed the easy coast downhill and kept my eyes peeled for wildlife, especially bears. The only excitement I had was watching a park ranger SUV approach a car on a restricted access road with a freshly cut tree strapped to its roof. The driver of that vehicle was going to have some explaining to do.

I headed to the campground first to secure a site. The attendants warned me about bears in the campground and instructed me to store anything edible, even toiletries, in the communal lockers. I quickly set up camp, and before I left, I could hear whistles, firecrackers, and fog horn blasts. They had spotted another bear and were trying to scare it off.

My next stop was the mini-mall area for lunch, and then up an incredibly steep hill to Lake Louise. The lake was mostly covered with ice, which obscured its blue-green color. The lake grows more milky green as the summer progresses due to rock flour from melting glaciers. I found out about some hiking trails from the guides at the park info center and chose the trail to Lake Agnes.

I took this trail to the Tea House at 2134 meters. Stopped for a bite to eat and fed the chipmunks. They are little thieves. One of them jumped onto my table and approached me looking for handouts. I broke off a piece of lemon cake and offered it to him. He cautiously inched towards my offering, then in a flash, dashed around my hand and nipped the entire slice from the plate and started making off with it! I grabbed him around the middle as he made his getaway. His little feet were spinning like mad, but he wasn't getting anywhere! I grabbed the lemon cake, or more accurately, what was left of it, and let the little thief go. Clever little beasts.

I then took the Little Beehive Trail to 2210 meters. The view from there was incredible. Absolutely incredible. I could see well down the Bow Valley. The chain of mountains on either side seemed to go on forever. I could see the curvature of the earth from that viewpoint.

There was a lot of snow on the trail. Several times, I sank to my knees or higher in the melting snow. I really should have dressed more warmly and brought some water and food for that trail in case of trouble. Bike shorts and a bike jersey were not nearly enough for the conditions.

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