So this one turned into a two day ordeal, the first day certainly wasn't much to talk about. We were heading for Jasper National Park to ride the Icefields Parkway, known for it's massive mountains and beautiful views. Problem was, we rode 4 hours to get to the park, and 3 1/2 hours of that was in rain. So there were going to be no views to be had today. Enter plan B sooner than usual. Find a cheap hotel and sit out the weather. The town of Hinton had such a place, so we hung up our gear to dry and spent the afternoon watching TV and catching up on work for Chip. Tomorrow's weather is looking like partly sunny, so we're hoping for a better shot at the park
Now for today, the tomorrow I was talking about yesterday, it was still cloudy when we got up, so we took our time having coffee and breakfast before hitting the road, hoping things would clear up a bit. As we traveled down the highway to the park, patches of blue started opening in the sky. We were in luck as we approached the park gates only to be told that admission is free this month, as sunshine broke through the clouds and lit up the massive mountains around us.
The park is about 130 miles of road, with a small part of it traveling past the town of Jasper, that was hit with a massive forest fire a couple years ago, burning almost 1/3 of the town and thousands of acres of surrounding trees. Everything currently was still damp from yesterday's rain, the air had the scent of old fire and fresh spruce. Kinda like how a wet dog can open up a history book of past smells, the charred forest did the same.
Riding far enough eventually brought us into some rain showers again, so we stopped at the crowded park store area for a break and a snack. Walking through the store full of people, I was tempted by a soft pretzel, until I got close enough to read the price tag of $15, then I wasn't so hungry. My snack and drink was whatever I had left on my bike, figured I'd wait until we were out of the park before buying anything else. We spent the rest of the time passing glaciers and waterfalls, and some massive mountains that were formed by huge slabs of earth pushed out of the ground at a consistent angle.
After exiting the park, we took a slight detour to see Lake Louise, and we're greeted by signs saying all parking lots are full, and many uniformed people directing traffic away from the lots. But, they seemed to have pity on motorcycles, waving us into a crowded parking lot, we soon found places to stash the bikes that no car could fit into, and walked down to the lake. My wife and some friends had swam in this lake a couple months prior, while the glacier was still touching the water. I did not have that opportunity, being that the lake and all points around it were occupied by about half the population of India. Snapped a couple quick photos and decided it was time to get away from the crowds.
Back on the bikes we headed up and over the mountain to a town called Golden. We hadn't booked anything ahead of time because were never quite sure where we are going to end up. Makes it kinda risky if you wait too late in the day for accommodations. The weather had mostly passed so we wanted to camp in the city campground by the river,,full. Then we checked the local travelers hostel,, also full. Finally we found the cheapest motel in town,, not full. So that's where we are now. Tomorrow we are riding a large scenic loop through the mountains with a couple ferry crossings of some lakes. The weather is looking like it should be nice, hopefully the forecast is accurate. After that, we'll be going our separate ways. Chip has more time left because he started later, but I need to get back to Virginia. There's lots of work piling up at the farm, I need to get back to work on the mountain, and most of all, I really miss my wife.
