This is part 2 of our journey from Kelowna, BC to Jasper/Hinton, AB

We were finally back on the road around 1pm or so after the Bell store debacle. We still had ~9 hours of driving, so we needed to book it lest we’d get into camp after midnight.

The road was very scenic along the river and through the mountains. One of the funnest things about the initial part of the drive were the waterfalls right along the road! We could always tell when one of those roadside falls were coming up because the temperature would drop suddenly, and we’d freeze our rumps off.  However, I think we both agreed it was worth the freeze.

Several hours in, we stopped at a gas station to fill up and take a quick break for a late lunch. There was a section of grass with benches outside the nearby Tim Hortons which was perfect for Emmy to cook some PoRitos (Potato-Burritos).

After lunch, we headed into the Tim Hortons so that I could quickly check in with work.  We grabbed some tim bits (super yum) and a coffee so that we weren’t free loading on the wifi. All the while, some Tim Horton’s customer was chewing out one of the employees because they screwed up his meal and wouldn’t apologize or something. I couldn’t hear all of it, but it was entertaining nonetheless. It seems to be a recurring theme with Tim Hortons to anger a customer enough to the point of confrontation. That, or maybe we just spend too much time in cheap coffee shops. :p

We got back on the road and had about 50 miles or so from crossing into Alberta. We got lucky and were able to follow some lady who was *booking it* in her jeep. I think the speed limit was  90 or 100kph, and she was going 125 easy! We made up a lot of ground following her.

It was late afternoon by the time we entered Banff Provincial Park; the sun was just barely descending below the canyon top as we were passing through.

However, I don’t think it mattered because the scenery was I-N-S-A-N-E! The mountains were literally sharp and jagged rocks (I guess John Denver wasn’t so full of crap). It’s hard to put into words the feeling of driving through the canyon and seeing the layers of mountains surrounding you.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to capture many pictures of the waterfalls careening down the mountain side or the glacial blue rivers, but boy were they beautiful!

The only downside to riding through the canyon at this time of day and year was that the air temperature got fairly cold; hovering below 45 degrees for most of the pass and sometimes would drop under 40. Ya, I’m pretty sure Emmy had her heated jacket on high and didn’t care if she got third degree burns.

About an hour or so in, we were at the point where we needed to pull over in order to unthaw. We saw a turnout for a lake just ahead which was perfect timing, because I think Emmy was ready to strangle me because her hands were so cold.

The lake was frozen over in the middle and was surrounded by the beautiful snow covered mountains. It was so much to take in. Moments like these really makes you feel/understand how privileged and blessed we are, being able to take the time and view nature in this capacity.

And if the scenery wasn’t enough, we also saw so much wildlife! I almost fell of my bike once because Emmy all the sudden starting spazzing out and smacking my jacket. I could have sworn we were about to run off a cliff or something, but it turned out that she had just seen a mama bear with her two little cubs. I mean, I enjoy wildlife as much as the next guy, but my goodness woman, you’re gonna get us killed!

Not long after the mama bear/shart attack incident, we saw a bunch of cars stopped on the side of the road. As we got closer, we saw that they had pulled over because there was a black bear eating by the road!! We pulled right past him and stopped for some pictures, but I was so so so spooked being that we had no layer of protection between us and that bear!

With all of that adrenaline still pulsing through me after the bear encounter, we saw this *massive* moose crossing the road ahead of us. We didn’t get as close as the bear, but again, I was already rattled and this was the first time I’d seen a moose in person, so this put me in full on spooked mode. I just wanted to get to our campsite as fast as possible.

We continued to drive through gorgeous mountains and beautiful scenery the rest of the way to our KOA. It was nearly 11pm by the time we pulled into the campground but still light enough to follow the tent site map.

Before we set up camp, we decided to warm up with a burrito. We brought the food and Jetboil into the warm hallway connecting the showers and laundry room and made ourselves a bit of supper. Then we were off to set up the tent and curl in to our sleeping bags by midnight.

 

-RJ