September 9, 2019
Mosquito Creek, AB –> Vermillion Crossing, BC

Distance: 98.9km (was supposed to be 72km)
Ave: 21.6km/h (despite climbing up Vermillion pass!)
Max: 55.8km/h

Slow start today – slept through my alarm, dawdled at breakfast chatting to more Germans (another donation coffee!), and only hit the road at 10:30. Whoops!

It’d be mostly downhill today and only 72km, so it’ll be fine, I figured. I stopped in Lake Louise, picked up a map, uploaded some blog posts, and ate a delicious lunch.

Somehow it was getting near 4pm, and I’d still only done 40km of downhill.

I took the Bow River Parkway, which was an instant trip down memory lane – the chunk between Lake Louise and Castle Junction was one of the few segments of this trip that I also cycled in 2016. I did not stop much, including when I should have to turn west into the 93 – caught that one quickly with minimal backtracking required.

Despite steady pedaling and net downhill, it was well after 5 when I started the climb up to Vermillion pass. I realized that if I kept going, I would gain an hour back when I crossed into BC. Cheered by this despite knowing it would have little impact on the remaining daylight hours, I plodded up the pass at 8km/h.

I made it – downhill from here to the Pacific! (Lies!)

I went flying down the other side into Kootenay National park. A flashing sign warned me that I was going too fast – breaking the speed limit in a construction zone (despite braking, I was going closer to 40km/h than the posted 30km/h). Unfortunately, that construction zone turned out to be my intended campsite (Marble Canyon). Uncertain of my destination, I continued.

I pulled over at Nurma Falls day use site, scoping out options. I looked at the map and my offline maps. There weren’t any great sites coming up – the next campsite on my paper map was not listed or findable on my other maps, and it would be farther than I had day left to ride there. In the end I headed for Vermillion Crossing, where there is a lodge. Maybe I could camp on the lawn.

The extra kms would require music. I cued up a random playlist and U2 started singing “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” in my ear. Could not have been more apt. I made the extra kms at record speed as it was beginning to darken and rain began to spit down again. I was looking at the Lodge when I glanced across the road, and what to my wandering eye should appear, but a covered picnic area with amenities near!

So there I am! If you’re reading this, it means I survived the glacial splash bath in front of traffic, my first homemade rehydrated curry, and the smell of my dirty laundry airing. And also wild animals did not eat me or my dubious cache.

Alice

September 8, 2019
Wilcox Creek, AB –> Mosquito Creek, AB

Distance: 104.6km
Ave: 18.5
Max: 61.5 (coming down from Sunwapta pass)

Highlights:
The high point of today was literally 2135m (Bow Summit), and I don’t think I’ll get higher!

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Flying down from Sunwapta pass and around The Big Bend.

Two heaping plates of salad from the buffet at Mt. Wilson’s restaurant at The Crossing.

The view from my renegade campsite! And the fact that it’s namesake animal is notably absent! 🙂

Lowlights:
Knowing I’d used up most of the easy kms before lunch, and it would be climb, climb, climb with a full belly. (Definitely needed that lowest gear!!!)
Not being able to check out (or check out more thoroughly) some other neat looking side trips (Mistaya Canyon, Bow Lake, and several others).

Items forgotten so far:
Lip balm! (I did manage to purchase some at The Crossing)
Small cloth
Touque

… to leave more things behind??

Alice

September 6, 2019
Jasper, AB –> Honeymoon Lake, AB

Distance: 54.4km
Average: 18.1km/h
Max: 52.6km/h

HIGHLIGHTS:

Coffee and Nutella pocket from (ridiculously popular!) Bear paw cafe.

Amazing riding weather and scenery.

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Walking the trails around Athabasca falls – I found the signs for portage aka this-is-your-last-chance-to-get-out-of-the-river-alive-do-it-here-do-it-now. I enjoyed my lunch watching the frothing Athabasca, which eventually runs to Inuvik on the Arctic ocean.

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Swimming in Honeymoon Lake with sun kissed mountains all around, and nobody else in sight (it took me a long time to warm up again, so I guess it was cold, but it was so refreshing!)

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Lowlights:

People in the campsite next door expanding into my space in a way I’m sure they would not have even considered doing if I had a vehicle that took up more room.

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My bum is sore – clearly not used to being in the saddle again. I’m very glad to have planned a short ride for today!

Alice

September 7, 2019
Honeymoon Lake, AB –> Willcox Creek, AB

Distance: 61.7km
Average: 16.4km/h
Max: 56.3km/h

HIGHLIGHTS:

Fresh hot coffee with real cream courtesy of my German RV driving neighbours one over (this also helped me get back on Wilson time as I’d gotten up at 6:30 to watch the sunrise and was in danger of leaving at a reasonable time! By nattering away in German, I didn’t leave until about 10!)

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Beautiful walk/hike at Sunwapta falls – like Athabasca falls, the shortest trails were quite populated, but as soon as I went beyond, there are few people and (in this case better!) views.

Standing on hundreds of years old ice at the Columbia icefield (I know you’re not supposed to without a guide, but the risk management here is overkill)

LOWLIGHTS:

Having trouble getting into first sprocket at the front which I absolutely needed today climbing up towards Sunwapta pass (I don’t actually get there until tomorrow). Chatted to more Germans while waiting for rock scaling related traffic delays.

Riding round and round the campground (very steep!) looking for an available site wishing I’d stopped at the icefield campground (only 1km previous). I’m currently camped in a handicapped spot. I figure I can share it if needed, and that the warden is nicer than the one our family met in similar circumstances in the San Juans.

My lips! They are falling apart – it’s very dry here (no dew to speak of this morning), and having forgotten my lip balm, I’m experimenting with other strategies… Any ideas??

September 5, 2019
Jasper, AB

0km

Almost the first thing you see when you exit the Jasper train station is a pole called the Two Brothers totem. It was carved by Jaalen and Gwaai Edenshaw, Haida artists whose work has extended from carving to film making.
The commemorative pole tells the story of the two brothers who travel from Haida Gwaii to the Rockies and one stays while the other returns home. It was raised in 2011. It was commissioned to replace a 94-year-old Haida pole which had grown old and unsafe and was repatriated to Old Masset, Haida Gwaii.

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As I recently visited Haida Gwaii and learned of this pole and it’s history, seeing it was like spotting a familiar face. I recognized the potlatch hat, the grizzly bear, the raven, the brothers. I reflect that I did not have that same reaction last time I was in Jasper about 10 years ago.
What is the role that knowledge and understanding have in generating excitement and empathy?
Do I enjoy seeing this pole more because I understand it better?
Is it necessary to understand something to appreciate it?
It also occurs to me that as this pole was raised in 2011, the previous pole was repatriated in 2009, and I was previously in Jasper in 2010, maybe there’s another reason I didn’t notice a pole before… 🤦

Today, I tried my hand at whitewater rafting. It’s fun – getting drenched in glacial water on a beautiful sunny day with a friendly crew and a seasoned, skilled guide! Raftjasper.com has photos (Sept 5th 10am Fraser); if you can recognize me through the watermarks, I will be impressed.

It felt like a day of befriending and being befriended by fellow travellers. And I admit I am relieved to find I can still relate and connect – to my fellow paddlers, to folks at the hostel, and vacationer at the bar of Jasper Brewing.

Tomorrow the cycling begins for real, which probably means I’ll not be posting for a few days.

Alice

September 4, 2019
Via Rail train#4 to Jasper, AB

19.7km
Average: 13.8km/h (maybe I should not included unloaded averages in my total average??). Max: 31.7km/h

I made it to Vancouver Rail station yesterday in plenty of time despite the unexpected closure of the cyclist/pedestrian access to the Alex Fraser bridge. The Alex Fraser bridge, which crosses at Annacis Island, was my preferred route across the Fraser River as cycling is not permitted through the Massey tunnel, the hourly bike shuttle through the tunnel takes an unfortunate break for lunch exactly when I wanted to cross, and I wasn’t sure if my bike (with the front racks now attached) could be securely loaded on the bus. I still needed to get across the Fraser, and there was no alternate route advertised on the closure barricades. The next bridge along is the Pattulo. Does it allow bikes? Google wasn’t sure. I hoped so, but just as I approached, I found myself riding past a SkyTrain station and took the sure, sweat-free bet.
I have to say that Via Rail exceeded my expectations. The expectations were were pretty low, but still. Getting my bike on the train was easy with no boxing or waivers required. A helpful young man happily reported he’d already loaded 5 other bikes into the train, and offered to take some of my panniers as well. We left the station at 3pm on the dot, and WE ARRIVED EARLY! I had to get two scoops of Chapman’s to cope with the shock.

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I have already met another cyclist on a variant of my own trip – he was on the same ferry from Victoria, same train from Vancouver, and has a similar setup with 4 ortlieb bags (albeit red not blue). We compared routes – which also overlap substantially, but we’ll likely not run into each other as he’ll get a head start leaving today, make a substantial detour into Montana, and head through Creston well after me.

So, having ditched the majority of my gear at the (excellent!) hostel, I am exploring Maligne Canyon, a Devonian limestone+water+time excavation crossed by many bridges and even more German tourists.

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Notes to future self or others:

1. Jasper downtown hostel is a well-organised, clean, and pleasant place to stay. Bike parking is limited.
2. There are some bikeable trails from Jasper to Maligne Canyon. They are mostly populated by mountain bikers, and I’m sure something with shocks would be more comfortable, but my solid steel frame (unloaded!) managed with only a bit of carrying/pushing. Views and scenery were worth it for a day trip.

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Alice (written while sampling Folding Mountain Brewing’s Maligne Canyon pale ale at the top of the canyon)

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September 3, 2019
Victoria to VIA Rail train #4

30-40km (vague due to inadvertently resetting my trip odometer)
Average: 20.8km/h

In honour of Jessi who drove me to the ferry:
Today is departure day
The train is chugging away
From Vancouver to Jasper
I can’t cycle faster
But I’ll bike back the long scenic way!

Alice

Date
Start location -> End Location
Kms

It’s happening! I’ve got a train ticket for September 3rd. Details of getting the trusty steed on the train are a little fuzzy, I admit, but I’m sure it’ll all work out.