Spray Lakes Road
Day 3 - August 19, 2007
I awoke to grey skies, and a weather report that called for scattered showers during the day with heavier rains as I rode back to Edmonton. I was trying to figure out whether to take the Forestry Trunk Road back north, or travel paved roads instead. I headed east out of Canmore on Hwy 1A. As I got closer to the junstion with Hwy 40 (which turns into the Forestry Trunk Road), I hadn't seen any rain yet so I turned north. I decided to take the Forestry Trunk Road north, and hope that I didn't meet a downpour that would turn the road into mud.
This turned out to be a great decision. The rain during the night had apparently not been really heavy, and basically just helped to keep the dust down on the ride north. For the most part, the road was in better shape that when I traveled south on it just two days before. There were just a few spots where the road was a little muddy, or where small puddles had formed.
Wanting to make time on the way back north, I didn't stop that often for pictures.
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During the ride, the skies would darken with clouds and the threat of rain, and then lighten up again. I hit just a few sprinkles of rain, but nothing much. I did pass through one section of the road where snow had obviously fallen during the night, and the temps were low enough to keep it from melting right away.
I took the Forestry Trunk Road north to Nordegg, then cut east and back to Rocky Mountain House for lunch and gas. Then it was Hwy 22 north to Drayton Valley, and finally back to Edmonton.
I traveled just over 900 miles for the three days - 900 miles of smiles!