Canada - Day 1 - Icefields Parkway, Jasper to Columbia Icefields Campground

 66.73 miles, 4488’ elevation gain - 🐻 1 bear 

After coffee and a muffin at our hostel, we set out for our ride down the Icefields parkway, leaving Jasper around 7:30am. For about 4 miles we rode on a path along the Athabasca River which we would follow all day. It’s large and fast near Jasper, a turquoise color. After another 4 miles, after seeing a handful of deer, the path ended and we went on good pavement with a wide shoulder. There are a lot of international tourists and steady cars, but it’s early season, must get much more crowded later. 

Around mile 15, just as we started up a long hill, a shuttle bus driver for Maligne Tours stopped on the opposite shoulder and shouted out the window that a large, cinnamon bear had just crossed the highway to our side, which was quite close to the river. He said it had been on a carcass across the road, and he would turn around to use his bus as a barrier between us and the bear. He didn’t think we should cross the road and ride on the opposite shoulder because the carcass was there. He turned around, pulled in front of us on our shoulder. The bear was briefly visible on the river bank, headed back towards the road, but we couldn’t see whether it was a black bear or grizz. The driver stopped and we passed and pedaled on up the hill, and we didn’t see the bear again . The driver had to turn around again, such a thoughtful thing to do.

Soon we came to Athabasca falls, a dramatic sight shortly off our route. By early afternoon we were ready for a break when we passed the Sunwaptu Lodge. We stopped for a snack and beverage. While we ate, Ed saw a raven fly down to our bikes. He ran out behind an employee who scolded the bird by name, but it had already pecked into one clif bar Ed had in a mesh bag near his handlebars, and he flew off with another one. A smart if infuriating bird.

The river got smaller and the scenery of snow capped peaks and glaciers got more dramatic all day. With 8 miles to go, we faced an 8 mile hill, and it was steep (the climb up river had been very reasonable all day). About 2 miles up was a group of bighorn sheep, stopped cars, and another rider, PJ from Minnesota bikepacking the divide. We continued up hill past a sky bridge viewing spot, then stopped at the Columbia Icefields lodge for a burger dinner (amazing views opposite). PJ also stopped and we compared notes. We all continued 1 more mile to a tent only campground, firewood included for cad$28.50, really nice and small. We had a fire, put our food in the bear boxes, chatted with a group of mountaineers/climbers from Taiwan, looked at a local waterfall, and hit the hay.