July 20, 2005
Day 64: Upper Athabasca to Jasper
As is often the case - the sublime lasts but a moment. I awoke to cold and clouds, not the sunshine promised by the weather forecast yesterday at the Icefields Centre.
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So I decided to hike out and take Luc and Leigh up on their offer of an omelette at the Sunwapta Falls picnic area. A group from a tour bus walked by and everyone had to comment on how delicious it smelled. And it was. We said goodbye and I was off for Jasper.
I stopped at Athabasca Falls to see where the river squeezes through a tiny crevasse in the rock. Busy, but lovely.
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Then I took the old road which had very little traffic and lots of potholes. There was a big climb up to Edith Cavell Road then an equally fast zoom back to the main highway and a stop sign right at the bottom. I knew it!! Even so, I was lucky. I could see a big storm over the main highway and I only got a few drops.
By the time I got into Jasper the sky was blue. I took the requisite pictures and found a room in a house - the Robin's Nest. Jasper has a great system of rooms available in private homes - like pensions in Europe. I went back downtown to have a few things done on my bike - - I still needed new derailleur pulleys and had had no luck for weeks finding the right size. Lyle had some and agreed to put them on. Litres of chocolate milk were on sale at the grocery store. I had chocolate milk and cookies and watched as the sky opened up yet again in a downpour.
When I got back to the rooming house, the owner was in the process of renting my room to someone else since it was her son who had registered me. By now, though, there was nothing available in town. So, I offered to let Markus, a young guy from Switzerland, have the room and I would sleep on a pad in the breakfast room. It all worked out. We went out for pizza. He told me about his plans to immigrate to Canada and become a helicopter pilot. I hope it works out for him.
Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 3,433 miles (5,525 km)
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