Distance: 130 km
Elevation: 703 m
Date: August 26, 2022
I woke up a little bit hung over. No surprise. Breakfast started at 8 AM so I had a bit of time to plan my last week of the trip.
I needed to be in Toronto on September 3. The question was how to get there and which means of transportation made most sense: rental car, train, flight or hitchhiking.
We will see what works best.
I had breakfast and met a group of young people from Belgium. They were all single and had signed up for a group travel. Interesting concept and much easier than organizing everything yourself. Not sure if that was for me, though.
By 09:15 AM I was on the road. It took me about 20 km to get out of Calgary which was a bit annoying and cost a lot of time. Then I came into the prairies.
All roads there are straight lines and everything is rather flat. Although a Dutch would probably call this hilly. In fact there are a lot of low rolling hills.
I took me a while to get to the right road. As you can see on the map, you need to zigzag your way to the right height. Most roads are gravel but the soft, uncompacted one. It is very difficult and slow for me to drive on them. And dusty, too.
So, I bit the bullet and took the paved road with the trucks. Thankfully, the shoulder got bigger during the day so it felt safe.
Temperatures peaked at 30 degrees and a soft westerly wind pushed me forward.
Thankfully, I can go in “Brokkoli Mode” and switch off my brain. It is very hard for me to get bored or mentally drained that way.
I followed one road 70 km. A perfectly straight line with some hills. That was a first for me, too. Very meditative.
Around 7 PM I arrived at a campsite next to the horseshoe canyon, right outside of Drumheller.
I was really tired and was in bed by 9 PM.
