Then I was off because it was after 10 a.m. and it's all uphill to Jonas.
Athabasca Falls and Sunwapt Falls-what a sight to behold!
I kept pedaling uphill gradually... on up the Rockies.
After passing Goat Lookout, I passed other cyclists that must have been on a day ride I suppose. They were huffing and puffing and complaining...
Me- I have no one to complain to, unless of course you count God... But he is my strength. I just have to make sure these perfect circles keep rolling along! I arrived at Jonas Campground are there a walk-in sites, up a huge hill of course!
July 25 (Jonas Campground to Rampart Creek Campground, Banff National Park, 42.00mi/67.59km) - I froze this morning but I warmed up quickly because of the pass I had to climb. Sunwapta Pass has a gradient of 12%... The steepest part of the Icefields Parkway. It took me an hour to get to the top at 3 miles per hour.
I passed the Glacier Skywalk and reached the Icefields Center. This place is crazy busy with tons of tourists. It's a zoo... Buses, RVs, people are everywhere. I spent some time on the Wi-Fi, filled my water, journaled, eat some food, route some updates and took some pictures.
On the other side of Sunwapta Pass, the rain and hail found me... My shoes are soaked! But I made it to Rampart Creek and stayed in the picnic shelter.
July 26 (Rampart Creek Campground to Mosquito Creek Campground, Banff National Park, 42.50mi/68.39km) - I followed the North Saskatchewan River which came to the Crossing or there was food and souvenirs and water. There were a few Trails there but due to construction they were closed.
I encountered some female big horned sheep and snapped some pictures from afar whale watching dumb tourists take pictures and bottle up traffic.
Bow Pass is the highest point on the icefields Parkway. There is a magnificent view down to Peyto Lake.
From here it is mostly downhill. I passed Bow Lake with many viewpoints and reached Mosquito Creek Campground which ironically has very few mosquitoes. Here I met Dave, I retired recumbent cyclist who described himself as old and slow. There's also a guy from Argentina who was riding his motorcycle around the world. Before bed I journaled and cleaned up...
July 27 (Mosquito Creek Campground to Takakkaw Falls Campground, Yoho National Park, 41.29mi/66.44km) - I left Mosquito Creek early to ride the 17 Mile into Lake Louise. I finished out the Icefields Parkway! I found the visitor center in camped out there for a good chunk of time while my phone charged and I was on the spotty Wi-Fi. I could finally get some things done and relax a bit. I talked with Elyse, some with my Mom, contacted some warm showers hosts and looked at my route from Kamloops on the map. I might change my route for 99 to Whistler into North Vancouver instead... It might be a better choice. We shall see of course. I got some groceries, send some postcards, looked in some shops, got trail maps for Yoho National Park, filled up my water bottles, ate some food, got some ice cream and I was ready to head out. It was maybe 5 ish or so.
As I left Lake Louise Village, the trans-canada highway became very busy making it hard for me to cycle on. The shoulders were littered with gravel and rumble strips also. I came to Kicking Horse Pass and the spiral tunnels. It was very interesting to learn about how they made the spiral tunnels for the trains to go through the mountains. I've always enjoyed trains. I entered BC again and Yoho National Park. I finally turned off onto Yoho Valley Road, relieved to get off of the highway, but it was 13 km to Takakkaw Falls Campground which is a basically 13 km ascent... the steepest gradient of the entire 2000 mile Journey. It took me well over an hour to reach the camp. The 13 km didn't seem to be ending. The steepest section was impossible to ride, a good 20% Switchback grade. Crazy. I finally met my match and had to push my bike up that thing. Before I made it to the top I meant a cyclist from Corvallis who is there just for a couple days. When I arrived, Takakkaw Falls loomed far above me... One of Canada's highest waterfalls. The name means "It is magnificent" in Cree.
As I arrived in the campground, a lady saw I was new and said if there were no more spots available I could possibly stuff Camp by the group fire pit or something to that effect. I checked out the group fire pit but in the end I ended up waiting until dark and setting up my tent in the picnic shelter and taking it down early in the morning before anyone noticed.
I'm pooped... Can't I just sleep people? Other than that lady I don't think I was talk to once. There are French people everywhere we don't talk to you which I think was kind of rude. No one seems intrigued about my bicycle and what I am doing there on a bicycle. If I saw a bicycle tourist camping next to me especially up there I would be very interested in his Trek.
July 28 (Yoho National Park - Hike to Twin Falls and Laughing Falls, 00.00mi/00.00km) - I woke up early and put my tent away and ate some breakfast while looking at my hiking Maps of the park. I wondered outside and around camp and the chill of the morning. It was cold. I woke with a headache because I didn't get much sleep, but I took some aspirin and knocked it out quickly. I readied my pack with food and camera gear and put my other stuff away secured and found the trailhead and started walking. It started off chilly but warmed up quickly as I walked on. It is such a beautiful day. There are a lot of other hikers out. I started for Laughing Falls, then decided to hike all the way to Twin Falls and decided that was far enough for my tired cycling legs and feet and sore knee. These are beautiful waterfalls, some of the best I've seen. Even the creek and Trail were gorgeous. God sure is good. At Twin Falls, there was a Backcountry cabin where an old lady was the caretaker. Encountered a group of ladies hiking there who had a lot more hiking and backpacking gear than I did. I guess I was just more hardcore! I thought about a lot of things as a hike the lawn... On the way back I stopped and saw Point Lace Falls and Angels Staircase Falls, then when I got back to Camp I refilled with water, got some food, took a short nap on the picnic table and took off my socks and shoes. Then I journaled and clean my bike before packing up everything again and walking down to see Takakkaw Falls up close! It was very gorgeous. God's creation never ceases to amaze. The closer you got to the falls, the wetter you became. It was like taking a shower. Hikers hiking my way were drenched. The Mist did feel pretty good. Because of the falls and all the Mist spraying everywhere I saw a beautiful rainbow that the sun provided.
That evening I chilled, took some more photographs, journaled and took this opportunity to bask in the glory of God's awesome creation!
July 29 (Takakkaw Falls Campground to Golden, 53.71mi/86.43km) - As I left Without a Trace, it was mostly all downhill to the town of Golden, my Pit Stop between the national parks.
Before I left yo ho, the Natural Bridge was great to see. It was about a kilometer or so out of my way, but very worthwhile even though there were ignorant Asian and French people there we don't have a safe bone in their bodies.
When I arrived in Golden, I ate at a DQ. My phone died and I was searching for my hosts house. This would be my first Warm showers bed since Prince George. A french guy begin speaking to me in French. I don't speak French man! He like my bike! As I moseyed on downtown in search of my host, a guy asked if I wanted a slice of pizza but I turned them down because I just eaten (stupid! I never turn down food!) He was a very nice fellow though. I later came back and chatted with him some! Turns out he was in town for some event. Anyway I arrived at Pierre's place a bit later because I had the address a bit wrong. Pierre was accommodating and showed me the room with the blow-up mattress, the shower and then went to bed early because he had to be up for work in the morning. But he was gracious enough to let me sleep in!
July 30 (Golden to Illecillewaet Campground, Glacier National Park, 55.23mi/88.88km) - Leaving Golden, the highway soon began to climb leading into Glacier National Park of Canada. The entire park was littered with construction. Practically the entire park was construction zone. Very annoying. There was little to no shoulder which made it extremely difficult to ride through... I had to climb Rogers Pass which was a killer. Before I reached the pass, I came to a series of five Avalanche tunnels. Even with my lights on, they weren't easy. There was no shoulder in the tunnels except for a few of them. They were dark and scary. The second tunnel was a scariest of all... Long and winding. I couldn't see the end of it. I rode like a bat out of hell! Semi trucks were coming from behind. Being trapped in there with trucks and RVs made my heart race. If I wasn't claustrophobic before I am now. When I finally made it through I pulled over to catch my breath and damp my dry throat. Alas, it wouldn't be one of my bike trips without scary moment or two.
At Rogers Pass the park rangers said I could camp at Illecillewaet Campground. I didn't even want to try to pronounce it. They told me since I'm on a bicycle, I could camp in the interpretive Circle next to the kitchen shelter when the ranger program was over. I bought my past there, filled my bottles and made my way to the campground which was at the bottom of the steepest part of the Hill... in the middle of the construction. I camped out in the kitchen shelter until the program has finished and made my camp for the night.
July 31 (Illecillewaet Campground to Revelstoke, 49.38mi/79.46km) - I left Glacier in the construction behind and continued West. I stopped at this Hot Springs Resort between the national parks and found an outlet to charge my phone.
Soon afterwards I entered my fifth and final National Park, Mount Revelstoke. There's a few hiking trails in groves and boardwalks, but no camping in the actual Park itself. My luck would have it that I travel through three more dark tunnels.
I came to the historic town of Revelstoke on the West End of the park and made my home for the night at John and Suzanne's house. They are a retired couple who let me stay and do laundry. I cleaned up and started to hang dry my clothes outside while we ate dinner but then it started to thunder and rain. So it took my clothes in and used the dryer. John offered me a beer... Revelstoke variety. Not bad. There was a magnificent view of their iconic Mountain in the back. There were lots of fires in the area and over dinner they told me their daughter is a firefighter and talked about the planes and smoke jumpers, etc. It was a lovely evening...
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