Jasper National Park

Lots of pics, this park is huge. It starts about 25 kms North East of Lake Louise and goes North for quite awhile. The Icefields Parkway goes through it. It passes some of the most beautiful scenery in the World, period. From the park gates to Jasper is 230 kms. There is a gas station at Saskatchewan Crossing - thank God! My bike would not have made 230 kms.

There was a lot of traffic on the road. At first I was trying to keep by myself and passing lots. But then I stopped and took lots of pictures. The water is opal coloured in the lakes. I didn't take pics at the Glacier, as it was the end of Summer and basically gone. I guess the ice has heard of Global Warming. But I have some pics of glaciers.

The ride was good, Wuthering Heights played at the top, where the glacier has scraped the mountain and there is a field of boulders, i imagine the ice moves them around like toys. It basically looks like a swamp with a whole pile of big rocks strewn around it.

Just North was a construction area, as I was riding by I saw some rock piles on the side of the road. I did a u-turn and went back and took pics. I was lucky the bike could fit on the shoulder.

Just around the corner is Tangle Creek, that is the tall waterfall. If you speed around the corner coming from the South, you'd miss the waterfall.

Heading North you get to ride beside the Athabasca River. It is opal coloured too. (I sound like Travels With Pepe).

Having the bike allows you to stop and take pics at non-designated places. One lookout for the Atha-B River was boing compared to the side of the highway. I stopped at the Falls, it was crowded, I think there was 5 buses there, and they were all at the viewing points.

I saw a sign for Edmonton and had to start motoring, so it would not be totally dark when I got home. I rode up to Jasper had a quick burger and then East.

Earlier this year I encountered a deer on my bike. I was riding along, and started to pass a car. She suddenly put on her brakes, I sped up a bit to avoid her veer to the left and then in front of me I saw one deer go by (I went phew), then another deer. We bumped into each other. I stayed up, and kept on going. I thought I was dead, I had to have friends tell me I wasn't.

Anyway. See the pic with the Big horn Sheep? There was a speed zone, to reduce your speed as there maybe sheep on the road. There were! Normally the moufflons are not there, on this day they were. So a lot of people stopped to take pics. Originally all the moufflons were on the same side of the road as I was. Then they decided to cross the road. As they were crossing one, then two ran in front of a pickup towing a trailer, I am not sure how fast he was going. But considering there were more than a few people on the side of the road, he was going too fast. The third moufflon ran into the side of the trailer. I heard a great big thunk. A woman screamed at driver. He didn't stop. The moufflon got up and ran across the road. He looks ok.

The pickup stopped down the road, I think he has to buy a new window for the side of his trailer. They look small, but they aren't and then can move fast.

The rest of the ride was ok. I got home 8 minutes faster than I thought I would.

Radium to Lake Louise (Part 2)

So I was on the bike and had just entered Kootenay National Park. It was grey all the way up to the hot springs. I drove through this mountain, and then wham, the Sun was out. I was 4 kms from motel and in a different valley.

I just realized there are a lot of pics in this part, and there will be a lot more for the next part, so there are three parts.

Kootenay National Park was like Zion Canyon in Utah, passes through mountain, climbs, descents on lots of curves. It is also where you start to realize you are leaving British Columbia and heading into Alberta.

The pine beetle has been busy in this park. There were at least three mountains where they had killed all the trees. The Park Service was conducting controlled burns, I knew the smell. I was lucky enough to be going through when there was mist, so they hadn't started the fires yet.

I passed Dolly Varden camp area, it sounds like a sheep's name. I didn't have my velcro gloves!

Soon I was in Alberta and then Lake Louise. It was sunny this time. I drove up to the lake. There was motorcycle parking, very close to the walkway to the lake. A swapped camera duties with a couple, it was fun. I don't have a cheesy grin in front of the lake as there was an off road vehicle backing up, he would have hot me if I stayed where I was.

The pic with the boards and the lake was a total fluke, at that brief instant of time, there was no-one on that section of the walkway (actually this was the third pic, I have two others with an ankle and a shoe in the corner).

Comfortably Numb was playing on iPod, followed by U2's Numb and Sara MacLaughlin's 'Heaven Holds a Sense of Wonder' The music and the scenery were causing goosebumps.

Hoped on the bike and headed back down the hill. Got gas and then headed to Jasper National Park.

As Jasper is the most beautiful Park, it deserves it's own blog ...there are more pics.

Radium and on (Part 1)

There may be a lot of pictures, which caused problems on Blogger the last time.

I left Nelson shortly after writing the last blog. Headed East to catch the Ferry at Balfour. No wait, I just rode on. It looked like a short ride, but it was not.

At Kootenay Landing we got off loaded, I wasn't first this time. I had to pass a lot of cars to get away from them....why, twisty winding roads again!. This was 70 kms worth to Creston BC. Lots of fun and I took lots of pictures.

A bit of history, may as well stick it here. The Kootenay Valley is smaller than God made it. Man built a reservoir and the valley last 2/3 of it's arable land. See the history at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_LakesWorse, the North American Water and power Alliance (NAWPA) had a proposal in the 70's to flood the whole thing to supply water to California, Arizona and Nevada. It hasn't happened......yet.

The area is Canada's best ranked motorcycling area. It is pure fun. I had as much fun on the way to Creston as to Kaslo the day before.

I stopped in Creston for coffee and lemon poppy seed cake. Creston is not a pretty place, it tries though. I got gas there, the bike did well on gas, it appears that because I go closer to 100 on twisting roads, I get better mileage.

I did learn one thing though, I don't know if the is is math, but it worked for me. When you pass the sign with the slower speed and the exclamation marks all around it, gear down on a bike, when you get to the corner, you are set for either gearing down more or speeding up. Depends on how tight the corner is. No brakes or clutch required!

The ride from Creaton East was pretty boring. a Dodge mini van decided he was going to show me how to drive. He snuck up on me on a 7 mile long hill, I twisted and was gone. I think he used A LOT more gas than I did.

Originally when I got to Yahk, I was going to turn right and head to USA. But plans changed. I was surprised I was in Yahk, but when I looked at a map, you had to go to a flat place to cross to the next valley. The Canadian Rockies are a collection of ranges.

Cranbrook was ok, it is a commercial centre for the region. I got rain clothes, better gloves and clear goggles on. Good thing I did, it started pouring on the way to Invermere.

Originally I planned to overnight it in Invermere, which is next to Windermere. I got into the town, I was soaking wet. I didn't see any reasonable motels. I went to a bar, Bud's had some awesome chicken wings and found out on line that there is no place to stay in Invermere, Radium is the place to stay.

I went to Radium, I found a place. It was the only open one out of 5 motels. Radium's claim to fame is it's Hot Springs. From my wondering around, that appeared to be it's only claim to fame. I walked to a bar, to get drunk. Well that didn't work out, I had two beer and more wings. Then I went back to motel to watch Clinton's speech.

The pics attached to this blog are all from Balfour to Radium. There is place to label them in this app.

I woke up early to get a move on, I planned on making it home after leaving Radium. I got up, looked outside, it was grey still. I rode to breakfast and got gas. Breakfast was rather expensive $20 for two eggs, bacon and toast. I was still trying to figure out why Radium was such a place to go for more than a dip in a pool.

I did manage to dry all my clothes, I cranked the heat to 30C in the room and hung stuff up all over the place. I was gone to the bar for a couple of hours. Everything was dry when I came back. Radium shares Alberta's humidity levels :)

So I headed East, ironically enough I was on the road East to Alberta - this was not intentional, it was just a road that had lodging on it to me.

So I headed East, past the park gates for Kootenay National Park and then past the hotsprings......

Gargoyles and Kaslo

Well the ride from Nakusp to Nelson was great! It was the first day of school, so I had to pay attention to the signs, it's a good thing I was, the cagers behind me weren't. I should get a commission for all the fines I saved them.

Around New Denver the twisting and turning highway got even twistier. There were lots of signs indicating 60 or even 40 kph on corners. I slowed down for a couple but learned that was more for cars and bigger. Bikes could go around a lot faster.

After Silverton, I stopped at a lookout, a lot of bikers stopped there. I actually stopped as I had too much coffee in Nakusp. It was fun finding privacy to take care of business.

After I was back underway it was a fun ride into Nelson. I am sure glad I did not attempt this the night before.

When I got to Nelson, I found a gay friendly place to eat, The Bent Fork. How do I know it was gay friendly? It had a gigantic rainbow flag flapping in the wind. The food was good, the service was absolutely terrible. The customers appeared to be interrupting him. I wasn't sure what he was doing. I didn't get any gay vibes off him, but then again, I'd have trouble in a room full of gay men.

While I was there I searched for a place to stay. I was lucky, The Alpine had a room at a good price (it went down on the 4th). The only problem is it is up the hill on a small plateau. It was easy to get to on the bike, but walking was a bitch. In fact, I rode to breakfast just to avoid the mountain climb back. If you saw the movie Roxanne, you'll know what I am talking about. I found the fire station, I think I found Roxanne's house, but the bushes he hid in have been clipped, or maybe it's his house. I will take a picture. It's for sale :)

House prices here are a bit cheaper than Vegreville. Maybe it's because the jobs are tourism related and not oil/farm related. I am sure Roxanne's house is close to $500,000. In Edmonton it would be over a million.

After I got settled in the room I stripped off the chaps and stuff. It was hot here. I decided to go to a beach. There is a nude beach here, it is a bit of a hike. I am surprised I found it after 5 years. I listened to WWOZ there and tanned. It was good to feel sand and relax. Riding is good, but it is good not to be riding....sometimes.

When I got back to hotel I decided to go for a ride. I though that there was a biker bar on the North Shore. I asked a guy at the beach, he gave me a puzzled look. Anyway, I put on full face helmet and decided to go for a look. I was in traffic all the way to Balfour. There was no bar, where I thought it was. I saw a sign for Kaslo, it wasn't that far. So I said, WTF 53 kms.

OH MY GOD - I died and went to heaven. This was the best 53 kms of any ride ever. I was behind a car for a while, I blew past her before Ainsworht Hot Springs and man, am I glad I did!.

The road was an aerobic workout on a bike. lean left, right, left right. Gear up down, some times two downs, then up, up. Watch for deer. Look at the scenery, gear down. I wasn't listening to music, I was listening to the motor. Now I know why a 1400 is so good.

I got to Kaslo and had supper. I needed to wait for the sun to set a little bit, it would have been in my face on the way back. Th ride was better on the way back, add to it the fear of deer and it was great!.

I stopped at the side of the road to take a picture. In the picture it shows a road, and off to the left you can see the road in the trees. It sort of shows how dynamic it was. A small pickup passed me when I was taking pic. :( I knew the fun part was coming up.

He was a good sport though, I think he worked for an organization that would know the road. And I don't think he had ever gone that fast on it.

We had to do a switch back before Ainsworth, I dragged a peg, the first time this trip. Dragging a peg is when you are bent over so far the foot peg sparks as you turn a corner. The thing about the peg I dragged is the fact it was the one that was bent up by the assholes who tipped my bike over when they moved it. So I was really bent over. The new Michelin tire did it's job.

I passed the pickup in a burst of speed after the switch back. I noticed he slowed right down, I think he was white knuckling it - or I'd like to think so.

I got back to Nelson and went out for supper, again!!! At Mike's Pub. It was ok, this town really dies when tourist season is over, the big bar on Baker Street was empty. Mike's pub is in the Hume Hotel.

Got home and watch Michelle Obama's speech and then went to sleep.

I have decided to head out, I was going to stay another day in Nelson, but I need to get back. Money is not doing what I want it to, I think I paid too many bills before I left. Which I should learn never to do.

Some other things, things break. So far this trip, I have lost a lens on my eye glasses. My chaps go on, but a zipper on the right leg is screwed. I tried to fix it at Elisabeth's place, but it needs a tool to go over the zip part to re-align the cogs. pliers don't work. A pad cam off the headphone, not there is a piece of plastic sticking in my ear - not nice.
And the iphone case is finally dying, it did the disappearing display game again when I had to push button for a phone menu.

The PQ won in Quebec, I guess some guy didn't like that. Now like a festering wound, the whole Quebec vs Canada issue has blown up. We both need each other, that's it. Lets move on!.

What a speech by Mrs President!

Oh, the Gargoyle. When I was riding West on Nelson Road I saw some red lights up near the top of a house. You would not see this if you were in a car, it was too high up. A house has an observatory and there is a gargoyle on top of it, looking down.

in the pics, the one with the yellow dotted line, is highway 3A South from Kaslo. If you look on the left side, the gray spot in the trees is the highway further down, I just missed getting a pic of a car coming with lights on.

Kootneys

I am writing this from Nakusp. It is a small town 11 kms South of Revelstoke and 150 North of Nelson.

The Weekend was ok, I attended Calgary's Pride. On Sunday I was a little gayed out and decided to be with my people (bikers). So I went for a ride on Old Faithful, Highway 1A to Canmore.

I left after the parade, I had parked at the Eagle, which was having it's closing party that day. After parade I went back there and it was busy, but not exciting.
I was warned if I took off I may not get back in later. I decided to take a chance.

I only had a short helmet and it was really windy. Not the best circumstances, but what the fuck!.

After Cochrane I got on 1A. It is a twisty winding road, the best one in Alberta I have encountered. It is about 70 kms from Cochrane to Canmore.
It was a good ride, they paved the highway since the last time I was on i
it.

I arrived back at the Eagle around 5, I guess a lot of people went home to change. I got in.

I had a good time, there were lots of people there that I knew. It was semi-sweet in that I would probably never see them again. There being no venue to allow for us to meet up. I left around 9, I knew my time in Calgary was up. I wanted to get a good rest.

I left Calgary around 10, took 1A West to Banff. This was not the route I had intended to take to Nelson, but it looked good. The ipad suggested three routes, Routes 2 & 3 involved Banff. I had decided to take the longest route.

It was not as warm as it should have been, at Lake Louise I had to put on fire gloves, they have more insulation. West of Lake Louise it started raining. Not pouring, but enough to make visibility harder and the roads slicker.

Making it worse was the construction, Rogers Pass entry from the East was being widened. There was nothing remarkable all the way to Golden, except the traffic going East, to Calgary. It made any thoughts of passing (its a two lane) not even worth thinking about.

At Golden, I needed to stop for gas. I used a lot less than I thought I had. There is something to this driving 90-100 kms per hour. Good thing I got good gas mileage, the price was really high for gas. 25-30 cents a litre more.
I ate at Golden, the food and service was crap. something I would not expect at a Husky Restaurant. Truckers usually stop there, so it is usually a safe bet.

The RCMP were using laser after the last exit for Golden, they were pulling over a lot going East. About 10 kms outside of Golden - West, they had a Checkstop set up to catch drunks...at 15:00. This may have been all well and good, but they were stopping everyone. The checkstop itself had a 10 kilometer line up. But only due to slow moving vehicles (SMV) going up the hills there was probably another 20 kilometers of traffic, which would stop just before Golden. I am for enforcement of laws, but...this inconvenienced how many? I'd love to see the stats for the charges/arrests. But they were headed to Calgary and everyone knows it sucks there, so the RCMP were giving them a chance at further sanity.

Golden to Revelstoke was a hoot, I was using the speed of the motorbike to pass SMVs on the passing lanes.There were some great curves, although one was kind of bumpy and i was nervous bent over to the right hopping around a corner...at 120 kph.

I got to Revelsoke and almost died, literally. There was no warning for the Town centre sign and the exit was a lft turn on the highway. I had to go from 120 to 0 in about 30 feet. Almost didnt make it, and there was a semi coming in the Eastbound lane and a Nissan doing about 110 behind me.

I stopped and had a coffee at a cool
burger place. I think it was owned by lesbians, in fact I had noticed a lot of female / female couples around. Even in Golden.

I left Revy and headed South on 23. No Traffic! I passed one car on the ride from Revy to the ferry at Shelter Bay. I was third in line for the Ferry, it was free!. I was supposed to wait 45 minutes, but as it was the last day of the holiday weekend, they increased the number of crossings. It was a 20 minute trip. Great relaxation from riding. This was actually the reason I took Route No. 3.

The Ferryman let me off first, sweet!. I was gone, the guy next to me on the ferry tried to keep up, but I lost him. Galena Bay to Nakusp was one long twisty ride. I had the highway to myself again, it was great.

I decided to stop overnight in Nakups as it was getting near dusk. It is 150 kms to Nelson from here and I would have encountered bambi's and moose. I decided one near death occasion a day was good. It is getting on 10 here, no clouds and I can wear less riding to Nelson.

Vacation plans have changed, not going to USA. I am going to head North through Icefields Parkway on way home. This means Route No 2 back to Lake Louise.

Calgary

Labour Day weekend and I am away finally for a vacation. I am headed to Nelson BC and then into the US.
I have no real plan, the trip to Nelson is for the roads, winding. Better than sex as far as I am concerned. It was wild a couple of years ago in the car, I imagined what it would be on a bike.

I left home after the cable guy came, the only time open to check into my internet problem was Friday afternoon, before a long weekend. If not then, maybe the 15th of September. As it was, he said yup, there's a problem. He can fix it next Tuesday.....he knew that from outside the house. I did not need to be there. Oh well, he was kind of easy in the eyes.

I was all packed and ready to go, after he was out the door I loaded up the bike, got my chaps on and vrooom.

I didn't speed on the way to Edmonton, well not really. 120 is ok on the hyw, it is 10 over the posted limit of 110. I got really good gas milage when I fueled up at Leduc. I decided I would do around that speed for the whole trip.

Best laid plans.....

First off Leduc I decided to turn right into a shopping centre with a Shell station to get gas. Instead of my normal left. I have had issues in the car trying to get back on the highway, when I go left. I got the gas, was impressed. Then I tried to get out of the godforsaken shopping centre. It appeared all the cars were leaving at once - it took me 25 minutes to go .2 km and then I had to use the speed/size of bike to make it that fast.

Out on the highway, going 120. That lasted about 25 kms. I was riding along in the right lane, minding my own business. A couple of cars passed then a pickup with Saskatchewan plates, he was going about 135. When he was about 100 meters in front of me, he threw a pop can out the driver's window. It went up in the air, and then proceeded to plop to the ground right in front of my bike. I avoided it, just. The guy figured out what he did and then tried to boogie. Really, a dodge pickup with a V8 vs a bike with a 1400cc motor. He was going 160, i just wanted to get his plate number, he didn't want that. I got it, and pulled off at Millet and texted the cops. At least they could give him a ticket for littering.

Well the traffic built up when I pulled back on the highway. So I passed a lot of them. My pet peeve is people that drive in the Left Lane when they aren't passing anyone and especially when they are going slower than the speed limit.

A Toyota Corolla was one of them. He was driving along and he saw me coming up, he didn't pull over to let me pass him, he decided to show me what his car could do. It should be an even race, his car has a 2 litre engine, maybe, it is relatively light. My bike weighs in at 450 lbs and has a 1400cc motor. I waved him on, like 'c'mon c'mon' when I blew past him. I think his wife, who was on the larger size slowed him down.

Red Deer was ok, I was afrid of seeing the pickup truck driver. I had coffee at Starbucks and took a pic of me on the bike as reflected in the door's glass.

Red Deer to Calgary was non-eventfull. a sport bike rode with me all the way. We managed to have space all around us.

I am staying at Elisabeth's place in North Calgary. I got there about 8:30, not bad for leaving at 4:00.

Last night I went to the Eagle, a bar which is closing this weekend. I intended to only stay in Calgary Friday and maybe Saturday and then head out. I am bribing Elisabeth with yard work and supper. I may stay till Sunday.

It is Pride Weekend in Calgary and I may as well hang out.

So I goes to go to the eagle last night on my bike, I take out my glasses, which i use at night. One lens is missing, I look around, can't find it. I rode to bar and back with one lens, couldn't wear sunglasses, it was too dark. You need eye protection on a bike, bugs and sand don't care.

Luckily it was quiet and cool on the way home, so no bugs or sand. I was listening to Miles Davis 'All Blues' from Kind of Blue on the way home. Wow that was a zen moment.

Today I helped in the yard, washed my leathers. There is a leather party tonight at the Eagle. It was funny, last night there was a guy there in a motorcycle jacket and gloves, I think he even had the boots on. Anyway, they were perfect, it looked like the boots had never shifted a gear and the jacket had never encountered a wasp at 120. I guess that would be leather drag. My coat and chaps will be cleaned, but they will look used. I was looking for some stuff to make them pretty. My boots though, scuffed on the toe from shifting.

I got goggles at a bike store in downtown Calgary. I should be ok to ride at night now.

I am parked on 17AVE SW in fron tof Melrose Place bar. The City of Calgary has surveillance vans that drive around taking pictures of lic. plates to see if people pay their parking. I guess when you pay at one of the machines it is entered on a computer and the vans send their info to the same computer. Anyway, you get a ticket. Except if you have a bike. Bikes back into a stall, and the plate is facing the sidewalk. The van can't see it. In front of Melrose bikes are parked there all the time.

Anyway, thats the update for today. There is apparently a pool party someplace, I did bring shorts. I am off in search of the party.