Cyclist0108

We camped there, and enjoyed it mutchly. But compared to Zion, Canyonlands, Arches, etc, it isn't quite in the same league, so unless you are into dinosaurs (as we are), it could be a wee disappointment. Since they want to see it, no harm done.

BTW, that trail with the exposed bones and the petroglyphs unfortunately is closed at least through Sept. 2017.

Happy Feet

Well, that's weird.
When I look on my phone it shows the route going from Lethbridge, Hanna, Camrose to Edmonton but just checking on a PC shows the Icefield route.

Maybe it is displaying a cached page(?).

skookum

When I look at it on my phone I don't get any tracks at all just the google maps page.

Technology.

Machka 

In Canada, you're looking at $36/day for the two of you to feed yourselves, not per week. I assume what you typed there is a typo?

Although I suppose if you stick to oriental noodles, you could get away with about $6-8/day or $42-56/week outside the National Parks and probably double that within the National Parks.

Also, you do realise that camping within the National Parks in Canada will take quite a chunk of your budget, right?
Parks Canada - Banff National Park - Camping

Happy Feet

I agree about the food and lodgings. It can be done pretty cheap if one is very disciplined about shopping for staples and cooking for ones self but some expenses, like Park campsites, can't be avoided.

Back to the map for a second. I see after Hope you intend to ride south of the river through Chilliwack and Abbotsford and through Surrey and Vancouver. Not a good route really. Most people go on the north side of the river west of Hope on Hwy 7 which goes straight to North Vancouver. Hwy 7 is more scenic and far less traffic.

In this video, from 1:00 to 3:10 you can see some of the sights on the north side of the river from Mission to Agassiz:


This video from :30 on shows the north side (Hwy 7) from Mission to Fort Langley, which is a short detour you should take. BC's first Capital. Very nice old town with a wooden fort to look at too. I go there in the video:


Talking about cost. You have the Capilano Suspension Bridge as a destination (last one actually). It's $40/adult or $80 for the two of you! I went there when it was free but wouldn't pay that now.

cyccommute 

I'll have to disagree. Each one has its own charms as does most of the western US landscape.

The lizard petroglyphs are along Cub Creek Road. There are lots of other petroglyph sites in Dinosaur but most of them are less accessible to bicyclists than the ones on Cub Creek are. The ones you are talking about is on Island Park Road which is further north.

indyfabz

Assuming it's not a typo, I would love to see a proposed food budget of $36/week for two people, even in the U.S. That's $2.57/day per person. I am buying this less and less every day.

Mri G.

We normally spend about 40/week (of the local currency) on food for the two of our when we travel. We've done a month in America before and found it was only slightly higher because we ate out a lot. Haven't been to Canada before, but have traveled around Australia and that's supposed to be fairly expensive as well. However, we do have a £500/month budget so if we get somewhere and find out it's a lot more expensive than we thought, we should still be okay.

Haven't looked at the price for camping in Canada, but we're just going to free camp in America and hopefully we can do the same up north. However, if we can't, we'll look at couchsurfing or warmshowers.

Don't have time to answer the rest because we leave in 30 minutes and haven't eaten yet! Lols.

skookum

I had a friend that claimed to live on $20(CAN)/ week for food a few years ago. He would check all the ads in the Sunday paper, figure out what was on sale where, and spend Monday buying the cheapest food at different grocery stores. I never believed he could do it as cheaply as he claimed.

Food is more expensive in Canada than the US, especially in smaller more remote towns and it is very expensive in the mountain parks. I have no idea what a good budget for food would be, but it is way more than $2.57/day.

Machka 

+1

Having lived in both Canada and Australia, and having travelled for months in the US ...

... the food in the US is reasonably inexpensive.
... the food in Canada is more expensive.
... the food in Australia is comparable to the food in National Parks and other remoter locations in Canada.

indyfabz

And in this situation we have people who will be captive to what's available along or close to a route that will take them through relatively remote places while they expend who knows how many calories/day riding a loaded tandem through hilly/mountainous terrain with a 28x28 low gear.

Snuts

I'm very interested in the Alaska Hiway part of this journey. I have travelled it a few times over the years through work, once on vacation.
By the time they get to Dawson creek (mile "0"), they will know for themselves about their ability/funds.

Please take this in a positive light.

-Snuts-

BigAura

By my touring $ averages I spend about 20% more on food in Canada vs US. I cook most of my meals with an occasional economy-priced-restaurant here & there.

My Average Daily Food & Fuel:

• US: ~$10-12(USD)
• Canada: ~$12-14(USD)

Mri G.

Thannks everyone for the concern and we're definitely not taking it in any negative way. You've all been so helpful planning this trip. However, we'll just have to see how the food goes when we get there, but given we're vegetarian we eat mostly lentils, pasta, and rice - all very cheap food sources that will keep for ages so can buy them before hitting remote places.

And though we've never done anything this physical for this long, we're both fairly active and have been on multi-day hikes and done other activities where we had to eat loads and well to still be healthy.

As for you friend eating tins, tins are actually really expensive for what you get. One of our curries and pastas cost about $1 each to make, so 25c/per person/per meal (two for dinner and breakfast ) Cereal is by far the most expensive with $1.20 a bowl on average, so we avoid that when we're traveling on a budget. Occasionally we eat out, but not often as being vegetarian we're fairly limited which is nice for the budget, but not so much for our desire to be lazy XD

But we'll post our average food budget up on here in a few weeks (:

skookum

It has been a long time since I have been in Australia, and I can't recall the price of of food. A couple of years ago I was in NZ and I was quite shocked at the price of food. It was more expensive than Alberta, yet they can grow almost anything in New Zealand and most food is imported in Alberta.

skookum

Not tins, I was quoting prices in Canadian dollars.
The Canadian prairies produce lots of pulses (lentils,peas beans, chickpeas) so they should be cheap, but I don't know. We don't produce rice. but are famous for our pasta (KD).

Anyway, good luck on your trip, keep us updated on your progress.

Mri G.

Lols XD Gotcha. Don't know if we'll get that cheap, though there are two of us so if we split evenly per person... (though food rarely works like that).

And thanks! Just landed in Las Vegas and putting the bike together outside of the airport. (:

alan s 

So, how's it going?

linus

I know it's hard to believe, but the cost of living is higher in Canada than UK.