Alberta. From Jasper to Banff

Page 6. Into the Rockies, riding the Icefields Parkway, luxury camping, good friends, big mountains and beautiful lakes.

After leaving Prince George in northern British Columbia I was only three days riding away from Jasper, Alberta. From there I would be on the Icefields Parkway a 300km road down to another mountain town called Banff. It felt good to be there in the time I planned and was looking forward to seeing these epic scenes everyone had been banging on about.

After a few fairly long days on the bike and some roadside camping I was greeted by views of Mount Robson. It’s not always fully on show due to the weather but fortunately I’d landed on a clear day. It was spectacular and it felt like an arrival as I wasn’t particularly far from the town of Jasper. However, with the heat and the hills it took a good effort to finish the day.

I met another bike tourer on the road into town, Lars was from Belgium and we had a celebration beer at the brew bar before checking into the nearest campsite. The Whistler Campsite had a load of new facilities and compared to the wild camping I’d been happily doing this place felt super luxury.

It was always my plan to have some time off the bike in Jasper, see the place for myself and rest the legs properly. The trouble was that all the mountains and lakes around there are very accessible by bike! I ended up going for a fair old ride around most days to check some of these spots out, not resting very much at all. Had to be done though and realistically the coming days back on the road touring through the park would be shorter and more relaxed than what I’d been doing for the last six weeks.

Fully enjoyed the stop here and among visiting some of the popular spots I did make some time to do nothing and chill at the nice bars and cafes. So much outstanding natural beauty there, all incredibly close and accessible from the town. Being a national park it was all very clean and organised too with big wide roads, cycling around there is a dream.

I rode on from Jasper with Nicolas, a lad who was backpacking around Canada through the summer. We met at the campsite and he fancied a pedal out so hired a mountain bike to join me. He warned me he’s not been on a bike in a while but there was no hurry for me. It was a tad windy and wasn’t long before Nicolas was suffering a bit on the climbing. I felt a little smug waiting at the top on the loaded bike but it was soon knocked out of me when I was playing about on his rental. Forgot they have the brakes set on different sides over there so my wheelie attempt ended up off the back and I was on my arse. Smooth.

There was no hurrying along this road for me, I was keen to get to Banff but it’s just a chain of incredible views. I enjoyed slow mornings and early setups in some of the numerous campsites along the road. The weather was prime too, as I’d hoped for in August, and somehow only stayed warm and sunny.

There’s something like 50 glaciers you can see along this section of road and there’s a long stretch near the Columbia Icefield where the valley narrows. They’re big mountains, some of the biggest in the Rockey’s, and with snow and ice on top it was all looking super sexy. I met some other bike tourers here too and and after a walk out to see the glacier up close we all had a few nights at the Icefields Campsite nearby.

These guys where the first people I met long term bike touring as a family, Vanessa and Bertrand had two boys Leo and Lucas and it was great to see how they operate. Another couple were aiming to achieve the hand bike world record distance by cycling from Alaska to California. Michiel was on the hand bike and Chiara following, their journey is shared on a YouTube channel too. I was thinking I was doing a hard thing but hanging out with this lot made my trip seem like a piece of cake. Inspirational stuff.

I rode on with Chiara and Michiel for the next three days, camping near lakes and rivers, enjoying the rest of the road down to Banff. We had a few days off then in Banff enjoying the busy little mountain town, besides wanting to rest my legs and drink a few beers before the next leg there was some bike servicing required.

Fortunately I found a friendly rental shop owner and they let me use the outdoor workshop unconditionally. All was well with the bike here besides a few squeaks, everything was just very overdue a clean and a grease so it felt good to look it over and give it some tlc.

From Banff was the official start of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, my next leg. I was so keen to get cracking that I wasn’t too interested in spending a load of time in the town itself. It was also getting on a bit for time in the season. Thankfully I was all good around late August but it didn’t leave a lot of room for down time over the coming weeks. Heading south is fine but being up in the mountains of Colorado in October would be a higher chance of difficult weather.

I’d been chilling plenty so it was time to get cracking and do the thing I came out here to do. With a steady two weeks through Jasper National park I felt like I got my moneys worth!

Not sure any of these photos of mine here will really do it justice but these are heavily spectated views. A quick google of Icefields Parkway will throw up some far finer photography.

Before I visited this area I regularly got preached by people about how impressive it is. To the point it was almost getting boring, could almost feel my eyes rolling at the next person banging on about the Icefields Parkway. Seems now I get it and have become this person, can’t recommend it enough.

CW