Photos in and around JasperPrince George, BC to Jasper, Alberta 240 miles
Today’s ride was short compared to yesterday’s. It was also a delightful ride. Perfect pavement, little traffic, and stunning mountains all the way. One notable aspect of this part of the country is how verdant it is. Something is growing on every square inch. There are no bare spots. We rolled through a farming area and every field was filled with hundreds of giant rolls of freshly harvested hay, the rolls randomly dropped by the harvesters all over the hillsides.
Mt. Robson is the highest point in the Canadian Rockies at 3954 meters (11,862 feet). We stopped for coffee at a café that provided a magnificent view. Mac told me stories about his early years in business. He prefaced his stories with the comment that he did what he did early in his career because he was starting with nothing. Now his operations are more on the up and up. When he built and opened his first shop he contracted with some petro hauling companies to service their tanker truck fleets. When a driver would bring a tanker in for service he’d ask them if they had any ‘surplus’ in their tanks they’d like to get rid of. He’d installed two 1,000 gallon underground tanks for holding the 'surplus'. Soon tanker truck drivers were arriving from all over to sell their surplus for pennies on the dollar. Mac said this operation was doubly lucrative because all of the money he made from these sales were not taxed. More on Mac later. Jasper is a lovely, expensive resort town in Alberta’s Rockies. We’ll rest here tomorrow with only a couple of rides amongst the mountains for fun.
Today’s ride was short compared to yesterday’s. It was also a delightful ride. Perfect pavement, little traffic, and stunning mountains all the way. One notable aspect of this part of the country is how verdant it is. Something is growing on every square inch. There are no bare spots. We rolled through a farming area and every field was filled with hundreds of giant rolls of freshly harvested hay, the rolls randomly dropped by the harvesters all over the hillsides.
Mt. Robson is the highest point in the Canadian Rockies at 3954 meters (11,862 feet). We stopped for coffee at a café that provided a magnificent view. Mac told me stories about his early years in business. He prefaced his stories with the comment that he did what he did early in his career because he was starting with nothing. Now his operations are more on the up and up. When he built and opened his first shop he contracted with some petro hauling companies to service their tanker truck fleets. When a driver would bring a tanker in for service he’d ask them if they had any ‘surplus’ in their tanks they’d like to get rid of. He’d installed two 1,000 gallon underground tanks for holding the 'surplus'. Soon tanker truck drivers were arriving from all over to sell their surplus for pennies on the dollar. Mac said this operation was doubly lucrative because all of the money he made from these sales were not taxed. More on Mac later. Jasper is a lovely, expensive resort town in Alberta’s Rockies. We’ll rest here tomorrow with only a couple of rides amongst the mountains for fun.
1 comment:
Hi Jim, Larry Phyfe here. I'm enjoying reading your ride report and glad that you were able to recover from the fish dinner in Watertown. Waterton is lovely and I especially like your route through B.C. I'm a Geologist and years ago completed some very complex structural cross-sections through the area. Amazing how limestone, sandstone and dolomite can be folded and faulted like taffy! Be mindful of the "contact patches" and continued safe journey. A hearty hello from Alaska to you and the rest of the Globebusters!
V/r,
Larry
Team Pterodactyl
Combat Touring
Ride Hard or Stay Home!
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