Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you.
Dawson Creek -> Lake Louise (469 miles)
Now that I was in a “major” town (read: they have a Walmart) I was going to make sure I wouldn’t be miserable riding the rest of the trip. I stopped by Walmart and grabbed some new rain gear that wasn’t breathable so I knew it would keep me dry. I also bought some hand warmers and a rubber mallet. The two motorcyclist that were camping next to me also had tents that need to be staked down and said that gravel campgrounds were no match for a rubber mallet.
This day’s ride was the one I had been looking forward to most because I would be riding through Jasper and Banff National Parks. Everyone I had talked to on the road said to make sure to leave plenty of time to ride the Icefields Parkway because I’d want to stop every few miles to take a picture.
The ride certainly did not disappoint. Just as I entered Jasper, the landscape changed drastically. I was now in the Rocky Mountain range and it was like nothing I’d see the whole trip. As the name suggests, all the mountains had rocky peaks and sparse tree coverage.
It was hard navigating the highway since most people were stopping along the highway to either take pictures of the scenery or look at the mountain goats. I had seen plenty of cool wildlife so I didn’t bother stopping.
For most of the day I had beautiful weather, but it was supposed to rain in Banff. Even though I was well prepared with new gear, I still didn’t want to get caught in bad weather. My first stop was at Athabasca Falls where it seemed like everyone and their mother was at. My pictures don’t capture it, but it was a mad house walking around the walkways. I didn’t stay long because there were dark clouds all around me.
The rest of the trip I just stopped along the road if I saw something worth taking a picture of, which turned out to be about every 5 miles. The most amazing thing about Banff is the color of the water. It’s a beautiful turquoise color. Also, you frequently ride along ridges, see glaciers, and travel in valleys with huge mountains surrounding you.
I spent half my day riding down the parkway and probably didn’t see even half of its beauty. There are so many hiking trails and stops you can make a long the way. I saw this trip as more of a scoping exercise to see what I’d want to do next time I came and visited the parks.
Halfway through my ride, I stopped for lunch at The Crossing to fill up on gas and grab some lunch. Since my battery died I had been conscious of only starting my bike in neutral, because it seemed like starting it in gear was what caused me trouble. There was a long line of RVs behind me and I felt rushed, so instinctively I put my bike in gear before I started it and sure and enough my battery died again.
I couldn’t believe it. At this point I was fairly confident something was wrong with the electric system. I rolled it down a hill while sitting on it and my light turned back on, which meant I had enough juice to start my engine. Luckily, I avoided having to find someone to give me a jump start.
I had planned to camp at Lake Louise and reserved my spot the night before. I’m glad I did, because by the time I got to the campground it was completely full. Apparently, they have problems with bears because the entire campground is surrounded by an electric fence.
I set up my tent as fast as I could, with help from my trusty rubber mallet, and put my food in the food shed. I wanted to ride up to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise because it was right at sunset and the lighting was perfect. Both lakes are rated as some of the most beautiful in the world. As I was walking back to my campsite I saw a huge fire explode in the corner of my eye. When I looked over there were people scrambling and it almost looked like the back of their van was on fire.
I ran up and found out their gas canister was too close to the fire, had caught ablaze, and spilled around their campsite. The fire looked like it was pretty well contained and the area was all dirt, but they were frantic and started pouring water on it. I started to scream at them to stop. They didn’t realize that gas is oil, oil and water don’t mix, and they were pretty much spreading the fire around their campsite. Other people came scrambling up and started pouring water on it and I had to grab the canisters out of their hands.
They were looking at me like I was crazy, but I had to explain to them simple chemistry. I told them to either smother it with a blanket or just let it burn out and make sure it didn’t spread. Once I felt confident they weren’t going to do anything stupid, I went back to my campsite to head up to the lakes. As I was leaving I could tell clouds had rolled in and I wasn’t going to get a decent picture.
I had brought a tripod on this trip expecting to use it for either selfies on the highway or some sweet night photos. I had completely forgotten that it didn’t get dark up north and I was too lazy to set it up during the day so I hadn’t gotten much use out of it. I was determined to finally use it and saw another guy set up along the river taking pictures of the full moon. This is the first picture I took with my tripod and the water almost looks like ice from the long exposure.
After taking a few night photos I did some research on the next day’s weather. I wanted to make the trip up to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise for some photos, but the weather called for thunderstorms so I booked an Airbnb for the next day about and hour and half south before I called it a night.