Category Archives: Alberta

Elkford, starting the GDMBR

A bicycle ride across the Americas Posted on by

One tough day, one fun day and one easy day have brought me 110 miles further to Elkford, BC. It was a good introduction to the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) and I can see that I’ll do a hybrid approach, riding GDMBR sometimes and paved roads other times.
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Day One
First day started with a lot of enthusiasm. I had breakfast in the hotel as was at the trailhead shortly after 8am. The temperature was cold, my cycle computer said -1C (30F) but I cycling hard made it feel less cold and it soon warmed up as well. I stopped at start of the Spray River trail and took first snap photo above. Wayne and Trish joined me for the first half of the day, which was fun. I left the trailhead ~45 minutes before they did, but they caught up even before I had finished the 11km of the Spray River Trail. It was somewhat flat, but even one or two slight hills to climb.
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Crossed a few bridges and then more climbing at Goat River Trail.

It did seem like I was going surprisingly slow. I chalked that up to at least three things (a) overall there was more climbing than descent (b) I was just a bit slow on those uphills, carrying my gear (c) I switched over from km to miles. That last one definitely influenced my outlook since I was used to my cycle computer saying “40” or “50” by time I got to lunch and now it seemed much less. I had used km elsewhere in Canada since that was all the road signs, etc but now my GDMBR guide books and similar were all in miles.

At 11.5 miles, we stayed on the trail rather than going to (dusty) Smith-Dorien Spray Road. Overall a better choice, though the trail had some climbing and I had to stop once or twice when my heel was kicking my right pannier into my spokes. Seemed like I was dragging a bit here. We made it ~17.5 miles together and then had lunch.
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Overall, definitely fun cycling with Wayne and Trish on this first bit to start.
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After lunch I had a choice of three routes

  • The red line on map above was a new trail that went East of the Spray Lakes Reservoir. We had hoped to get to starting this trail, but were too slow to get to it before lunch. It would be shorter and fun trail, but I was a concerned about trying a new trail even Wayne and Trish hadn’t done yet
  • Also on East side was Smith-Dorien Spray road, the main road. Most likely the flattest route and a reasonable fallback if the new trail proved too difficult. The drawback here is a large amount of dust on the road.
  • On the West side was the official route. It started on a small gravel road and then after a gate was trail on top of old road bed.

In the end I decided to stay on official route. While it was a little longer, and wasn’t was interesting as the new trail – I figured I’d try keeping with current route first.
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Several more warnings about bears here. After this a number of campground sites along the road.
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A little past 20 miles we had a gate and the road turned to trail. I have a “Cycling the Great Divide” guidebook which suggests stopping for the first day just past this gate and camping. Seemed to early and I pressed on.

The next section was not too difficult trail riding slowly around the lake. I crossed the dam and then a bit more hiking around including a steep 0.75 miles where I pushed my bike up the hill. That brought me to a hiking/camping area named for Mount Shark. When I got to the parking lot I was tired, but figured the hardest was done. Little did I know the gravel road climbed from here. It climbed and then climbed a bit more.

Finally it was almost 5pm when I got near to the top. I saw several “No Camping” signs and considered my options. There was a nice little stream nearby and I could see a spot where I could mostly duck behind the first row of trees. I decided to stop here. Only 38.4 miles but pretty tired for the day. I had a new water filter but it turned out defective so drank the water anyways.

Overall the day was tougher than I expected. There was an overall climb of ~1600ft which probably helped and a fair amount of trail riding which is still somewhat new. I did think it was fortunate that I didn’t have a trailer since that would have made it even slower.
Day Two
Today my primary goal was to climb over Elk Pass and camp somewhere on the British Columbia side.
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Early morning in my semi-hidden campsite before heading down the hill. It was again right at 0C (32F) but going down the hill I switched to new “lobster claw” mittens that put two pairs of fingers together. At bottom of the hill was Mount Engadine Lodge. I saw two people packing up a tent, yelled out – they were also Great Divide riders who I would meet later.

The main gravel road was faster than the trails from day before and miles accumulated a bit faster. However, every time a car would go by it would kick up a bunch of dust which would take time to settle. There were a surprising number of cars and all except one were going in opposite direction. I passed several trailheads, picnic sites and a lot more “no camping” signs.

At 17 miles I came to main road as well as pavement. Wow! That made some difference. After a mile a sign for paved bike path.
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However it was closed due to bear activity. At 23 miles I came to Boulton Creek Trading Post. This was designated as a last chance to buy things before heading out again. I found some water purifying tablets and also decided to get some bear spray.

Bear spray is classified as a firearm in Canada and I had to sign a short declaration with name and address. The declaration essentially indicated that my purpose in using the bear spray was for bears and not for people.
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One mile later was start of trailhead over Elk Pass. I decided to try an experiment this time. The entire distance over Elk Pass was only 3.5 miles uphill and 2.7 miles downhill or 6.2 miles (10km) total. Rather than bike it, I decided to hike it with my bike for the distance. That worked fairly well. On the uphill stretch my bike computer had one hill listed at 18% grade and on downhill one listed at 14% grade. Otherwise it wasn’t too difficult of a hike and a bit more relaxed.
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The top was marked with this gate and signs (looking back) to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. This is first Atlantic/Pacific crossing on the GDMBR as well as first one on my trip so far. I’ve had other crossings so far but for example, I figured out that from McBride Yellowhead Pass was Pacific/Arctic and Sunwapta Pass was Arctic/Atlantic.
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At the trailhead was a gravel Elk River Road. I followed this for another 14 miles. The predominant direction was down, but there were also uphill pieces. The stones made the road rough at times but overall reasonable cycling. There were several “recreation sites” along the way including this one at Tobermory with a cabin. Approximately 10 miles after Tobermory I came to a small site named “Weary River” and finished the day at mile marker 81.6.

Overall, found the second day fun and not quite as exhausting as the first. Walking the pass helped and overall terrain was probably a bit easier with not as much climbing. A little after I set up camp, two cycle tourists arrived. I had seen them this morning packing up from Mount Engadine as I cycled past in first mile. Both from Scotland and somewhat more aggressive timetable than myself and also traveling a bit faster. Unfortunately, they had received a ticket for camping the previous night.
Day Three
Today was easiest day of the three. Woke up a little later and set off down the Elk River road. The road continued to be rough but gradually became better as got closer to Elkford. There were some shorter climbs, but overall lost more elevation than gained.
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Below is a photo of our Scottish cyclists. They were able to condense their gear into less space than mine.
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Along the way we had these trail riders coming the other direction.
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Without too much difficulty was able to make it to Elkford a little past noon. While this is part of British Columbia, I learned that this area still uses the same time zone as Alberta.

Overall, three days of the GDMBR has given me a first taste of the GDMBR. Except for a section of trail replacing road, followed the official route. However, based on my first taste, do think I’ll try doing a hybrid with some road riding skipping some of the most difficult bits. For example, from here to Eureka MT is what looks like perfectly reasonable paved route – a lot of it is the original “Fernie Alternative” that was route before 2010. I will most likely take this paved route down the valley at least to Eureka.

Also realized that not having the trailer is probably a blessing since that would have made the cycling a bit more challenging including pushing the bike up an 18% grade.

Banff, end of phase one

A bicycle ride across the Americas Posted on by

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3962 kilometers over 60 days. Of these 14 days when no cycling was done so ~86km/day on the riding days. My original plan had been designated as a training ride first down the Dalton and then to Watson Lake on routes I had cycled before. After that the Cassiar, Yellowhead (this portion) and Icefields were new routes.

I had two larger mechanical failures: a torn off derailleur on the Dalton and a broken hub that finally failed near Smithers. I replaced both tires along the way. The failures were a bit more than expected, though I now will take an extra freehub kit when I cross into Latin America.

However, overall it was a great trip! Reasonably relaxed, there are days when I could definitely have ridden a bit longer, but perhaps not day after day. No point in burning out so early on an extended trip. Also really liked having the long hours of daylight. I brought along a flashlight but never used it the entire distance to Banff.

The photo above shows the Banff Springs hotel, starting point for the next phase of the trip. This one on my mountain bike and along the Great Divide route. Today I brought my bike in to Bactrax bike shop. Nothing major but the mechanical disc brakes had a bit of a “squeal” to them and also nice to get everything well adjusted and ready for the trip. The mechanic did look at my Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires and suggest I might want something with a bit more tread. I will see how this goes on the trip and if necessary swap tires in Whitefish or similar place.
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Photo above shows bike pump placed at start of the trail.

A few notes about the Great Divide route as I’ve learned it, as well as potential plans here:

  • The Great Divide Route was mapped by 1997 from Roosville, MT to Antelope Wells, NM. In 2004, a Canadian segment was added from Banff to Roosville. Total distance from Banff to Mexico is 2768 miles.
  • The route evolves slightly each year. One of the larger changes in 2010 was a more remote section in Canada through the Flathead Wilderness. The old pre-2010 route remained as the “Fernie Alternative”. I will likely choose the tamer Fernie Alternative.
  • I have two books with me (one kindle one hardback), that provide an itinerary for the Great Divide. Both split the US portion into 62 riding days. One doesn’t have a Canadian portion and the other splits it into 8 riding days – but this is not the Fernie Alternative.
  • Since 2008 there has been a Tour Divide Race (fun film by the way). The fastest racers have figured out how to ride it in 14 days!
  • Not sure what my pace will be – certainly a lot closer to the 70 day pace than the 14 day, but not sure if I’ll be more or less than that or whether I’ll want to or have to take some rest days along the way. Will figure this out as I go along.
  • While there are a number of motels and spaces to stay on the route, a common pattern might be two or three days of remote cycling – followed by a motel town. If it just happens that wifi doesn’t work in that town or not present, then could occasionally be a week without an update. Initially expect enough surface water to filter, but further south in New Mexico might need to carry more water as can be a day or two gaps without water as well.
  • I’ve read a book or two (on Kindle) and some journals of the route. Some of them have me slightly intimidated on difficulties of the trail for myself and the bike. However, not clear how much this highlights particular areas or not and in most places as necessary, I’ll back off and cycle the paved routes that sometimes go not too far from the GDMBR. Same story if weather turns colder this fall or we’ve got a snowstorm or similar. Part of the experiment.

Overall, looking forward to trying this hybrid approach to GDMBR to also see how my mountain bike rides and how touring on this works. Based on how it goes, will use this to learn how to adjust my trip further when I get to Mexico and Phase three.
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In the evening, had dinner with Wayne and Trish, also alumni of the TDA Africa trip in 2013. Fun catching up. Also likely they will join tomorrow when we set off from Banff.

Banff, Icefields Parkway

A bicycle ride across the Americas Posted on by

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The Icefields Parkway is a popular and scenic route from Jasper to Lake Louise. Commercial trucks not allowed and hence lots of tourists in RVs, cars and buses. Also a fair number of bicycles both supported (i.e. unloaded) and unsupported. I had made reservations for each night and hence knew I had to climb 1000m+ the first day. Overall it was a great three day ride – with many photos to show below.
Day One
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It was 4C (39F) starting out but quickly warmed up during the day. The route initially started along the river and was flat, but at 5km after crossing a glacier stream started to climb.
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Near the top was a beautiful lake, perfect for early morning reflections.
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As I neared the end of 93A, I came on this group of rafters getting their pre-trip briefing. At 15km was junction with Icefields Parkway as well as Athabasca Falls.
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The falls didn’t drop far (12m, 40ft) but had lots of fury to them.
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After this followed the river slowly uphill with scenery such as photo above. At 40km was Sunwapta Falls and a lodge here and chance to get lunch.
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Most of the time the shoulder was fine, though did occasionally suffer from two problems: (a) as seen above, some strong lateral cracks that would cause a “thump, thump, thump” as I cycled over them. Interestingly the way to avoid this was to cycle in that groove in the middle and (b) when passing zones appeared the road didn’t get wider but instead the shoulders went away.

However, not to complain.

It was a slow steady climb to ~74km where suddenly the grade increased to ~8%. I pedaled some and also walked a little of this hill.
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Near the top was this tourist attraction where tourists could walk out onto the skybridge that jutted some 250m+ over the valley floor below. After this sky bridge a short descent and last little bits going to the Columbia Icefields.
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A good picture of the end of the icefield glacier below.
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What I thought was interesting was almost immediately the river started large from bottom of the icefield. Also here was a large “Icefields Centre” with cafeteria and chance to refuel at end of the day. After this just 8km including 4km to top of the first pass (2035m) and boundary between Jasper and Banff Parks.
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Overall a tough but satisfying day with over 1000m of steady climbing from Wabasso Campground to and over the pass.
Day Two
I stayed overnight at the Hilda Creek Hostel. A nice little place with dorm and kitchen building. The hostel itself was “unattended” meaning they emailed you a lock code and you needed to make sure you kept everything clean. There was another party of three there, friendly folks who also gave me some water (there river was fresh glacier melt and lots of sediment). The dorm was a bit dark, so I actually set up my tent outside.
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In the morning after the sun reached over the ridge, I set off for the day. First 40km would be downhill and then I would climb just as far back uphill over the next ridge.
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Steep descents down into the Saskatchewan River valley and also several degrees colder as sun hadn’t quite reached. Photo above coming to the “weeping wall” where small rivulets came down the steep rock face.
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Many more dramatic mountains to pass, I stopping taking photos of all of them. At 40km was Saskatchewan Crossing, a large commercial place and chance to get early lunch.
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Tour buses were definitely stopping here and the line to restroom would suddenly grow as busloads queued up.

After lunch another 2km to cross the bridge at 1394m and from then another 34km of climbing back up to 2088m. Had a good climb to start and fortunately, not quite as steep as day before.
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I did see some cyclists such as ones below, but you can see it was fairly busy.
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Pretty close to the top was brief area of construction (and exception to the “no trucks”)
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After this the rest of the day was mostly downhill past several deep blue lakes.
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Here was Crowfoot Glacier.
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End of the day was another hostel, this time Mosquito Creek.
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This hostel had more guests as well as someone attending. Nice location and good place to relax.

Day Three
Woke early in hostel and careful not to wake other campers, made my breakfast in the cook building. Packed my gear and was on the road by 8am. It was still cool in the valley.
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The predominant direction today was downhill with the first 27km going down to Lake Louise Village.
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Just before the village, the Icefields Parkway officially ended and there was a short stretch of Trans-Canada Highway (route one). Apparently, I missed the separate bike path but the (interstate-type) highway was fine. One interesting thing this highway had done was erect huge fences everywhere to keep moose/elk etc off the highway. Instead they were directed onto animal crossings such as the ones above.

I stopped in at the visitor center in Lake Louise and got my Banff National Park information. Also found a chance to upgrade my planned campground to a hotel that wasn’t outrageously expensive. I considered cycling (200m+) up to Lake Louise but decided that could wait. From here the next 60km was along the old route, now named Bow Valley Parkway.
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To help keep the animals from going onto the highway, they had “Texas Gates” as shown in sign above. What is a Texas Gate? Well looks a bit like below.
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Yup, in Texas they would be “cattle guards”.

The Bow Valley Parkway as a quiet route with several information signs and stops along the way.
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This one told us about bears (I only saw one on the second morning of the Icefields ride).
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The route roughly followed the railway and the Bow River.
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This sign and nearby statue was interesting since it talked about internment camps and road crews, but this time during the first world war and likely Ukrainians from the parts of Austro-Hungarian empire.
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In a few places, the road split and each direction was its own road. However, look at the nice wide striped shoulder on this one.

Near end of the Bow Parkway, the road rejoined the Trans-Canada and this time, I did find the bike path that led on to Banff. Nice little parkway that then went past a few lakes.
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To arrive at Banff itself.
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Here I found my way to hotel and then walked around downtown. Tomorrow a rest day here to get a few errands such as laundry done and otherwise prepare for the Great Divide cycling route. Nice to have made it to Banff.

Jasper, on to Alberta

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Big thunderstorm as I awoke. Enough to fill all the divots from the rumble strips, but fortunately dry when I left.
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First day full loaded on the mountain bike. Overall I think my average speed was a little slower than the touring bike, though seems like my endurance was roughly the same. I also had somewhat less things, both the items I left behind and only having two panniers to carry everything.

The first 17km retraced my steps to Robson Visitor Center. Above you can see the “after” picture with my bicycle. In the 10km after the visitor center was a substantial portion of the climb for the day. I put it in low gear and slowly wound my way up the hill.
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A little past the top was Moose Lake and for rest of the day no huge climbs until after Jasper, though some smaller ones to keep everything challenged. Photo above was Moose Lake and then Emerald Ridge in the background.
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The peaks in Robson park were already stunning and could tell I was coming into the Rockies.
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Not far from the border was a rest area with this sign about internment camps for Japanese-Canadians during the second world war. Interesting to see this also happened in Canada, particularly after my visit to Topaz in 2013. Also interesting to see the Canadian government had also put the “Acknowledgement” sign below
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Not much past that I was at top of Yellowhead pass
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This was border with Alberta
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A new time zone
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As well as boundary of Jasper National Park. Five kilometers past the park boundary was an entrance station where I paid fees so I could stay overnight the next six nights in Jasper and Banff National Parks. The next 20km was to Jasper town and was almost level with not much drop from the pass. I did spot a few cyclists again.
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Without much difficulty I found myself at 104km into Jasper town itself. I found a bike shop and bought two inner tubes and also a restaurant and grocery to refuel for both afternoon and next several days.

However, I wasn’t done for the day as my campground was located 18km south of town. Sounds like good advice below, though not real practical if your “vehicle” is a bicycle.
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I took the main road and slowly headed south. At 10km was a split into the 93A which went on west side of the river where campground was located.
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There was a surprisingly big hill in those last 8km and then a descent back down to the river. Overall 122km and a long day. At the campground entrance they informed me they didn’t have bear lockers and if I had food, I would need to give it to them for safe keeping. I asked if instead I might have a fellow camper in next site lock things up. Fortunately, they agreed and fortunately friendly folks across the way kept my food bag for the night.