Day 19: Jasper to Beauty Creek

I had a slightly later start than expected this morning due to prolonged goodbyes at the Hostel.

Saw a couple of elk, my first of the trip, just outside the town, grazing on the side of the road.
Hopefully today I would see some other animals!

It was still a cold start to the day, with overcast conditions expected all day. Would it warm up?
I was chasing down the five from Saskatchewan today as they were heading to Beauty Creek too, but I doubted I would catch them. They had stayed in the Athabasca Falls hostel last night, 30km up the road from me, so had a reasonable headstart.

My bike felt a little sluggish and fat so I stopped at the Sunwapta Falls again, partly to get a hot chocolate and warm up, and also to check on my bike.
When I came out to check Shirley, the rear wheel was completely flat.

Hmm...

Panniers off, tube out, check the tyre, replacement in.
The cause was the wire beading in the tyre. A small section had broken off and had punctured the tube. I removed the wire and all is now well again.

I heard that there were bears up the road but I never saw anything. The Saskie Crew had seen loads!

Rain showers passed me all the way up the valley, but no rain hit the road thankfully, keeping  me dry. Just before Beauty Creek the hail and sleet started to fall on me, but as I was right at the hostel, I wasn't too bothered.

Upon reaching the hostel, the welcome I received when I walked in was FANTASTIC!

Campfire with a full house

"Kevin's here, Kevin's here!", followed by lots of handshakes and greetings from faces both old and new.

I met Alex* from London, another Alex from France/Canada and the usual faces from the Saskie Crew; Brian, Judy, Maya, Miranda, Jim to name a few...

We lit a fire, had a quick 'shower', ate dinner and went to bed. I was tired tonight, so was out just after 9...body feeling good!

Distance: 87.6 km
Time: 4:30:16
Height gained/lost: 986m /-441m
Calories: 2911

Goats and Glaciers viewpoint

* I had heard about Alex from Johno, the South African I passed a few days previously. He had camped with Alex at the campsite in Jasper. Alex had been on the receiving end of a nasty accident.