The Icefields Parkway, Alberta: One of the Roads Most Travelled 22nd - 24th August

August 24, 2007 by paulandnaomi.

With new toeclips on Naomi’s bike (vital parts fell off pedal cleats) and broken strapped and bunjeed panniers on Paul’s, we started south on what is “the most beautiful road in the world”. And they made us pay…a park pass charged PER PERSON, PER DAY, and unlike the cars which take a few hours, it would take us three days for the Parkway plus another two to get out of the parks. So possibly the most expensive road in the world for cyclists at CAN $71 (basically a night in a motel)!

To avoid traffic, we made the very wise decision to take Highway 93A, a wee side road. Hillier it was, but this was an excellent warm up for what was to come and gave us some good views of the mountains we were going to cycle around. We rejoined the Parkway at Athabasca Falls, where we parked up next to a bench for lunch. The falls were very impressive but also teeming with tourists. This was our first experience of being a sideshow attraction ourselves, with people looking at us oddly and a few coming over to speak to us. One particularly effusive American couple cover to say, “Ah think yer just amayzin’, pedlin’ up all them mount’ns!” which was very encouraging for us, but we realised later that this was somewhat of an omen for what was in store for us.

The afternoon brought us some challenging hills; we really started to feel those nine days we’d had off the bikes and morale was not at its best despite the wonderful scenery. The Beauty Creek wilderness Hostel thankfully had what we’d read was ‘a state of the art shower’ (most of these places have no running water). Indeed it was: for a shower, one had to ask the manager, Roger, to put on the ‘kettle’ for 20 minutes; he let you know when it was ready and only 20 litres of water meant a quick rinse, shower off, wash and rinse again (but Naomi was very grateful that she didn’t have to jump in the icy river!) Washing up and brushing teeth took place at the same sink and waste water went into a bucket underneath, which when full was taken to be emptied into pit toilets. We were also very impressed with said toilets, incidentally, as despite all the sewage in them, they did not smell! Well done, Beauty Creek! This is a great achievement after hearing about the old ones, which, at one point apparently had only three inches between one’s backside and the waste (eugh!)

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there as the atmosphere was very sociable and friendly and Roger and his wife very welcoming. Roger addressed Naomi as ‘my dear lady’, which was a welcome change to the ‘madam’ she’s having to get used to now (whatever happened to ‘miss’??).

After a big pile of fruity pancakes whipped up by our dear Roger, we set off for the Columbian Icefield (actually called Athabasca, we think) but despite being warned of the hill, no one could have prepared us for THAT hill. To make matters worse, just as the gradient got leg-buckingly steep, they decided to come and paint the lines at the side of the road - yes, our side of the road. Each gasp for breath therefore contained a mouthful of noxious paint fumes along with the fresh mountain air. The climb was quite a struggle, N had to walk some of it and ended up having a bit of a dodgy moment with her new toe-clip pedals at Tangle Falls, causing a temporary dip in enthusiasm (the less said about that the better).

Once the road plunged down towards the famous Icefield, we realised we had left the best part of our food at the hostel, so we were at the mercy of the over-priced cafeteria at the Icefield Centre which was brimming with bus-loads of tourists. After paying through the nose for a very simple lunch, we decided to skip the walk to/on the Glacier (it wasn’t much to look at anyway) and try and escape the whole tourist infested area. On leaving, we bumped into another pair of cyclists, Scott and his sister. They were also cycling the Parkway before returning to school the following week and would be our on and off cycling companions for the afternoon (a refreshing change from all the cars and RVs!)

Further up the road, we found yet another misplaced summit (Sunwapta pass), after which the roads quite literally dropped off the side of the mountain, revealing ever more dramatic scenery. Even better, the morning’s low moments were finally paid off as Naomi not only beat her own top speed record , but also went over the speed limit by 5km - possibly one of the most victorious moments for a cyclists. But the cars still overtook!

More than a few rolling hills later, and a whopping climb, we arrived at Waterfowl Lakes campsite, where once again we felt hard done by, having to fork out exactly the same CAN $21.80 as our neighbouring 40-foot RVs and SUVs with five tents around them. The campsite did have hot running water, although strangely enough no showers. After making use of said hot water with a splash around in the sink, hanging up our food out of reach of the bears on the provided cables, and a wee stroll down by the lake, sleeping proved very difficult due to the unexpected drop to sub-zero temperatures at 1600m. We froze, all night.

The temperature had only reached 4C when we crawled out of our sleeping bags, teeth chattering at 9am, but the sunny weather and the 10km haul up to Bow Pass soon warmed us up. Lunch was well-timed once again with an excellent view of Peyto Lake from the overlook (although enjoyed as always with lots of other tourists). More lovely views of Bow Lake and surrounding glaciers marked our descent towards Lake Louise. However, the traffic had obviously decided the attractions were well and truly over and speeded their way back home. Rumble strips in the centre of the road were obviously put there for the added security of scenery-ogling drivers, but unfortunately this meant over-taking traffic (most of whom thankfully gave us some decent cycling space), made this constant farting noise which rendered our last 40km into Lake Louise quite unpleasant. Finally, the frightfully expensive Lake Louise hostel welcomed us with proper showers, proper beds, laundry, internet, food, beer and an excellent night’s sleep!

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