Tour De Jasper Part V

The last biking day of Tour De Jasper has arrived!  It's a gorgeous day out there, and the rain clouds that simultaneously helped push us to Tete Jaune, yet threatened to storm on us (but didn't) had disappeared overnight.  Today we will be crossing the continental divide into Alberta over the Yellowhead pass at 3,711 ft (1,131 m), which is one of the lowest mountain passes in the Rockies, but still very challenging to bike up through.   The dotted line is the border between Alberta and British Columbia.

 

 Before we leave the campsite, I'd thought I'd show you Janice, who had almost the same bike as mine.  It doesn't have shocks though and there are screws where you can put a front bicycle rack onto.  Thankfully, there are racks out there that can fit on bikes with shocks so not much of a worry if I ever wanted to buy a front rack for touring.  I have heard though, that using a trailer is a much better idea!

 

 

Like my bike, it's been customized to suit her needs.  She has completely different handlebars.  I like how you can make the mass  produced bike YOURS.  She must have a men's bike as it has room for two waterbottles, mine has only room for one.

As we finish climbing up a big hill that we encounter soon after we leave Tete Jaune, I pause to get a photo of me in front of Mt. Robson in the distance.  Nice place to take a quick break as it is a very hot day out there and you get quite hot climbing a big hill in the heat!  I make sure I wear lots of sunscreen, although my lips suffered as I didn't apply sunscreen on them till the last day.  They blistered right up!  I need to sunscreen my lips whenever I am outside.

After a nice quick ride down a steep hill I made it too the entrance of Mount Robson Provincial Park.  Got to take my mandatory photo.

At the park centre I stopped for a much needed break so I could refill my water bottle and also enjoy some ice cream!  That would help me make up up the next long stretch of hill. This was one of those rare days that you could see the top of Mt. Robson.  It's very rare that you do see the top as it's usually covered in clouds.

Mount Robson is the highest peak (12,972 feet [3,954 m]) in the Canadian Rockies.and is a must see if you are visiting Jasper National Park.  I've hike a few times on a trail that goes behind it.  It's a full 2 day hike to get up to Erg Lake which is on the other side of the mountain, it's a hard hike up, but the views will delight you!  It's also a very popular hike, so it is wise to book early if you plan on hiking on it.

Onward to Moose Lake after the next big climb....