The first year of the Pandemic, I was at loss where to travel. A vacation to Ecuador and the Galapagos had been cancelled as I was en-route to the airport so I was` loath to commit to anything outside the province of BC where I was then living.
My son was working at the Jasper Fairmont Lodge, so on a whim, I looked at the potential for cycling there. I had driven the route previously and thought it looked achievable in four big days, averaging 200km a day. I realized I would still have to traverse the Coastal Mountain Range and the Monashee Range.
A first day of 200km would take me up the Fraser Canyon as far as Spences Bridge, a hamlet, that I was familiar with from previous geocaching trips to “Gold Country.” That would take me through the Coastal Range so I then had to cross the central plateau via Kamloops on the second day. From Kamloops, I’d follow the Thompson River north to Blue River, a place I also knew as my daughter had worked there with the Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing company. The fourth and final day would see me cutting through the Monashee Mountains on the Yellowhead Highway that passed majestic Mount Robson and then I’d descend into Jasper. On paper, the journey looked straight forward. All I needed was favorable weather.
Having driven up the Fraser Canyon numerous times I knew it was especially popular with tourists in the summer and it was still used by freight traffic even though the faster Coquihalla Highway had been un-tolled for several years. The canyon road clings to the valley sides on shelves, occasionally cutting through the mountainside itself in a series of long tunnels. Views of the tumultuous Fraser River are stupendous so it’s no wonder there’s a constant stream of slow-moving camper vans at peak times.
My strategy was to leave Chilliwack early so I could get through the narrow tunnels in the canyon before the vacation traffic was on the road. Using the available daylight in mid-July, I set off at 5am, a little before sunrise, and had reached the start of the canyon at Hope around 7am. I chose a Sunday to minimize the freight traffic but I knew I could still find a gas station open in Yale by the time I got there. Yale is where the real scenery begins and had been the highest navigable point on the Fraser for paddle steamers bringing gold prospectors into the territory some 150 years ago.
At cycling speed, I had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery but I didn’t slow too much as I wanted to get through those narrow tunnels as quickly as possible. A couple of tunnels have buttons for cyclists to push that illuminate flashing lights alerting motorists that cyclists are present. I also had front and rear high intensity flashing lights that I used both inside and outside the tunnels. It may have been a Sunday, but huge log-hauling trucks were still using the road.
There are a few small settlements in the canyon, notably Spuzzum, Boston Bar and Canyon Alpine where I stopped for my first rendezvous with my wife Jane who had set off three hours after me. Beyond these settlements is one notable 200m climb from the river before you reach Lytton. I have poignant memories of my coffee stop at the café in Lytton as, barely a year later, the café and entire village was destroyed in a devastating wildfire.
After Lytton, you leave the Fraser River and follow the Thompson River tributary upstream. In early July, this is a raging torrent in full flow, popular with wild water rafters. On the north bank, the railway line hugs steep marble cliffs. Just before reaching my destination for the night, I crossed back over Thompson to the river shelf where Spences Bridge is located.
I remember feeling tired but not exhausted as I sat down for a restorative meal in the only restaurant that evening. I needed an early night as I set off before 4:30am on the second morning. My reward for leaving that early was a fine view of the sunrise over the Thompson Valley. The gradient there was steady, so after a couple of hours, I was in Cache Creek for a second breakfast. The Thompson River comes in from the east near Cache Creek so the Trans-Canada Highway turns that direction towards Kamloops.
As the two major highways merge on the hill above Kamloops, it’s best to stay on the minor roads and cross the Thompson on the old bridge into North Kamloops where I took a late lunch. The final 45km of my route followed the North Thompson River upstream to Barriere where I accidentally booked a motel that backed onto the main railway line. I was tired enough that trains rumbling through the night didn’t disturb me too much and I was ready to depart before 4:30am again on Day 3.
The route to Blue River followed the North Thompson River the entire way, and at times was especially attractive. The gradient was gently uphill, with steeper slopes thrown in from time to time. Luckily for me, when the traffic did pick up, it was mostly coming from the opposite direction as the route from Jasper is clearly popular with RV tourists. While I did stop at the Tim Hortons in Clearwater, there is very little habitation between Barriere and Blue River that itself is a tiny hamlet. Consequently, I pretty much relied on Jane in the support vehicle for my refreshment stops.
Day 4 was to be a big one of over 220km with 1500m of climbing so I departed again before sunrise. However, that morning it was still pitch dark and drizzling rain, a depressing start for my final day. By Tete Jaune, the rain had stopped so my mood improved, especially after taking a second breakfast for the climb up towards the Alberta border.
I was hoping for the iconic view of Mount Robson from the Yellowhead Highway that you see on all the tourist brochures where its snowy bands give it a distinctive stripy, layered appearance. However, low clouds persisted so I never saw it above the trees at its base.
Continuing uphill, I was reacquainted with a familiar friend, the River Fraser. The source of the Fraser is up near the Alberta Border but this version of the river is much tamer than the beast that flows through the canyon some six hundred kilometres downstream. Once at the Alberta border, the land tips downhill and with a wind at my back, I sped down into Jasper to finish my ride at the Jasper Lodge.
I recall on the approach road to the Lodge being waved to a halt by hotel staff wearing surgical masks and wishing to take my forehead temperature. This was still year one of the Pandemic. Miraculously, considering I had just ridden over 200km, my temperature reading was low enough to allow me to be reunited with the rest of my family for a celebration in the hotel restaurant!
The details of the route were:
Day 1: Chilliwack to Spences Bridge, 198km, 1360m ascent, 8:25 hours riding time (Strava).
Day 2: Spences Bridge to Barriere, 196km, 1900m ascent, 8:05 hours riding time.
Day 3: Barriere to Blue River, 170km, 1070m ascent, 6:40 hours riding time.
Day 4: Blue River to Jasper, 221km, 1480m ascent, 8:25 riding time.
Total: 785km with 5810m ascent in and 31:35 hours of riding.