Ben was in town, or Elvis Has Left The Building

Ben on the Rosedale footbridge over the Red Deer River

Ben was in town this fall for a couple of weeks. It's a bit like having Elvis on tour, if Elvis ever walked 5km just to loosen up or climbs Mount Tolmie to unwind in the evenings. And if Elvis had a beard or went kayaking. This is the third (or more?) time that Ben has made his way out from Edmonton via unconventional means, from bicycling to hitch-hiking to walking.

All photos are from Ben's trip blog

Yep, walking. This summer, Ben rode shank's mare a substantial portion of the way, including an off-highway ramble between Revelstoke and Golden. He's seen so many rivers, lakes and tarns up high in the Rockies that sometimes it surprises him to see running water that's not cloudy with glacial silt.

Ben has promised to write us some posts for Kayak Yak about his times on the water in a variety of jury-rigged boats. He's also become a fan of the many ferries in BC, including this free car ferry on Kootenay Lake!

While he was here, Ben pulled on a wetsuit and borrowed one of my inflatable kayaks, the Expedition that I took down the Red Deer River last summer. (Yes, I'm still talking about that trip. When you paddle down a river solo, even a class 1 river, you get to talk about your trip too. And of course I'm still talking about the kayak cuz it's an incredible and portable boat!) I got into the littler inflatable and we went along the shoreline, around Flower Island and back. Shall have to write more about that day and the mink & otters we saw... And now he's back on the road again. Elvis has left the building.