Tour De Jasper Part VI

Above:  Beautiful Moose Lake

When I last left you, I  had reached Mt. Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.

After enjoying an ice cream at the Park Headquarters, it was time to start the long climb up the Yellowhead Pass. It was a very hot day so I made sure to refill all my water bottles before leaving Mt. Robson.  I also had one bottle of Gatorade as I heard it helps on a hot day like this.  But you must not take too much or you will get sick!

There was this windy canyon just after I left Mt. Robson.  It seemed to wind forever!  I found it easier doing a slow but steady pace, with breaks every so often.  I used alot of the water I was carrying to get up the hill, including part of the bigger bottle that Tour De Jasper coordinator gave us all before the trip.

After the big climb, I reached a flat valley by a lake, Moose Lake.  What a beauty!  At the end of it would be our break, but we stopped for photos along the way. The lady in the sky blue shirt has the same exact bike helmet as I do.

A little ways down we found our rest stop.  I was glad to see it as I was almost out of water, I can't believe how much I drank that day!  As before, our rest stops didn't fail us.

Good place to reapply sunscreen.  I found myself really burning this day.

Harvey and his dog buddy were at it again with sticks.  The water looked inviting as we got off our bikes, all sweaty from the heat, but the water is ice cold and no one dared even dip their toes in it!

After the nice break, we started heading towards Jasper.  There were several hills that we had to go up.  This day would be the hardest climbing that I've ever seen!

Someone has the misfortune to get a flat on one of them, but there was no lack of help around.

It's not a boring scenery day at all, far from it!

We've reached Jasper National Park, woo hoo!  Time to put our clocks 1 hr ahead.

I've also crossed into the province of Alberta and my bike just had to pose for that momentous occasion

There was a little bit of climbing to go then it was all downhill.  Like heaven, what a way to end a trip with an endless downhill and top speed!  Along the way, I spotted this elk.  Some lady yelled from a car, "you are crazy for being so close".  But after I left I saw some dumb tourist walk right to the animal!

After I made it to Jasper I decided to go into the townsite before heading to campsite, we'd be too tired and our bikes not rideable after dinner anyways.  And I wanted a celebratory drink!

But yeh, me and Pura Vida made it to Jasper, a 379 km journey.  I felt proud as I rolled into the townsite.   How many people could bicycle this distance?  There is nothing like the euphoria of completing such a journey, like you would from any other important journey in life.

As a sidenote, I must mention that I love the bike stands that they have all over the town, wish PG had it this good!

And me at Jasper tourism building.  Yeh!  What an incredible trip!

Well, I made it to Jasper on my bike, but that's the end of the story.  There's a little bit more!  Involving a train..and just HOW will we get 25 bicycles back home to PG?  Hope you are enjoying my adventure!