Supporting Member knyte Posted July 8, 2020 Supporting Member Share Posted July 8, 2020 (edited) Having lived in Alberta for nearly 25 years, I've seen a fair bit of it. One part I haven't spent any time on was Hwy 93, the Icefields Parkway. Now that my g/f and I have been riding a few years, we took the opportunity to change that! So, we took a couple of days off and made it a three day trip. Day 1. We missed our turn - we'd intended to head west at Leduc to Drayton Valley, but ended up on Hwy 13 instead. A side trip to Crimson Lake was certainly worthwhile. Hwy 22 is mostly straight, but full of incredible vistas. It was a bright and sunny day, with the mountains clearly visible to the west. Great day and perfect weather. Minor mishap when a Gatorade lid somehow worked loose and soaked some electronics...which miraculously dried out and worked fine. Day 2 is when the adventures started. 1A was as fabulous as I'd remembered. We enjoyed every foot on a great morning. As it turns out, lots of little stops made for a slow trip. Little stops like gearing up for rain. Like bike parts flying off - through no fault of her own, my g/f's Touratech lid blew off and we had to backtrack 20 kms to find it. A rock as a hammer, and another as an anvil later, and it was straight enough to keep stuff dry. We found out the hard way that neither of us have waterproof boots. Fine for back and forth to work in a bit of a drizzle, but it wasn't long before we were both sloshing water in our boots. We pushed hard through 5 deg C through the Columbia Icefields, but it was worth it. Every turn, every rise - was 'wow'. Arriving late to Jasper, roughly 10:00 PM, we found out ours was the last room in town. How was Highway 16, the fellow at the desk asked. We came up 93, I said. Hope you're not going to Edmonton, he said - road's washed out. ...and that's when we found out we might have to backtrack to Hwy 11 to Red Deer. Might as well get some sleep and find out tomorrow! Day 3 And, as luck would have it, after a big omelette and several cups of coffee, we only had to wait about 20 mins for our turn at the washout. One-lane, alternating traffic. Wasn't too bad. From there, Jasper is of course spectacular, but from Hinton to Edmonton - well, it's fast - but the scenery is nothing compared to the previous two days. We got home just in time for more rain! Incredibly fun loop, and I can see doing this many more times, with different routes. It'd be easy to do differently many times over. Photo album - https://flic.kr/s/aHsmPgCYif Edited July 8, 2020 by knyte 4 2 1 2015 FJ-09 / FJR touring bags / oil plug mod / Evotech rad guard / SW Motech bash plate / VStream touring windshield / Seat Concepts: Sport Touring / Vcyclenut ABS rings (speedo correction) / Cosmo RAM mount Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Some fantastic photos there, the mountains look really majestic.The sort of roads that you would just want to slow down and smell the air and take in the scenery, perfect. That advertising sign of the wee guy with the bear is amazing. I doubt it would be made nowadays sadly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tktplz Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Those are some excellent vistas. 1 thing I found really different was a Breakfast and Pizzeria pic. I haven't seen that here in the states but I'm guessing it must work since they are open. Nice write up, Thanks! 1 Ain't no fun when the rabbit gets the gun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koth442 Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Very cool, very pretty! 1 '15 FJ09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member knyte Posted July 8, 2020 Author Supporting Member Share Posted July 8, 2020 Thanks for the kind words. Can't wait to do it again. 1 2015 FJ-09 / FJR touring bags / oil plug mod / Evotech rad guard / SW Motech bash plate / VStream touring windshield / Seat Concepts: Sport Touring / Vcyclenut ABS rings (speedo correction) / Cosmo RAM mount Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member betoney Posted July 8, 2020 Supporting Member Share Posted July 8, 2020 11 hours ago, knyte said: Having lived in Alberta for nearly 25 years... One part I haven't spent any time on was Hwy 93, the Icefields Parkway. Isn't it funny how things in life like that happen? Glad you were finally able to ride it, I'm hoping to make it up there next year if the border crossings opens up to 'non-essential' traffic. 1 ***2015 Candy Red FJ-09*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member knyte Posted July 8, 2020 Author Supporting Member Share Posted July 8, 2020 (edited) 2 minutes ago, betoney said: Isn't it funny how things in life like that happen? Yep, it's been staring me in the face all this time. Of course, I'm still wondering 'why the heck didn't I do that a long time ago - even in a cage?!?' I hope you do get to experience that area. The Rockies are just amazing, from the west or the east, or straight up the middle. Edited July 8, 2020 by knyte 1 2015 FJ-09 / FJR touring bags / oil plug mod / Evotech rad guard / SW Motech bash plate / VStream touring windshield / Seat Concepts: Sport Touring / Vcyclenut ABS rings (speedo correction) / Cosmo RAM mount Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maximo Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 This is the area we were planning on riding this summer. Damn the coronavirus. Stunning area! I can't wait to see it for myself. 2 ’70 Yamaha 125 Enduro; ’75 Honda CB360T; ’81 Yamaha XS650SH; ’82 Honda GL650 Silver Wing Interstate; ’82 Suzuki GS650L; ’87 Yamaha Virago 535; ’87 Yamaha FJ1200; ’96 Honda ST1100; ’99 Yamaha V-Star Classic; ’00 Suzuki SV650; ’07 BMW K1200GT; ’12 Suzuki DR200; ’15 Yamaha FJ-09. Bold = current Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member keithu Posted July 13, 2020 Premium Member Share Posted July 13, 2020 You kept mentioning rain but it all looks beautiful in your photos! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member knyte Posted July 13, 2020 Author Supporting Member Share Posted July 13, 2020 lol!! It was a bit chilly, so didn't stop for pics in the rain. Next time, Gadget 1 2015 FJ-09 / FJR touring bags / oil plug mod / Evotech rad guard / SW Motech bash plate / VStream touring windshield / Seat Concepts: Sport Touring / Vcyclenut ABS rings (speedo correction) / Cosmo RAM mount Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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