Bicycling the Great Parks North Part II

 Going Solo: Banff to Jasper  continued from Bicycling the Great Parks North

Day 16 Wed 28 Aug 2019
Banff, AB to Lake Louise, AB
47.7 miles,  5:50 riding time elevation gain: 1,106 ft

I shared a somber breakfast with Tom before heading out.  The only small consolation I could find was actually departing around 0800, but I knew I preferred 1000 hour departures with friends to solo riding. The ride to Castle Mountain was full of flash backs.  About the time I arrived at Johnston Creek, it started drizzling, so I stopped to hike a mile through the forest to the lower waterfall.

Lower Johnston Creek Falls

I allowed myself a stop at Castle mountain thinking it would help me get the near mourning for my friends and the trip out of my system.  It didn't.  Setting up camp at Lake Louise was also sad.  The family's site next to mine remained empty reminding me of their absence. However, the Bow Valley Parkway was beautiful.  

Bow River with a train approaching

Lake Louise

The ride from the campground to the lake is very steep, so don't unnecessarily ride a loaded bike up it as I did!  The afternoon lighting was backwards, and I had time, so I hiked half way around the lake where the trail ends or heads off in a different direction.


Day 17 Thur 29 Aug 2019
Lake Louise, AB to Rampart Creek Wilderness Hostel
59.5 miles,  6:43 riding time elevation gain:  2,500 ft

I was over the worst of missing the family knowing they had flown off this morning. Being without them now felt like being awakened from a pleasant dream and wanting to return to it.  The maps looked like I'd have to get on the freeway as I left Lake Louise, but there was a bike path alongside it separated by a New Jersey barrier. Tom had said scenery would just get more beautiful as I headed North, and it did.  I found the long climb out of the Bow Valley to Bow Summit at 6,785 ft almost boring in the slowness required without ever being steep enough to challenge me. 

beautiful spot at Bow Lake for lunch

another view of Bow Lake

day riders  are common this far north

North Saskatchewan River

I had dinner at an expensive roadside cafe where hwy 93 and 3 met, and rode the 7 miles on to the Rampart Creek Wilderness Hostel.  I was surprised to find 10 to 12 supported cyclists from a Calgary bike club riding supported hostel to hostel who soon disappeared to that restaurant and showers for the evening.  I enjoyed their brief company anyway.  The hostel had no showers but did have gas stoves, pots and pans, and solar panels to recharge phones and GPS's .

Rampart Creek Wilderness Hostel with some of the bicycles and solar panels

 

my rack and panniers at the hostel

Day 18 Fri 30 Aug 2019
Rampart Creek Wilderness Hostel to Athabasca Falls Wilderness Hostel
68.5 miles,  7:12 riding time elevation gain:  5,888 ft

Yesterday's climb was long and didn't provide a challenge.  Getting to the top Sunwapta provided that challenge- maybe the toughest since Going to the Sun. It was the first time since then that people congratulated me on the climb, my legs complained some, and a couple even asked to be in a photo with me.

looking back from the top of Sunwapta Pass at 6,676 ft

Steve at the top of Sunwapta Pass

Soon after the pass, the arms of some of the glaciers from the Columbia Ice Fields were viewable.

first view of a glacier from the Columbia Ice Fields

view toward the Columbia Ice Fields- photo by Linda

moving away from the Columbia Ice Fields

looking North from the ice fields, clouds are moving in - light rain will soon fall

Tangle Falls Jasper National Park

Tangle Falls Jasper National Park

the end is near

We had planned to stay at Honeymoon Campground which would have given me a 56 mile day, but that campground was "first come, first serve" and was full.  I'd checked out the Beauty Creek Wilderness Hostel at about 1530 hours, but it doesn't open until evening, and with no one on site, I had no idea if they'd have room for me.  It has a beautiful setting, but lacks solar power and electricity..  I rode on as Andrea, our excellent planner, had assured me a campground just beyond Honeymoon would likely have room; they didn't, and the same for a 3rd campground.

These signs greeted me at all the campgrounds as Canada's Labor Day weekend was starting

If it proved necessary,  I thought I could make it to Jasper by dark, but it was the beginning of Labor Day weekend, and I wasn't sure I would fare any better in Jasper itself without a reservation. I came up with a real pitch for Athabasca Wilderness Hostel to let me stay, but they had room, so I didn't get to use it.  It had a big kitchen and was immaculately clean though taking my shoes off every time I entered a building was a bit of a pain.  I cooked and ate the "emergency" lasagna the family had left with me as we separated. The hostel  had enough electricity for lights as well as recharging electronic gear.

Athabasca Wilderness Hostel - a welcome relief

Day 19 Sat 31 Aug 2019
Athabasca Falls Wilderness Hostel to Pyramid Lake Resort near Jasper, AB
27.7 miles,  3:21 riding time elevation gain:  1,531 ft


I awoke the next morning to the sound of rain on the roof, and with only about 25 miles left into Jasper, I was in no hurry to get up.  Try as I might, I was still out of camp by 0900 in the rain.  Athabasca Falls was worth a stop even in the rain.

Athabasca Falls

 

Athabasca River below the falls

 

sadly, it's nearly over

 

I arrive at the finish line in Jasper as the rain stops

The German guy who took a photo of us at the top of Sunwapta Pass saw my arrival, greeted me by name, and wanted another photo, and I this time I got one too

My motel was another 5 miles north of town - uphill, but the rain had stopped, and I now had a bunch of snacks and a meal with me from the real grocery store in Jasper which I'd feast on until Linda and Brian arrived and then still eat a big dinner.

the rain had stopped leaving this view of Pyramid Lake in front of my hotel

another view of Pyramid Lake - photo by Linda

friends Linda and Brian arrived to take me and my bike home

It was a great trip despite the cloud from the early departure of my friends in Banff.  Some of the roads are too busy with inadequate shoulders and traveling in Canada, particularly the National Parks, is much more expensive than it would be in the states, so take those warnings if you're considering this route. Reservations are difficult to make and keep on a bike tour, but we found them absolutely necessary in the park to avoid the fate of the Andrews which nearly caught me at Honeymoon Lake. The route is beautiful, and as Tom said, more beautiful the further north one goes. As we drove home, we found the traffic on Labor Day an unbelievable steady line of traffic headed North toward Calgary from Radium.  That didn't affect us much in a car headed South, but would have been horrible for a bicycle headed North.  I'd have wanted a layover day had I had to ride north in that traffic. ..

Without the help of friends, I found it impossible to make reasonable travel plans to get there and back, I didn't consider (nor did the professional travel agent I saw consider) the possibility of catching the train to the West Coast, up to Vancouver BC, and continuing on train to Jasper or vice versa.  We met a south bound group from Salem, OR that had gone to Jasper that way, but the Great Parks North Route wasn't populated with many touring cyclists this August.

Happy cycling for fun, fitness, and adventure



Steve