Saturday 26 June 2010

Made it to Jasper

26th June: Mt. Robson to Jasper

Odometer: 86 km, Start: 9.45am, Finish: 4.00pm, Avg: 20.5 km/h,
Weather: Sunny intervals, Temp: 14-23°C
Bear count: 5, Moose count: 1, Mosquito Bites: 31, Hills walked: 0
Road Conditions: #16, Excellent surface mostly, 2m shoulder, sometimes rumble strips. Traffic light, sometimes moderate. No services. 9km climb @3% from start. Then flat until the gentle 25km descent down the Yelowhead Pass to Jasper. Ascent: 500m up/300m down.

I awoke to sun shining on the tent. I was glad after two days of rainy conditions. With the sun out I was promised some superb views as I cycled my last section of the Yellowhead Highway to Jasper.

Today scenery was beautiful. It was mountains all the way (and a few lakes) as I continued to cycle through Mt. Robson Park. A gentle 9km greeted me after breakfast, but I didn’t care, I just pedalled softly and breathed in the mountains. After that I stayed in a broad valley at around 1050 to 1150m altitude for most of the day.

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Climbing away from Mt. Robson

Moose Lake was a highlight. A large calm expanse of water with pine forests carpeting from the water’s edge to nearly the mountain summits.

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Moose Lake
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Moose Lake
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Emerald Ridge (?), Moose Lake

I was a little surprised to still be at 1150m with only about 25km to Jasper. I thought I had to descend to then climb the Yellowhead Pass which I knew was coming up soon. I was even more surprised when I passed the pass “summit” sign while travelling downhill! (Note to cyclists coming up the Yellowhead Pass, the top is 2-3km further on from the sign)! At this point I reached the Alberta Border and had to stop for the obligatory photo. I’ve also crossed a time zone as well! I’m now on Mountain Time.

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Into Alberta I go
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Mountain Time
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There's a fundamental flaw with that advice...

After this, it was a long gentle downhill to Jasper, where I’m staying the night before turning south to go down the fabled Icefields Parkway. I’ve met a few cyclists in Jasper who should be on the same road tomorrow, so maybe I’ll get a chance of company for a short while.

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At Jasper Station
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On Connaught Drive
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I made it to Jasper and I’m not quite busted…

5 comments:

Martina said...

Sounds like you are enjoying it second time round just as much or probably more that the first time. Canada is beautiful and you have managed to get loads of great photos.

Pleased to hear that you are using your tent more - by the end you won't want to sleep in a proper bed! Hope the cooking is holding up too!

Have a fun few days.
Mx

R & A said...

Loving the photos, have just caught up, Bath does not have the same 'ring'somehow

Unknown said...

Wow! Great photos and trip reports. I wish i was out their cycling to. I'm following along and looking forward to your updates. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Shaun,

Anastasia here from the front desk at the Bow Valley Motel in Canmore AB. Love your blog! I am really impressed with your photos what type of camera are you using? Are you using Photoshop? You have great advice on here and sounds like you've had an incredible experience already. I wish you all the best on your future travels. I hope you enjoy Canada while you are here and that you meet many people along the way. Happy travels and be safe on those highways. ;0) Take lots more photos since you're so good at it!

Shaun said...

Anastasia
Just a little Canon Ixus 80is digital camera. I do some simple post-processing with Picasa, mainly cropping and tuning the contrast a bit. Nothing fancy.

Thanks for your kind words. Nice talking to you earlier...