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Banff and Jasper are amazing in the fall, after the crowds go home. We are doing it for the 3rd time, this coming fall
To hell with taking the "snow coach", we rode right up to them in the fall
Would like to say I made it but had to turn around at Red Deer, Canada between Calgary and Edmonton. Of all the days of riding I only had maybe 2 days of good weather, all the rest was cold, high winds and rain. The final straw as the heavy downpour of rain at Calgary, rai/moisture got into the electronics and other places.
There was a couple of highlights, Banff was beautiful and of the four days I stayed was great. Day of my departure, it snowed missed it by an hour.
I want to give a two thumbs up to two different HD shops which had simply the best customer service I have ever had. Both are in Canada, the first was the dealer near Swift Current SK. I was cold, wet and not in a happy mood, wind was kicking my butt. As soon as I walked in the door a rep offered me a hot coffee and a place to rest. Was not expecting that at all.
Second place was Red Deer AB, aka Gasoline Alley. I was able to crawl in with my bike on a Sunday, thinking they were closed (maintenance) but no they took me right in. The guy behind the desk was outstanding as will as members of the maintenance team. Had the bike up and running the next day, but I delayed weather was bad plus roads ahead were questionable due to 3 days of heavy rain. The shop was right next door to a Holiday Inn, and they offered a nice discount thanks to the harley shop.
Maybe I could have made it, but I didn't want to take a chance since I canceled all my hotel accommodations since I got delayed.
Maybe sometime in the future but, don't think so, not disappointed just moving on.
Sorry to hear you had to turn around, if I remember correctly we only experienced two days of rain out of the 21 days on the road, one was wet and the other was the frozen kind. The snow came when we tried to make it through Jasper and Banff on our way back, we heard they were calling for bad weather and made the decision to try and get on the other side of the mountain before the bad weather came in the next day. Needless to say we got caught in the higher elevation with snow, not enough to stick on the road but it built up on our windshield and the grass. We pulled into a hotel in Banff, this was the only time we got a hotel on our trip, were cold, wet and a hot shower and a real bed never felt so good.
I hope your time will come when you set out again and make it, while the Canadian Rockies are amazing you still have miles of scenery awaiting you.
My rule was as soon as I hit 75 miles since last gas up I would, even if 76 miles. 100 miles between stations is normal. And one was closed/out of business. Another was out of gas.
Few places had the old style that numbers rolled by. You get back in US and things are modern again. With the long days you forget other people still go to bed at normal times.
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