Jasper

Post date: Jun 30, 2016 5:37:11 AM

I'm in the jungle. It's hot, humid. You can cut the air with a knife. All of a sudden bullets wizz by my head. The crack of gunfire slices through the air. Ordinance explodes. BOOM! I wake up. It was just a dream.

Then, a bright flash of light illuminates my hotel room. Lightning followed by the immediate clap of the loudest thunder you have ever heard. I'm talking building-shaking, window-rippling, thunder. Good thing I hoteled it last night. I check the clock, and it's only 0400. But it's light outside. I guess it's because I'm so far north. Another flash of light and an accompanying thunderclap. This is a bad storm.

Lying there I thought about the day that I had yesterday, the drive to Prince George, and the challenges that I've faced recently.

Glacier Adventure

I woke up in the morning at Icefields Campground and had to repack all of my gear because it was strewn about across multiple bags. I didn't want to deal with packing in the parking lot after my long hike to the Ten Peaks. When camping or hiking always pack things in the same place. That way you can find them when necessary, perhaps in the pitch dark. I'm headed out to the Glacier Adventure in Columbia Icefields on the Athabasca Glacier.

A park employee at Lake Louise told me that the first tour was at 1000. I was skeptical because that seems like an odd hour to open a tourist attraction, and rightfully so, the first tour was at 0900. Always investigate for yourself. So, there I was at the visitors center and purchased a Glacier Adventure package that consisted of a glacier walk and skywalk.

The glacier walk was pretty cool. We took a tour bus from one staging area to another where we loaded into another vehicle called an Ice Explorer.

On the way up, the guide talked about the age of the glacier, how thick it is and once was, etc. Out on the glacier I walked around and observed three other glaciers at higher altitudes called AA, Andromeda, and the North Face Glaciers. Evidently, the North Face Glacier is a triple divide. If you were to pour a glass of water on the surface of the glacier, it could flow into the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic Oceans. Cool!

I also took some goods picks of glacial melt flowing down the surface of the ice. The water is about 35 degrees, I'm told, and tastes very clean and crisp. The water is clean enough to drink without purification. It total, the tour on the glacier lasted 35 minutes. It was about 15 minutes too long because it was "fresh" up there as Canadians say, meaning cold. It was far warmer at the skywalk though.

Similar to the Grand Canyon, the Canadian Park System has built a glass-bottom skywalk that protrudes over a valley about 900 feet above the valley floor. It was a little harrowing.

Back in the parking lot I geared up and cleaned my windshield. I noticed that it was wiggling a bit more than usual, but I ignored the sign. Down the road, I hit the button to raise it up, and one of the supports broke. I had to laugh. The support on the other side broke about a year ago to the day. It just had to wait until I got into Canada. Sigh. More challenges.

1. The sun visor in my helmet cracked while I was Yellowstone but I was able to super glue it together.
2. My bottle of Rain-X opened in my tool bag flooding my saddlebag with its contents.
3. I broke a Rok Strap clasp that secures one of my dry bags to the bike.
4. I broke a clasp on a cinch strap that snugs my tent when it's rolled up.
5. I broke one tent stake, and bent two others, in Johnston Canyon because this is the land of stone.

And the moral of the story is: If it was easy, everyone would do it.

There's nothing I can do about the windshield, so I press on. On the way to Jasper, I saw 10 mountain goats feeding by the side of the road. Cool! I actually stopped to get a picture.

I stopped in a town called McBride and sorted the part for the windshield. Three dealerships and over an hour later, the part is being shipped to a place in Tok, AK where I have a longer layover now scheduled. At least I can fix it.

Prince George

Outside of Prince George, I see this sign on the side of the road. Bull Winkle comes to mind. The sign is huge. The moose is at least six feet tall.

There's a familiar smell in the air and not a good one either. It's acrid. I've smelled it before at a race track in Roanoke Springs, NC. With every breath, it's there. Yep, paper mill. There it is, likely the life-blood of the community. The facility is quite large.

I swear I didn't see any movement in town until I was in the heart of downtown. I think they roll up the streets at 1800. There is one hotel in town that has a washer and dryer on site too. Ok... I didn't stay there because the price was outrageous. The owner of the motel that i did stay at let me use the machine that he uses for linens, so that was much appreciated.

After messing with my electronics and moving files around, it was after midnight.

Zzzzz.....