Wild Wild West 2

[freefallen]

Just wanted to tease you
The roads in this park are unbelievable! Besides curvy twisty ones, they are in the mountains and going up and down. Pay attention to GPS, not to the road itself. The road is surrounded by forest and it wasn't possible to take a nice shot from the top:





Lake Minnewanka:



There are so many cyclists and skiers:

[Oldone]

Those photos are something else. I think I might have to see the Banff area someday. I can't delay it too long though since I'm moving right up there in my age. Thanks for taking the time to do this for the rest of us. I certainly do appreciate it.....

Gary "Oldone"

Grampa’s Lake Superior Ride
Grampa’s National Monument Ride

[houndawgg]

Originally Posted by freefallen

Holy cow! we ARE neighbors. I live 10 mins away from Monmouth Cycles, in Holmdel. small world!

I'm in Millstone. I was suppose to be doing a very similar trip like yours next week, but I crashed on my Concours about two months ago and broke my wrist, so I had to cancel for this fall.
At least I can see how your trip goes to help ease my depression :)

[freefallen]

Originally Posted by houndawgg

I'm in Millstone. I was suppose to be doing a very similar trip like yours next week, but I crashed on my Concours about two months ago and broke my wrist, so I had to cancel for this fall.
At least I can see how your trip goes to help ease my depression :)

Ouch-ouch.... I'm so sensitive to such injuries. Being a skydiver I nearly killed myself. Twice. Had broken femur, pelvis, knee and titanium hardware. I don't want to show my x-ray to scare the rest of you. I'm ok now but it took me a while to recover.

Looks it's right hand, how are you getting by? Wish you a fast recovery, bro!

[freefallen]

Originally Posted by Oldone

Those photos are something else. I think I might have to see the Banff area someday. I can't delay it too long though since I'm moving right up there in my age. Thanks for taking the time to do this for the rest of us. I certainly do appreciate it.....

Gary "Oldone"

Thank you!

[freefallen]

On the way to Vancouver, about 6 am. In about half an hour fog (or clouds) disappeared.

[slide]

Nix pix and narrative.

Do I get you right that when you leave SoCal, you will just do a blast from CA thru AZ, NM, TX, etc until you return to NJ?

[houndawgg]

Originally Posted by freefallen

Ouch-ouch.... I'm so sensitive to such injuries. Being a skydiver I nearly killed myself. Twice. Had broken femur, pelvis, knee and titanium hardware. I don't want to show my x-ray to scare the rest of you. I'm ok now but it took me a while to recover.

Looks it's right hand, how are you getting by? Wish you a fast recovery, bro!

I'm basically a lefty, but it's healing fast and painless. If I crashed a few weeks earlier, might not have missed my trip, which still might have been a poor decision.
Loving your report, great pics also.

[freefallen]

Canada is behind us, so is Washington and Oregon. We are already in California.

So far I’ve only been rained on once in Banff and Yoho. It has been overcast but this didn’t make it any less beautiful.

Canadian geese:



The well known Lake Louise and similarly famous hotel Fairmont Chateau:



You can take a walk around the lake and up the mountain for a view and to take pictures. The lake isn’t small but you can walk around it.





The view of the lake from the hotel:





Half the ride is done, we made it to SF. I earned a small rest, one day. After that I start the return trip but this time alone.
My son met with his friends here and will stay with them for a few days and then fly home.

[freefallen]

Originally Posted by slide

Nix pix and narrative.

Do I get you right that when you leave SoCal, you will just do a blast from CA thru AZ, NM, TX, etc until you return to NJ?

Thanx!
Yes, you got it right.

[freefallen]

Originally Posted by houndawgg

I'm basically a lefty, but it's healing fast and painless. If I crashed a few weeks earlier, might not have missed my trip, which still might have been a poor decision.
Loving your report, great pics also.

Thank you!
Good for you. I was in terrible pain and even morphine didn't help. Doctors found some substitution.

[freefallen]

It was nice to cool down near the glacier in a hot day:



If I'll get some time tonight, I write little bit about this park.

[freefallen]

The Icefields Parkway – one of the world’s most spectacular mountain highways.
This is the description from the official site. I don’t know if it’s the most spectacular in the world, but it’s pretty. There are many glaciers and waterfalls.

I picked up my son in Calgary and we set off for the city of Jasper which is found to the north of the park with the same name. In front of us there were 300 miles and many planned stops.



The road is very scenic:



One of the lakes with a name I can’t remember:



Near the same lake, I’ll reiterate the fact that this isn’t photoshoped and the colors are real:



Getting close to the glacier:



It looks large and unending. At its foot is a strong flowing river as it’s supposed to be in the summer:



Take note of where the glacier was in 1992:



It was here in 1982, you can see the big difference after only 30 years:



Endless waterfalls. I left my tripod on the bike and had no strength to go back for it. Photographed by hand:



How it’s supposed to be, where there’s a waterfall there’s a rainbow:



Everyone is chasing the rainbow:



It was our first time staying in a hostel. It was mostly filled with student backpackers and there were 40 bunks in the room. It was a nice experience and pretty comfortable.

The next day was our longest ride of 500 miles from Jasper to Vancouver. Along the road we found an additional hour to the day after crossing the time zone.

[houndawgg]

Originally Posted by freefallen

[FONT=Verdana]


If I'll get some time tonight, I write little bit about this park.

Great pic

[freefallen]

The road from Jasper to Vancouver was beautiful and picturesque. Despite the 500 mile ride on a bike with a passenger, it passed by imperceptibly, interestingly and without fatigue.
I haven’t planned anything here, we simply made many stops to enjoyed the nice views.

Pre-dawn silence:



Morning fog, hasn't had time to disperse: