Day 10. Jasper to Hinton. May 7. 80 km.

The weather was cold relative to my expectations. Moose Lake in Jasper NP had only a trace of open water this year, in comparison to three years ago when half the lake was open. Last night in Jasper it was below zero and today's ride was cold but beautiful. The road was excellent with a nice shoulder.

In addition to the mountains, we saw elk and Dahl sheep right beside the highway. The elk only raised their heads for a moment and the sheep only moved when a motor bike tooted.

Now that we have left the park, the accommodation is better and cheaper. Today we are in the Hinton Lodge. It is a large clean room with breakfast for less than $100.

Day 9. Valemount to Jasper. May 6. 122 km.

 

Entering Mt Robson National Park

 

This was a 122 km day, which started the with a forecast of rain all day. Fortunately it didn't rain and we made it to Jasper in about 8 hours. Google maps says that it's mostly flat but with loaded panniers, it seemed to have some hills. When we left the motel, it was about 2-4C. Fortunately it warmed up as the day progressed.

Today we saw the mountains in their true beauty. There was still a lot of snow on them.

We also saw more pipeline work. I took a picture of the wooden roads that they build to lessen the environmental impact.

Dinner today was a brisket burger at Montana's, with excellent fries.

 

 

Temporary board roads used by pipeline construction equipment

 

 

Yellowhead Summit 

Day 8. Blue River to Valemount. May 5. 92 km.

The weather forecast wasn't very promising this morning as it called for rain most of the day. Fortunately the distance was just 92km which would reduce the number of hours spent in the rain. It turned out better than forecast because we waited until after 9 before leaving and the rain went from moderate to light to spitting over an hour and a half. Then it quit and the roads were dry.

We continue to be impressed with the pipeline work. There seems to be massive machinery everywhere and huge sections of large pipe being welded together and waiting to be buried in trenches. I stopped to ask one of the workers about crossing the highway. He told me that they drill a horizontal hole then simply push a section of pipe under the road. The augers used are huge.

On arrival at our motel in Valemount, it had become cool and windy making us appreciate the shelter of our room. After eating lots of potatoes the last two suppers, we opted for a a low carb meal from the supermarket, chicken and salad.

The forecast calls for more rain tomorrow, so we will have to just deal with it. The ride to Jasper will be longer. We hope that it doesn't rain all day.

Day 7. Clearwater to Blue River. May 4. 108 km.

Today started out as being uneventful, overcast skies and 6C. Although Gramie's bottom was still tender, we had to ride to Blue River 108 km away for the next accommodation. The pain was worst when she pedaled hard up hills so we decided to walk up the hills and ride the rest of the time. This worked well enough for us to reach our motel around 4PM.

Gramie had slept poorly last night and the tiredness got the best of her before noon. In fact she proved again that she can sleep anywhere by having a nap beside the highway. Not only that but she used the pup tent ground sheet under her and the tent per se as a blanket. I didn't want her lying directly on the grass because she picked up ticks doing that on a previous bike ride.

About an hour before Blue River a fellow stopped and told us about the bears along the road then gave us bear spray for protection. Within five minutes another fellow stopped to tell us about a bear just down the road. Two others warned us in the next 10 minutes. When we finally saw the bear, it was resting at a pullout and only raised itself to get a better look at us. We have encountered so many nice people who are concerned for our safety.

 

Gramie found a new use for the pup tent. 

Day 6. Barriere to Clearwater, 62km.

This was the best bicycling weather so far. On leaving Barriere it was sunny and about 10C. The road was good and not too busy. The pipeline work continues along the road, the locals say that they will be working on it for a couple of years or more. The amount of machinery being used is impressive.

This is truly beautiful country with the river, ranches and low open mountains. I can see why people came here to settle. Behind the nearby low mountains are towering snow covered peaks.

Thanks to the cow salve, which has been my go-to topical drug for 50+ years, my bottom is doing okay for early in the trip. In my youth we used carbolic acid salve on both animals and people. Mom gave me a tin of it when I left home at 16, and I am now into the first replacement container. Today it's solved my sitting problems and Gramie is improving as well. Soon we may be able to put in longer days.

The picture below shows the difference between Gramie's bike seat and mine.

Day 5. Kamloops to Barriere. May 2. 79 km.

Overcast and not cold, so it was good for riding. 79 km today.

Leaving Kamloops was easy and the traffic wasn't bad. We rode on the Yellowhead with no big hills and good weather. The limiting factor today was Gramie's saddle sores. We cut off today shortly after lunch and found a room in Barriere to rest for the remainder of the day. At dinner we talked to some locals who told us that the pipeline workers were occupying many of the motels on our way. We will have to book ahead to ensure accommodation. Unfortunately we are not sure how far we can ride on any given day because of the weather and how we feel.

 

North Thompson River near Barriere. 

Day 4. Merritt to Kamloops. May 1. 84 km.

The last time we biked through this area, we took the route through the Nicola Valley, which was flattish until the last 10 km where we chugged up a steep hill. This time we choose to stay on Hwy 5 to see something different. It didn't take long to encounter a challenge in the form of a hill 18 km long with a 6 percent grade. To my surprise,the 1444 m Surrey Lake summit is highest point that we will experience on this ride; it's 200 m higher than the Coquihalla summit, and a higher than any point on the Yellowhead.

Other things we saw were deer, fox, ground hogs, more pipeline work

 

Nicola Valley, leaving Merritt 

and another policeman. He stopped to tell us that he had two phone call from people who were concerned for our safety. By the time we left him, we had spent well over five minutes talking about bicycling.

We checked into the Quality Inn about 4 PM after an eight hour ride.