Day 28: Jasper National Park

Mt. Robson Provincial Park, BC >> McBride, BC >> Jasper National Park, AB >> Lake Louise, AB
304 miles ridden/7 hours

This morning’s oil check was almost bone dry, so I backtracked to McBride praying there’d be no catastrophic engine seizure along the way.

While tending to my bike at the local Husky (a Canadian gas station chain) a pair of VTX riders came over and invited me to breakfast, verifying the old slogan: “You meet the nicest people on a Honda!” They were husband and wife en route to a VTX rally in the adjacent province of Alberta, and they offered advice about roads nearby – the Crowsnest Pass which I’ll take tomorrow – and afar. When I mentioned I was heading to Quebec, they suggested a few roads in the vicinity of Montreal to check out.

A view of the mountains in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.
A view of the mountains in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada

Driving back through Mount Robson Provincial Park, I soon crossed the border into Alberta’s Jasper National Park, the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies. Surrounded by mountains on both sides, the Jasper Highway/Icefields Parkway provides a spectacular, scenic 140-mile cruise through nature’s bounty. Coincidentally, it also runs parallel to the continental divide.

A view of Mount Temple from Lake Louise in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.
A view of Mount Temple from Lake Louise in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

The town of Jasper reminded me of a ski resort village that thrives on tourism; Lake Louise just a bit less so. The fellow working at the Lake Louise Visitor Information Center suggested the Outpost Pub for a meal, and my helmet drew the interest of two guys who wanted to hear where I’d come from and where I’d been. Not only did they ride, they also worked at the bar and bought me a drink! Everyone in Canada is soooo friendly, it’s surreal. Or maybe that’s how it should be?

In my tent plotting the next few days’ travels, it appears that Minot, ND, is about 20 hours away… That’s two days of hard riding, 3 or 4 tops. I wonder if Robert sent the headlight to Pure Honda already? Once again, cutting corners proved to deliver no benefits. In defiance of my own Rule of the Road, I’d stopped replacing the clear packing tape that acted as a rock guard for my headlights because I got tired of performing this maintenance ritual every morning, and naturally that decision came back to haunt me, proving that Murphy’s Law is alive and well…

Hopefully sunny skies tomorrow. I notice it’s sunny at dawn and dusk, and cloudy during the day a lot. Kinda like California’s June gloom. Odd.

Also, I’m seeing a lot more Hondas – mostly Goldwings – lately. Is it something in the air?

Random thoughts:

  1. Dragonflies are the squirrels of the insect world, darting straight into danger/traffic.
  2. Litterbugs annoy me. The justification that “There’s plenty of beautiful scenery over there” is preposterous. What if we all put the burden on the other guy?
  3. After this trip, will I ever learn to sleep without a can of bear spray by my side?
  4. Per my original schedule, I should have left Minot, ND, today for Winnipeg, so I’m lagging by about a week.
  5. But what a week it’s been! In the last seven days, I have: been to the Arctic Circle, ridden the Top of the World Highway, and traveled the ALCAN.