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Aug 22-26 We drove from Brooks in Alberta to Moose Jaw in one day – about half-way across Saskatchewan. We enjoyed the incredible prairies as we drove along the Trans-Canada. They are not nearly as flat and boring as many have said, rather we found them interesting and beautiful. The landscape is rolling, and we crossed small valleys where rivers had carved out their path. Along this highway it is the eastern part of SK and Manitoba that are truly flat, but even there the colours of the wheat and prairies grass blend beautifully with the blue and white above. The huge farms are amazing as they sit on the horizon surrounded by fields as far as one can see. Tall silos and trees surround the homesteads and from the car some looked like tall skyscrapers of a new town. It is almost impossible to judge distances. And we saw many trains – whole trains. For those who have not travelled or lived here, imagine over 100 cars where the twin locomotives in front and the last car is visible at the same time. Sometimes there is an engine in the middle which we suspected was to help the extra long train around curves as they climbed hills, and most cars were stacked two containers high. It was amazing how many trains there were; a good sign we hope.

After an extra day in Moose Jaw for our third oil change since we left home, we continued east. The low pressure system north of us provided a tail wind of 40 km/h, gusting to 60 and the fuel consumption dropped significantly. One guy on a bicycle sat upright and rode the wind. He was going faster than he could have pedaled. Funny how on that day we saw almost no RV rigs going the other way! Their fuel consumption had to be more than twice ours. When we stopped to refuel before noon, the lady told us that a westbound motor-home had asked about the nearest campground; he was tired of using so much fuel. We made it all the way to Winnipeg that day. Aug 26th is our anniversary and we spent a relaxing day in Winnipeg, as we had two years ago when we stopped here on our train ride west to Vancouver.

24 Prairies

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Aug 16 The Mountains to the Plains. As you know, we have been surrounded by mountains of all shapes and sizes for the last two months. On this Monday, we drove almost 500 km from Nelson BC to Fort MacLeod AB and the transitions in the landscape were dramatic. It started with the longest free ferry ride in the world across Kootenay Lake, just east of Nelson. 35 minutes on a modern ferry with views that rivaled the Norwegian fjords. Then south on highway 3A to Creston – a road considered by many to be the best place for a motorcycle trip. A winding road with great vistas. Then we travelled west through the east Kootenay mountains covered in evergreens with productive farm lands in wider valleys. As we approached Crowsnest Pass (less of a mountain pass than we had seen before), the last of the high sharp-peaked Rockies stood there to say ‘farewell’. Suddenly the high plains of Alberta (1000 metres) appeared with almost no trees. The transition was sudden and remarkable – please see pictures. Gently rolling hills felt very friendly and there were hundreds of windmills in this breezy landscape. That night we camped in Buffalo Plains RV park, just 4 km. from ‘Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump’.

Aug 17-21 Alberta history. Fort MacLeod, named after the first RCMP Commissioner there when the fort was established in 1873. We enjoyed the exhibit because it helped fill in so much of Canada’s early western history. There was much information about Crowfoot, his respect for MacLeod and the famous ‘Treaty number 7” which was to provide the natives with much protection. Sadly, Canada has not lived up to this bargain.
“Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump” – a terrible name, but easy to remember. With many days of planning, several tribes would collaborate in the fall to drive 100s of Buffalo (properly called Bison) being panicked over a 20 m. high cliff. The meat, skin, hides, bones and internal organs were all used and helped them survive the winter. Because of white man’s interference (especially Prime Minister John MacDonald) the Buffalo were eradicated by about 1875.

Drumheller is the location of the world-renowned Royal Tyrrell Museum of dinosaurs. Our pictures show only a small part of this wonderful place and any trip west should include this stop. It is fabulous for kids, though it can take a whole day to see everything. It is fascinating to know that the work continues with new discoveries every year in the ‘Badlands’ area. Anyone interested could spend a summer here. The larger Badlands area in Dinosaur Provincial Park is also worth seeing because this is where many of the discoveries are made.

22 Mountains to Plains

23 Alberta History

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Aug 9 -15 This last week was so very pleasant that we forgot about the blog – and you. Westward from Lake Louise takes you through Yoho and Revelstoke National Parks with the famous Rogers Pass in between. Before the pass we saw the section of CP tracks and the spiral tunnels with two loops – one about 270 deg. the other almost 360 deg. By building the tunnels, the straight line hill with 4.5% grade (dangerous for trains) was reduced to 2.2%. There is much freight traffic on this line and that was obvious at our campgrounds in Golden and Canyon Hot Springs Revelstoke. One location had constant shunting of cars 300 metres away. The other campground had rails on a hill along two sides. As the engine increased power, pulling the squealing wheels of the long trains around the curve it was difficult to have a normal conversation. Luckily they did not run this stretch during he night. You have probably heard about Golden and Revelstoke as famous ski centres.

At Revelstoke we turned south and the drive was unusual as the road paralleled the Upper Arrow and Slocan Lakes. The views reminded us of Norwegian fjords and we even had a ferry ride providing excellent water-view.

Nelson was our goal because my good friend from high school in Smiths Falls, Gordon Gray, lives here with his wife Moe. We sat on their veranda high above Nelson with a view over the Kootenay River, walked the steep streets and shopped. Several good meals and much good company completed the visit. Just south of the campground we also visited Mark Cochrane and Yvonne. With their family they live in Ymir (‘whymir’) with their children. The mountains almost too close for us but it is a beautiful place nonetheless and it was great to see Mark and meet Yvonne. These were good times and very relaxing for us, and being able to leave the trailer in one location for 5 nights is always special. Kline’s RV Park is one of the nicest campgrounds we have visited on the whole trip. Not modern, well laid out or full of conveniences - actually none of these. Instead we backed on to a bedroom view of a good sized creek with crystal clear water. Power and sewer connection plus the water from the tap was clean enough to drink and good-tasting. We also had free cable TV and Wi-Fi. All for $20.00 per night!

From here we shall complete the circle and drive east to Alberta.

21 Lake Louise to Nelson

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Sorry - we know this map is getting a bit cluttered. But it helps to zoom in a bit.

Aug 3-7 Mt Robson, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies, lies almost right beside Highway 16, also called the Yellowhead Highway. 3954 metres (12,970 ft). We stopped at the wayside rest to admire for a while.

Then Jasper National Park – The Whistlers Campground. No ‘hookups’ means that for these days we live off our water tank, solar panel and propane tanks. It works well and with a small inverter we charge computer and camera batteries. To save on water, Einar took showers in the community shower building where there are also electrical outlets for razors. One day, a young fellow sat on the bench between sinks and waited for his iPhone to charge! He was camped in a nearby tent with his family.

Mountains, mountains everywhere – and we could get a bit blasé – except one never tires. They all are magnificent, different and awe inspiring, especially when you come from Ontario. We hope some of our pictures demonstrate this and that you will enjoy them too.

One day we took the Jasper Tramway up towards the top of Whistlers Mountain. Jasper and our campground are at 1050m (3,400 ft), the tramway starts at 1200m (3.940 ft), tops at 2250m (7,380). From there (well above the tree line) one could hike to 2470m (8.105) at the top. It doesn’t sound like much more, but at that altitude the thinner air made it a struggle for us. Pausing every 50m or so we made it to about 2400m (7,875) - and threw a snow ball for fun. The rest of the way to the top was quite a distance away; we chose not to do it. It is easier going down - for the lungs - but tough on the ‘quads’. In some places the trail crested and then disappeared from view because it was so steep. (Have you discovered how difficult it is to illustrate steep inclines with a camera?) We were glad to have our hiking boots though care was needed because of the loose shale and pebble-like gravel. Low vegetation and many flowers blended beautifully with the rocks where it was almost impossible to see white-tailed ptarmigans resting 2 metres away. And then there was the view. Spectacular sharp topped peaks, one range behind the other, all with some snow and some with glaciers. We rested well that evening and think our pictures are worth a look.

Another day took us to Maligne (pronounced ‘Maleen’) Canyon. In some places the river was 50 metres below in a canyon which at its narrowed measure 3-4 metres wide. One could only capture this with a wide-angle lens and camera turned 90 degrees. It is amazing what water can do to limestone.

Aug 8 – The Athabasca Glacier is right beside the highway – that is the ‘Icefield Parkway’. It is an arm of the giant Columbia Ice field and is located about mid-way between Jasper and Lake Louise. The large welcome centre provides information and has an informative display about how glaciers are formed. We booked the tour and a normal bus took us to the edge where a special one with huge soft tires and lots more horsepower drove on to the glacier. Cracks and deep holes were everywhere but the bus negotiated a well prepared ‘road’. Walking on it wasn’t as special as we had expected because it was raining gently and the ice was very slippery. Good shoes kept us upright! The location is spectacular so please look at the pictures. There was lots of room in the parking lot so that’s where we spent the night at 1940m elevation. And then the morning view as the sun hit the top of the mountains !! What is so special about this drive is that most of the road lies between 1500 and 2000m, yet we are still looking up another 1500m to the mountain tops.
Onward to Golden, BC.

20 Jasper & Glaciers

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July 24-27 We recovered in Whitehorse and so did the car. On the Monday we both had our haircuts, and the car had another oil change (last one in Yellowknife). By now it has travelled about 11,000 km since we left Milton. The whole rig got a well-deserved wash. First the car, where it took several dollars’ worth of coins to wash the grime from in and around the car wheels and wells. This stuff hardens like cement and in some areas had built up to 3-4mm in thickness. When we later washed the trailer, the same sticky mess stayed on after pressure washing. Only the foam brush worked.

July 28 – August 2nd . We have travelled from Whitehorse YT to Prince George BC in 6 days – and tomorrow we arrive in Jasper AB. That will be 2600 km in 7days. Talk about distances up here! One-night stops are not favourites, but we decided to give priority to Jasper National Park - to have time there. Sadly, we must also make sure we have enough time for the drive home.

Although we had driven much of the same part of the Alaska Highway on the way north, we were really glad to see it again, this time with sunshine. Our pictures are never perfect because Anne-Grethe takes most of them out the window as we drive, but you will see what we mean. The only unpleasant ‘event’ came from a truck roaring towards us, building up speed for his uphill run. We were at the bottom of the hill, the road curved left. He hit a gravel patch and sprayed our windshield with rocks. Two more marks plus a whole lot of minor cuts, and it will probably need replacement when we get home.

We were 2 ½ days in the mountains before we came to the plateau a few hours before Fort Nelson BC. On the second day, near Watson Lake, we discovered we could not have driven south on the ‘Cassiar’ Highway (#37) as we had first planned (shorter route to Bella Coola, Vancouver Island and Vancouver). It was closed due to forest fires. Another fire closed the area further south around Williams Lake where we had also planned to stop. Most of the province has been bone dry this summer, and a huge electrical storm passed through the week before. This was the same storm that had left so much rain in the mountains around the Dempster Highway. (See last week’s blog.)

But all’s well that ends well and so far the week has gone quite smoothly. On Saturday we had the challenge of meeting four hills with 10% grades – two up and two down and one of them 6 km long. It was the ‘scenic’ (!) route running parallel to the Peace River., close to Hudson’s Hope, north of Prince George. The Lynx RV park was charming and we rested an extra day and took time to see the Bennett and Peace Canyon Power Dams which supply 1/3 of the power for British Columbia.

Tomorrow to Jasper National park and some serious sightseeing.

19 Whitehorse to Prince George