Canada 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…
After an incredibly good breakfast, we head south from Golden in the best weather to our first stop in Radium. Strengthened with a coffee, we go back into the beautiful national parks of Canada. First the Kooteney National Park, then the Banff National Park welcome us with fantastic weather. After a great day of riding, we reach Lake Louise and round off the day with a visit to the lake of the same name
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…
Today is the second day of our adventure on a different route. First we visit the world's largest tipper truck with two rear axles. At least it has held the record for a long time since the 1970s. It is located in Sparwood, a place characterized by coal mining. We then visit Lake Moyie and spend our lunch break in Creston. After visiting the “Glass House”, we take the ferry across Lake Kooteney and reach our 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!
Unfortunately, today is our last day of riding. But it offers us a real highlight. Highway 99, also known as the “Sea to Sky Highway”. From Kamloops we head to Cache Creek where the first sign with the number 99 awaits us. Over 300km of the finest bends with wonderful views await us. Through 4 climate zones from dry to wet from high mountains to the coast. One of the most beautiful roads in Canada leads us back to Vancouver at the end. Here we round off the trip with a final dinner.