Some tens of miles out east from Valemount I should have been able to see the highest point in the Canadian Rockies Mnt.Robson. Nothing special to see today except for some tens of dozens RV's because of the low hanging clouds. A bit further on I had to find a camplace to make canp for the night. At 2030 local, a guard from the national parc came along to collect the fee : 16 dollars. It was the same as for an XXL camper or RV. The campsite had no shower, no running water .. nothing except for a firepit and a table..
Cycling to Jasper was easy. The lady at the entrance of the national parc - that is sone about 255 km long - didn't know what to do. Count me as a pedestrian or a car. She didn't charged me to enter the parc. OK.
Jasper didn't really had anything else to offer to me than grocery's.
Some tens of dozens RV's and tourbusses again that spoiled the landscape. Once again I had to camp in a campingsite as camping in the wild is strictly prohibited here. I only costed about 24 dollar for one night, outrageous ! Entering the parc from the northside lead me again to an entranceport of the parc. The lady over there charged me 9.8 dollar for one day, again waaay to much to encourage cyclers to come over here. The views on the other hand were nice, some icy slopes and moutainranges could be seen one the east and westside of the valley.
The terrain elevated to a certain height of 2100 mtr ASL in the Glacier Ice Range and again further on in Bow Pass to some 2200 mtr ASL.
Steep climbs ? : I only counted two of them that lasted longer than 6 km in the highest gear in the back..
Lake Louise was not worth visiting on the way : too much tourists (Germans, French, Dutch, French speaking Canadians, Japanees, Chinees and Aussies) and the lake was way not nicer than the ones I already saw on the way.
It rained now and the temperature was around 10/15 degrees.
In the Parc I slept two times in a Youth Hostel. The campgrounds had no running water nore electricity .. The hostel had a sauna, a campfire a nice watercreeck, a kitchen, no running water nore elecricity but at least a decent bed and heating as temperatures went down to 2 degrees outside. Only some 10 people were in both youthhostels. Nice people all over the place. Again spoke some dutch with a .NL-er.
I entered Banff today in the pooring rain.. And even with sun or rain : it's a tourist trap over here. Extra-ordinary expensive and even the campgrounds are over 20 dollars for a bicyclist. It's a shame ! Cell-coverage was none-existent in the parc. The youthhostel here is the place to be again. I hope to cycle out of this parc as soon as possible since other prices like groceries and stuff is way too high as it already was elsewhere in Canada.
I would never cycle in this National Parc again and would not recommend it to a bicyclist since it's no way cheaper as driving a car here and the views are nice and spectacular but so are the Alps and certainly the Pyrenees.
Bye bye Canada and Glacier National Iceparc here I come !
In the US it will cost me only 80 dollar to enter ALL national parcs for one year.
By the way ; I broke the 3000 km barrier today after checking my logs.
Once again I tried to contact the local repeaters on 2 and 70 in Jasper / Banff Lake Louise on different times but no success again.. Someone must still be doing the maintenance ? Strange .. I used 40 meters only once near Mnt. Robsons since I had no time for it to setup the antenna in the hostels , I rather had two saunas and campfires over there !
USA, here I come again !
Sorry to hear of your negative experiences, Raf. Charging you RV prices in the Park for so little is inexcusable!
ReplyDeleteMaybe Canmore will be a bit nicer; I've only spent a few days there, but it seemed friendlier and less expensive than Banff.
Nelson
VE7FTL
Hi Rafael,
ReplyDeleteMy experience in Banff and Jasper has been mixed. We have had excellent ski weeks in both parks, but in the summer it is loaded with tourists.
There is lots of backpacking camping in the parks but this is never somewhere accessible by road... you have to walk. Still, it is $10 per night. Canada also has an annual federal parks pass, like the US. It is $68.
Regarding the costs, it is an ongoing debate with both federal and provincial governments. Our parks are very large and, most of the year, almost empty. Who should pay to maintain the parks, e.g. the roads? I agree, it should be the taxpayer but the government philosophy is user-pay. That is what we have to deal with.
Cheers from Victoria
I can agree to the level that RV's have to pay that amount of money on campsites on the main road , but also for cyclers and hikers ? 5-10 dollars should be ok.
ReplyDeleteI like rv's..;-))
ReplyDelete