To Golden BC & Back Part Two

After leaving Lake Louise, the road splits so you can head north to the Ice Fields or towards BC. I took the BC route this time around, and it was a good choice. In Lake Louise, you think the mountains are majestic, then you hit BC, and there is no comparison. As you head into Kicking Horse Pass the scenery is amazing. This is one rugged area of Canada & when you hear about the "True North Strong and Free" this is it. As I drove down the road, I couldn't help but marvel that someone had built a road here. And a railway. That's a feat of engineering.

As you near Field, BC, you're in the Kicking Horse Pass valley along the Kicking Horse River. It's pretty wild with huge peaks around you. Unlike near Canmore and Banff, you're car has to go UP the side of the mountain, not just stay in the valley. If you get nervous driving 1000 metres above a canyon with a river in it, don't go. And the slope of the hill is amazing, you'll drive uphill for what seems like 10 kms, then go back down.

As you pass Field, you heard towards Golden BC. It's a few kms before Golden when you come to the part of the Trans Canada where you can't do more than 70 kms per hour. The road is twisty and curvy & the scenery is amazing.....the problem being you can't pull over to take pictures. I would also imagine this area is dangerous, given the number of crosses I saw at the side of the road. You really need to pay attention to drive this on a sunny warm day in May. You'd need to be wide awake at night to drive it & really aware. They also have these guard like things that drop down if the road is closed in winter due to avalanches (signs are everywhere). Apparently this place can get like 10 metres of snow, with the record being 25 metres in a single winter in Revelstoke.

There is also very limited cell service in the area, it seems to depend where you are and NO radio at all. I have Sirius so it wasn't a problem, but.....you can't even hear CBC Radio expect in Golden

Arriving in Golden, you'll find a sleepy small town, maybe 10 000 people. There looks to be a ski hill there & I'd guess the town is run around the railway that passes through. I drove into the downtown and didn't see much going on, but it's a sleepy place.