A tour of mountains, lakes, rivers and bears Last year my gang, Los Patos, rode a week
around Breckenridge and Durango, Colo- rado. Apart from the majesty of those Rock- ies and summit roads like Berthoud and Loveland Pass that made the mercury drop by 20 degrees (not to mention a hail storm in August over Wolf Creek Pass), the big takeaway from that
trip was the conve-
nience of bedding down in a big house with all the amenities. You save yourself from restaurant burnout, but sometimes the area does not lend itself to a cloverleaf route plan. This year we opted for a 10-day tour in
British Columbia and the Icefields Parkway of Alberta, Canada. The territory is Ameri- ca’s best kept secret: light traffic, dry climate with light showers and pavement like shark skin. In nearly 2,000 miles we never saw so much as a tar snake. Instead, on Bow Valley Parkway south to Banff we saw bears three times, including a cinnamon bear on its butt gobbling a bush, a roadside elk and mountain goats. We saw glaciers, those massive bodies of retreating ice beds, and emerald lakes colored like turquoise stone, thanks to the limestone runoff that is high- est in July. Unlike Colorado, the Canadian Rockies
lack the chill and thrill of climbing 12,000- foot peaks. In their place are massive lakes and rivers that never run short. Imagine a giant claw that plowed up land into 100- mile wide canyons, forcing up snow-capped mountains and leaving lakes and rivers in its wake as the glaciers retreated in the aftermath of the last Ice Age. As deep as the Eiffel Tower is tall, the Columbia Icefields have such a vast footprint of ice that they create their own weather. As you approach the icefields, gusts of ice particles floating in cold air pulled downwind by the summer heat peck against your face. Hundreds of people snake up a trail by foot to touch the edge of the icefields; some even pay to climb on top. Others pay $50 for the privilege of riding in a bus with balloon tires, empty water bottles in hand, ready to scoop up the runoff and drink million-year old water. That’s what people on vacation do. They also drive RVs, and when you spot vehicles
A group photo at Giant Cedars Boardwalk.
pulled to the side of the road you quickly learn how to read the situation: it usually means there is wildlife present. These glaciers run along a chain of
mountains on a 150-mile stretch of toll road from Lake Louise to Jasper, Alberta. Spec- tacular Icefields Parkway should be on everyone’s bucket list. Not a technical ride, but it takes all day because you must stop (along with the tour buses) to snap photos of Bow Lake and at ten more turnouts. Start with a full tank, as there is only one gas sta- tion on the route. We flew into Seattle, land of tasty Dunge-
ness crab and Mt. Rainer cherries. We booked five Beemers from Eagle Rider six months in advance, but they were only able to deliver three 2015 R 1200 RTs. Previous renters damaged the bikes, having left the lock on the brake rotors, tearing off the cali- pers. The agent didn’t bother to notify us, so
two guys were left without, having to choose between renting a Harley or a Triumph Bonneville with purse-like saddlebags. The guys took the Brits. With zero wind protec- tion at 75 mph your arms fly up, almost off the handles. Pretty-boy bikes for urban streets, on a multi-day tour the Bonnies cause pain in the neck and like old men, they must make frequent stops. We spent our first night in the pinot noir
vineyards of Chelan, Washington. We fol- lowed the Columbia River for most of the next two days. We averaged 240 miles a day and stayed in town center hotels that allowed us to retire the bikes for happy hour. An easy border crossing got us to a stay in Nelson, British Columbia, followed by nights in Vernon and Lake Louise. Traf- fic-wise, the busiest route was Trans Can- ada 1 going east to Golden. Low cloud cover mixed with a light rain and steep peaks
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BMW OWNERS NEWS March 2017
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