Prolonged heavy rain overnight but thankfully stayed dry in the tent. When I first got up it was cold and I could see a fresh dusting of snow on the mountains across the lake. The weather was forecast to be good, so I decided to climb back in and read for an hour in the hope the sun would break through and start to dry everything out. 

 

The mist lingered on the hills but I made a leisurely breakfast and dismantled the tent to aid the drying of its constituent parts. A little glow of warmth did appear and it was pretty much dry by the time I packed up. The kind van camper from last night came over to check I’d done ok in the night and to offer some bacon and eggs. I was about to leave at this point so politely declined but we settled on me taking a blueberry muffin for the road. 

 

Only a few miles north of the campsite I entered the burn area from last year’s fire. I was still over 20 miles from Jasper, so it must have been an enormous area affected. A pretty bleak ride surrounded by charred trees. The campsites on the outskirts of town have reopened but have been reduced to a treeless wasteland, and what I assume would have been nice chalets replaced with portacabins. The signs noted that the campsites were full, so clearly people are still staying there. I later learned that it was a year to the day since the evacuation order was issued. 

 

Into town and there is a lot of rebuilding work underway but I was surprised by how much remained or had reopened. Dropped the bike at the shop for a tune up (new chain and another BB) and went off to a cafe for lunch and then to the supermarket. Jasper is much smaller than Banff and has more of an alpine village feel than a large resort town. 

 

Rolled out of town and onto Highway 16 heading west. By now the sun was fully out which made for a pleasant ride alongside the river, despite being on the highway shoulder. Pulled into the campsite and found a nice spot overlooking the lake. Got the tent up and then went for a quick swim - too cold to stay in long. 

 

Met another cyclist from Quebec who’d done Vancouver Island and then come east, so said I had a lot to look forward to.