I got going this morning slightly earlier than yesterday, and decided to follow the signs in town to the source of the Columbia trail and see what's up. I sure am glad I did because it was a major highlight for me. I followed a deserted gravel path through wetlands to a collection of small ponds a humble beginning, the source of the biggest river that drains into the Pacific ocean. Without meaning to I rode from mouth to source! Completely unplanned. Stumbled on it like a blind squirrel upon a nut. I really felt a great sense of accomplishment on realization of the journey. I really have come a long way. I rolled on down the highway a bit and took a little parallel road which was so much nicer as it was entirely traffic free. I then had to be on the highway a few miles but the scenery was incredible. A massive cliff rose from beside the highway at Dutch creek , sheer cliffs that looked like they could cave in at any minute. It didn't even look like rock, it looked like sandstone, very odd and out of place. I stopped at a little gas station there and got a snack. Then turned onto West side road, and the Westside Legacy trail, a completely car free path that wound its way through the country. As I approached Invermere it got significantly hillier and very curvy. Quite fun. According to a local I talked to it had just recently been paved. There were tons of cyclists out enjoying the lovely weather. Not a cloud in the sky and light wind. I bought some food at a couple places in town and neither had passable wifi. Found the Library and used the Wifi there to talk to family. I pushed on and began a steep climb out of town. I started on the highway but soon jumped over to the little parallel cycleway I didn't notice at first. A bit more highway riding and I took a gravel path that wound along another old rail corridor beside the Columbia. I descended gradually and I took a few pictures and said goodbye to my companion for this first half of riding back home. I climbed up out of the river valley into the town of Radium Hot Springs. I found some excellent wifi at their visitor center, from the sidewalk. Talked to Jen for awhile because I was heading up and away from civilization for awhile. There were signs on the highway that warned of a closure of Hwy 1, and to detour to Banff through hwy 93, the way I was going. So I got really worried about interstate level traffic. The climb was very steep in the beginning and all the traffic seemed to be going down, and it was a lot. Hardly anyone going my way. The road climbed through a tight canyon with a rushing creek and very steep rock walls right beside the road. This lasted to the hot springs, which I had no desire to visit even if it wasn't busy. But the traffic going down just kept on, a constant stream of cars, trucks, RVs, and motorcycles. I thanked my lucky stars that somehow the traffic was still good on my side. I had maybe 1/50th of the traffic. The grade of the road eased a bit but the surface became worse. No lines at all and loose pea gravel everywhere, much looser the closer to the edge I got. But there was just enough shoulder and traffic was light enough on my side that I had almost enjoyable trip up the climb. The sun was still beating down and it was in the mid seventies so I was a sweaty mess. But the climb went by really quickly, and I put on my sunsleeves and zipped up in preparation to be cold on the little descent. I dried out quick and I wasn't cold at all. I only descended a thousand feet, yet again in the valley of the Kootenay again. The views of both surrounding mountain ranges were awe inspiring. Super sharp, impossible looking cliffs topped the peaks all along the range. A sea of green conifers carpeted the valley below. It was amazing. The highway traffic on the other side seemed to get even worse in the flatlands of the valley. But at least the road had lines and I had proper pavement and a huge shoulder. But I had to get used to cars constantly doing overtaking moves right in front of me, flying by at 70-80 mph. Speed limit was like 80km but it's just a suggestion like in the US. The constant traffic acted like a fairly strong headwind, and I was also gradually climbing. I started looking for a place to pull off and camp. I waited too long, as suddenly a tall wildlife fence appeared out of the blue and just went on, unbroken forever perhaps. There were gates and it looked like you could go through because they all just said 'please close the gate'. But it was gonna be hard to find a gap in traffic big enough to avoid being seen opening and closing a gate plus ducking in the woods. So I pressed on and tried to reassure myself that something would come up. It always does. Sure enough I turned into an open driveway for a sort of maintenance area, caretaker's house, plus a connection to a long trail that allowed cycling. Perfect. I went around the gate and away from the highway enough and wandered into the woods. In a dried out bog in the river bottomlands it turned out. No problem, but the mosquitoes are some of the worst I've ever experienced. Reminds me of Lake Warren State park in the South Carolina low country. I hastily threw up my tent and jumped inside. It wasn't too bad with my rain jacket on as protection but I am glad for the safety of the tent.