Greetings everyone!
We decided to stay domestic this year and our route will take us from Jasper, Alberta, down the Icefields Parkway to the US and Glacier National Park. After crossing the Continental Divide from East to West over the Going to the Sun Road, we'll head south to Yellowstone and then to the Grand Tetons and on to Jackson, Wyoming. We had initially planned to go west from Glacier National Park to Spokane, but neither of us have been to Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons, and this looks like a great way to see these parks. We're excited about seeing them.
We decided to stay domestic this year and our route will take us from Jasper, Alberta, down the Icefields Parkway to the US and Glacier National Park. After crossing the Continental Divide from East to West over the Going to the Sun Road, we'll head south to Yellowstone and then to the Grand Tetons and on to Jackson, Wyoming. We had initially planned to go west from Glacier National Park to Spokane, but neither of us have been to Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons, and this looks like a great way to see these parks. We're excited about seeing them.
Here's the map of the basic route we plan to follow. We expect that there will be some modifications as we ride, but this will give you the sense of it.
It looks like a lot of climbing with a total of nearly 56,000 feet vertical spread over some 1,200 miles. It should be fun. We plan to get started out of Jasper on Sunday, July 19 and if all goes as planned, we should arrive in Jackson, Wyoming on Wednesday, August 5. We'll take a few days to pack up Das Bike to get it into a box suitable for an airplane, and then fly home.
Getting to Jasper will be a bit of a project, but we have it figured out. We fly into Vancouver with the bike all boxed nicely, get across town and hop on the Canadian overnight train into Jasper. (We had hoped to ride Amtrak to Vancouver, but it turns out that it is not possible to get a tandem onto an Amtrak train even though the box that holds the bike fits nicely onto a commuter plane. Go figure.)
We'll put the bike together in Jasper and then head south on the Icefields Parkway, which runs pretty much north - south through Canada's Jasper National Park. There will be a fair bit of climbing on the Sunwapta and Bow passes, but it should be very beautiful. We will continue south through the Kootenay and Purcell mountains to the Waterton Lakes National Park, which is Canada's equivalent to the US's Glacier National Park. We then cross over to the east, cross the border and ride down the east side of Glacier National Park to Saint Mary. The next day will be a much anticipated ride over the continental divide on the Going to the Sun road and on to Kalispell.
From Kalispell we again turn south for a long slog to Bozeman. After that there's the long, long climb up to Yellowstone and then the Grand Tetons.
I will update the blog as much as possible once we get on the road, but am not sure how often I will have a good internet connection. I've made maps for each of our daily routes, including elevation for the day and will include those in the daily posts. The maps will be interactive so you can enjoy our climbs from your kitchen!
Stay tuned. We hope that you enjoy following us on this year's trip.
It looks like a lot of climbing with a total of nearly 56,000 feet vertical spread over some 1,200 miles. It should be fun. We plan to get started out of Jasper on Sunday, July 19 and if all goes as planned, we should arrive in Jackson, Wyoming on Wednesday, August 5. We'll take a few days to pack up Das Bike to get it into a box suitable for an airplane, and then fly home.
Getting to Jasper will be a bit of a project, but we have it figured out. We fly into Vancouver with the bike all boxed nicely, get across town and hop on the Canadian overnight train into Jasper. (We had hoped to ride Amtrak to Vancouver, but it turns out that it is not possible to get a tandem onto an Amtrak train even though the box that holds the bike fits nicely onto a commuter plane. Go figure.)
We'll put the bike together in Jasper and then head south on the Icefields Parkway, which runs pretty much north - south through Canada's Jasper National Park. There will be a fair bit of climbing on the Sunwapta and Bow passes, but it should be very beautiful. We will continue south through the Kootenay and Purcell mountains to the Waterton Lakes National Park, which is Canada's equivalent to the US's Glacier National Park. We then cross over to the east, cross the border and ride down the east side of Glacier National Park to Saint Mary. The next day will be a much anticipated ride over the continental divide on the Going to the Sun road and on to Kalispell.
From Kalispell we again turn south for a long slog to Bozeman. After that there's the long, long climb up to Yellowstone and then the Grand Tetons.
I will update the blog as much as possible once we get on the road, but am not sure how often I will have a good internet connection. I've made maps for each of our daily routes, including elevation for the day and will include those in the daily posts. The maps will be interactive so you can enjoy our climbs from your kitchen!
Stay tuned. We hope that you enjoy following us on this year's trip.
