This was another very beautiful long day. It started cold (6 degrees) and with lots of mosquitoes but soon the heat became intense.
Biking through Jasper National Park was a wonderful sight seeing adventure. The mountains are high and most have some snow on them. In the morning light the textures of the mountains with their folds and layers are very pronounced. There are many shades of blues and grays. The rivers are clear and some carry the turquoise color of glacial waters. The creeks and rivers run fast, much faster than the waters in the prairies. They are all tributaries of the Athabasca River.
At one point I saw a coyote standing with confidence in the grass beside the road and a few kilometers down the road there were 3 Elks having breakfast at the side of the road.
It took two and a half hours to reach Jasper where I had a second breakfast among rather tense crowds of tourists who seemed to working very hard to get as much as possible out of their holidays.
I approached the local newspaper Fitzhugh if they were interested in an interview and they did one. We will see what comes out of it. Knowing there weren’t any places between here and McBride where I could camp or buy food I stocked up at the grocery store, and biked on towards Mount Robson.
It was a hilly ride up and down sides of bigger and bigger slopes and rock faces with wide views of the rugged mountains and valleys. Coming out of Jasper on the first long climb friends of Sonja recognized me and stopped for a chat which was really nice. Then I reached the border to BC which is also the continental divide. From that point on I follow the Fraser River more or less to Prince George.
I reached the Mount Robson parking lot and the view of this really astonishing mountain was quite overwhelming. It rises over 3000 meters above the valley. This was lucky moment as the top of the Mountain is often not visible. I met a Swiss couple who were on a bike journey from here to Calgary via the Ice fields Parkway. We agreed that the truck traffic in Canada takes away a lot of the enjoyment of bicycling on these roads. Although the roads are wide, with good shoulders, the often extremely loud noise from these huge machines passing by with enormous loads of lumber, oil, and all kinds of stuff is quite an assault on the system.
From Mount Robson to McBride was still over 80 km in the evening following the widening valley of the Fraser river. After a few hours it became quite flat and there were farms and fields. Quite the sudden contrast to the high alpine landscape I had biked through the last 2 days. Now the rocky mountain range lies behind me and the Caribou Range rises on the other side of the River. I calculate that with these fairly easy hills along the valley it should be easy to reach Prince George tomorrow, 215 km west of McBride.
After another very long day I found McBride Campground. Being in BC I now gained the third hour on this trip
Here are some pictures, starting with a picture of the Jasper campsite with flowers and mountains, but no internet connection!
A closer look at the flowers at Jasper National Park
The mountains in the morning
Lake and mountains in the sun
Entering British Columbia and crossing the continental divide.
On the road in Jasper National Park
Mount Robson in the distance – we hiked around Mount Robson several years ago – such a beautiful mountain. Julia and Sonja remember their blistered feet and Colleen remembers trying to doctor them!
Spectacular view of Mount Robson
