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On the May long
weekend (May 16th - 19th), seven mountain
bike riders from the
Elbow Valley Cycle Club went to Jasper,
Alberta to kick off the mountain biking
season for 2003. It was still snowing in
Calgary just before we left, so only the
keen (or crazy) could be convinced to go. |
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The EVCC members
were Kim Hooper, John King, Andrea
Freeman, Roy Scarisbrick, Carol Guthrie and
guests Bryan Garrett, Andrew Riggs. |
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Day 1: Overlander Trail from
Whistlers Campground |
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It was pretty cool when we got up in the morning to
prepare for our first ride. Yes, that's snow. |
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Andrea with Athabasca River in the background. |
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We rode from the campground and hooked up
with the trail
that headed up to Maligne Canyon.
We stopped for a snack break just past
the canyon. John is giving Lucy her first food bar for the day.
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Andrew, Roy, Andrea and Bryan also enjoy their
food bars. |
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The Overlander trail started
with a great descent through the trees and down to the valley bottom.
From there we paralleled the river for while before heading into the
open grassy meadows. |
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Here we are in front on the ruins of the
John Moberly homestead.
The Colin Range behind
forms the eastern wall
of the valley while
Pyramid Mountain and the
valley of the
Snaring River form the
western skyline. And yes
that is a bit of snow
you can see in the
picture. |
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Tough nuts. |
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John and Lucy heading off and leaving a wake of dust behind
them. |
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Here the river squeezes the
trail onto the rocky sidewall of the valley. |
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Roy |
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Kim |
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Andy & Carol |
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The last part of the trail is through an old burn
from
1989. More exciting side-hills, gullies
and single track.
The end of the trail comes out
onto a rocky ridge that drops down to the
highway. |
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Camp Life: Kim showing
off his fine culinary skills. |
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And Bryan's brave enough to eat it! |
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Gadget brought enough gear to outfit the whole group.
Plus the
firewood to keep us warm. |
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Andrew handles the entertainment.
Kim
took over later in the evening with his
own special entertainment
skills. |
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Day 2:
Valley of the Five Lakes & Wabasso Lake |
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| The trail traverses a number of quartzite ridges. When it runs
parallel to the ridges it is mostly smooth and sandy but where it
crosses the ridges is it rough and rocky. We started from Old Fort Point
and rode towards the Five Lakes and onto Wabasso Lake (cree for rabbit)
and then back again. |
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| It was a fast pace with not much time for
pictures. The trail was mostly rolling terrain with a few rocky sections
just to keep us on our toes.
DAY 3 Roy, Bryan, Kim and Andrew rode the trails around
Pyramid Lake and down to the town site. |
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