Alaska Highway

After Barkerville we headed north through Prince George and up to the start of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek.

Our first stop was Whiskers Provincial Park on McLeod Lake.  We don't seem to have taken any pictures but we did go for a swim.

We set up our new giant screen tent and used it to play cards in the evening, protected from the many mosquitos.

The next day we drove to Dawson Creek where we overnighter in the municipal campground next to the Regional District offices (designed to look like a tepee?).

The RV park was also right next to the Walter Wright Pioneer Village, which was rather fun and had on display virtually every outmoded appliance you could think of, including the wringer washers our mother's used and manual and electric typewriters from our youth . . . Are we old enough to be considered pioneers now?

Old Pioneer Visits Village

They were having g a car show at Mile 0 on the Alaska Highway so downtown was hopping and we got Filipino and Indian food for dinner from some of the food booths.

The next day was a long day of driving to Fort Nelson.  At Buckinghorse River we encountered the most expensive gas of the trip:  $2.30 per litre!

We stayed at Triple G RV park, very crowded with Americans headed for Alaska, a caravan of airstream trailers and a bunch of motorbikes.

Here we met another Heather from Kentville, Nova Scotia, but she was a retired army chaplain.  She was attracted by the motorhome's Nova Scotia license plate. 

Awesome sunset here as there are forest fires burning near Fort Nelson.

Williams Lake and Barkerville

We got home to Williams Lake in time for some serious hot weather.  The highlight of our days in Williams Lake was a trip to Quesnel Forks where Cathy was thrilled to find a few flakes of gold.

We then headed north to Barkerville where we camped at our usual campground, Desert Rose.

There were active wildfires in the vicinity and helicopters were constantly flying into the fueling station set up right next to us.  Though Barkerville was still open at this point many people decided not to come and attendance was low.  Later in the month the town was evacuated and artifacts were removed for safekeeping.  In the end both Barkerville and Wells were spared.

 We bicyclesd into Wells to check out the art gallery

And biked back along a rough dirt road.  Not everyone was able to make it up this steep hill. I'm happy to report that my new ebike was up to snuff.

The next day we checked out Barkerville, attended Chinese school, took in a show at the theatre,

And had our portrait taken as a Pioneer trapping family.

To Salmon Arm

Mount Rogers, Glacier National Park

We drove back to BC through Glacier National Park

Lunch Break at Roger's Pass

And stopped in Salmon Arm again to visit with our niece's family in Salmon Arm.
 

While we were there we checked out the Margaret Falls trail in Herald Provincial Park on Shuswap Lake.

There had been a flood since we were last there over ten years ago and some trees had fallen and the trail rebuilt.

Rafting the Kicking Horse River

From Lake Louise we drove for the day to Golden for a raft trip down the Kicking Horse River.

We'd paddled the Kicking Horse in our inflatable in September 2020 when water levels were lower.  We thought it was pretty challenging but of course in the commercial rafting trip it was just a big roller coaster and tons of fun!

The raft put in below where we'd got on the river in 2020 so we had a slightly different route though we did recognize our takeout.  Of course on our own we were avoiding the hard stuff and just trying not to go for a swim.  In the raft we aimed for all the big stuff.

Our guide was from Chile and he works on the Futaleufu River during our winter. Perhaps we'll run into him when we visit Chile in October.

We survived! And bought the photo package.

 

A Day in Banff

 

Banff and Mt. Randle from Mt. Norquay

The following day we drove into Banff and took the the chairlift up Mt. Norquay.

The sun came out and we had great views of Mt. Rundle and  the town below and Cascade Mountain to the north.

Cascade Mountain

Unfortunately, we were restricted to the area immediately next to the chairlift. There were no trails we could take.

We met Rick back in town for lunch and then rode our bikes down to the Vermillion Lakes.

When we drove into town in the morning we were pleasantly surprised at how quiet it was in the streets.  But when we got back from our bike ride the streets were crazy packed.

It was nuts and we were glad to get out of there!

Back at the campground Leo and I took Jax for his evening walk along the Bow River Parkway.

No wildlife were spotted but we did find this:

Back to Lake Louise

Unlike the previous week, we actually made it to Lake Louise this visit.

But first we drove the Bow River Parkway to Protection Mountain Campground again. The weather was mostly cloudy, but a few mountains poked through.

I liked the nifty wildlife overpasses.  

According to the park "highway fencing in Banff National Park has reduced wildlife-vehicle collisions by more than 80% and, for elk and deer alone by more than 96%."

We set ourselves up at the campground

And drove over to Lake Louise.

Lovely,

Looks idyllic, but actually

A portion of the crowds.

 It was jam packed. To discourage vehicles they charge $36.75 for parking. They have a shuttle bus but the tickets are sold out early in the day. We paid for parking.

We joined the zoo.

Clark's Nutcracker

The birds seemed okay with the crowds.

Sibbald Lake and Cochrane, Alberta

They next day we drove to Sibbald Lake Provincial Park in the Kananaskis Valley west of Calgary.  We wanted to be within driving distance of the Calgary Airport so we could pick up our niece Heather who was flying in from Halifax.

It was quite a nice park. Though Sibbald Lake was more of a pond it was surrounded by these very attractive, blooming locoweeds. 

The next day we drove into Cochrane for groceries and to check out the historic Cochrane Ranch.

Because we were there it was closed on Mondays but we walked up to the top of the hill to check out the Men of Vision statue, dedicated to the ranchers who settled the area.

Xx

And checked out the view.

Saw this savannah sparrow:

Later, back at the park, Leo and I and Jax the dog walked the Ole Buck Loop, 

which turned out to be more of a hike than we thought.

Saw this pretty coralroot orchid.

Spotted coralroot, I'm guessing?

At 11 pm, Leo and Cathy, the night owls, drove into the city to pick up Heather, while Rick and I went to bed.