Day 6 (day 2 of biking): more downhills than up

31.1 miles logged today.  Top speed recorded: 38 mph (but I had to brake to avoid fishtailing)

We slept in and decided to start the day by calling our dad's since it was too late to call when we got in last night. I love Google Hangout. You can make calls using wifi so there aren't international charges. Not to mention there is no cell service up here anyway. 

Then we decided to walk from our hotel to the Athabasca Glacier before the crowds and bus loads of people arrived.  It was a nice walk and felt good to stretch the legs. 

That's the glacier behind me. 

As you walk up there are markers showing where the glacier was in different years. It is crazy to see how much has melted away. They say in 100 years this glacier will be gone. 

We were able to get pretty close to it and had the whole are to ourselves this morning. It was really nice. As we walked down the tour groups were arriving. We got back to the hotel and packed up to head downstairs for lunch. Apparently this place (The Icefield Center) is an Asian sensation. Seriously, bus loads of them.  The restaurant was delicious Asian food as well. Who knew in the middle of the Canadian Rockies?!

Then back on our bikes. We mentally prepared ourselves that we would start with a climb and then haves huge downhill. The climb wasn't bad at all today. I think we were both shocked by how fast it went by and how less steep it was. And then the huge downhill (2-3 miles). We flew down the hill. It was so much fun!  We passed one cyclist going up the hill, I am so glad I was going down!  At the bottom it was so windy again. It really felt like I was going to be pushed back up the mountain. 

Pretty early in the day we left Jasper National Park and crossed into Banff Nation Park.

Us and our gear after th big downhill!

The rest of the biking day was pretty easy. Mike's knee is bothering him so it was nice that we only did 30 miles. Lots of downhills and small rolling hills today. And beautiful scenery of course. 

The weather has been amazing so far.  Here's hoping we keep getting lucky!

We arrived at our motel, checked in and met another couple who are bike touring from Australia. There is a pub and restaurant I am sure we will check out in a while.  Mike also pointed out there is a fitness room here.  I readily told him NO!

We got some delicious Bbq and closed the night with a pint on the patio overlooking the mountains. I am pretty sure Canadian pints are larger than US pints. 

Day 5: (day 1 of biking). What goes down must come up and up and up

Day one of biking. 67.1miles 

We got on our bikes at 9am and got to our ending spot at 8pm. It was a long day but good. We averaged around 10 mph on the flats, 5 mph uphill and got over 30 mph going down the mountains. 

Enjoying the propane heater in the cabin before heading out for day 1. 

We spent the day biking the Icefields Parkway, which travels between Jasper and Lake Louise through Jasper and Banff National Parks. 

We started the day with breakfast before loading up to hit the road. This is my first trip fully loaded with panniers. Starting out wasn't too bad. Mostly flats and even downhills and we followed the river. About 10 miles in we realized we missed the one turn we had to make today by a mile. Backtracking is never fun but at least there weren't any hills involved. 

It was such a beautiful ride!

I don't know if you can read that sign but it says if you see a bear stay in your vehicle. I don't have one of those...

We quickly arrived at our first hill/mountain of the day. It was hard work up for sure. We had to stop half way up to shed a layer, but the ride down the backside was so much fun. We both tucked down to gain as much 'free speed' as we could. Then I started thinking. That isn't really free speed. I worked my tail off to get up that hill just to come back down. 

It just seemed too perfect to not stop for a photo. 

About 20 miles in we had our first significant break at Athabasca Falls where we enjoyed some snacks and a Dad's root beer in honor of Father's Day. 

Then back on the bikes. Another 15 miles to Sunwapta Falls where we would have lunch. There were some long climbs going up but nothing too steep. 

Sunwapta Falls

Then back on the bikes. 32 more miles. We were over half way there but still had more mountains ahead. We saw several other crazies like us out bike touring as well. 

A little snack break. 

Mike cooling off in some glacier water. 

There were a lot of false flats throughout the day. You thought the ground was flat but then realized you are only going 8 mph and look back and realize you are in fact on a sneaky little hill. 

We finally arrived at what was a long flat stretch along the river. Finally a break!  Wrong. The wind was blowing right in out faces making the flat just as challenging as the hills. I tucked in behind Mike to avoid some of the wind but it was still tough. And then the last mountain of the day. The last 7 miles were so tough and took us forever but we made it. 

We ended part way up the second climb to Sunwapta Pass. Meaning yup, we climbed up that long steep thing before it. It was about 1.25 miles in length, so not crazy long, but it was crazy steep. 

We ended up stopping every quarter mile for a mini break to catch our breath.

After the first and steepest portion I basically collapsed on the ground.  Apparently other tourists in cars found this amusing says Mike.

Refueling after the first part of the climb while overlooking a glacier.

It would have been tough on any bike, but loaded down it was grueling. I kept telling myself there was a shower and dinner at the end and that kept me going. 

Another mini break part way up the climb. A man here told us he thought we were making good time up the hill.  Apparently 4 mph is good time. I didn't really care, it was what I needed to hear right then even if it was probably not true. 

You know what makes climbing up a mountainside with panniers even worse? Being attacked by mosquitos while doing it!  Seriously, it was awful. I did learn however that their top speed must be 5 mph.  When I was going 3-4 mph I was being eaten and swarmed.  When it managed to get up to 5 mph no more Mosquitos. That was definitely motivation to go faster but easier said than done for sure. 

We finally made it to the top and got to enjoy a downhill followed by a less steep but windy uphill. I thought we still had 2 miles to go when I saw this sign saying 1 km. I was sooo excited!

We made it. We checked in. Showered quickly before the restaurant closed and had a celebratory bottle of wine while overlooking the Athabasca Glacier. It truly is beautiful. 

Still smiling at the end of it😄. Exhausted, tummies full we went to bed. 

Day 4: A new nephew!

Happy 1 week anniversary!  We woke up this morning expecting a cold rainy day, but got the exact opposite!  It was beautiful and sunny! It is our last day in Jasper so we were trying to decide what exactly we wanted to do on our last day, but also knowing that laundry was a must today 😉. 

We opted to start the day with an hour horse ride.  Growing up we had horses for a while so I was excited to ride again and see the park by a different mode of transportation that wasn't bike or foot.  My horse was meant to be. His name was FARGO!

He was a great horse. Mike got a horse named Pal, which is fitting because I often call him Buddy and he calls me Pal.

 The ride was pretty neat.  We got to see several lakes, an elk up close, bear claw marks, a woodpecker nest, and overall beauty of the park.  Mike's hips weren't up for the hour ride however.  He had to get off the horse and walk about half way through. It was sad, but he was a good sport about it.  At one point Fargo got spooked and took off.  It was mildly terrifying, but I am convinced he just didn't like being last and wanted to get ahead of everyone else. (we were on the ride with one other couple from Denmark).

Once back at the stable we went to the lodge patio overlooking Lake Beauvert to enjoy some pretzels and beer.  It was absolutely beautiful!  

Post lunch we decided to kayak on the lake.  Mike was sad there wasn't a stand up paddle board option, but they say they don't have them because the water temperature is so cold. Hopefully we will find a place later on the trip.

Then back to the cabin to enjoy and afternoon soak in the hot tub before showering up for dinner in town.  A local had recommended O'Shea's as having the best hand-cut fries in town so Mike had to give it a try.  I think he would say there were good, but nothing special. Although I am sure if this were a biking day they would taste even better!

Then off to do laundry.  We walked to the laundromat to find out it had closed 20 minutes prior.  Poor planning on our part.  However, we went back to the hotel were we had dinner and asked if they had laundry, which they did!  So here I am, in a shady basement of a hotel typing this post and booking lodging for future nights.😜. 

And the best news yet. Since I could connect to wifi here I found out that Daniel was born!  We are so happy to be an aunt and uncle again!  He arrived early, and everyone is doing well. 

 

Day 3: Maligne Canyon

This is Mike writing on the blog for the first time on our Canadian Rockies adventure. Today we biked about 8 miles to see Maligne Canyon in Jasper National Park.  Once at the trailhead, we ditched the bikes and began following the trail along the Athabasca River.  Erin snuck in a shot of me doing so in the above photo. 

As we progressed along the hike, the river's work in carving out the canyon (including several waterfalls) became evident...or so I thought until Erin asked me at our break stop, "Was that the canyon?" :)  We shared a laugh about that before enjoying a hot beverage at the mis-named "Tea House" at Maligne Lodge. It had started to drizzle during the latter part of our hike in, so I was really psyched for our arrival at a place dedicated to serving my favorite hot beverage. However, the "Tea House" was simply the misnomer that the lodge had given their cafeteria; they had a few standard varieties of bagged tea, but seriously, my tea stash at home deserved the "Tea House" title about a hundred times more so than here. Still, hot tea did hit the spot, and Erin enjoyed joking about my Tea House in Hyattsville. 

Rather than take the busier trail along the Canyon back to our bikes, we opted for a more elevated path thru the woods that ended up being mostly ours to enjoy. That was nice, but the lack of people around meant that we needed to keep a constant chatter going -- we were in bear territory and neither of us wanted to surprise one. At some point, I began singing "Mr. Wendal" by Arrested Development and "Take it Easy" by the Eagles MUCH too Erin's amusement; I am not a singer, but bear country will cause me to be belt out a few notes. Thankfully, the picture below is just that and not a video recording. 

About a half mile away from our bikes, the rain returned. About 100 yards away, it began to pour, so we sprinted for the nearest shelter...a port-a-potty toilet at the trailhead. Fortunately, it was reasonably nice by port-a-potty standards, but we did spend 20 minutes there waiting for the rain to subside. Below, I'm peering out to see if the rain has stopped. 

We had wet seats on the ride home, but the sun came out, some hot Neapolitan pizza was had, and then we saw the below elk on the way home. Oh, and the hot tub once we were back at our place!

Day 2: Journey to Jasper

We woke up this morning rested and ready to go. We carried our bikes and panniers to the SUV we rented to load up and drive to Jasper. Now keep in mind we have before easily fit both bikes into my Honda Fit.  Fitting both bikes into the SUV was much more challenging!  It took us about 45 minutes of adjusting, removing bike parts etc to finally make it work. It was a frustrating start to the day for sure.  We finally hit the road for our four hour trek to Jasper.  Really not an exciting drive at all, but I had good company so it was good 😉.  Once we got into the park I saw mountain goats and an elk while Mike was driving. 

We finally arrived in town,  returned the rental car (we are now offically car-less), grabbed some lunch, and went to find our hotel/cabin.

(Photo of our cabin)

Our cabin is amazing. It is a short ride outside of town, but also close enough to walk. It is right on the Athabasca Rive. We got settled and then went exploring.

(Enjoying the river outside our cabin)

(The ride into town)

 We hiked to the top of Old Fort Point to have some amazing views of the Rockies and of Jasper. 

(You can see Jasper in the background)

Then we biked through town to the Jasper Lodge for dinner and a beautiful ride around Lake Beauvert. The lake is Caribbean blue from the glacial silt. 

We couldn't make it all the way around because the elk are calving and no one wants to mess with a momma elk. Our bartender at the lodge was super friendly and full of advice.  Upon leaving there we biked back into town for a pint at Jasper Brewing Company to have some beer brewed with Rockie Mountain water. 

And guess what?!?  They have a creamy version of Old Dutch Dill pickle potatoe chips up here!  ( the non creamy version are my favorite)

Day 1: flight to Canada

Day one was exhausting. Are honeymoons suppose to be this much work?  I got an hour and a half of sleep last night, but Mike ended up pulling an all nighter (apparently he is trying hard to be 10 years younger by returning to his grad school ways). We we're busy packing and getting ready for a three-week adventure. The cases were packed up, and panniers were loaded (special thanks to Aunt BeAnn and Uncle Dave, Tracy and Yusuke for that gift). 

Then off to the airport we went at 4am.  Nothing says fun honeymoon like carrying this load around the airport and through customs. 

But thankfully we didn't have to carry the bike boxes with us too much. Most of the time it was just our panniers. 

We were both exhausted but Mike got a burst of energy when he discovered a Canadian tea company, David's Tea, in Toronto's airport. And don't worry he already has a loyalty card and has figured out where on our bike trip we will pass by this local chain. 

We finally arrived in Edmonton and met two other people on our flight who are biking the same route only they are continuing on to Jackson Hole rather than stopping in Missoula. Both of them were older men, one already had a knee brace on, so I figure if they can do it, I can too. 

The rest of the day we spent running errands, fedexing the bike cases, buying sleeping bags, and exploring downtown Edmonton. I found a new favorite Canadian beer, Dieu du Ciel Aphrodesiaque (a bourbon porter). We looked into going to a World Cup match, but had to settle for riding the elevator with a Sweedish women's team player. The Sweedish team was staying in our hotel. 

The sun stays up forever here.  We returned to the hotel around 10:30 pm and it wasn't even dusk.