Chris, Jim Rau and I rode to Banff and Jasper on the "Epic Ride." The Ice-Fields Parkway is one of the most spectacular rides I've ever taken.
A loop I recommend is the Kananaskis Loop, Hwy 40 and 541 from TC-1 around to Longview (south of Calgary). I rode it from Longview to TC-1 back in 2004 on my way to Prince George and Hyder. It was fairly late in the afternoon and there was light rain falling and the combination of sunlight and mountain shadows on the rain was awesome. (You'd have gotten some incredible pictures -- even mine weren't too bad :smile: )
The road from 97 through Lilooet, Pemberton, and Whistler was great...until it got dark. Jim and I had gotten to Prince George fairly late on Friday. We were separating there and both of us needed clean clothes. The fancy hotel we stayed at didn't have laundry facilities, so I went across town to a different hotel in the same chain. I had to wait for a washing machine and then for a dryer, so I didn't get our laundry done till about 1:30 on Saturday. I woke up long enough to say "Bye-bye" to Jim as he headed home and then went back to sleep. I didn't get out of the hotel till 11 and then as I was riding to breakfast, my left pannier came open. It took me close to an hour to get it to where it would stay closed, so it was 1:00 or later before I got out of Prince George.
It poured rain from 100-Mile House to where I turned onto 99. The views of the Frazier River before Lillooet were impressive and from Lillooet to Pemberton was great. It was only 61 miles and it took me close to two hours. I saw bunches of deer and met riders close to Pemberton who were just starting west. The sun went down very soon after that and I would not have wanted to be riding that stretch at night.
I wished I had stopped in Lillooet because there weren't any places to stay in Pemberton...or in Whistler...or in Squamish...or in Vancouver. There was a lumberjack competition in Whistler and it was a Canadian holiday weekend with a major rock festival in Vancouver. I ended up getting the last room at the motel in Blaine that is friend of the Four Corners Tour (which I started in Blaine on Monday). What I hadn't counted on was US Customs at Blaine only having one gate working. I was in a stop-and-go merging line for nearly three hours before finally getting through customs and to the motel at 4AM on Sunday morning. I think it was the most tiring day I've ever had on a motorcycle. I still want to go back and ride that road again! Enjoy and take lots of your pictures.
My only question would be about weather in June -- how likely is snow in early June?
Pictures from left to right: The Frazier River before Lillooet; just west of Lillooet; looking back toward Lillooet; The motel in Blaine; near the top of climb between Lillooet and Pemberton.