I jumped back on the road this morning and it was if I had never left it. I am in the groove and I can just drive and drive. The rain fell off and on throughout the day as I continued south on Highway 97 to Dawson Creek, mile "0" of the Alaska Highway. From Dawson Creek I briefly rode Highway 2 to the Alberta border where the road turned into Highway 43, which I rode to Grand Prairie.
I was intrigued by Grand Prairie. Back in the Yukon, while stopped on the highway waiting for road construction machinery to clear ahead of me, I quizzed a flagger all about her history and aspirations. Her current objective, she explained, was to finish college and then move to Grand Prairie for a high-paying job. She told me that fast-food workers earned $20 per hour (US$18) flipping burgers in GP. Why? Due to rising oil prices, she continued. Companies were ramping up their efforts to locate and extract more and more of the oil from the Albertan oil sands. Before now, these companies were aware of the reserves, but it was generally considered too costly to extract and refine this sour crude. With the rising oil prices, it was becoming more worthwhile to dig it up. These companies couldn't find workers fast enough and were starting to import labor from India. Having worked for a while in the oil industry, I knew a little bit about the Alberta oil sands. I was pretty astounded at what I saw in Grand Prairie. There were new apartments and condos erected in the plains. There was lot of fresh black earth being pushed all around. Many of the roads along the highway were being updated. All of the modern stores were represented off of the highway. Construction was everywhere. I even saw a group of Indians when I visited McDonalds. As I turned south on Highway 40 (aka the Bighorn Highway) towards Jasper National Park, I passed countless wide-load trailers with payloads that included buildings, drills, cranes, and other unidentified machinery. It seems like Grand Prairie is the new land of opportunity. As I left the town, it occurred to me that maybe I was heading in the wrong direction...
But then Jasper came into view a few hours later. It is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies. I was looking forward to spending a couple of days here, then moving just a little to the south to Banff. No more (significant) driving for a while! I did the math at the entrance to the park and decided it was economical to purchase a season pass to the Canadian National Parks. It would get me into Jasper, Banff, and Waterton Lake.
I had vowed to plan ahead to avoid being shutout at any campsites during this busy season, but to reserve a spot in the Canadian National Parks is costly. So I was winging it. I rode Highway 16 (aka the Yellowhead Highway) west into Jasper and turned to the southeast towards Miette Hot Springs. I found a campsite at Miette surrounded by tall pines and erected my tent. Then I headed further up the hill towards the hot springs. The place was crowded but uber-clean and the setting was perfect. The air temperature was about 65 degrees, the sun was setting, and I was surrounded by trees and mountains. I let the hot water soak into my atrophic muscles, then I topped off the night with a shave and a shower, before returning to update my journal and go to sleep.
I was intrigued by Grand Prairie. Back in the Yukon, while stopped on the highway waiting for road construction machinery to clear ahead of me, I quizzed a flagger all about her history and aspirations. Her current objective, she explained, was to finish college and then move to Grand Prairie for a high-paying job. She told me that fast-food workers earned $20 per hour (US$18) flipping burgers in GP. Why? Due to rising oil prices, she continued. Companies were ramping up their efforts to locate and extract more and more of the oil from the Albertan oil sands. Before now, these companies were aware of the reserves, but it was generally considered too costly to extract and refine this sour crude. With the rising oil prices, it was becoming more worthwhile to dig it up. These companies couldn't find workers fast enough and were starting to import labor from India. Having worked for a while in the oil industry, I knew a little bit about the Alberta oil sands. I was pretty astounded at what I saw in Grand Prairie. There were new apartments and condos erected in the plains. There was lot of fresh black earth being pushed all around. Many of the roads along the highway were being updated. All of the modern stores were represented off of the highway. Construction was everywhere. I even saw a group of Indians when I visited McDonalds. As I turned south on Highway 40 (aka the Bighorn Highway) towards Jasper National Park, I passed countless wide-load trailers with payloads that included buildings, drills, cranes, and other unidentified machinery. It seems like Grand Prairie is the new land of opportunity. As I left the town, it occurred to me that maybe I was heading in the wrong direction...
But then Jasper came into view a few hours later. It is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies. I was looking forward to spending a couple of days here, then moving just a little to the south to Banff. No more (significant) driving for a while! I did the math at the entrance to the park and decided it was economical to purchase a season pass to the Canadian National Parks. It would get me into Jasper, Banff, and Waterton Lake.
I had vowed to plan ahead to avoid being shutout at any campsites during this busy season, but to reserve a spot in the Canadian National Parks is costly. So I was winging it. I rode Highway 16 (aka the Yellowhead Highway) west into Jasper and turned to the southeast towards Miette Hot Springs. I found a campsite at Miette surrounded by tall pines and erected my tent. Then I headed further up the hill towards the hot springs. The place was crowded but uber-clean and the setting was perfect. The air temperature was about 65 degrees, the sun was setting, and I was surrounded by trees and mountains. I let the hot water soak into my atrophic muscles, then I topped off the night with a shave and a shower, before returning to update my journal and go to sleep.
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