The previous long days bought me some play time today to ride through Banff and Jasper. I took Route 1A north to Lake Louise, taking advantage of the many photography opportunities through Banff. I then merged back on to Route 1, heading to the Icefields Parkway for more spectacular views. I got to see the Bow Lake Glacier, more of the Canadian Rockies, and the Columbia Icefield. Those were some really impressive glaciers, even with their steady retreat. The weather got very cool, enough that I turned on the electric jacket, while being up in the mountains. From there I scooted up to Jasper, maxing out at 2074m elevation along the way. A quick lunch in Jasper and I’m back on the road heading to some friends’ place in Kamloops, BC. The ride was very smoky thanks to all of the forest fires burning throughout the province, to the point where I could actually smell the wood smoke.

I pulled in to the farm at about 7:30 PM and had some delicious beer, tasty lasagna, and great conversation with old friends I hadn’t seen in a long, long time.