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Tortoise II Heads West (Part 1)

(Part 1)

An American friend wrote last Christmas of his cycle ride in the Rockies from Missoula, Montana through 4 National Parks to Jasper, Alberta, 800 miles in 4 weeks, description - awesome, we were hooked!

We had problems getting organised, accommodation is limited and moving Tortoise II around isn't easy, he's too long for buses and internal flights, can travel by train in a box but only get on and off at some stations. It seemed better to go from Jasper south as the gradients looked slightly easier. We finally settled on a flight to Seattle, cycle to Vancouver, catch a train to Jasper, cycle through the Rockies as far as Whitefish and catch a train back to Seattle 6 weeks later. We were given a lot of help by Barbara's two sisters, Linda lives in Seattle and Eileen lives in Vancouver, they generously offered to let us stay with them.

John Deighton arrived promptly at 7.15am on June 14th, drove us to Newcastle Airport and agreed to collect us on July 27th if needed - we hoped to cycle home if fit enough.

A lovely smooth flight with clear skies got us to Seattle at 4pm (midnight Yorkshire time), Linda lives 30 miles on the other side of Seattle so we wimped out of cycling this bit, hired a shuttle bus to take us and Tortoise II to her house. She was in France so we had her lovely house and garden to ourselves. 2 days in Seattle area was a good idea, to get the tandem roadworthy (it hadn't enjoyed the flight as much as we had), and have a days sightseeing in Seattle - a pleasant city but rather spoiled by the busy high level expressway which runs along the sea front. All the buses have a cycle rack on the front.

Between Vancouver Island and the mainland is Puget Sound - a sheltered lagoon with hundreds of islands, the bigger ones linked by ferries. It was a lovely day as we cycled 15 miles to Mulkiteo and took the 10am ferry to Whidbey Island. It was a long hot hilly ride, but the pine forests, smooth empty roads, lovely sea views and long distance views of snow capped Mt Rainier and the peaks of the Olympic Penninsula made every mile worthwhile, our journey of a lifetime had really begun! Afler 57 miles we reached Coupeville a nice old (by American standards) town checked into our motel and sat down to an excellent dinner.

Next day was Sunday but apart from a stretch where we had to ride on a main road the rest of the journey was almost traffic free. We crossed back to the mainland over a high bridge at Deception Pass a narrow rocky passage where the sea races through. We spent a wonderful 2 hours exploring the area then realised we were in danger of missing our ferry, a nine mile dash and we scrambled aboard just in time - last ones on. It took an hour to get to Orcas our next island and then a beautiful scenic ride to Eastsound with quaint shops and lovely gardens, a tourist trap but a nice one. At 2500ft Mt Constitution is the highest point on the Islands, it seemed good training for the Rockies, as it was misty we first cycled round the West end of the Island to some delightful little bays before starting the 4 mile climb. The views from the top were excellent, after a hot climb it was a fast chilly descent and a walk to some lovely waterfalls in the woods. Eastsound Bay is a picture book place and we had a nice evening stroll to walk off a big dinner before retiring. The Enchanted Forest Road lived up to its name as we cycled back to Orcas Village to take the ferry to St Juan Island a much flatter island than Whidbev or Orcas. We headed for the West Coast hoping to see Orcas whales. We were lucky and had a spectacular 2 hour display as a large shoal swam slowly by pursued by lots of boats Power boats have to keep their distance but a group of canoeists were bravely? trying to get in amongst them.

The next day our ferry didn't leave until 4.15pm, so we were able to see more of this delightful place. We headed for Roche Harbor a very upmarket marina, it was out of season and almost deserted, we wandered around the luxury yachts and seaplanes being polished up for the summer, decided we preferred Tortoise II and rode on to The English Camp. This was almost the scene of a war between USA and England in the 1870's but after a 9 year stand-off the only casualty was a pig We collected our luggage and took a ferry to Sidney on Vancouver Island, cleared Customs, then a 20 mile ride along the Galloping Goose trail (a mixture of quiet roads and cycle paths) took us to the Youth Hostel in the centre of Victoria, the scenic capital of British Columbia. We liked Victoria, a lovely floral city and the next day we left the tandem at the hostel and had a lazy day looking round some magnificent gardens and sightseeing, eating and drinking. At the hostel we met a farm worker from the Lake District who had cycled 20,000 miles in 14 months on 4 continents and was about to cycle to Alaska before returning home, I felt tired thinking about it. The next morning more sightseeing then back up the trail to Schwartz Bay where we caught a large ferry boat for the long crossing to Tsawwassen, Vancouver. The ferries are delightful, cheap for pedestrians, cyclists and canoeists, they weave in and out off the islands and never close the ferry doors, they haven't any - the waters are so calm. A few miles of busy roads and a 10 mile ride on a coastal path by the appropriately named Mud Bay, took us to Eileen's home in the suburbs of Vancouver. A long and enjoyable day was rounded off with a shower and an excellent meal.

Next day Rob and Eileen drove us out to the mountains where we had a 10 mile hike to the top of a mountain at 5,500 ft. There was snow on the top with lots of flowers immediately below, but low clouds spoiled the views, back at the car the sun was shining in a cloudless sky, we ended the day with a fish & chip dinner on the beach at a resort village and watched the sun set. 273 miles and 5 ferry crossings, the first part of our journey was about to end, tomorrow the mountains. With assistance from Rob and his van we got the tandem to the city centre rail station by 10.30am. The train didn't leave until 7.30pm, so we put Tortoise in a box and went off to explore. Vancouver is quite a city and we spent a good part of the day in a park which has a 7 mile cycle and skateboard path round it and miles of lovely woodland paths. The train had 3 engines and 38 carriages, the scenery got better and better and the fully reclining seats were very comfortable. The observation cars were all we had imagined and the train slowed down to give us a magnificent view of Mt Robson, the highest peak in the Rockies, it was completely covered in snow and sparkled in the sunshine.

We reached the attractive little town of Jasper at 11am the next day The hostel was 4 miles out of town, the last 1.5miles up a very steep hill. We were feeling hot and tired so took the gondola to the top of Whistler Mountain where we had wonderful views of the mountains and our road south, the Icefield Parkway The next day was terrific the weather was lovely and we cycled out on a day trip to Maligne Canyon, a superb little gorge 75ft deep where the river races through a series of waterfalls for over a mile. We saw elk and bighorn sheep as we carried on to Medicine Lake, 5 miles long, the river flows in at one end and out through sink holes to a huge underground river system; in autumn each year it empties completely. We also saw our 1st black bear in pine woods flanking the road. It was a 50 mile round trip with lots of uphill, as we returned to Jasper we saw a 2nd black bear about half-grown, he trotted along the opposite verge in the same direction for about 100 yards.

The next day we loaded up for the Icefields Parkway, a magnificent road which runs 150 miles from Jasper to Lake Louise mainly along river valleys at 3-4000ft but climbing in 2 areas to almost 7000ft, with snow capped mountains on both sides. This route through the mountains had been used by the Indians for over 9000 years before the first white settlers arrived in the 19th century. We now found out why most people cycle in the opposite direction, (what we thought looked the harder way) the prevailing wind blows from the South. Well you can't win them all! The road was excellent for cycling, with wide hard shoulders and very considerate drivers.

We saw lovely waterfalls and the meeting of 2 rivers and lunched at the Athabasca Falls, a very dramatic gorge where we met an Aussie cycling across Canada and a group of Americans on their way to Alaska. We had booked in at the Sunwapta Falls Hotel, one of the few hotels on this road, you either camp or stay in very simple youth hostels. We had a wonderful evening walk to the spectacular falls and a super meal. Dessert was interrupted when everybody rushed to the windows to watch a black bear and her 2 cubs on the roadside about 50 yards away. Next day as we were about to leave we met 2 women from Darlington, one was a friend of our next door neighbour.

It was only a short ride to Beauty Creek Hostel with Canadian, German and Taiwanese guests. we had a very sociable evening, and also provided a good meal for the local mosquitoes. Next morning the Canadians insisted we share their cooked breakfast, since it was much better than ours we 'reluctantly' agreed.

It got rather cold and windy as we climbed steadily to the Icefields Centre at about 6.500ft. a visitors centre and restaurant, where we had hot food and a drink. At this point on the Continental Divide the Columbian Icefield covers almost 230 square miles and feeds 6 glaciers one of which comes within ½ mile of the road. We boarded a special Snocoach for a ride on the glacier going up and down a 1:3 gradient road on the way. It was a fascinating experience. A good late lunch and we were on our way again, over the pass (our 1st, only 4 to go) and down in ever improving scenery. We saw the aptly named Bridal Veil Falls and another where the water blew sideways in great plumes, Lil then spotted a river that 'disappeared', we walked down a disused road to a collapsing bridge and spent half an hour scrambling and photographing a wonderful canyon. Rampart Creek hostel is in a lovely setting, there is a sauna in the woods next to an icy cold creek, several people assured us how wonderful it was we took their word for it! We had a good night in good company, with cyclists and walkers from several different countries. 2 girls from Calgary were also cycling the Parkway in our direction, No 1 girl cycled hostel to hostel, No 2 girl did likewise then cycled back to the start, put her bike in her car and drove back.

Saturday July 1st Canada Day. An easy beginning downhill but then we started to go steadily uphill, scenery as always superb, lots of greeny-blue lakes and rugged mountains, we crossed the high point of the road and took a steep side road up to Bow Pass summit and viewpoint at 7,OOOft overlooking Peyto Lake. This was literally the high point of our journey. It was quite chilly and crowded with Japanese tourists, when they all starting taking photos of us Tortoise beat a hasty retreat. On the climb up we had heard a clicking noise, suddenly there was a bang and the rear derailleur broke in two, jammed between the spokes and the pannier, the chain broke and wrapped round the spokes, the mudguard buckled and we couldn't remove the pannier. It was 6.3Opm cold and wet and several miles to the hostel and over 20 miles to the nearest bike shop at Lake Louise. Was this the end for Tortoise II and his geriatric companions?

To be continued.

Ray Sewards

Last Modified: 7 May, 2003