Day 17 - Burns Lake to Stewart. Total miles for today - 301. 3,414 miles have been ridden since leaving Indianapolis.

Six iron horse adventurers left Burns Lake under gloomy skies.  At kickstands up, 7:30 a.m.,  the temperature was a cold 35 degrees.  Today's weather forecast called for 100% chance of rain.
 But, you just have to go on!

Fred, wearing his waterproofs, is ready for rain.

The roads are starting to consist of more rolling hills, rather than being full of drastic inclines and declines.
Occasionally the guys will see a farm crop up here or there.  But, what they see the most is uninhibited acres that are full of towering pine trees.  Sometimes they will ride for a half hour or more without seeing any signs of human life.  The country is very desolate.

The coastal mountain range was evident to their west.  Snow laid thick on those mountain tops.

Fortunately, the guys had the good fortune of staying dry until almost 11:00 a.m.

Mike shaking the skunk tail.  That's universal language for, "hope my roommate does his laundry soon!"

   Then the rain came and decided to stick around.  All day.













The group ran parallel to the Frasier River for hours.

David's bundled up, anticipating the approaching rain.

The driving force of the economy in the area that they are riding in today is timber.  They have seen several huge saw mills.  Logs are still floated down the river to the mills.  This is the easiest method of getting the wood to the saw mills.







A mama Black Bear with her two cubs provided a little entertainment for the fellas, as they stopped to watch her for a while.

A close up of mama bear.

Don't these guys look like tourists?

Depending on which direction they're heading out, somebody needs to turn around!

Following the advice from the guy at the Harley shop (from yesterday), the guys took a 30 mile side trip, a deviation from their planned route.  This side trip took them down, into a huge gorge between two mountain ranges.

They saw several glaciers in this area and were glad they heeded the advice from the Harley shop guy.

Mike in the gorge.

This glacier came down the mountain to meet the road.

They ended the day in the small town of Stewart.  Stewart used to be a mining town.  The economy was driven by the mining of gold and silver.  A huge silver vein existed in the upper Salmon River basin.  That was in the early 1900's.  By the years surrounding WWI, almost 10,000 people lived in Stewart.  As of 2005 fewer than 500 people called Stewart home.  Mining has almost ceased to exist.

Stewart

After a wet day, this little hotel was a welcome site.

Since the guys rode in rain almost all day, they spent some time trying to get their gear dried out.  Hmph, some good staying at the Sunshine Inn did them last night!

**The guys had no telephone service (they are using cell phones for communication).  They were not able to send text messages either.

***They did have internet and managed to communicate that way, although they were unable to email images.  I will edit this page and add photos when they have the ability to send them.

****The photos finally arrived by email at 10:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.

Day 16 - Jasper to Burns Lake, British Columbia. 384 miles today. Official total from Indianapolis - 3,116 miles!

The boys had their sites set on Burns Lake, British Columbia as the destination for today.  Brrr....it was a 

brisk morning as they left Jasper.  The thermometer read 39 degrees!

They exited Jasper on Route 16 right through Jasper National Park.  Right off the bat they saw this beauty, a big bull Elk, standing on the side of the road.

The six rolled cautiously past that bull Elk continuing down the road.  They had traveled about ten miles when they spied this Grizzly hanging out down by the side of the road in a little ravine.  Of course they had to stop and watch the bear, from a safe distance.

They watched the bear for almost 15 minutes, nobody else happened by, they had the bear all to themselves.

Tiring of watching the bear, they went on eventually leaving Alberta and reaching British Columbia.  The guys reported that the low hanging clouds made for an interesting sky all morning.

You've heard it before.  You can't make this stuff up.

It's either pretty chilly or David is planning some sort of heist!  Fred could be the witness.

A stop at Mt. Robson Park

 Fred spotted this little coffee shop, a great place for a seat break.

The guys have now crossed another time zone. 

 Pacific Mountain Zone has them 3 hours different from home.  

 Check out the odometer.  

They have reached the 3,000 mile mark from Indianapolis, where the adventure began.

 Fred, David, Ron, Joe, Mike and Stu make the obligatory stop at the Harley store.

Rumor has it that  RP acquired a heated jacket, yes, RP.

The staff at the Harley store gave the group a must see tip for tomorrow.  

They are working this into their plan.

 Uh oh!  A light rain began to fall on the six somewhere about half past ten.  It continued to rain for the next three hours.  That finally let up only to begin again off and on late in the day.

The afternoon scenery changed to mostly pasture land surrounded by large wooded areas.  Pine trees were being harvested and the fellas passed several lumber mills.

 

Lodging is beginning to become scare in these small towns.  

Let's hope a stay at the Sunshine Inn will keep the rain at bay for the remainder of the trip.

Day 15 - Banff to Jasper, Alberta. 193 miles ridden today. Total from Indianapolis - 2,732 miles.

Ron and Fred go over last minute directions to the airport with the valet attendant.

Mike's addition to the tour pack of his bike.

Pam in front of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

After a wonderfully relaxing week in Canada, the final minutes of our time together were ticking down.  The vacation is soon over.  Today the girls would head home. 

Pam and Bonnie drove the rented cars from Banff to Calgary's airport.  The drive would be an easy one.   With red rimmed, tearing eyes the ladies said goodbye to their husbands.  Hugs and be safe wishes were exchanged between everyone in the group.  And they were off.

The six adventurers finished loading their gear on the bikes.  Leaving the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel they headed north along the Icefields Parkway towards Jasper.

 

When looking at scenery like this Joe calmly states, "You can't make this stuff up."

Fred riding along.

Big Horn Sheep 

David

Ron

The temperature is dropping, Fred, Joe and David stop to add extra layers for warmth.

They continued on.

Bear country to be certain.  Enormous signs along the road warn you of inherent danger.

Joe

Black bear sighting.

That sow had a cub with her!

   

Stu checked the water level in that lake.  It must have been a little low.

 The six arrived at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park.  The glacier at the Icefield is actually sitting astride the Continental Divide.  This is located in both Banff and Jasper National Parks.
Mike points out the sign.
A nasty, sleety drizzle began to fall on the fellas.

 

 The glacier was at its greatest size when discovered in 1844.
 According to the information posted at the site it has shrunk significantly since then.
By the time the guys reached the glacier the freezing drizzle had changed to snow flurries.

After the Icefields the group arrives in Jasper.