Alberta-Banff & Jasper National Park

Highway toward Banff

Banff Main Street

Overpasses through Banff National Park allow wildlife to cross safely

We camped at a rustic campground in Banff National Park, aptly named Mosquito Creek, for two nights, the 23^rd and 24^th of July.  Mosquito Creek is a glacier-fed creek that flows into the Bow River.  Where we registered there were signs posted about how to keep a “Clean Camp” so there is nothing to attract bears…  also signs telling how to avoid being eaten by or have your pet eaten by a cougar, which had been seen on the camp perimeter the day before.  I have to say we were both a little spooked by all of the information and we had our bear spray ready. 

Cougar Warning!

How to keep a Clean Camp

Our spot in the trees

Panorama of the cooking tent ready for action

Bear-proof food storage

 

The weather smiled on us as we set up our tents and cooking station and did a quick wander about, but as we cooked dinner the rain started and kept falling pretty steadily for the evening and overnight.  We were warm and dry in our tents listening to the rain on the fly, but when it doesn’t get dark until 10 pm and it’s raining and cold in the mountains you just feel like going to sleep.  We did.  We slept well, even suspecting there were wild animals lurking about.  In the morning it was 42 degrees and wet!  Between rain showers we explored the campground and discovered a deposit of fresh-looking poop identified by the camp attendant as from a bear.  During the time we were there we found two more deposits – one was between our camp and the outhouse on the path I’d been blithely using.  I stayed on the road after that!  Interesting tidbit:  bears “deposit” an amount the size of a soda can every hour.

Dinner in the rain

Even with all of that, the campground was perfect.  There is a little wash house where you can take your dirty dishes and clean them up with potable water instead of a dishpan at your camp.  There are specially designed ropes to pull your food pack high into the trees so the bear cannot get them.  These are for the bicyclists or backpackers who are staying and don’t have a car to lock their food in overnight.  The outhouses are clean, dry and well-kept…but they are dry outhouses!

 

Warming Hut

Baby Sparrows perched inside the warming hut

  There is a rustic but cozy warming hut with a big iron wood-burning stove in the center and a nest of baby sparrows with mama swooping in and out to deliver food.   We could gather around a fire and meet the other campers.  Our adventure pales in comparison with that of one couple we talked to, a delightful couple from Belgium who both quit their jobs and are on the downhill side of an 8-month world tour.  They spent four months in Asia and now are touring Canada and the western US in a tiny rented car, with some very basic camping gear and a huge and contagious enthusiasm.  We loved meeting them and felt more bold after hearing their stories.

 

 

The hostel adjacent to the campground was also rustic and the sign advertised “No Showers, No Electricity, A Sauna, Some Wi Fi!  We walked over on Tuesday and were intrigued with the idea of staying in a place like that sometime.  Note that probably electronic devices used for the Wi Fi should be well-charged before arrival.

 

The hike description claimed there were a couple of small streams to cross but “nothing major.”  We got to this point and decided the message implied by the boots lying by the water was enough to discourage this crossing.

 

North of Banff National Park is Jasper National Park.  Around every bend in the road I had to stop and photograph another mountain, another glacier, the only bear we saw in the park…something breathtaking.  Watching bicyclists, some of them distance riders with packs and panniers, work their way up and down these hills was humbling.  Most of them looked quite a lot younger than we are but there were some “mature” riders mixed in. 

Tangled Falls

 

After visiting the information center at the Ice Fields and admiring the big ice-touring vehicles and the glaciers filling the valley we left the park on the North end and picked up Highway 40 at Hinton – following the sign “The Scenic Route to Alaska!”  This country is “managed forest” land and there are swaths of clear cutting separated by areas where trees are labeled with the dates they were clear cut, re-planted and the predicted date of next cutting.  All of this timber leads to huge plants like “Foothills Forest Products” and “Ainsworth O.S.B. Plant.”  They are making finished lumber and “Oriented Strand Board” – lots of it.

Loaded with logs

It’s sad to see the amount of damage done by the pine beetles.  Every campground has signs about not moving wood from another area in order to protect the forests.

Near Grande Cache there is a mountain of coal being mined on one side of the road and going directly into a coal-fired power plant on the other side.  There is a wealth of natural resources in this part of the world.  We asked a young woman server at dinner about what kinds of jobs are available and she said there were many, mostly in the oil fields and lumber.  That’s obvious when you count the pickup trucks driven by young men in the parking lot of the brew pub.  She said that young women also come and love the area – mostly working in service jobs.  It’s a high-energy, fast-growth, high-testosterone world!

Coal power plant

As we left Alberta we had to stop at the town of Beaverlodge to take a photo of another giant animal sculpture.

Thursday we connected with the Alaskan Highway, Mile Zero, at Dawson Creek, British Columbia.  We took the requisite photos, picked up extra maps, documentation, information on road conditions, etc., crossing another time zone line as we entered what Diana calls “No Man’s Land.”  So far, that is not true.

The Path

 

Mile Zero!

 

If you’re ever this way you should definitely not miss a little place called “Trapper’s Den Wildlife Emporium.”  From the outside it looks tiny but inside is a wonderland of leather moccasins, Indian-made jewelry, books focusing on the North West, any kind of camping and hunting gear you may have forgotten.  We also got advice on fishing and camping/cabins. 

Trapper's Den Wildlife Emporium, Fort Nelson, British Columbia

Today, the 27^th, we drove from a log cabin at Tetsa River Lodge where we stayed last night, to Watson Lake, Yukon.  The log cabin sounded good in the ad and looked picturesque when we first looked at it but we missed some clues.  Next time we’ll be smarter and ask whether the kitchen sink actually works or is just for decoration and when they say they have Wi Fi I’ll ask if it is fast enough to upload a photo or just for text email.  Oh well, you learn.  They did tell us that the electricity got turned off at 10 p.m.  I didn’t realize that meant water, too!

The road is better than either of us expected.  There have been a few places where they are putting down fresh tar and then covering it with gravel.  In almost every case there’s a wait at one end while traffic from the other direction comes through in a dense cloud of dust – then it’s our turn to do the same.  Other places have just patches of new gravel where they do maintenance.  Mostly it’s paved and smooth and dry.  One stretch went right on the edge of Muncho Lake…literally on the edge!  Hopefully the photos show how close to the water we were.  Muncho Lake is famous for its deep blue-green water.

Can you tell how close to the edge the road is?

Today we also saw the most wildlife we’ve seen to date.  Right after we left the lodge this morning we saw a really young moose and then a couple of miles later another one a little older.  We started passing signs warning about bison and we almost didn’t believe it – until we started to see them!  The first one was a huge guy just walking along the highway.  I rolled down my window and took his picture and he didn’t even acknowledge our presence.  Obviously he’s accustomed to photographers.  There were several other big males and one large group with calves.  We saw a couple of black bear cubs and another larger one who was intent on eating berries.  We saw a group of wild horses grazing right by the road!  We finally saw a couple of the Stone’s Sheep that we were supposed to be watching out for, too!

Can you see the baby on the hillside?

We followed this custom-made camper from Texas for a while today

We’re using a book called “The Milepost” to guide this trip along the Alaskan Highway.  In it there are notations about almost every feature on and about the road.  Today we went across a bridge called Lower Laird River Bridge that is the only remaining suspension bridge on the Alaskan Highway.  It was built in 1943 – just like the guy standing next to it.

1943 was a good year!

Thanks so much to everyone who is watching the blog, commenting on the blog, and sending us notes and wishes.  It really is so much fun to think of sharing this adventure with you and we love getting your messages!

Sure, Diva. 
You may have some of my water!

Monday, July 23.  Day 8 of our two month journey.

Hi Folks.  SRD here.   This morning we depart for Banff National Park.  Saturday and Sunday we stayed in a very nice Ramada Inn outside of Calgary, Alberta for a little R&R.  This is the nicest hotel room I have ever seen for dog owners.  We even have our own external door to go to the Tundra, parked just outside.  The hotel has a pool, hot tub, and gym, all of which I used Sunday to get the driving kinks out.  On Saturday afternoon we completed the 6^th  day of straight of driving.  We covered 2660 miles in that time, averaging 450 miles per day.  In a typical day, we depart at 8 am, drive all day, and find a motel about 7 pm.  This can be sketchy because if you don’t find one at 7, you have limited choices and none of them are good choices.  We have been fortunate.  Does not seem to be a ton of travelers on the road, plus there are usually a lot of motels.

I have not done much of this kind of day-after-day driving.  After a couple of days of this, my bod starts complaining, various parts start hurting, and I get tired & drowsy towards the end of the day.  When that happens, we try to find a place to get a latte (side note: you have to be in a larger town for this strategy.  We definitely have stopped at places where they would look at you funny if you ask for a latte).  After a week of this, I can report that I am getting into the groove

It turns out one of two Bass-Pro shops in all of Canada is right here in Airdrie, Alberta.  (that is why we wound up here).  We went there Saturday for advice on fishing in BC and Alberta, as well as obtaining bear spray for TL and me.  We are about to go up into bear country and according to everything I read, this is a good idea.  In fact, we were told you must have it if you are hiking in the Banff National Park.  The idea is to handle yourself so you don’t need it (a whole ‘nother discussion), but if you do need it, you have a much better chance of avoiding getting hurt.  The bear spray was $80 for two small spray cans that hang on your belt.  The fishing advice was free.  Those guys in hunting and fishing at Bass-Pro seem to be retirees who have a passion for the outdoors.  The guy who helped me in the fly shop was a retired engineer who could talk knowledgably about fishing, big game hunting, and dealing with bears (i.e. avoiding!).

That’s it for now.  Take care and  we will be back when we get internet access.

Wide Load

Leaving Swift Current on Saturday morning we drove for a few miles at 70 mph behind this rig

Wide Load

We spent nearly the whole day driving by field after field of freshly rolled hay and tractors working on making more.  There appears to be several methods of securing the rolls, the most common ones I saw were a  mesh wrap around the outside or a couple of string bands around the roll.  Some rolls are completely wrapped with a white fabric-looking material. 

Passing from Manitoba into Alberta didn’t make much difference in the scenery.  There were still fields, one after another, filled with yellow blooms – canola or mustard -- and grains.  As we progressed northwestward, however, there were more hills, richer colors in the sky and trees.  Every imaginable shade of green and yellow, red roofs on white buildings, and the sky.  I haven’t seen such a sky, stretching from horizon to horizon, brilliant blue with white clouds, since we lived in Colorado.  There were more farms with cattle and ponds, houses surrounded with high stands of various trees.  In between those farms were miles and miles and miles of wide open spaces.  You could be “alone” out here.

Alone

I drove off the road, stopped and got outside to take this!  What can you say?

The railroad track follows the highway for a lot of our miles.  Trains are long and often have engines in the front, somewhere in the middle and at the rear.   They appear to be carrying grain from the huge and very photogenic elevators.  Some of those look like sailing ships with complex rigging when you see them from a distance. 

On this divided highway traffic rolls along at around 70 mph (110 kph.)  What keeps you from getting hypnotized by the miles and the scenery is the fact that this isn’t an interstate with controlled on and off ramps.  There are frequent access points for the local cross roads and rarely are there signal lights.  It’s disconcerting to be watching ahead and see a double-trailer coming across your lane as you approach at that speed.  You stay awake!

Crossing!

One of the rest stops had three markers describing the history of ranching in the area.  Here is the text of one of the markers:

The "76" Ranch

The "76" Ranch took its name from the brand it used by the Powder River Ranch in Wyoming. When Sir John Lister-Kay bought the ranch's entire herd of cattle for his land development, he kept the brand and took the name "76."

This was the site of the Crane Lake Farm., one of the ten such farms that together made up the "76" Ranch. In 1890 it was made the cattle operations headquarters.

Each farm had a two storey house, a bunk house, stable and machine shed, granary and windmill, blacksmith shop, harness room, cattle shed, sheep shed and piggery.

The "76" survived the winter of 1906-07, but lost two thirds of its cattle, its British owners sold it to Gordon, ironsides and Fares in 1909. In 1921, the "76" ranch was permanently broken up and the brand passed through a number of owners before returning to this area in 1945.

The Rest Stop

We saw a site along the highway with stacks of metal pieces that reminded us of the Erector Set of our youth.  After a few miles of speculation on whether it was something going up or something that had come down we got our answer.  A new set of high-wire poles is going up.  It really is a life-size erector set!

Erector Set

Last night at 9:15 the sun was still high in the sky.  Being this far North makes a huge difference in the length of the days.  We’re in the same time zone as my parents in Utah and at 9:30 p.m. when I talked to them it was dark there.  I had just been outside taking a great photo of the buildings behind our motel to illustrate the level of daylight.

9:15 p.m. from our back step

Today, Sunday the 22^nd, we will stay a second night in a really nice chain motel in Airdrie, Alberta doing laundry, taking Diva to the park where she can run and chase her ball and generally chilling.  Tomorrow we will head to the Banff National Park just West of Calgary, find a campground and pitch the tents for a couple of days.  There won’t be any internet access there so think of us up in the gorgeous mountains hiking and fishing and exploring.  We’ll be back with photos and updates when the internet signal goddess smiles on us again!