Jim's Motorcycling Blog: Canadian FJR Rally (CFR) and Icefields Parkway

Day One.

I was a late in deciding to attend CFR 2022. Things influencing my attendance included, wife decided to visit family for a two weeks at the last moment (its all good), Yellowstone flooded, I got a last minute reservation, snow prevented riding my mighty DR650 in the Idaho mountains and I finished a valve adjustment on the FJR.

My route was one of my favorite rides in the Spokane area, going toward the confluence of the Spokane River and Lake Roosevelt (formerly the Columbia River). Excellent twisty roads near Wellpinit through the Spokane Indian Reservation. I took Josh up this way before the last CFR and although he likely wanted to go faster I was two up and the deer are like locust around these parts.

It is a very scenic ride too. Turtle Lake.

Lake Roosevelt at a scenic turnout.

Same spot looking north instead of south.

Mudget Lake on an over the shoulder shot somewhat edited!

Vista along Hwy 25 in Washington State. Pretty nice out here. When the wife and I decide to move from Seattle to Spokane this is what I had in mind. I can say my mind is at ease at least when it is not winter.

Tonight I am sitting on my back porch, enjoying some summer weather, listening to some Count Basie, and enjoying the view of my green lawn and 200' of pine trees between lots. It is a nice evening here.

Hppants retires tomorrow be sure to wish him Happy Retirement. He earned it. My wife says she deserved retirement and I always correct her. She earned it. Nothing was given to us other than the ability to make good choices, the ability to learn and our health. My son who is 30, lives in Paris, is an engineer at Amazon and is taking a 9 month sabbatical. He is enjoying life while he is young. A sabbatical is offered by French law so he is simply taking advantage of an opportunity. He is one up on me and I am proud.

Back to the scenery along the lake.

In Northport Washington I pick up Steve and gas up.

End of Day One

Day Two

Day one had gone very well. I made it along deer alley, Hwy 25 next the the Columbia River, without seeing a forest rat and the weather was outstanding about 72°. Just perfect and I improved the lives of a few crows when a squirrel committed suicide trying the run through the back wheel.

Today's plan was to enjoy Halcyon Hot Springs. I like this place because you can float round on noodles while the water circulates counterclockwise around a small island in the warm pool. It is a very relaxing way to spend a few hours. So I ride from Nakups north on Hwy 23 to the hot springs, pay the entrance fee and go out the the pool. Much to my surprise the water is not longer circulating around the island and noodles where not on the pool deck. What a bummer. So I sat in the warm pool for about 30 minutes and left.

Plan B was back to Nakusp then ride ride Hwy 31a between New Denver and Kaslo because it is an amazing road. Even better the wooden bridges have been replace with concrete, yippie and about time!

Near the Fish Lake Rest Area.

A group of motorcycles were coming so I include them in the next series of photos.

As I was heading toward Kaslo and there were a couple of wooden bridges, off the main road, crossing the Kaslo River. I got the idea it might make for good photo opportunity so on the way back to New Denver I stopped at one of the bridges.

I took serveral photos with my Canon PowerShot S100 and the cellphone a Oneplus 7T. The cellphone features a HDR so the photos come out pretty well - simply put it takes better photos but with the Canon I can take photos without stopping.

Too much motorcycle in this photo and the creek is out of focus. Shot with the Canon.

Too much bridge deck. Shot with the Canon.

Profile shot doesn't do much for me. Shot with the Canon.

I switch to the cellphone. This one is the best of the bunch as the bike really pops in this photo. The wide angle captured the sky and made this photo special.

Satisfied with the photo I go and continue toward New Denver.

Nice photo of the road shot with the Canon on the go.

End of Day 2

Day 3

I wasn't sure what I was going to do on Saturday, the last day of CFR, unit ~G suggested riding on Hwy 23 north of Revelstoke. He had been there before, said he wasn't going, but I should go there. As I had never been on this piece of pavement it was time check it out.

What a nice day. From Nakups take highway 23 north to the ferry which runs hourly on the half hour. It is not good be late for it is a long wait. Nailed the 9:30 boat. Better yet it is free.

After getting off the ferry the route continues on Hwy 23 and Upper Arrow Lake (formerly the Columbia River). I get to Revelstoke gas up and continue following Hwy 23 going by the Revelstoke Hydroelectric dam which created, wait for it, here it comes, Lake Revelstoke (formerly the Columbia River).

Hwy 23 north of Revelstoke is not very twisty but makes up for it in remoteness and scenery. The destination is Mica Dam where the pavement ends with no warning.

See no turns but that is just fine.

Been a wet year up here and I am not complaining because BC isn't burning nor is anything in Washington, Idaho or Oregon. It doesn't get better than this. I was thinking about going up this way in May but the weather wasn't cooperating.

The mountains go on and on. The next two photos are the same. The first is the original while the second one is edited. This is what my eye was seeing as I was driving along. The Canon Powershot S100 does a fine job of keeping the image in focus even while riding. When my first Canon S100 died last year I learned fixing it was not an option so I bought a refurbished one on Amazon. It works just as good as my first one.

Sometimes very little editing is needed. These days I rarely use my DSLR because it is just too large to lug around on the FJR.

A bit farther down the road the kaleidoscope changes again.

I arrive a Mica Dam and the end of the pavement.

One the way back a black bear crossed the road. Sorry no photo.

And a nice shot of Revelstoke Lake. I like the reflection in the lower right.

The plan was to catch the 3:00 ferry back to Nakusp. I missed the 2:00 ferry by 10 minutes but wasn't willing go faster to arrive in time for the earlier ferry. It worked out just fine.

I got back on time for the evening festivities, group photo, fine dinner and parking lot social. Ms. Tyler did a very good job MC'ing the event. Our table raised $225 for the food bank and won the privilege of first in the buffet line.

It is always good the is Ray.

Greg and Tyler relaxing in the parking lot.

That is a wrap on Day 3. CFR was a smashing success. Next on to Jasper Alberta and the Icefields Parkway.

Day 4

Another beautiful blue sky day with moderate temperatures greeted me as I packed the bike. The plan was to catch the 9:30 boat and but when I was a few kilometers out of town I didn't recall packing my phone charger and cable. So I waited 45 minutes to catch the 10:30 ferry. Rats.

Oh well I get to go over Rogers Pass and the entire 557 kilometers from Nakusp to Jasper is in the mountains with a 7 hours drive time.

It is all good, very good.

There are plenty of diversions along the way too if you choose to take more time getting there such as the Meadows in the Sky Parkway. I haven't been to the top yet as the road has been closed by snow when I have been there. Maybe I will take the wife there this summer in the cage and we can enjoy some high alpine walks. She is finally recovering from two surgeries on her rotator cuff, a 16 month journey of pain pills and disappointment.

Roger's Pass

Roger's Pass a bit further down the road.

For some reason my lower back was hurting today so I pull over in Golden BC for gas and lunch at Tim Horton's. Back on the road the pain just got worse all day. Maybe it is because I installed the Helibar Bridge and I sit more up right. More on this later.

Another diversion along the way is the Spiral Tunnels a railway featuring spiral tunnels to get over the Continental Divide and Kicking Horse Pass.

I arrive at Jasper National Park Entrance to get a free pass - it is Sunday and it is late so I guess no fee, at least today. The drive up the Icefields Parkway from Lake Louise the Jasper is 225 kilometers. It is all mountains. Beach lovers need not apply. The pavement is smooth but not twisty but what is lacks in thrilling it makes up in spectacular scenery second to none.

I think this is a photo of Bow Lake.

The GPS said I would arrive in Jasper at 6:30 or so and I was ready. My back hurt a new sensation riding the FJR. The late arrival impacted my photo opportunities as the mountains my west side were in shadows.

Looking north and east wasn't bad though!

I don't have a better story about the ride up. The photos tell the story and the mountains are the reason I am here. Today July 3rd I was looking at a map with real time parking availability; all full. Keep in mind Canada is celebrating it's independence this weekend as well, but it is a popular place.

Some mountain sheep along a river.

A mountain goat.

Athabasca River near Jasper.

Hotels in Jasper are $225 Canadian and on up. A less expensive alternative is staying in a bedroom in a private home. I found one for $65 US, with a bedroom, shared bath and no breakfast. Jasper is a rail town and the closer the center of town you are the noisier it might be. The hotels are on the main drag across the street from the rail line. The homes tend to be 3 or 4 block from downtown.

I finished my day off in a Pub where I had dinner and watched parts of game six of the Stanley Cup. The crowd was rooting for the Colorado Avalanche who won the game 2-1. No idea why Canadians had a stake in hockey teams based in the US. They were having fun and that is all that mattered.

Day 5

At the end of day 4 I first decided where I was going the next day, Tuesday. ~G said I should ride up to Watson Lake a two day ride or something like that. I choose to not too because my tires only had 1500 miles left on them and the forecast was for rain up north and good weather to the south. Today I read the Alaskan Hwy was washed out 4 days later so the forecast was right! So south it was back down the Icefields Parkway in blue sky weather and perfect temperatures. Just terrible.

I can remember the day when having a website or a blog was all the rage. My Comcast account included web pages for free - how cool was that! Around the world travelers tried in vain to make a living publishing web pages. Few did. Today cool kids, like Itchy Boots, are using YouTube make or supplement a living while traveling. Yet here I am still blogging away the idea of creating video seems much more difficult and time consuming.

I got a good start to the day at about 9:00 at a Tim Horton's for coffee and a breakfast sandwich. To alleviate the pain in my back I consumed some Ibuprofen and it along with stopping more often to take photos seemed to do the trick. One thing I forget about was I was heading south a less than ideal direction for taking photo. Rats. Oh well.

No problems with this photo.

Cellphone photos!

Close up.

Far way. I like this one less the darn garbage can.

Close up without the garbage can but no FJR.

With mountains and water you can almost get a beach.

Sunwapta Falls

Bridal Veil Falls?

The FJR.

Just gorgeous.

Add the FJR.

Tangle Falls.

Getting near the Columbia Icefields where you can take a tour.

In the middle of this photo you can see a parking lot and just about it the tour "bus".

In July 2002 I took the tour and here are some photos. We had digital cameras back then!

Me twenty years ago. Good grief. I was riding a 1988 BMW R100RT.

The big loop! My goodness a turn.

Miles and smiles of mountains.

A grizzly bear and her cub.