Monday August 8th, 2011 Camrose, Alberta to Jasper, Kamloops, Mill Creek - 857 miles

Left Camrose about 0600 local time, clear but very cool. So cool I had my fleece on under my jacket. I used the GPS to get to the Yellowhead Trail (H16), and made really good time around Edmonton. The heavy highway construction I saw last year was still there, some completed, but the crews hadn’t started for the day so I had no delays. I had forgotten that H16 is a dual highway (I used it last year to get to H43 to head north), and in fact it is dual until about 50 miles from Jasper. With very little traffic I made really good time, with no photo stops as the scenery is repetitive.  Jasper National Park is quite spectacular into the Rockies. I must be getting familiar with mountains as I didn’t really see anything that was a ‘wow’ factor, I have to take that photo. I guess having traveled the Rockies many times, and the North Cascades, one gets used to the scenery. 

Jasper and the Rockies:

 After Jasper, the scenery is still great, and at times with more snow on the mountains.  Once clear of the last range, the scenery becomes more of the foothills type, and so into Kamloops. I had expected a lot more holiday traffic, and so made good time, arriving in Kamloops about 2:30 local time (now Pacific). It was far too early to make a stop for the night, so I headed west, across the border at Sumas about 6:00 PM, and arrived home at 8PM.
857 miles, 15 hours travel, not bad. The bike just eats the miles.
So my summer road trip for 2011 has ended. I am not sure about next year yet.