Ridin' the Canadian Badlands

P-Rock here - Catching up on lost posts.

Day 22 - Smithers, BC to Jasper, AB






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Most of today was rolling through the plains of Eastern BC and pretty uneventful. Blackie and I had a nice breakfast in Houston, BC, the self-proclaimed "fly fishing capital of the world". They even had a 25 foot tall fly rod to prove it. I do have to say that there were quite a lot of fishing outfitters in that small town.

We rolled into Jasper Park and were greeted with some spectacular sights of 10,000 foot (ok, 3000 meter - we're in Canada you know) peaks that are part of the northern end of Jasper park. That was not the end of the excitement for me though. When we got into the town of Jasper I was completely shocked. I had been to Jasper about 25 years ago on a day trip junket on the then-unpaved Icefields Parkway, up from Banff. the four of us travelling that day had lunch on "main street" Jasper, which resembled a wild west town - I am sure I have pictures at home somewhere to prove that. But today, Jasper is a thriving, even booming tourist town and other than a few buildings that I remember seeing on Main Street, is completely changed. It was pretty incredible.

Blackie and I consumed an excellent meal at Evil Dave's Restaurant, which I'd highly recommend to anyone going to Jasper, and then followed that up with some very fine IPA and nitrogen charged Red Ales from the Jasper Brewing Company. It was good stuff. We then finished off the night with a round at the hotel bar, the D'ed Dog Saloon.

Day 23 - Jasper, AB to Medicine Hat, AB








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Strangely enough, Blackie and I awoke on time today. You see the last few days we have been setting alarms that went unheard or did not go off, getting us out of the chute an hour or two late each day. That's really odd considering we both are early risers - and frankly we're both mystified by this. But now I feel we're back on track and won't be oversleeping again.

I am sure you are all wondering why in the heck we decided to go to Medicine Hat, of all places. Well, to make a short story long, it's a place I have remembered seeing on maps for as long as I can recall... and I have said to myself on more than on occasion that I need to go see Medicine Hat someday -- Blackie bought into the whole 'off the beaten track' concept so here we are.

But to get here, we had to drive the Icefields Parkway, which was even more spectacular than I remembered it on our winter drive long ago. The views, vistas and incredible scenery are really more than breathtaking. We spent fully half of our day on this part of the trip, which comprised about 20% of the miles we had to ride today. It was well worth it. At the end of the Parkway is the town of Banff, which is best described as the "Northern Exposure Town" of Alberta. It's a pretty cool town and even though we didn't stay long, was enjoyable. They even still have an occasional moose stroll through town, but we didn't catch that unfortunately.

The rest of the ride was a nice warm day cruise down the Trans-Canada Highway, with the only hiccup being Calgary, which seemed to be under construction and caused us about a 45 minute delay just getting through town. I'd say Calgary, from our vantagepoint, is a town to miss.

Most of my pictures from today did not turn out well, due to a fingerprint on the lens. Hmmm... I wonder who's it is??? At any rate, it will be gone tomorrow.

P-Rock - Taking his Medicine.