Train+Bike... Rotary pancakes at Lake Louise hostel

Ulrike's tour-loaded Dahon takes a break on the Bow Valley Parkway, just south of Lake Louise

I'm at the Lake Louise hostel, and I smell pancakes. I stumble from my room and into the shared kitchen to make tea, but it is full of people frying sausages, flipping pancakes, and chewing muffins. "Good morning!" a fellow calls out heartily, "Would you like some pancakes?" I look over at him groggily and say thanks, but I just woke up and just need a cup of tea. I make my tea, sit down and learn that this group of twenty-four is Edson, Alberta's Rotary Club out for their annual Lake Louise hiking weekend.

Rotarians ~ as well as Lions, Kiwanis and Masons ~ are better known as community service clubs, but this rebel faction from the 8,000-person town between Jasper and Edmonton has added a little extra fun to its agenda, thanks to trip-leader and pancake-flipper, Vic.

Michelle wanders into the kitchen and looks a little disoriented, seeing as I'm sitting at a table surrounded by food and Rotarians. Vic (a marathon runner) spreads a thick layer of peanut butter on his pancakes, then tops it with a generous pour of molasses.

"Try it," he coaxes, "If you're going to ride your bikes, you'll need the energy." I pass on the peanut butter but give the molasses a chance. It tastes of vitamins and anise. Today we'll be turning off the main roadway and riding the quieter Bow Valley Parkway towards Banff. It's two lanes and no shoulder, but motorists must slow down to 60km/hour for cyclists, sight-seers and other wildlife.

[To view all the stories from this train-and-bike journey around western Canada, click Miteymiss's blog] 
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Lake Louise, Alberta
September 30, 2007