Here I am, deep in the Canadian Rockies of Jasper national Park, sitting in view of a gaggle of glaciers! Let me try a quick recap of what’s been going on since Kamloops:
- I got my wheel re-taped in Kamloops, but not before dealing with two more flats. I’m not sure why I didn’t remember the trick of putting a dollar bill in the bad spot of the wheel. I ended up getting blisters on my thumbs from prying my tire onto the rim so many times
- Kamloops was still pretty smoky, but things rapidly improved as I headed north from there. I was on a beautiful little back road for about 25 miles, that ended in a little short hop ferry
- The next day was a pretty easy ride along the north Thompson River up to Clearwater. The environment began transitioning from high desert to more mountain river valley – fewer sagebrush and more firs
- I stopped for lunch in a little cafe that had homemade pierogi – yum!
- The scenery just kept getting better and better as I headed north, and the traffic calmed down – though a good percentage of the traffic was semis hauling large pipes, I think for a new oil pipeline they are building
- The ride was mostly uneventful, easy riding – except that my front shifter broke at the top of a pass! I tried fiddling with it (in the rain) but gave up and rigged up my front derailleur to stay in the middle ring
- I also met another tourist going the other way. She was from Paris, and had started in Calgary heading to the coast, planning to end in Mexico. Though she said last year, she planned to end in Turkey but ended up in Senegal!
- I hit up a bike shop in Valemount, where the mechanic – Nathaniel – stayed late to look at the shifter, but it was beyond repair. He did set me up with a better derailleur screw so I could manually drop to my granny ring if needed. We hung out and got beers afterwards. Thanks Nathaniel!
- That night at the campsite, I met another tourist, Drew. Drew is riding a huge surley cargo bike, and hauling a trailer with the chillest dog in the world, Luna. The next morning I met three other tourists – Bjorn from Bern, Switzerland, and a couple from Stuttgart, Germany.
- The majestic mountains continued to rise as I rode to Mount Robson provincial park. It was a wet ride, but the huge mountains and crystal blue river more than made up for the sogginess.
- I met back up with Drew and Bjorn at the campground, and did a short 5 mile trail ride (without my gear) up to a lake at the base of Mount Robson (the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies)
- The next morning I said goodbye to Drew and Luna (who travel at man-hauling-a-large-dog pace), but made plans to meet up with Bjorn (who travels at my an-with-the-lightest-touring-setup-i’ve-ever-seen pace) in Jasper
- More glorious mountain riding with clear blue skies all the way on to Jasper. I even stopped for a swim!
- In Jasper, I got a replacement shifter which I easily installed. Then I met up with Bjorn and we hung out and got dinner and drinks before heading to our campsite
- Bjorn was taking a rest day in Jasper, so I said goodbye and started running errands in town. It’s a few days to the next grocery store, so I had to stock up. Unfortunately, my phone started glitching out – bright lines on the screen, and a dead touch zone. It will be a while till I get to a town that might have a repair store, so I’m just hoping it doesn’t get worse
- I headed south along the icefields parkway though Jasper national Park – gorgeous riding, but a ton of tourists. A lot of this area was burned in a wildfire two years ago, but it’s cool to see the new growth coming in.
- I was worried I’d have trouble finding campsites, but the one I ended up at last night had bicyclist-only camping (rare in Canada) for only $5 Canadian!
- Today I did a short day riding up to the icefields campground, where I’m going to take a rest/hiking day.
- I checked out the visitor center – very crowded – and did the short hike to the base of the glacier
Phew! I’ll try to keep on top of the posts more so they stay shorter!