July 8: So Grande and Glorious I Could Bear-ly Take It In
What a glorious day! Today I fell in love with a new road and toured one of the most magnificent national parks I have ever seen. What started out as a shortcut to Jasper National Park ended up being one of the highlights of the trip for me.
Today’s route was a perfect example of my slogan, “it’s about the ride, not the destination.” My plans were to go to Jasper National Park on my way to Calgary for a service tomorrow. Rather than head south from Dawson Creek to Prince George and then over I decided to take highway 40, also known as the Bighorn Highway, from Grande Prairie Alberta to Grande Cache instead. It was a difficult choice because I had gotten reports that the road was unpaved and just had snow on it. But I checked with several locals who assured me the road was safe and decided to go for it.
What a treat! The road follows a series of ridgelines around the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, gently undulating up and down and around hills as it offers broad-sweeping panoramas of one valley after another. There are lush green meadows and forests and pretty mountain views in the distance. The road itself is a delight because all of it is paved, there is almost no traffic, and its easy enough to ride that I didn’t have to stop looking at the views to stay safe on the bike. After days of road construction and challenging riding it was a pleasure to just relax and enjoy the scenery.
After exiting the Bighorn Highway, I headed a few miles south to Jasper and Jasper National Park. This park is truly magnificent – mile after mile of glorious towering mountain peaks, white glistening glaciers, sparkling green lakes and rivers, and cascading waterfalls. At 4,200 square miles, a nature photographer or painter would die of old age before they finished fully capturing the extent of the jaw-dropping vistas.
One voluminous waterfall was the tallest one I have seen I my life but did not even merit an information sign at the base of it, perhaps because it was one of so many in the park. I stopped the bike and had to look almost straight upwards to see the top of it.
On another occasion I passed a lake with water a deep green, emerald color and looked to my right to see a rippling river a lighter jade color of green. Apparently, the striking green color is created by sunlight reflecting off particles in the water.
I was also treated to up-close views of a large variety of wildlife including deer, elk, bighorn sheep, and a large black bear. I have seen quite a few bears on this trip, but this was the first time I was able to get a picture of one. There were several other people already stopped looking at it and I figured if I could run faster than them, I would be okay!
What a remarkable day. I did experience challenges with gas and navigation equipment, but I am glad that I persevered in dealing with these issues as the end result was definitely worth it.
