Our Cycling Trip Through the Rockies

We left from Osoyoos on May 21^st. Tricia (my wife) and I had little idea what to expect. Less than 1/2 hour into the trip, we started to ascend what we later learned is called Anarchist Pass. We climbed for about 90 minutes, sweat and tears shed on the way.

Our plan was to cycle along Hwy 3, through Grand Forks, Castlegar, Salmo, Creston and then Cranbrook (map, 180 kb GIF). But when we got to Castlegar, we were told that we could avoid the Kootenay Pass (1774 metres... highest in BC) by taking Hwy 3A through Nelson and across a ferry (the longest free ferry ride in North America). We're glad we did. Nelson is a cool city. The movie "Roxanne", with Steve Martin, was filmed there. We even went to see the fire station that is in the movie.

Lockhart Creek

We had more than our share of rain. In fact, while we were in Cranbrook, it rained all night, and we woke up to face a cold, wet day. It was cold enough to turn the rain to sleet. We pulled off the road to re-evaluate our plan for the day. We decided to hitch-hike as far away from the foul weather as we could. It was the first time either of us had hitch-hiked. But before I could even raise my thumb, a man in a VW Westfalia camper van stopped and asked us if we wanted a ride. We took that ride for about 200km, right into Banff (across the Continental Divide). We even saw a brown bear (at a distance) from the van. Thanks, Larry, wherever you are!

The Continental Divide

Chris, Jen and me (Jeff)

Just before we got to Creston, we met another cyclist named Chris (an internet software programmer from Ottawa), on his way across Canada. We cycled with him for a couple days. In a small town called Yahk (just east of Creston), we also met Jen (a woman from Brantford Ontario). She was driving to Alert Bay to work and have a fresh start on the west coast.

Friendly Cat
(on Tricia's back)

We have two cats at home. We took them to their aunt's place while we were travelling. One of the hardest things about the trip was being away from our cats. So, whenever we saw cats, we didn't hesitate to get our feline fix. This cat lives at the Rampart Creek Youth Hostel, about 70km south of the Columbia Icefields.


Richard and Amy	Tricia, Jeff, Jordan and Jessica

Also at the Rampart Creek Hostel, we met Richard and Amy. They are on their honeymoon, cycling from Kamloops, down the Icefields Parkway, and possibly down to Montana. They went to UBC (as did Tricia and I). In fact, Richard is studying dynamical systems, which is my area of specialty. Amy just finished a degree in geology, and will be going to med. school at McMaster University.

We met another couple from UBC. Jordan and Jessica just finished their bachellor degrees in bio. chem. and are both going into med. school at UBC. Jessica's father is Uli Haussmann, a math professor that I worked with at bit at UBC.

Athabaska Glacier

Luckily, we had a nice sunny day when we visitted the Columbia Icefields. We took the SnoCoach tour. A SnoCoach is a specialized bus with huge wheels that can handle the terrain of a glacier, including an 18^o incline... the steepest commercial road in North America. The SnoCoach was fun, but the average age on the bus was about 60, so for those younger people I would suggest the 3-hour hike tour instead. The tours didn't start until mid-June, so we had no choice. We stood on the Athabaska glacier for a photo.

Wood-burning Sauna
at Hilda Creek Canoeing at
Beauty Creek

The Youth Hostels along the Icefields Parkway are deemed "rustic", but in my opinion, better than the crowded hotel-type hostels in the bigger cities. Some of them have wood-burning saunas. All of them have a spirit of natural beauty. You can't tell in the photo, but it was snowing lightly. The Hilda Creek Hostel is 8km south of the Columbia Icefields, at an elevation of around 2000m. The Beauty Creek Hostel has a canoe that you can use. Tricia and I took it out for a spin. Here's me at the stern of the canoe.

Castle Junction

I think the best picture I took during the trip was this one, taken at the Castle Junction, where the Trans-Canada Hwy meets the Icefields Parkway (half way between Banff and Lake Louise). In the background is Castle Mountain. Tricia is sitting by her bike in front of the building.

Typical Campsite

Jasper

We saw lots of different wildlife, including elk, and mountain goats. Especially around Jasper. When we got to Jasper, we took the tramway up to the summit of Whistlers Mountain. The ride to the base of the tramway was a brutal 3km uphill grind. Very steep. But the view from the top of the tramway was worth it.

Finally!

After Jasper, we had about 5 days of cycling east on the Yellowhead Highway (Hwy 16). The Rocky Mountains quickly disappeared into the horizon behind us, and we were in the foothills. Many people told us about the tough hills we would encounter before Edmonton, one of which took us over the highest point of the Yellowhead. Well, the hills that materialized were nothing compared to those that we tackled in the Rockies (Bonanza Pass was the worst). The highest elevation on the Yellowhead is 1163m. Jasper is at about 1035m, and Edmonton I would guess is around 700m. The "Welcome to Edmonton" sign was a sight for sore eyes... make that legs.

Our specific destination was the home of our good friends, Colleen Stewart and Terry Rolston. They are a goofy couple. And reality pretty much gets checked at the door when Tricia and Colleen are together.

Here is a picture of Terry and Colleen just on their way out the door to go to work.

In all, we pedaled just over 1200km, and hitch-hiked about 200km. Our average speed was around 22km/h... slower in the mountains, and faster in the foothills.

Page by Jeff and Tricia.