On July 4th we decided on a day ride from our home, Edmonton, to Jasper National Park. Two friends, Burke and Mandy, were staying at the Folding Mountain resort near the park's borders, so we arranged to meet them at the Pocahontas Cabins turn-off. We would ride the winding, mountain road that leads from there to Miette Hot Springs.

Leaving Edmonton a bit later than planned, we were hustling; Gladys riding lead. Shortly after Edson on the 4 lane divided I saw 3 crows feeding on road kill in the middle of the highway - Gladys heading right for them.

The crows seemed reluctant to leave their meal and rose into the air only at the last instant. That's when I saw a little poof of feathers appear over the windshield of her bike. And it seemed to me only 2 crows were flying away... Where's the third?

Her right signal light now on to pull over, I haven't quite figured it out yet. But, as I caught up and looked over, I saw the crow was still with her - wedged between her front forks, just below the headlight, as the video snippet below shows.

No need for a walk, this one was right in the strike zone. The crow impacted above the front fender and just below the headlight, so no damage aside from miscellaneous bits of flesh and blood stuck to the bike which we could clean off later.

As I always carry a roll of duct tape and mechanic's wire in my saddlebag, the thought of fastening the bird to the front of the bike and taking it along for the remainder of the trip did occur to me. Not sure how that sight would have been received by the park wardens at the Jasper Park gate though...

Bike and rider a tad messy, but no harm done (well, if you don't count the crow...)

Once we met up with Burke and Mandy, we headed up the windy, mountain road that led to the Miette Hot Springs. This is a very nice road for bikes, made even more enjoyable by the fact there was no traffic to slow us down.

At Miette Hot Springs for a dip or a bite to eat (depending on whether you remembered to bring your swim suit)

On our way up the mountain we had encountered a red Harley, parked in the ditch. There was no rider around, so we carried on. Later, when we arrived at the hot springs, a female passenger on the back of a guy's Road Glide yelled out to us, "Did you see that Harley down the road? It's mine!"

Carol, whose bike had broken down on the way up.

That gal was Carol, a friend of ours we had ridden with on a couple of trips to British Columbia before. She's pictured on this site's Prince George trip and, in a photo taken from that page, you can see her in the lower left of the picture above.

Carol then explained the secondary (drive) belt had busted on her bike on the way up, so she was now on her way back and wait for the tow vehicle, which was already on the way. Good thing she always maintains an AMA membership!

Burke seems interested by something Mandy's got...

After the hot springs, we rode down to Burke and Mandy's cabin at Folding Mountain for a cup of coffee. They were staying another night and offered us the extra bed, but we had to tear ourselves away; there was a family gathering we had to attend the next day. The ride home was great; not a spot of rain the whole trip, although the clouds did threaten at times. A well-spent day.