Day 4: Mosquito Creek-Columbia Icefield

Today was my first day over 100 kilometres. And it included two passes over 2000 metres. So to start from the end, the beef tenderloin that I just had together with the red wine from British Columbia (I didn’t even know that was a thing) at the Icefield Centre at the Columbia Icefield tasted delicious.

Back at the Mosquito Creek hostel it rained during the night. My weather forecast had predicted sun from 6 AM, but it was still cloudy in the morning and very chilly – only six degrees.

Right after the start, the road gained elevation until I reached the highest point of today (and maybe the whole trip?), Bow Pass at 2067 metres. Bow Lake was located nearby and was pretty picturesque, but nothing compared to Peyto Lake which I reached a bit later after a little detour from the main route and a ten minutes’ hike. Peyto Lake has a beautiful turquoise colour and can be seen from a viewpoint high above the lake.

From there I had a long, mainly downhill ride to the Saskatchewan river crossing, the only petrol station/restaurant on the Icefields Parkway. I had some dirty fish and chips for lunch before I continued for the second 50k of the day.

These were much tougher than the first because now I had to climb up again to 2000 metres. It was a spectacular ride though, so I stopped several times for photos. I also stopped for a bear – the second black bear of this trip. It crossed the road fifty metres ahead of me. Cars were stopping. But by the time I had started my GoPro camera, it had disappeared into the bushes. I had another close encounter earlier today, but I never got to see that pal. I just saw his big wet paw prints on the dry, warm pavement – it must have crossed the road a minute before.

After six and a half hours cycling, I finally crossed the Sunwapta pass (2030 m) at the boundary between Banff and Jasper National Parks. From there it was an easy ride to my campground for today which is located at the Columbia Icefield. The place is a bit touristy, but the food was excellent. And so are the liquid carbohydrates that I need for my trip to Jasper tomorrow.

Bow Lake

Peyto Lake

Halfway up to Sunwapta Pass

Athabasca Glacier at the Columbia Icefield