July 19 - Canada Highway 99 - Beat the car to Death!

July 19, 2010 Squamish BC, just south of Whistler BC

Wow, what a day. Of course, wanted to go the scenic route to Vancouver. Well, what an adventure. First of all, started early from the crampground and went through Sicamous the self proclaimed houseboat capital of Canada. I can see why. Located on Seymour Lake – which appears to be endless and beautiful, you could cruise a houseboat for days.

At Salmon Arm – a part of Lake Seymour, there was a float-in logging operation – see pic. The whole area reminded me a little bit of Chautauqua Lake , cottages – nice ones , boats and all the niceities of home. Did not seem like what you might think of as rural Canada.

Then through Kamloops – updated the blog and the area turned to desert. See pics. And some stunning canyons. Surprising given the amount of water around. On pic shows some white stuff that you might think is snow – not. It is crusted mineral salts. Another pic shows the natural landscape contrasted with irrigated land. Sagebrush all around – get along little doagie.

Then down scenic route 99. Wow. Every bit as challenging as the Top ot the World Taylor Highway to Chicken AK. This was paved but much narrower and some of the switchbacks and blind curves were as much as a 15 degree slope and 15 Degree turns. Definitely had to pay attention on that road. Thank goodness it was mostly paved and not much traffic. Road followed the Fraser River and it flat wore me out. It looked a lot like California in parts. Even had a winery – see pic of grape vines.

Finally on toward Vancouver. Passed through Whistler where they held part of the last winter Olympics. Did not stop because I was looking for a campground – surprise – it was after 5:00 pm and it was full. So I drive 10 miles up a steep one lane pot-holed road to Garibaldi Park only to find that domestic animals were prohibited. Fortunately, I was roaming on the cell and I called my lifeline, Dorene and she directed me to a great little cluster of cabins where Leo could run. He needed that.

381.5 miles today, 49.48 N, 123.09 W

Over to Jasper - July 17th

Left Tyhee at 7:20 this am. Took a little longer because they have some great showers. Felt good. It was 49 last night – good sleeping weather. Although it eventually warmed to 79 – hot for Leo and I and we had to put on the AC.

On the Trans-Canada Highway, Yellowhead Highway, Route 16. Good road but there are still some stretches where you can go over 100 miles without a gas station. This is a very pleasant area. Weather has been great and overall it looks like a slightly drier climate. This is the foothills of the Rockies. Lots of big cattle farms, they are harvesting the hay now. Also, a lot of logging. Saw several big logging / sawmill / kiln operations today. If you ever wondered where your 2 x 4s come from – this is it.

This is a very nice area – clean, prosperous and people are friendly. Prince George is a nice large town / small city. Had a Starbucks and updated the blog there.

Still, this is the big sky west. The views are still spectacular and I’ve included a couple of pics of shots from the highway – beautiful. Tonight we are at Mt. Robson Provincial Park about ready to go into Jasper then down to Lake Louise tomorrow. Mt Robson – see pic – is the highest point in the Canadian Rockies at 12,972 ft. So now you can impress your friends with that piece of trivia. Park is crowded – but it is Saturday night and every RV in the world decided to follow me around Alaska this year.

411.1 miles today, 53.02 N, 119.14 W

Jasper and Lake Louise - July 18th

This was absolutely an incredible ride. Again, spectacular mountians, valleys, streans, glaciers and lakes. Went through Bow Pass - 6700+ feet on the altimeter of the GPS. Subie struggled a little bit but was fine.

Place is set up for tourists and it is loadesd with them. Mostly shops along the main street - also a lot of tour companies to line you up with fishing or white water rafting. Water is COLD.

All glacier fed - the river is the Athabasca River - fed off of the Athabasca Glacier. I climbed up to it with a few hundred of my closest friends - see pic. Again, like Worthington Glacier - it has receded rapidly over the past few years.

Also, see pics of Mt. Kitchener - still has a lot of snow on it - bt it is above 10.000 ft

Earlier, Leo and I found a nice trail along the Fraser Riverand walked it for a while until it started to rain. Again, a little worried about letting him get too close to the main current of the stream. Because of the slope of the land, rivers are merely slow waterfalls.

Then on to Lake Louise. Surprisingly small and loaded with tourists - mostly from Asia and high-end lodges. Sort of reminded me of the Homestead - great place for the Newly wed or the nearly dead.

No doubt the place is beautiful but very tightly controlled. While you might think you are in the wilderness - and you can be 100 miles from a gas station - it is very regimented and there are a lot of people. Again, I think Canada lives in RVs.

Anyway, last night I tried two different public campgrounds and they were all full. On the way to our final stop, we passed the Beaver Valley. A little bit different than the Beaver Valley where I grew up. Not a single steel mil, metal recycler, lead smelter or nuclear power plant to be found. Finally wound up in a private campground (CRAMPground) Leo had a 9 x 12 area to pee.

So, tonight I will head toward Vancouver and stay just outside the city. So, this will be last night in Canada. Then on toward Seattle - and turn east.

July 18th, Revelstoke BC - at the headwaters of the mighty Columbia River. 51.00 N, 118.13 W. Some light rain

PS - sorry for the duplicate pics - Thei connection in Starbucks in Kamloops CA has asked me to re-try several up loads. - you see the results

This is probably the last real wilderness of the trip. This was 400 miles of unspoiled forest and mountains. Lake after lake, lodge pole pine and birch and beautiful streams, valleys and rivers. See pic of Dease Lake and Bulkey River. Also , home to black bears. Although I did not see any today– trying to stay on the road – some folks in a car right behind me saw two together at Iskut River.

The road is very narrow and windy with no shoulders, no striping – at least for the first 300 miles from north to south. And if you go off the edge of the road, it is at least an 8 foot ditch if not a cliff on either side.. And about 80 – 100 miles between gas stations. But, no Old Navy signs, No CVS, Walgreens, Sheets or Walmart either. Did see an overturned semi and a car – took pics of the semi.

Got to Smithers and it is a real town. At the foothills of the Rockies. Farms complete with horse, cows and hay. Weather is beautiful. Smithers is a nice , clean modern small town. Looks like the kind of place where you would want to live.

Here at Tyhee Lake. Provincial Park. Beautiful place – pic of the lake attached. You can see a field of cut hay in the foreground. The attendant at the campground said that there are two black bears that have been spotted in the park the las couple of days – but don’t worry – they’re “neighborhood” bears. Now what the heck is a “neighborhood” bear? Also a very “cheeky” (her term) fox that will jump up on people’s picnic table. Treat tonight. Leo and I got a steak at Safeway. Ohh Baby. But we will clean up our scraps so the bears and the fox don’t get them Tomorrow we will get to the edge of Jasper.

491.5 Miles today, 54.42 N, 127.02 W

The Turn South - but it ain't over yet

Got on the road early, yes it was raining. Got a few more pics of Skagway, 2 more cruise ships had docked during the night. This is obviously a deep water port and it looks like as many as three 1,000 ft passenger liners could dock here at the same time. The town lives for cruise ship tourists. As I was cruising the town, a whole fleet of Princess busses came rolling up to the pier – time to skedaddle!

The scenary up to the Canadian Border was again terrific. All rough hewn rock. As you can see from one of the pics, the only vegetation up here is some lichen and scrub brush. Saw a big black bear snacking on some road kill and I stopped the car – by the time I stopped, got out with the camera, he was gone. Rats

Other than that, the travel day was uneventful. Stopped in Whitehorse for some supplies. Stopped again at the great little Rancheria Falls Picnic site where Leo and I camped two weeks ago.

On to Boya Park on route 37, the Cassiar Highway. Hope to make it to Trans- Canada tomorrow. Then down through Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff.

441 Miles today, Actually saw some sun today. 59.22 N, 129.06 W

My Alaskan Cruise - aboard the Malaspina

Rode on the Ferry Malaspina from Haines to Skagway. First had a really great fresh halibut meal in Haines before I left. I’d go back to Alaska just for that fish.

The cruise to Skagway was incredible. It was only a little over an hour but the views of the fjords and the cliffs are incredible. Surprisingly wide. We passed two different cruise ships. Counting the Ryndam docked at Haines, I have seen the Norwegian Peal, the Norwegian Star and the Coral Carnival. Arrived in to Skagway late, everything except the bar were closed and it was cold and windy. So, got a few pics of the town and the snowplow on steroids and Leo and I headed to the Dyea Road campgrounds. One of the most wonderful but unknown parks in Alaska. Just watch out – this is bear country too, just like Chillkat last night.

Only 65.9 miles today by car, 59.30 N, 135.21 W Last night in AK