Sunday, September 24, 2017


Friday & Saturday, September 22 & 23, Jasper National Park, Icefield Parkway, Banff National Park, Lake Louise and on to Whitefish, Montana

I did not write last night, as we stopped too late.  I am going to combine both Friday and Saturday, as we were in both Jasper & Banff National Parks on the Icefield Parkway.

Each morning there has been fog until about 10:00 am, when the sun finally burns it off.  Therefore, we have not been in a hurry to get out and going in the morning - as the fog has been too dense.  By the time we arrived in Jasper it was after lunch.  We drove to Pyramid Lake just outside of Jasper, before getting on the Icefield Parkway.





Mount Robson





Our first Elk












I don’t know if there is a place in the world like the Icefield Parkway.  It is just a continuous drive of mountains, usually on both sides of the road which is in the valley, alongside the river.  The mountain peaks are so interesting.  Right now, with the “termination snow”, it accentuates the ridges and strata’s in the mountains.  There was still plenty of daylight so we kept driving, stopping often to take photos – all around us.  It was a beautiful mostly clear day. The sun was better on the mountains to the north and east, but we took them all around.

There is a lot more traffic on the roads than we have experiencing the last few weeks. There are many pull-outs, plus there is a wide shoulder on the highway for cars to pull off for photos.  There are also areas to park, allowing you to walk to waterfalls or beautiful reflective lakes. We did not stop at every pull-out, nor did we do any long hiking trails, except for this morning.  Cal walked to Peyto Lake at Bow Summit.  The trail was icy from the snow that had fallen in the area 2 days ago.  I did not change shoes to be able to go with him. 

Athabasca Falls

Our second Elk



















We did see some wildlife along the way. There was a herd of elk right beside the road.  There was a male, 3 females, and numerous young. At another location, there was just a single male elk. There was one medium sized black bear that decided to scamper into the wooded area, instead of poise for us. 

We also discovered that most of the campgrounds are already closed for the winter, even though there are lots of campers on the highway.  Motorhomes were parked in parking lots.  We kept driving, as it was not dark.  Finally, we reach Rampart Creek campground, which is open until Oct 9th unless there is too much snow.  By now it is 7:45! We found a nice spot, made a light supper on our stove/burner, and crawled in for the night by 8:30.  It was a beautiful clear night.  There were millions of stars shinning, as this is in a very dark location.  We saw the stars until early morning, but by 8:30 when we woke, it was foggy.  We were looking forward to a clear day!  It was 34 degrees, so getting up is a quick process!! We drove a few miles to a restaurant for breakfast, taking our time, as we were sure the sun would burn off the fog.  By the time we finished breakfast, sure enough it was almost clear and the clouds were continuing to rise. 
Athabasca Glacier









After Jasper National Park we continued into Banff National Park.  At Lake Louise, we ran into a traffic jam.  Vehicles and more vehicles!  Parking lots were overflowing.  The parking lot at Lake Morraine was full – they would not let more traffic drive there, so after viewing Lake Louise, we continued southwest through Kootenay National Park to Radium Hot Spring, BC. It was a lovely drive, but after the Parkway, nothing can beat it! 

We are going this way so we can drive the “Going to the sun” road through Glacier National Park in Montana. We crossed the Canadian/American border at Roosville, Canada, and drove to Whitefish, MT for the night.


Snow along the Trail

Peyto Lake Cal hiked to see


Beautiful Reflection


Narrow highway opening at Radium Hot Springs

A Saw Mill



Friday, September 22, 2017


Thursday, September 21, 2017 – Buckinghorse River Provincial Park (south of Ft Nelson) to Prince George, BC. 

After a nice breakfast at a restaurant near the campground, we continued to Ft St John and onward to Dawson Creek - Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway.  Yesterday we picked up a book, with lots of photos, describing the building of the Pioneer Alcan Highway.  It is an interesting booklet – the photos say a thousand words.  What was done in 1942-43 to build a highway through an unknown wilderness was incredible.  One thing I learned, soon after it was built the name was changed from Alcan Highway to Alaska Highway, so when I have referred to the Alcan Highway in this blog, I have been wrong.

We also have a book on the building of the Oil Pipeline in the 1970’s.  What an incredible story that is as well.  In both situations, it is not just the topography of the land on which they were working, but the COLD! 

75 years of the Alaska Highway

Another section of the old highway

Rotary RV Park, Charlie Lake

Monument to soldiers lost during the building of the highway



Gold Panner at Taylor













The area around Ft. St John and south is fairly level.  A lot of wheat and hay are grown in the Peace River Valley area. 

In Dawson Creek, we took photos of the signage regarding the Alaska Highway.  The drive to Prince George was lovely.  British Colombia has one beautiful drive after another.  We have been on several lovely drives.  Today was saw 2 large black bears along the roadside.  How many photos do we need to take of bears?  Several of each one!!!
Unharvested wheat field

The end of the highway - Mile 0


Chetwynd - Home to many wood carvings





We have decided to go by way of Prince George, so that we can go through Jasper, the Icefields and Banff on our way south. 

Another Bear

The Rocky Mountains



Our winding road ahead

Bijoux Water Falls