Eco tourism

I don't know why but the word "tourist" annoys me. I mean after all, I'm visiting other countries, and touring around, and am therefore a tourist. However in my mind there is something that distinguishes a tourist from a traveller.

After getting the bike it's 4000 mile service (at 5500 miles, oops) and having a day off, I left Prince George heading into the Rockies and Jasper National Park. As the road approaches the Rockies it gets prettier, but also is subject to crosswinds. Tired of being blown about I stopped for lunch in a small railroad town called McBride, and had a delicious broccoli and cheese soup. The cook happened to be a former TZ750 racer back in the seventies and we had a long chat about bikes before I realised it was mid afternoon and I still had a way to go. From McBride the road forks east into the mountains and then turns a bend to reveal Mount Robson, the tallest mountain in the Rockies, in all it's splendour. Or at least that is what was meant to happen. Almost the entire mountain was engulfed in cloud.

Passing through Mount Robson provincial park I was shocked at the amount of construction going on. It looked like maybe they were digging up a large section of the park to bury a pipeline. Just before the provincial park turned into Jasper National Park, I saw a sleek grey shape with a bushy tail dart across the road, surprising the RV driver in front of me. From what I could see it looked like a coyote, at least, it was too small to be a wolf.

At the park gates I paid for two nights in the parks, I figured I would stay in Jasper and Yoho parks, and then maybe visit Banff quickly. I had been planning to meet a friend from work in Banff but the long trip down the Alcan and two days getting the bike serviced had put me behind schedule.

Again I found the town of Jasper a bit of a shock. It was nine years since my last visit and the town has expanded and changed a lot. I guess the number of tourists there didn't help - the town seemed swamped after the other places I'd been to on my trip. I went to the visitor centre to enquire about accommodation and of course had crossed into Mountain Time, so it was 7pm and the centre was shutting.

I managed to find a campsite just outside town and got the tent set up and dinner on the go. The usual bear precautions meant that food and cosmetics (no, I left the facepack at home, I mean toothpaste etc) had to go in food lockers so after getting all the gear stowed, showering, and chatting to a Canadian lady named Joanne about the bike it was dark.

But it was amazingly dark. The clouds cleared and revealed the night sky as I've not seen it for a very long time. It actually took an effort to find the familiar constellations because they just didn't stand out against the billions of other stars. Through it all the faint smudge of the Milky Way drew a centreline across the heavens. Awestruck, I lay down on my picnic table and tried to spot as many meteors and satellites as I could. After a while I even remembered my $14 Walmart binoculars, bought in Fairbanks, but then the clouds closed in and brought it all to a premature end. Just as well I guess or I'd have sat out all night!

In the morning I headed out to Maligne Lake as I'd not seen it before, but didn't think it was anything special so I turned south and headed down the Icefields Parkway, which had long been my favourite stretch of road in the world. I spent the day pottering along at 45mph with a long line of cars behind me, the drivers doing all sorts of insane things to get past rather than wait for dual carriageway. At one point I was even undertaken, the twit using the hard shoulder and part of my lane to get past. I was too surprised even to vee him up, just shook my head and waved. People seem to have missed the point somewhere, they come to one of the planet's most beautiful areas and then belt through it between stops at the popular bits like they are in Wacky Races. There are signs everywhere warning to keep within the speed limits because of the risk to the wildlife, but they might as well be written in Klingon.



After a few picture stops I pulled into a layby to take a break from the strong winds, put the bike on the sidestand and got the camera out. I thought I would take a picture of the bike, which is why I was looking right at it when the wind lifted it off the sidestand and sent it crashing to the ground. Annoyed at my own stupidity for not thinking of that, I managed to lift all 250 plus kilos of bike and luggage upright on my own. The damage was oddly at least as bad as when I fell off at 45mph. Smashed front indicator, damaged crash bars and fairing, and a very bent luggage rack. The only really worrying thing was that the bike burnt a lot of oil when I started it up, but after a minute or so it cleared up and I set off for Yoho National Park.

I visited Takkakaw Falls, a huge chute of water in Yoho which is worth the trip on it's own. It was in full spate and water was thundering into the valley. After a couple of pictures and some video (which seems better suited to waterfalls) I found a campsite at Kicking Horse river and set up camp. Or at least I tried to - the site I had was basically concrete with a little gravel over it. Using rocks and nearby trees to hold the tent up, I managed to get it pitched eventually. I'd paid for a firepit but conveniently all the wood was soaking wet, and after two pathetic attempts to start a fire I resorted to cooking dinner (all day breakfast - magic!!!) on my stove. I sat eating my dinner and noticing ruefully how many other people had managed to get a fire going...

The combination of the Trans Canada highway, a busy railroad, and a loud river all within earshot meant that I didn't sleep a wink all night.



In the morning after picture stops at Lake Louise and Moraine Lake in the rain, I finally saw my first wild wolf - dead at the side of the road, while morons still whipped past the poor thing at 80mph. That upset me for the rest of the day (maybe the lack of sleep too) and I took the quickest route out of the parks, avoiding Banff completely and stopping at Canmore to try to get an early night in an hotel.

Why the need to rush everywhere? I can appreciate not everyone has months to complete their trip, and that this country has vast distances. But I've toured this area in two weeks before and there was never a need to speed. I couldn't go slowly enough in places. Maybe when they fully pave some of the wild roads in Alaska and the Yukon then more tourists will hammer around mowing down the wildlife there too. I hope it never happens.

Fraser.