On the Road Again 2015 #9

I, on occasion, like to gently brag that I have mastered most of the city bus systems that I need to use. That is certainly true in Calgary. I understand how the system works and in general which bus to take to get to where I need to go. My problem is that I don't understand how Calgary is laid out and therefore even when I know I am on the right bus, I always have the sense that I am lost. On this particular day that sense of almost panic was increased as it seemed as if I just missed every connecting bus. Waiting for the 15-20 minutes for the next one was frustrating. It was hot, I felt as if I was a half day behind, I couldn't find any water (I had promised myself that I would avoid buying water) and I needed to find a bathroom. I was probably a touch grumpy. Consequently when I came across the young hitchhikers and their dog, I was probably far less friendly then I should have been. I feel bad about that. I had hoped/assumed that we would meet up on the road just outside Calgary. I am sorry we didn't.

There was some major road construction occurring on the outskirts of Calgary. The bus did not take its usual route and I ended up having to walk a bit further than I normally do. Once again, my decision to lighten my pack as much as possible seemed to have been a good plan.

I have a very clear idea as to where the city limits are and never try to hitchhike inside those limits. However, this time I must confess, I did show my sign a bit early than usual. I would walk a bit when there were no cars coming and as soon as I could hear some coming, I would turn around and stick out my thumb. This is not a particularly good way of travelling. One because one, while paying the price for carrying the pack, never gets very far before needing to turn around and secondarily one misses some of the cars as they sneak by on the outside lane. Thus one gets all of the disavantages of carrying a pack with few of the advantages of hitchhiking. Perhaps even worse, this method of intermittent hitchhiking does not give the drivers enough time to see me or my sign. None-the-less I did get a ride fairly quickly. One of the first things the driver said to me was "I don't think you were outside the city limits" and "I almost didn't see you".  On the other hand, if I had waited to get to the top of the hill, I would have missed this ride.

He was only going to Canmore which was just fine for me. It was only an hour or so drive - we barely had our conversation started before it was time for me to get out. In fact I had three drives in a row that were short. Which is always a pity as there are so many neat people who offer me a ride. The vast majority of them are people who I would love to spend more time with.

At the west end of Canmore, I was tempted to cross the highway and stay in the municipal campsite. If for no other reason than the small restaurant that serves cold beer and crispy veggie burgers was right around the corner. However the need/compulsion to keep on moving was more powerful than the need for food, sleep or a shower.

My next driver was a woman going to Banff - another short hop. Delightful lady - we could have had an equally delightful chat but alas the distance between Canmore and Banff is far too short for anything more than extended introductions.

My final drive in this series of short rides was all the way to Golden which is about a hour and half ride. Once again a pleasant young man, good conversationalist, interested in my journey but very able to add his content and opinions to the conversation. In all of the brief chats, the weather, the number of fires going through the western provinces and the reasons why I and they were travelling were the topics of discussion. All three of my drivers lived in the general area that they were going to. They took it as a matter of course that they lived in that incredible landscape. None of them took it for granted, all were aware that where they lived was unique and to be treasured.

Normally I dread short drives in part because it usually means that I go an hour down the road, get dropped off at a spot that is even worse than the last spot and then end up waiting for extended periods for the next ride. However there are no bad spots to hitchhike between Calgary and Golden; the shoulders are wide, the road is reasonably straight and the scenery is extraordinary. As a bonus this time, I only had to wait 10 or 15 minutes between each ride. As I stood in one of these spots, I realized that I had not travelled this way for a few years. Three years ago I had gone north via Edmonton, the next year there had been a flood in Calgary so I had gone through Jasper and last year I had taken the train as I had hurt my back . It felt good to pass through Rogers Pass again.