From Banff to Jasper by bike


home / Deutsch

This was a ten days tour by bike from Banff to Jasper in fall 2003 after the semester thesis project at the University of Calgary. The tour was originally intended as a backcountry hiking tour around Banff. It ended up as a biking tour through the amazing landscape of the Banff and Jasper National Parks.  As the hiking season was almost over and the first snowstorms were imminent, a pair of nice gloves and an extra shirt were well in place. The funny thing about travelling on a bike in Canada was that people always got curious about the reasons of my doing - so there was always a nice chat whenever I stopped at a lookout point or a rest area. A German-Canadian family even felt sorry for me, so they equipped me with a one-week ration of sweets, bread, Wurst and cheese... I definitely had a nice dinner that day!


Impressions

lake Minnewanka   lake_scenery    
Left: Lake Minnewanka just before heavy rainfall. There are several backcountry campsites along the shore.
Right: The area of Lake Louise.

  endless road   meeting
Left: There is only one road to Jasper and... no shortcuts!
Right: I didn't expect to meet a Swiss teacher in a lonesome hut. He was riding a bike...

outback sauna
Backcountry luxury: A small sauna with a cast iron wood oven. The snowmelt creek behind the hut provides a nice cool-down.

morning road   morning lakes
The early mornings on the road are just freezing. Two scenes before the first sun rays hit the bottom of the valley.

fake matterhorn   waterfall
Swiss people are likely to feel at home in the Rockies.