Day 2, Sunwapta Falls to The Crossing

We didn't have internet last night, so here's yesterday's post.

  

Thunderstorms last night with lots of rain set the mood for today’s weather.  We left Sunwapta Falls at about 0730 – we skipped the restaurant since it is so bloody expensive and opted for our leftover squashed bananas and Picky Bars for breakfast.  The rain had stopped by morning but it kept the temperature cool, about 9 degrees.  Low clouds clung to the hillsides like gauze and obscured any view of the mountains, and a fine mist promised a wet beginning even though the road was mostly dry.

We geared up with booties and coats and headed down the road.  Well, actually, up the road.  Today’s route follows the Athabaska River upstream and takes us up the Sunwapta Pass to the Columbia Ice Fields, the down the 50 km descent to the Saskatchewan River; about 100 km for the day with about 1500 m. climbing.  That’s not too bad on a half-bike, but on a fully loaded tandem it is a lot of work when the road tips up.

A misty morning on the Atahabaska River

The road was lots of rollers with false flats for the first 40 km, where we started the real climb.  We stopped near the bottom and suited up with full-on gloves in addition to our booties.  The mist had continued to make things wet and we were pretty cold at that point.  The climb started immediately and didn’t relent – 10 percent most of the way for about 20 km.   Right on cue, shortly after we started the serious climbing the clouds started to clear and the temperature rose quickly.  We were roasting but didn’t want to stop on such a steep climb – afraid we’d never get started again.  We finally came to a turnoff where we figured we should shed some clothing.  (And the stop was welcomed.)

This kind of scenery every direction you look

The climb tops off with a long false flat then one last bump ahead of the Columbia Ice Fields Discovery Center.  We were glad that the clouds cleared because the view in every direction was amazing.  My writing does little justice to the Canadian Rockies.  Every direction you look there are huge peaks with glaciers tumbling off them.  Photos pick up where I fail.

 

The much-reduced-in-size Columbia Glacier

 

More Glaciers

We needed a break at the Discover Center and parked the bike and headed in.  The Discovery Center is pretty new and fancy and has several restaurants and delis, and a hotel.  As would be expected for mid-summer, the place was jammed with a very international crowd.  We had hot coffee, which warmed us up, and opted for poutine to fuel us up a bit.  Had to do it once, right?  It was pretty good even though they used some creepy cheese instead of curds, and it hit the spot for us. 

 

A picture is worth 1000 words... 

The thing that struck us most besides the amazing geology is the rate at which the glaciers are disappearing.  The Parks Service has placed markers at places that indicate the size/level of the glaciers over the past century.  The glaciers are a mere shadow of what they wore 50 years ago, 25 years ago.

Shameless selfie

The Discovery Center is pretty much at the top of the Sunwapta Pass and from there is a descent of about 40 km to where we are staying for the night.  The road down has a decent surface but the shoulder where we are supposed to ride was really lumpy with fine sand that must have accumulated in recent rain storms.  The grade was about 12 percent down in places, so we were moving right along at 50 to 60 kph with the brakes being used generously to keep the speed reasonable.  When possible, I took the lane and tried not to piss off too many drivers (but the speed limit is 50 kph on the descents so we were a good bit over the limit a lot of the time.  Still, cars like to go fast…)

Sunwapta River

Lots of vistas on the way down and we picked up a tail wind, too!  Downhill with a tail wind; how often does that happen?  The run into the Crossings was quick and we made it by mid afternoon, checked in to the hotel (the room would not be available until 1600 so the only reasonable thing to do was to get a beer on the deck).

The weather looks atrocious tomorrow.  We'll let you know!