Had a conversation with Helen this morning. She and her tentmate just aren't getting along. In fact, when Helen tries to talk to her, she either looks the other way or walks away. We were sharing a campsite, and I asked her how she was doing as we were both taking down our tents. (I've continued to use my own tent, which I'd arranged to do when I signed up for the trip. That was a good thing, since I've come to like my small but comfortable home away from home.) Helen asked for my advice on how to deal with her tentmate. Unfortunately I couldn't come up with any solutions, but I did suggest that she hang out with me in camp. I have a difficult time understanding why someone would sign up for a trip like this when they clearly don't like being around other people. I know that I tend to be somewhat of a loner. I also know that I am different and tend to "march to my own drummer" - but when I come on a trip like this I do it to see new places, meet new people, and generally explore.
Back to the ride. A challenging day, starting with some down and flats. We rolled through Saskatchewan River Crossing, which is at the intersection of Icefield Parkway and Highway 11 heading to the east. There is a big visitor center / gift store there - right in the middle of nowhere. A good place for a rest room stop! Then about a third of the way through the day's ride we started up Sunwapta Pass. Just before the uphill started, I stopped for a brief rest and some food. Just as I was turning back onto the road I saw a horse van with a window in the side. It appeared that the horse was standing diagonally in the van, and he was riding with his head out the window. That made me laugh! Unfortunately, it happened too fast for me to grab a photo.
Just as the uphill started, you could see the bottom 1/2 to 1/3 of the pass - an uphill heading to the left at about a 6% grade. This was followed by a flat section and a turn to the right, then a section of 8 to 10% grade. After that it eased up a bit but continued uphill. It was about a 6 mile hill. I was very glad not to have my panniers on the steep part. I believe I still would have been able to ride it, but it would have taken me much longer. As it was it took me about an hour to do the hill. I think it was the 2nd hardest pass on the trip. I still think that Logan Pass was the hardest.
I stopped at the visitor center at Columbia Ice Fields. The wind up there was very cold - cooling the temperature as it blows across the ice. The visitor center could have been fascinating but was pretty gross because of the hordes of people. Grant's description of it as "like an airport" was apt. The visitor center is up on a hill, overlooking the ice field on the other side of the road. I took a quick look around, then joined part of the group at a picnic table outside for lunch. Had to put on my layers while I was sitting there, but they came off again as soon as I started riding.
I'll need to come back here again, and stay either at the hotel at the visitor center or at the campground just up the road from here. I've been told that the visitor center totally empties out by about 5pm, but it stays open. ( I did return to the visitor center in the fall of 2000 during a hiking trip. In fact, a few of the pictures above are from my 2000 hiking trip, not the 1998 bike trip... I stayed at the hotel at the visitor center for one night, so I had the opportunity to browse through the exhibits at the visitor center without hordes of people around, and more importantly to watch the light changes over the ice field at sunset and sunrise - beautiful. There's a campground just up the road too, so access to this beautiful place is available in the quiet part of the day to folks who don't want to spend the money for a hotel room.)
Columbia Icefield is the largest icefield outside of the polar regions. The melt water from it feeds 3 oceans. It is considered to be one of 2 hydrologic apexes in the world (the other is in Siberia), with rivers out of the glacier feeding the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans.
The visitor center is at mile 44 of today's ride, 43 more to go. Luckily the rest of the ride was mostly downhill and flat, since there was a headwind on a good part of it.
We're at a fairly primitive campground tonight. There was a hand pump for water, and pit toilets. I attempted to bathe in the river, which wasn't a great idea because it was very cold (glacial) and full of silt!
Lasagna for dinner - my favorite. After dinner, our fearless Backroads leaders asked each of us to play "show and tell" - they wanted to see one item that each of us had brought with us on the trip that we didn't use. Their was an interesting assortment - from razors, to plastic bags in place of raingear (that person would have been in deep trouble if it had rained!). Mine was my Patagonia Puffball pullover (a synthetic fill jacket that stuffs into it's own pocket). I bought the jacket for this trip when I was trying to find something warm but light for the cold evenings & nights at Glacier and here that just didn't happen. I don't regret bringing it with me - I really thought that I would need it!
I put the panniers back on the bike for my ride to Jasper tomorrow. Most of the group is going rafting in the morning. There are a couple of people who plan to ride, but I want to get an earlier start since I need to pack my bike before catching the train in Jasper.
