Cycling America Adventure of Yvonne

Page 7: July 20 - July 24

Thursday July 20 Jasper - Beauty Creek Arriving at 7 am in Jasper, after a very beautiful sunrise in Terry Fox NP. OK, I didn't sleep, but who cares, and the moonlight was great. I was moved to tears by reading the story of this brave young man who ran across Canada, while having bone cancer and an amputated leg because of it. He raised money during his run, and ran the equivalent of a marathon a day, but died near the end of his run, apparently around this place. Very moving story. I guess that most elderly Canadians know about his epic run, which happened in 1981.
Jasper was a big surprise! One of the most pleasant mountain towns I've been to, and not nearly as commercialized as I had feared. Apparently this is the case with Banff, but somehow Jasper escaped that fate sofar. I rested a bit more by laying out the airmattress and snoozing in my new sleeping bag. Got up and had the most wonderful brekkie at Mountain Food Café. Mexican omelet, and a rhubarb-cranberry-apricot muffin. I bought 4 more muffins as they were SOOO good. Finally sending home excess luggage and e-mailing at the library kept me busy till 1330 h. Then I was finally underway on one of the world's most beautiful stretches of road. I was almost trembling with excitement! I stopped in many places to enjoy the views, and got off the road a few times, like for the Athabasca Falls. Then I finally stopped for the night at a rustic youth hostel. It was once again great to be staying in a hostel. I had forgotten about that! The manager was a nice lady from Quebec who had quit her job as a dental assistant and was planning to come and stay here with her soon-to-be-retiring husband . The hostel was very rustic (and hence cheap) as there were no water taps, no inside toilets. Water had to be fetched from a spring at about 500 m distance away.

Friday July 21 Beauty Creek - Ranpart Creek
This morning I must have woken all others by my coughing and wheezing. Poor girls, they had moved out of another cabin, because of the snoring guy inside. They got a raw deal, but at least they could sleep till 6 am. Because of the cold I took it easy, and there were too many beautiful things to be seen. Stopped for a long time at the Icefield Centre, to regain strength after the strenuous ride up towards Sunwapta Pass. The glaciers are just terrific to see! Then it was an exhilarating ride downhill. Wouldn't want to ride up on that hill. I kept thinking of that Czech guy I had met this morning who even had 2 spare tyres on the bike, and was clad in black. He was on an RTW trip, and had cycled all over Asia across the former Soviet states. Rampart Creek was a slightly upscale hostel, they fetched water from the creek next doors and had a sauna that wasn't functioning now, so I opted for a brief and cold dip of the head in the stream for a wash.
Saturday July 22 Rampart creek - Mosquito Creek
People were probably too polite to say anything about my coughing habit! Instead I was treated on porridge by a couple of touring cyclists. I also met an enterprising Taiwanese girl who was also heading east towards Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Riding up Bow Pass wasn't too difficult, and the view on Peyto Lake near Bow Summitthe most beautiful sofar. It could have been called Mosquito Summit as I was literally swarmed by them. Luckily the magic but toxic stick of DEET worked. The Mosquito Creek hostel was more upscale yet, with a large comfy lounge, and a well with a hand operated pump next to it. Wow, what a luxury for just 14 loonies.

Sunday July 23 Mosquito Creek - Lake Louise - Yoho Valley
In hindsight I should have stayed in, as it was raining almost all day. Instead I pushed on, especially since I had thought to get at Mosquito Creek a day before. I had been given a beautiful room of my own, since I told the manager about my irritating cough. It convinced him easily, as I was now coughing profusely in the evening as well. I had started reading a most interesting novel, called 'A town like Alice' and knew it wouldn't take long before I would have finished devouring it.. Despite the rain, I enjoyed going to Lake Moraine, which I did with a free shuttle bus, as it is 15 km out and 15 km back on a narrow, winding road. Before the bus left, I had some very good grub at the youth hostel. So good, that even the waiter of a very fancy restaurant at Lake Moraine knew about it. Later I even heard people from Vancouver raving about it! It was a pity that the hostel was booked solid, so I had to move on in the driving rain, down Kicking Horse Pass. I was truly pissed off when a police officer pulled me off the road and almost wanted to cite me for 96 dollars because I was impeding traffic by not riding on the shoulder. Later I was informed by randonneurs that I had been doing the right thing as it was indeed very dangerous to ride on that shoulder with the frost heaves, debris and gravel. Most places were decent, but you don't want to take chances when you're going downhill ast a speed of 60-70 km/hr. It would be lethal to weave around these bad patches in such a rain. He sounded like a ***** ing Dutch police officer who gave me a fine for not riding on the bike path and who claimed I'd need to walk the bike if it was as unsafe as I claimed it was. They just don't have any idea, how unsafe it is to cycle downhill on a shoulder. I got away with some unduly praise on how I didn't know that Canadian shoulders were better than US - shoulders. Rubbish, as I would discover later on. Any way, the visiblity was too low to continue during the late evening as I'd planned to do. Even at 1900 hr it was already very dark. The ride up to the hostel was very steep, and now there were no cars to help me, I had to get off and walk the bike 2 times. Once on a longish 12% hill and once on 20+% hill with 3 switch backs that even took a considerable effort to walk up with a loaded bike. Nonetheless it was enjoyable because of the beautiful and calm environment of Yoho Valley.

Monday July 24 Yoho Valley - Field - Golden- Canyon Hot Springs
It was very enjoyable to wake up at the sound of a rushing waterfall. Helga, the lady in charge, had been a manager here for 22 years! This is the only hostel which is only open in summer because of the isolated road and the risk for avalanches. It wasn't difficult to see why she was so fond of this area. She's a very good host too, as she frequently pops corn for her guests at no additional charge. Now the price was a little bit higher again: 15 loonies, as this place even had a shower and water taps. What luxury!!! But still no electricity, as light was provided by gas lights. I left late, as I finished the novel here, after reading steadily till 1 am and from 8am to 11am. I left the book as a gift to the hostel and it was accepted gracefully. I think the hostel is a better place for the book. Instead of a lighter burden, I got more, since Helga doesn't like abandoned food, so she donated a bag of rice and bread to me, as well as a bottle of 7-Up. The latter one was the easiest to digest, as I had no other food left. Field was the first stop down the road, and I refueled with a chicken burger alongside with a whole crowd of people who had been let out of several touring buses. I was sorry to have missed the great little restaurant 'General Store' Trevor mentioned as I only read about it a day later.

The ride into the canyon after Field wasn't too scary, despite the lacking shoulders. I was very tired though and pulled off the road for 1 hour to take a nap on one of the picknick tables by spreading out the mattress. Then I did chicken out after I was faced with a short climb which intimidated me as I had to share the same lane with lots and lots of fast-moving traffic. Now I was cheating anyway, I thought it was a good idea to go to Canyon Hot Springs for a soak and a swim, if the place would offer what the name promised. John and Christine from Winnipeg were very helpful and dropped me off right at the entrance. I wasn't sorry to have missed the climb up the Roger's pass which was very steep and had some seemingly scary tunnels in them. I was sorry to have missed some of the great scenery though. The pool in C.H.S. was terrific, but the day pass, which was valid till the next day, would require me to stay overnight in the campground. I was shocked to hear the price: $19 for just one person in a tent. Upon the suggestion of other campers I searched for people to share a site with. While there were no other cyclists, there was a nice secluded spot with a camper van. I approached the owner, who was only happy to share the site with me. He and his wife had been very worried about their son when he was cycling across the USA and really roughing it by sleeping in a sleeping bag underneath picknick tables. They were happy to return the favour to another cyclist as their son had had so much help from complete strangers. It was a true pleasure to talk with Vicky and Norm, who also were travelling quite a bit themselves.

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Thursday July 20 Jasper - Beauty Creek Arriving at 7 am in Jasper, after a very beautiful sunrise in Terry Fox NP. OK, I didn't sleep, but who cares, and the moonlight was great. I was moved to tears by reading the story of this brave young man who ran across Canada, while having bone cancer and an amputated leg because of it. He raised money during his run, and ran the equivalent of a marathon a day, but died near the end of his run, apparently around this place. Very moving story. I guess that most elderly Canadians know about his epic run, which happened in 1981. Jasper was a big surprise! One of the most pleasant mountain towns I've been to, and not nearly as commercialized as I had feared. Apparently this is the case with Banff, but somehow Jasper escaped that fate sofar. I rested a bit more by laying out the airmattress and snoozing in my new sleeping bag. Got up and had the most wonderful brekkie at Mountain Food Café. Mexican omelet, and a rhubarb-cranberry-apricot muffin. I bought 4 more muffins as they were SOOO good. Finally sending home excess luggage and e-mailing at the library kept me busy till 1330 h. Then I was finally underway on one of the world's most beautiful stretches of road. I was almost trembling with excitement! I stopped in many places to enjoy the views, and got off the road a few times, like for the Athabasca Falls. Then I finally stopped for the night at a rustic youth hostel. It was once again great to be staying in a hostel. I had forgotten about that! The manager was a nice lady from Quebec who had quit her job as a dental assistant and was planning to come and stay here with her soon-to-be-retiring husband . The hostel was very rustic (and hence cheap) as there were no water taps, no inside toilets. Water had to be fetched from a spring at about 500 m distance away.

	Friday July 21 Beauty Creek - Ranpart Creek This morning I must have woken all others by my coughing and wheezing. Poor girls, they had moved out of another cabin, because of the snoring guy inside. They got a raw deal, but at least they could sleep till 6 am. Because of the cold I took it easy, and there were too many beautiful things to be seen. Stopped for a long time at the Icefield Centre, to regain strength after the strenuous ride up towards Sunwapta Pass. The glaciers are just terrific to see! Then it was an exhilarating ride downhill. Wouldn't want to ride up on that hill. I kept thinking of that Czech guy I had met this morning who even had 2 spare tyres on the bike, and was clad in black. He was on an RTW trip, and had cycled all over Asia across the former Soviet states. Rampart Creek was a slightly upscale hostel, they fetched water from the creek next doors and had a sauna that wasn't functioning now, so I opted for a brief and cold dip of the head in the stream for a wash. Saturday July 22 Rampart creek - Mosquito Creek People were probably too polite to say anything about my coughing habit! Instead I was treated on porridge by a couple of touring cyclists. I also met an enterprising Taiwanese girl who was also heading east towards Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Riding up Bow Pass wasn't too difficult, and the view on Peyto Lake near Bow Summitthe most beautiful sofar. It could have been called Mosquito Summit as I was literally swarmed by them. Luckily the magic but toxic stick of DEET worked. The Mosquito Creek hostel was more upscale yet, with a large comfy lounge, and a well with a hand operated pump next to it. Wow, what a luxury for just 14 loonies.

Sunday July 23 Mosquito Creek - Lake Louise - Yoho Valley In hindsight I should have stayed in, as it was raining almost all day. Instead I pushed on, especially since I had thought to get at Mosquito Creek a day before. I had been given a beautiful room of my own, since I told the manager about my irritating cough. It convinced him easily, as I was now coughing profusely in the evening as well. I had started reading a most interesting novel, called 'A town like Alice' and knew it wouldn't take long before I would have finished devouring it.. Despite the rain, I enjoyed going to Lake Moraine, which I did with a free shuttle bus, as it is 15 km out and 15 km back on a narrow, winding road. Before the bus left, I had some very good grub at the youth hostel. So good, that even the waiter of a very fancy restaurant at Lake Moraine knew about it. Later I even heard people from Vancouver raving about it! It was a pity that the hostel was booked solid, so I had to move on in the driving rain, down Kicking Horse Pass. I was truly pissed off when a police officer pulled me off the road and almost wanted to cite me for 96 dollars because I was impeding traffic by not riding on the shoulder. Later I was informed by randonneurs that I had been doing the right thing as it was indeed very dangerous to ride on that shoulder with the frost heaves, debris and gravel. Most places were decent, but you don't want to take chances when you're going downhill ast a speed of 60-70 km/hr. It would be lethal to weave around these bad patches in such a rain. He sounded like a ***** ing Dutch police officer who gave me a fine for not riding on the bike path and who claimed I'd need to walk the bike if it was as unsafe as I claimed it was. They just don't have any idea, how unsafe it is to cycle downhill on a shoulder. I got away with some unduly praise on how I didn't know that Canadian shoulders were better than US - shoulders. Rubbish, as I would discover later on. Any way, the visiblity was too low to continue during the late evening as I'd planned to do. Even at 1900 hr it was already very dark. The ride up to the hostel was very steep, and now there were no cars to help me, I had to get off and walk the bike 2 times. Once on a longish 12% hill and once on 20+% hill with 3 switch backs that even took a considerable effort to walk up with a loaded bike. Nonetheless it was enjoyable because of the beautiful and calm environment of Yoho Valley.

	Monday July 24 Yoho Valley - Field - Golden- Canyon Hot Springs It was very enjoyable to wake up at the sound of a rushing waterfall. Helga, the lady in charge, had been a manager here for 22 years! This is the only hostel which is only open in summer because of the isolated road and the risk for avalanches. It wasn't difficult to see why she was so fond of this area. She's a very good host too, as she frequently pops corn for her guests at no additional charge. Now the price was a little bit higher again: 15 loonies, as this place even had a shower and water taps. What luxury!!! But still no electricity, as light was provided by gas lights. I left late, as I finished the novel here, after reading steadily till 1 am and from 8am to 11am. I left the book as a gift to the hostel and it was accepted gracefully. I think the hostel is a better place for the book. Instead of a lighter burden, I got more, since Helga doesn't like abandoned food, so she donated a bag of rice and bread to me, as well as a bottle of 7-Up. The latter one was the easiest to digest, as I had no other food left. Field was the first stop down the road, and I refueled with a chicken burger alongside with a whole crowd of people who had been let out of several touring buses. I was sorry to have missed the great little restaurant 'General Store' Trevor mentioned as I only read about it a day later.

The ride into the canyon after Field wasn't too scary, despite the lacking shoulders. I was very tired though and pulled off the road for 1 hour to take a nap on one of the picknick tables by spreading out the mattress. Then I did chicken out after I was faced with a short climb which intimidated me as I had to share the same lane with lots and lots of fast-moving traffic. Now I was cheating anyway, I thought it was a good idea to go to Canyon Hot Springs for a soak and a swim, if the place would offer what the name promised. John and Christine from Winnipeg were very helpful and dropped me off right at the entrance. I wasn't sorry to have missed the climb up the Roger's pass which was very steep and had some seemingly scary tunnels in them. I was sorry to have missed some of the great scenery though. The pool in C.H.S. was terrific, but the day pass, which was valid till the next day, would require me to stay overnight in the campground. I was shocked to hear the price: $19 for just one person in a tent. Upon the suggestion of other campers I searched for people to share a site with. While there were no other cyclists, there was a nice secluded spot with a camper van. I approached the owner, who was only happy to share the site with me. He and his wife had been very worried about their son when he was cycling across the USA and really roughing it by sleeping in a sleeping bag underneath picknick tables. They were happy to return the favour to another cyclist as their son had had so much help from complete strangers. It was a true pleasure to talk with Vicky and Norm, who also were travelling quite a bit themselves.