Chapter 13
Icefields Parkway to Jasper
The road from Banff to Jasper is just insanely spectacular, so more photos than usual...
Just any old view along the parkway! Mount Sarbach and Kaufmann Peaks, Saskatchewan River
June 17, Tuesday: 90 miles (3839)
Longer day than I wanted, but I had to make Jasper because I was out of food. The weather was the traditional British Columbia mix of gorgeous blue skies...
building clouds,
and lovely "refreshing" precipitation!
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| "I had my most serious rain since Minnesota, and it came at the top of
Sunwapta Pass, so it was a cold rain. Even so, it didn't last too
long, and I just put on my rain jacket - no chaps, no mittens, though I
really could have used the latter if I hadn't been so lazy." |
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| It wouldn't be the Icefields Parkway without some icefields. Athabasca Glacier. |
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| Some wildflowers and wildlife! |
Back to blue skies and happy clouds.
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| Athabasca River, which goes over... |
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| Athabasca Falls, of course! |
All those photos and several more that I left out, were from one day's ride. I didn't get to Jasper until 9:00, by which time the grocery stores were closed, so I decided to treat myself to a pizza. It stays light till almost 11:00 now, so I still had time to find a place to camp.
June 18, Wednesday: 7 miles (3846)
"What a letdown! No mail. I decided to wait a day, take care of some odds and ends, and hope something would come tomorrow. I washed my clothes, sleeping bag, and myself, at a coin-op laundry and shower place, got some food, mailed film, etc.
Some bikers told me about a Free Camp right down the road from where I stayed last night, so I went there. It's not a very nice place, though... a lot of impoverished drug users living in tents made of plastic and sticks. I was warned about the '150 pound flies' that might want my food, but I managed to find a couple of hitchhikers from England, Martin and Dave, who are nice chaps, and I camped next to them, away from most of the squalor. We had a good time hanging our food from the bears and joking around."
June 19, Thursday: 21 miles (3865)
"One delay after another added up until it was so late it didn't make sense to leave. First, they hadn't sorted the mail yet. Then I called the school and talked to Kym, Pam, Dan, and John - mostly Kym and John. That was really nice. Then I tried calling Laura at MOBS, but they said she wouldn't be in until 6:00 or 7:00. I may not get to another town with a phone before she's out on her next course, so I decided to wait. I did reach her this evening, and it was really nice (as always) to talk, especially since the only mail I got was her letter from a month ago, forwarded from Montana.
Anyway, I met two bikers, Don and Allen, who had taken a train from Sacramento to Prince George, (where I'm headed next) and then ridden here. Allen got Achilles tendonitis, though, and had to go home on a bus tonight, so Don seemed like he could use some moral support. He's 18, as I was on my first cross-country trip. I felt better about going back to the Freakamp with company, so that's where we went. I ended up hanging out with the "freaks" anyway, and playing my flute with a guy on guitar. Book, cover, judging..."
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