oldacura

I've packed up our Co-Pilot & we're flying to Calgary tomorrow AM. Taking a bus to Banff where we will assemble the bike. Satruday AM we start riding north. First to Lake Louise, then to Bow Lake, the Icefield Chalet & then to Jasper. Four days and 180 miles to Jasper. Two nights in Jasper & then 3 days back. We're having Brewster's Tour Company haul our bag. Last I checked, lows were about 40F & highs about 70F (beats the 90s we've been having here in Denver). If it doesn't rain or snow, it should be a great ride.
We'll be back on August 28th.

John & Lisa - Lafayette, Colorado

Hermes

Have a great time and post pics.

robmitchell

Hi, It sounds like a great trip. With the late notice I don't think we can make it.

Is it a planned tour with other tandems?

Rob

oldacura

Not planned with other tandems. Just ourselves. We did this trip 7 years ago. It was pretty easy to set up with the internet. The key to the ride is getting lodging at the Icefield Chalet. They have limited space and are the only lodging for about 60 miles either way. I planned the trip around availability of the Chalet.

If anyone is interested I can send a copy of our itinerary with lodging phone numbers, costs & distances.

zonatandem

Photos do not do justice to Lake Louise. Absolutely the most stunning inland body of water we've ever seen.
Enjoy

masiman

Maybe just post here? I would be interested but I know would be unable to do this for a number of years. It could be here for posterity .

George Handy

10 of us (on singles) from the Fort Worth TX area are heading out tonight for Missoula MT, and start riding towards Jasper on Monday 20th. We arrive in Jasper on Aug 31st. Not worried about the milage, but those mountains...

Should be quite an adventure!

oldacura

We got back from our ride last night. A great ride. Stunning scenery. Our itinerary:

Friday 8/17/07: UAL #5827 DEN 8:55 AM / YYC 11:26 AM
Take Brewster Bus to Banff. Leave Calgary Airport 12:30 Conf #E46702
Lodging in Banff: Rundlestone = $186 - Confirmed


Saturday 8/18/07: Assemble bike. Ride to Lake Louise = 37 miles.
Lodging: Paradise Bungalows = $205 - Confirmed


Sunday 8/19/07: Ride to Chateau Lake Louise, Moraine Lake then to Bow Lake
Lodging: Num-Ti-Jah Lodge = $295 - Confirmed


Monday 8/20/07: Ride to Icefield Chalet = 58 miles
Lodging: Icefield Chalet = $229 - Confirmed


Tuesday 8/21/07: Ride to Jasper = 64 miles
Lodging: Whistler’s Inn = $235 - Confirmed


Wednesday 8/22/07: Shuttle to Maligne Lake
Lodging: Whistler’s Inn = $235 - Confirmed


Thursday 8/23/07: Ride to Icefield Chalet = 64 miles
Lodging: Icefield Chalet = $229 - Confirmed


Friday 8/24/07: Ride to Bow Lake = 58 miles
Lodging: Num-Ti-Jah Lodge - $295 - Confirmed

Saturday 8/25/07: Ride to Banff = 58 miles
Lodging: Rundlestone = $186 - Confirmed


Sunday 8/26/07: Disassemble & pack bicycle.
Take Brewster Bus to Calgary. Leave Rundlestone 12:02
Lodging: Hyatt Regency Calgary = $198 - Confirmed


Monday 8/27/07: UAL #5827 YYC 12:05 PM / DEN 2:30 PM


$1.00US = $1.17CN; $1.00CN = $0.85US

1 kM = .62 miles

Sundog Tours 888 786 3641 / 780 852 4056 (KellyAnn)

Icefield Chalet 877 423 7433 / 403 762 6700

Rundlestone 800 661 8630 / 403 762 2201

Paradise Bungalows 403 522 3595

Num-Ti-Jah 403 522 2167

Whistler’s Inn – Jasper 800 282 9919 / 780 852 3361

Calgary Hyatt Regency 403 717 1234

Brewster’s Calgary 800 760 6934

This was our planned itinerary. The only modification we did was on the return from Jasper to Banff, we cancelled the second stay at the Num-Ti-Jah Lodge & rode on to Lake Louise & stayed at Deer Lodge - just outside the Chateau Lake Louise. Some might call the Num-Ti-Jah rustic, historic or quaint. I call it an overpriced run-down fire trap. This change made our second to last day a long one - 81 miles.

We rode 411 miles in 7 days with a day off in Jasper. That day we took a shuttle to Maligne Lake & rented a tandem kyak & paddled about 2 hours on the lake. A gorgeous lake. Smooth as glass.

I will post some pictures once we get them uploaded. The weather was unsettled & cooler than when we did this in August, 2000. We had a steady drizzle the second day. Fortunately, it was cool but not cold.

There are 2 significant passes to do on the Icefield Parkway - Bow Summit & Sunwapta Pass. They are each a real grunt but we didn't have to do both in one day. Since we did an up & back we had to climb each from the north & south.

On Friday (our long day) we had the pleasant surprise that the last 40 or so miles was largely downhill - lots of big ring time. I don't have any real ride stats because our computer was flakey. The mileage posted is based on map distances. I think our average riding speed was a bit above 15 mph.

We saw dozens of other riders on the ride. Most fell into one of two types - those doing organized rides (like Backroads Adventures) who were carrying nothing and those who were self-supported and were carrying everything. We didn't meet anyone else who was doing it our way - using Brewster's Tour buses to haul our overnight bags. This worked GREAT! Brewster's does not officially offer this service but we dealt with a dispatcher at the Lake Louise desk & she arranged everything. Each morning we put destination tags on our bags, left a $10 tip in an envelope for the driver and Donna the dispatcher arranged to have the bags delivered to that night's destination hotel. This cost us nothing but the tips! Each day I'd talk with Donna & she would say "No worries!". And there weren't. We counted that in the 9 days of our vacation, we turned our bags over to a bus driver or airline 9 times and they always were at the destination on or before the promised time. I wish we could figure out how to do this other places. We like riding our bike, we just don't like hauling all our stuff (we don't travel lightly).

Anyway, a great trip. No mechanicals, no unhappy surprises, no flats. We heard it said that the Canadian Rockies were like the Colorado Rockies on steroids. This seems pretty apt. However, summer in the Canadian Rockies seems to be on borrowed time.

I will post a few pictures later. Here is one from Brewster's website of Peyto Lake - along the parkway. If you look in the right background of the photo, you can see the highway heading north:

https://www.brewster.ca/files/Images/...to_02%20HR.jpg

- John & Lisa - Lafayette, Colorado.

masiman

That picture was so perfect that it looked photoshop'd . Thanks for the itinerary and impressions.

oldacura

Because of the "glacial flour" in the water, all of the lakes & rivers in the area are that beautiful turquoise. When you first see it, it looks fake. Interestingly, you see almost no fishermen in the area. I think the silt blocks out the sun & no algae will grow on the bottoms of the lakes. We saw only one fish break on Lake Maligne. Canoes & kayaks are allowed on several of the lakes but no motorized craft. Makes for very pretty & quiet scenes.

George Handy

I was at the Peyto Lake overlook just 2 days ago, and it really does look like that! Had a great ride from Missoula to Jasper, even though a back strain kept me off the bike for about 3 days, and limited my riding on a few more. The one tandem team on our trip made it over Going-to-the-Sun in Glacier, Sinclair Pass in Radium Hot Spring, Bow Pass, and Sunwapta Pass in the icefields. The captain said the Arai brake he bought for the trip was the best money he ever spent.

In one word or less, to summarize the trip-WOW!!!!!!!

I'd go do it again without hesitation.

oldacura

I've added some photos from our trip:

1) At Banff Springs Hotel
2) From south side of Sunwapta Pass - looking south
3) At Lake Louise
4) Atop Sunwapta Pass (border between Banff & Jasper National Parks)
5) Crossing Athabasca River - just upstream from town of Jasper
6) At Lower Waterfowl Lake
7) Climbing Sunwapta Pass