Kanada West Tour CCW2401
7 guests are joining our first Canada West Tour in 2024. 4 riders and 3 passengers. The group arrived save and healthy in Vancouver and some of them took the chance to come over to Canada a few days earlier and did some additional sightseeing in Vancouver. We proceeded our Welcomebriefing on the 31st floor of our hotel, enjoyed our first dinner together and are now looking forward to our first kilometers on the motorcycles. „Canada here we come!” To be continued…
Our first riding-day starts with picking up the motorcycles from our rental partner company in Canada “cycle bc”. After about an hour we hit the first Canadian road. Getting out of Vancouver takes us a while, but with every kilometer we are getting closer to the fascinating nature and the mountains. We take it easy and get closer and closer to our first destination Osoyoos Lake, where we will spent the next night at the lakeside.
We enjoyed our stay in Osoyoos and are now on the way to Nelson. Moving more and more eastwards to the Rocky Mountains changes the scenery of nature around us. We leave the more desertlike areas and dive into coniferous forests, the first passes over 1500 meters and the spontaneus cold, that can hit you in the mountains when the weather changes.
Leaving Vernon behind us we start on highway 3 deeper and deeper into the Rocky Mountains. We passed one of the uncountable mountain lakes, stopped for a photo and unfortunately had our first technical problem with one of our motorcycles. A defective battery. After a short bridging procedure we continued our ride and organised a spare battery. The next stop was “The last Spike”. A monument for the completion of Canadas East-Western railway connection. Our next destination was the Revelstoke National Park with the “Meadows in the Sky Parkway”. Going up on 1830 meters our highest reached point so far . We took some pictures at the viewpoint and some riding impressions in one of the sweepy curves. Unfortunately without seeing any bears, mooses or deers…
Nach einem unfassbar gutem Frühstück geht es bei bestem Wetter von Golden aus erst nach Süden bis zu unserem ersten Stopp in Radium. Gestärkt mit einem Kaffee geht es wieder rein in die wunderschönen Nationalparks Kanadas. Erst der Kooteney Nationalpark, dann der Banff Nationalpark empfangen uns mit traumhaftem Wetter. Nach einem tollen Fahrtag erreichen wir Lake Louise und runden den Tag mit einem Besuch des gleichnamigen Sees ab
Our day started early in the morning at 6:00. We took our van to see the sunset at Lake Louise. Unfortunately we were not the only tourists having this idea. The lake was overcrowded with people, cars and busses. But it was absolutely worth it! We took some pictures, stayed for a while and left the stunning place for having our breakfast. Todays motorcycle ride of close to 400km took us to the city of Banff, where we had to repair a punctured fronttire. The group took a short walk through the city, grapped a coffee and some souvenirs. Enough time to dry the adhesive of the tirerepair. Without any delay we headed to the Kananaskis National Park, our alternative for Jasper, that was closed cause of the wildfires. Kananaskis impressed! Great plains, high mountain peaks and endless curvy roads through the mountains. We took our lunch at a horse ranch, passed the lakes and headed to Blairmore, our next hotel stop. And we saw the first Rocky Mountain sheeps. Wildlife could definitely show up a little bit more in the following days!!! To be continued…
Heute ist der zweite Tag unseres Abenteuers eine andere Route zu fahren. Zuerst besuchen wir den größten Kipplaster der Welt mit zwei Hinterachsen. Zumindest hatte er de Rekord lange Zeit seit den 1970er Jahren. Dieser steht in Sparwood, einem Ort der durch Kohlebergbau geprägt ist. Danach besuchen wir den Moyie See und verbringen unsere Mittagspause in Creston. Nach dem Besuch des "Glashauses" nehmen wir die Fähre über den Kooteney See und erreichen unser Hotel in Kaslo.
Our morning began with a breakfast picnic. It was „Labour Day“ in Canada and our hotel restaurant unfortunately closed. We organized Coffee and Sandwiches from a local bakery and stayed outside at the lakeside. Our route leads us along lakes and endless forests to Sandon, a ghost town from the mining area of the late 19th century. The town is an amazing lost place. Once 5000 people lived there. Now 5 who run the museum, a giftshop, a foodtruck and the powerhouse. Extremely recommendable! After leaving this stunning place another ferry ride took us to Shelter Bay, across the Arrowlakes again, and we left the Rocky Mountains towards Kamloops. An enjoyable penultimate riding day!
Heute ist leider unser letzter Fahrtag. Aber dafür bietet er uns ein echtes Highlight. Den Highway 99 auch bekannt als "Sea to Sky Highway". Von Kamloops geht es nach Cache Creek wo uns das erste Schild mit der Nummer 99 erwartet. Über 300km feinste Kurven mit wunderbaren Ausblicken erwarten uns. Durch 4 Klimazonen geht's von trocken bis nass von hohen Bergen bis an die Küste. Eine der schönsten Straßen Kanadas führt uns am Ende wieder nach Vancouver. Hier lassen wir die Reise bei einem letzten Abendessen ausklingen.