Canadian Rockies

We are sorry that this blog is delayed and therefore lengthy but we have been in the Canadian Rockies National Parks where there is no internet!

 

3^rd July

Well back to ‘old clothes and porridge’ as Paul would say! We slept in this morning but eventually started our drive thru Vancouver and north along the Howe Sound to Squamish at the end. This is the last time we will see the coast on this trip and probably the next coast “Ernie” will see will be the east coast of the USA in 2 or 3 years time. The provincial park we had planned to stay in was full so we found a great little camp up Paradise Valley. We went for a short walk around the area but saw a sign to a Lake Brohm, up a steep rock slide. It was about time we walked off our cruise meals, so we sweated our way up over large rocks and a steep trail in hot sunshine. The lake was very pretty and the exercise was great. Back at the camp we decided we deserved an ice-cream which cancelled out about 70% of the benefit of the climb.

4^th July

Back on the ‘Sea to Sky’ highway and a stop at the Brandywine Falls. The Rocky Mountaineer Train went passed on this walk. We are following the route we travelled with Lynne and Paul about 8 years ago and remembered these falls. At Whistler we tried to book into a camp but again it was full. (weekend and school holidays) We found a park and walked thru the town. Whistler is solely a resort town and like Queenstown on steroids. There are still many signs of the winter

Olympics held here in 2010. At the information centre we got some great stuff on camping for the next part of our trip into the Rockies. A short 25km drive brought us to the Nairn Falls Provincial Park where we easily found a camp site. Again we remembered these spectacular falls from our last time here. When we got back to “Ernie” it started to rain. As it was still warm, we sat under the awning until dinner time.

 

5^th July

We climbed into the Coastal Rockies with the mountains all around us. At the top of a pass we stopped and walked into Joffre Lake with views of Cougar Mountain and its glacier. Down the long descent towards Lillooet. This town is in a valley between the Coastal Rockies and the Canadian Rockies and on the Fraser River.

Our camp is right on the river. We walked to an historic suspension bridge where an Osprey has built a nest on one of the towers. Back at our camp we skyped the kids and Linley and Ron. Good to catch up.

 6^th July

We set off north following the Fraser River and the railway line and climbed steadily thru Marble Canyon to a long valley with ranches running up into the mountains. Beautiful country!

Eventually we joined the ‘97’ which we had used a lot in the USA. We followed a country road to Green Lake Provincial Park passed some great lifestyle properties and found our camp at Sunset View. Our site was on a small hill overlooking Green Lake. The temperature dropped and it started to rain so we put our awning up to eat lunch. Suddenly the rain stopped and it got stinking hot so we walked the short distance to the lake and had a swim. From track pants to bathing suits in about an hour! Water was a bit chilly however.

This is a great family camp with lots of families here for their summer holiday.

7^th July

We enjoyed the quiet of this camp. The weather is now perfect with a forecast for it to stay this way for a week. We drove around the lake back to pass more great beaches to the main road.

The road went over a pass and we stopped for views of Lac Du Roche before a long descent to Little Fort where we joined the main road to Jasper. This a different route to the one we took with Lynne and Paul which went thru Kamloops. We reached the huge Thompson River where we stopped at another Provincial Park for the night. We were backed right onto the river and after lunch we walked a couple of the trails for great views of the Rockies in the distance. Val did some washing and we enjoyed the mild temperatures.

8^th July

It was hot last night! A lazy breakfast outside looking at the river and the freight trains on the other side. We followed the North Thompson River thru some long valleys with ever increasing views of the mountains ahead. We stopped at the small town of Blue River at a quant little RV park. It was a short bike ride to Lake Eleanor where there was a great little beach and some good swimming. It is quite hot now (around 35C) so we enjoyed several swims and alternated between the sun and the shade. As it was still very hot we sat outside until dark and lit a campfire.

9^th July

We drove on to the small town of Valemount where we had thought we might do a shop but there was not much there so we settled for petrol only. Pretty dear!! At the Rearguard Falls we had a break and walked down to the falls we remembered from our last trip. Very spectacular as the huge Thompson River is forced thru a narrow gorge. Up the Yellowhead Highway and suddenly in front of us was the awesome sight of Mt Robson 3954m, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.

After finding a camp site we rode our bikes back to the visitors centre and got some great information on camping etc for the next part of our trip. We were also advised to cycle and walk to Kinney Lake. After lunch we sent off and enjoyed a 6km ride, the first bit on the road but the majority on a great trail with Fraser River roaring thru narrow gorges beside us. When we reached Kinney Lake we locked up the bikes and walked the last 3kms to the Valley of the 1000 Falls.

We could only see 4 from where we stopped but it was still beautiful. Back at the visitors centre we bought a year’s pass for Canadian National Parks. It was the cheapest way for us.

 

10^th July

We continued on the Yellowhead Highway over the pass and into Alberta and the Jasper National park. We shopped for supplies, an expensive exercise as this is a tourist town, before going to the National Park camp on the banks of the Athabasca River. Jasper town is not great but the surroundings are lovely with views of mountains and lakes in all directions. We followed one many of the great cycleways passing lakes, a golf course, resorts and eventually the Athabasca River back to our camp. A 22km ride all on cycleways. As there was a load of fire wood at our site we lit a fire and sat outside until it was nearly dark. We have changed into Rocky Mountain time and we went to bed at about 10:45pm in near daylight.

11^th July

We are now on the Icefields Parkway. This has got to be one of the great drives in the world. The Rockies are all around us. Our first stop was at the Athabasca Falls. There are fences around the edges of the falls which let you get really close. We watched in horror as a couple of Asians climbed the fences and posed for photos metres from the edge. The second stop was at the Sunwapta Falls. Another spectular sight.

The views just got better and we rounded the corner and there were huge mountains around the Columbia Icefields. We passed the visitors centre and access to the glaciers, to our camp just up the road. We will return to these tomorrow. Our camp site had a magnificent view of Mt Athabasca and many other mountains down the valley ahead.

We climbed 2kms up the Wilcox Pass to a great view point where there was a couple of Muskoka chairs set up. As the weather was perfect we sat there for about ½ hour enjoying the view of the mountains and glaciers. The view from our camp site was great but a smoke cloud developed to the south. Could be a problem later.

12^th July

The cloud had lifted and was only a smoke smudge now. After a lazy start to the day we cycled 5kms back along the Icefield Parkway to the Icefield Visitors centre and the Athabasca Glacier. The visitors centre was chocker with tourists and we left there quickly. We rode down to the terminal face of the glacier but you can no longer walk on the ice. Back at our camp we watched the smoke cloud developing and at around 6:00pm the road south was closed. Our plan for tomorrow was to drive south to Lake Louise. We walked around the camp and spoke to several people who had come north thru the smoke. We found that the fire was on the road about 50kms south.

13^th July

We were relieved to find that cars and buses were coming north thru the smoke this morning. We set off south along this beautiful highway. Unfortunately the smoke spoiled our view of the mountains and eventually got much worse until we were in the fire area.

The fire had come right up to the edge of the highway and the smoke was really thick. We were lucky to be let thru. As we drove south the smoke slowly cleared but it still spoiled our view. We stopped at a couple of lakes which were beautiful and carried on to Lake Louise where we had booked a night in a camp.

After a quick cycle to the town we got ourselves organised to ride thru to the lake itself. The first part was a nice easy ride along the river before riding up a steep slope for 5 kms to the lake. A bit of a gut buster!! Lake Louise is beautiful but very crowded with tourists everywhere. Unfortunately the smoke spoiled the views of the mountains and the lake. We had cycled about 28kms and were thankful for a quick pizza out of the freezer for dinner. We sat outside until 10:15pm reading without needing a light.

14^th July

We drove down the Kicking Horse Pass for about 20kms into the Yoho National Park and camped at the foot of the pass. We walked back up towards the historic rail bed and the incline. Around 1884 the Trans Canadian railway was nearing completion but the only obstacle was getting thru the Rockies. It was decided to use Kicking Horse Pass as it was the most direct route. Financial and political pressure was brought to bear to complete the railway across Canada. Wise heads were overruled and the section down the pass was completed with a 4.5% gradient. (2.2% max for main line operation). Many accidents occurred with runaway trains and after 25 years it was decided to engineer a series of double spirals through tunnels to ease the slope. The trail took us passed the original gradient (scary!) to an old abandoned steam engine.

A huge freight train obliged by spiralling its way up the pass. All very interesting for a train buff! Back in camp it was very hot until the thunder rolled and the rain came chasing us inside for dinner.

15^th July

From our camp we drove up the valley to the Takakkaw Falls. These are the second highest falls (254m) in Canada and very spectacular. The glacier that feeds them is only 300m from the top of the falls. We packed a lunch and left the tourists behind for a great 5km hike up the Yoho River to the beautiful Laughing Falls. We ate lunch looking at the falls before returning to “Ernie” passed the Point Lace Falls, much smaller but very pretty. We changed camps by 2kms (cheaper) and are now nearer the railway and can watch the huge freight trains crawl up the pass. These trains are between 3-5kms long and mostly carrying crude oil from the areas up here made available by ‘fracking’ the oil sands.

The main oil refineries are in the south and the pipe line options to shift the crude there have been blocked by resource arguments. The short term answer is these huge freight trains. The farmers are angry as their grain is not being shifted.

16^th July

Back up the Kicking Horse Pass to a parking area near the top. We off loaded the bikes and followed the old abandoned main road over the “Great Divide’ and back into Alberta. It was a 10km ride and we ended up back at Lake Louise. The smoke was not as bad and there was a pipe band leading a parade of junior service members around the lake shore. All put on for the tourists! Back to “Ernie”. Quite a thrill to think that we had biked over the Great Divide and across the British Columbia/Alberta border twice. The highway to Banff was a duel carriageway and the camp was well out of the town. We decided to do our big shop tomorrow.

17^th July

I managed to phone my cousin, Ashley in South Dakota (not an easy task) to find that he will not be at home when we could visit. He is driving to Washington in a couple of weeks and we may manage to catch up on the road. Down into Banff to shop. This is another tourist town and the only supermarket had no parking for “Ernie”. We did our shop and commandeered a trolley to take our shopping back. Fortunately a wine shop was also on the way. So far in Canada liquor is not sold in supermarkets! A short drive back on the highway brought us to the road up into the Kootenay National Park.

The 4 National Parks in this area are all adjoined but have separate identities because they area either in Alberta or BC. All very confusing for us poor tourist!  We camped at the top end of Kootenay N.P. at Marble Canyon. It was a great walk to the Paint Pots. This is an area known to the Indians as a source of coloured clays. The colours ranged from yellow thru ochre to red. In later years they had been mined for paint dyes.

Back to the Marble Canyon where the Vermilion River has cut into the lime stone to form a narrow gorge with the river roaring hundreds of feet below thru pot holes and water falls forming a slot canyon.

18th July

We drove down the Kootenay National Park stopping a couple of times for a waterfall and a black bear. Unfortunately the smoke from the forest fires is really bad today and we can only just see the mountains all around us. We camped at McLeod Meadows and got the prime spot right on the banks of the Kootenay River. A 2km walk brought us to Dog Lake. 
Still very smoky however. 

We watched a couple of Loons on the lake. These are a huge duck which features on the Canadian dollar. They even call a dollar a “Loon”. We had watched them before at Jasper. The mother duck carries her ducklings on her back when swimming around. Back at the camp there was a black bear roaming around the sites. We did not see it. In the evening the smoke cleared for some great views of the mountains from our camp site.

19^th July

As it is the weekend, and we have a great camp site we have decided to stay another day here. We had pancakes for breakfast and passed a lazy day reading, cleaning and doing some odd jobs. There is a lot of cloud around and the odd spot of rain but the smoke has cleared thank goodness. We purchased a fire permit and had a camp fire which I cooked dinner over. The National Parks in Canada do the camp fire “thing” differently. The fire wood is free but you have to purchase a permit ($8.80) to light up. 

20^th July

We drove the short distance to the end of Kootenay N.P. and stopped at Radium Hot Springs. There is only one hot pool (39C) but it is huge. We enjoyed an hour relaxing. No problems of ‘heads under water’ here evidently, as people were swimming and diving with no fear. We drove thru the tourist town of Radium Hot Springs and continued up a valley with the Columbia River and mountain ranges on either side to Golden. This is a service town and we have checked into a camp for internet and laundry. We will walk down to a local pub for burgers and beer.

Just back from the "Wolf's Den" Bar where there were great local bands playing, good burgers and beer!