1942 – 2009

Some of you have commented that there have not been any additional chapters about our Great North American Road trip. In December, Bernie began to experience severe pain below her left shoulder and around her left rib cage. Just after Christmas, while we were in Mexico, we went to a clinic that determined there was a considerable amount of fluid between the walls of Bernie’s left lung.

To cut a long story short, we decided to come home and Bernie flew to Toronto from Phoenix on January 9, arriving about 6:30 PM. Our son-in-law, Barnaby, took her directly to Cambridge Hospital where she was admitted. A few days later she was transferred to the Firestone Centre for Respiratory Health in Hamilton and on January 16^th she was diagnosed with lung cancer, which had already begun to spread.

On the following Monday they did a bone scan which indicated the cancer had penetrated to most bone groups and that she had Stage 4 cancer for which there was no treatment. They could only make her comfortable and control the pain, which they did.

Her condition worsened rapidly as the cancer spread and multiplied throughout her body. This past Sunday they began the final drug treatment, to relieve pain and reduce stress and our daughters, sons-in-law, grandsons and I, along with many friends, all came to say goodbye.

At about 7:45pm on Monday, February 2^nd, 2009 she took her last breaths and departed for the Great RV Rally in Heaven. Although very sad and tearful, we were relieved that her ordeal was over – only 17 days after the first diagnosis.

When I heard the verdict on January 16^th, I decided that I could never RV again, without my navigator. But I have changed my mind. It is now my intention to continue, at least part-time, later this year. I will tell Bernie my itinerary and describe the sights along the way. I believe she will watch over me, as she has always done, and guide me as we travel together in spirit.

At the moment I am a bit of train wreck, but friends and family who have been through this tell me that the first hundred years are the toughest…after that it gets easier. So stay tuned, there are still a couple of chapters to be written about our final destinations in 2008, but you’ll have to put up with me. There may be some tears on the pages.

Bernie, my love and my life for 44 years is gone,
but as our journal says,

“It’s not the destination…it’s the journey”.

Visitation and Memorial Service – Humphrey Funeral Home
Visitation: Thursday, February 5^th from 2-4pm and 7-9pm
Memorial Service: Friday, February 6^th at 11am
Luncheon to follow

from Mexico

Here on the Sea of Cortez, we have to put up

with sunshine, sand and margaritas,

while you at home have all the fun in the snow.

We hope 2008 has brought you health and happiness,

that you have a wonderful Christmas

with family and friends

and that 2009 will be the best year of your life.

Our best wishes to all

Ross & Bernie White

 Bryce (named after a Mormon cattle rancher who settled in the area around 1875), is very special because it is the only national park with its type of hoodoo rock formations in the United States. Bryce, established in 1928, is one of the smallest (only 36,000 acres) parks we visited but it is absolutely a one-of-a-kind experience.

The featured vista from the rim is called the Amphitheater, a bowl containing thousands of pinnacles of multi-coloured rock, each a different size and shape.

 

Our first day we did the walk from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point and up to a towering lookout over the Amphitheater.  It is surprising how long it takes to walk only a couple of miles, because of the number of times you stop to photograph the changing vistas and say “Ah -Wow-Look at that-spectacular” etc, etc.

 

From this rim you can see about 90 to 125 miles, including the Aquarius Plateau, at an elevation over 10,000 feet, the highest plateau in the U.S.

Our second day we decided to hike down into the canyon and selected the Queen’s Garden Trail because it has the fewest sharp edges and drop-offs which as you have heard, are my (Ross’s) least favourite type of landscape.  As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, going down was much easier than coming back up but well worth the effort.  Even with the attached pictures it is hard to describe the beauty of the pink, orange, chocolate and white layered spires at Bryce.

On day 3 we completed the drive to Rainbow Point and return – called the Rim Road as it curls along the very rim of the canyon. There are numerous pull-outs to view the seemingly endless array of outstanding rock formations.  Although only 17 miles, it took more than 4 hours to get back to the Visitor Centre.

 

 

When we were at Bryce a number of years ago, Bernie had done a painting of “The Hunter” – the hoodoo pictured here.  Unfortunately, progress, in the guise of a better parking area has taken the artistic viewpoint away.   Bill and Barb, enjoy the painting. It is now definitely a one of a kind.

Bryce Canyon draws about one and a half million visitors a year and the fall is an ideal time to be there – cooler temperatures and less crowded.  During our first visit (in summer) we arrived for sunrise (just under 40F degrees), hiked into the canyon and returned for lunch (just over 100F degrees). In these dessert landscapes, you can freeze and boil in half a day.

Our last day in this area we drove to Boulder (Utah not Colorado) through Grand Staircase/Escalante, some of the most remote, un-populated and very rugged miles we have travelled. The Grand Staircase is a series of giant geological steps from the south rim of the Grand Canyon to the Aquarius Plateau, already mentioned. Each ‘step’ or layer is a different colour.

It had snowed in the higher plateaus the night before, so there was a different perspective.

Depending on the elevation of the road, we were in either, grey, red or black rock.

In the picture to the left, we were up high.  Notice the road on the right hand side and the white in the middle is actually a working ranch.

Sometimes we travelled the absolute razor back of the ridges.

After a very enjoyable lunch in Boulder, we drive back to the KOA at Cannonville for domestic duties like laundry.

This, our second visit to Bryce Canyon, we both agreed had been as good as our memory of the first visit.  It’s satisfying to revisit and again be impressed.

 In travel mode again tomorrow, November 6th.

We've heard from Jim & Carolyn and it looks like we'll meet them again at the campground in Zion.

It is a little different than most parks, being long (almost 100 miles) and narrow, and at 242,000+ acres is the second largest of the five parks we visited in Utah on this trip.  A national park only since 1971, Capitol Reef resembles a giant wave (of rock, not water) called the Waterpocket Fold, which rose up from the dessert floor about 65 million years ago.  The Navajo call the area the ”Land of the Sleeping Rainbow” because of the variety of colours in the rock layers that form the reef.

We stopped briefly as we entered the park from the west, on State Rout 24, to view the first of the unique rock formations but then decided to go the Visitor Centre to ask their advice on a good day’s worth of sightseeing.
As we drove over a hill about a mile west of the Visitor Centre we came upon a most unexpected view!

The back side of about 100 head of cattle being herded east through the park. The cattle drive to their winter range happens on the last Saturday of October every year and because of the high and rugged rock formations, the highway is the only way through. Cattle are not exactly Olympic athletes so it took quite a few minutes to work our truck through the herd. Most of the driving was being done by one small Border Collie dog, while the half dozen cowboys just seemed to be along for the ride.

The park rangers strongly recommended that we take the 25 mile Scenic Drive, formerly called the Blue Dugway, and suggested we do the 1 mile hike into Capitol Gorge at the end of the road, including a fairly strenuous climb to two pools (eroded into the sandstone), called the Tanks, high above the valley.

These depressions in the rock hold water after the rains, a vital element for wildlife in the park.

One of the highlights of the hike is a flat vertical rock face in which are carved many names and dates of the people who used the route , the bottom of the gorge, over a hundred years ago when it was the only way in or out or the area.  It actually was a wagon trail until the new highway was built, and since then is only open to foot traffic.  There must have been dozens of names and dates and is now called the “Pioneer Register”.  The first date is 1871.  If people now scratch their names on the rocks in a National Park it is called vandalism.
We also hiked the Grand Wash, which passes the Olyer Uranium Mine (closed for many years).  The Wash drains into the Fremont River and although dry most of the time, the water sculpted rocks and walls of the wash show evidence of much more violent times.

As we followed the scenic route back to Hwy 24, we travelled along the Western side of the Waterpocket Fold.  With the sun shining on the cliffs, it was an awesome spectacle.

Before we left the park, we drove through the old village Fruita, an early Mormon settlement of which only the original schoolhouse and blacksmith shop remain. The Fremont River cuts through the Fold and there are pioneer orchards and fields beside it.  The highway, only completed in 1962,  follows the river.

We left the park near dark for the 60 mile drive back to Richfield having seen yet another example of nature’s endless geological diversity. By then Tony and Heather had arrived at an RV park about 10 miles west and we stopped to say goodbye. Tony presented us with some Halloween candy bars and Heather had fresh scones and coffee.

November 2^nd saw us on the road again for a 4 day visit to Bryce Canyon National Park, our longtime favourite from our first trip to Utah years ago. Part way down US 89 as we rounded a curve, we arrived at Big Rock Candy Mountain, a unique tourist stop that is the basis of the folk song of the same name. On a rainy Sunday morning in November it wasn’t very busy and the colours in the rock that supposedly gave it it’s name didn’t really show.  After all the vibrant rock we have seen it didn’t live up to expectations.

We went on to the KOA, south-east of Bryce in Cannonville, where we set up camp for the next few days.

Bernie & Ross

We took it easy, exploring the city and one day we went to the Tracy Aviary. It’s a large bird park located on eight acres of land in the heart of Salt Lake City.  It has about 400 birds representing 135 species.

 
Another day we drove up to Park City which is in the mountains and was the location of the 2002 Winter Olympics.  We took the tour of Olympic Park, getting an up-close look at the ski jumps and the bobsled/luge runs.  There are six ski jumps ranging from 10 to 120 meters.  Plastic runways on the jumps and landing zones (the green patch) allow for summer jumping

Why anyone would voluntarily go down those ski jumps is beyond us. 

They told us that they receive around 500 inches of snow up there.  That’s over 40 feet of snow.  There is a large vibrant community and because it is only about 45 minutes from Salt Lake City, is a very popular spot.
Back in Salt Lake City, as we we drove along North Temple (yes, it’s the street that runs along the north side of the LDS-Latter Day Saints-temple) we saw a line-up outside a Mexican restaurant.  In fact, every time we went past the restaurant there was a big line up – lunch time, late afternoon or 10 o’clock at night.  Turns out the restaurant – The Red Iguana – is famous throughout the city.  Of course we had to try it.  We went on a Tuesday about 2 in the afternoon and only had to wait for 2 other tables to be seated before us, so not bad.  The food was excellent and plentiful and we would sure go back.

On the Sunday, 4 days after we collected the trailer from the repair shop, we saw water dripping under it, right where the kitchen tank is located.  This was the tank that was replaced so, as you can imagine, we were not impressed.  We phoned them on Monday and made arrangements to return with it to the shop early Wed. morning, as we would be on our way out of the city that morning.  Turns out, the custom made tank had not been properly welded at the seams and when it filled with water, the pressure caused it to leak.  It took the shop all day to fix it, as they had to again remove the tank, re-weld and reinstall.  We also had a bit of welding on the frame done and a couple of other minor items.  When we finally went to leave, they waved goodbye to us with no charge for the tank (which we expected) nor for any of the other work they did that day.  At least, they treated us properly.

As it was late afternoon, we stayed in Provo and the next morning, October 23rd, headed toward Moab via Hwy 6, which runs on an angle to the southeast.  We passed over Soldier Summit and were never out of sight of mountains, although as we got closer to Moab the land was flat with the mountains in the distance.

We decided to make our base just south of Moab, and from there were able to visit two National Parks, one State Park and one scenic drive along the Colorado River.  This country is so spectacular that I am going to let the pictures tell most of the story.

Arches National Park preserves over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, the greatest density of natural arches in the world, as well as other unusual rock formations. With elevations varying from 4,085 to 5,653 ft above sea level it is located in a “high desert” – hot summers, cold winters and very little rainfall ( 10 inches average in a year).  Since 1970, 43 arches have collapsed because of erosion.

The arches result from erosion of sandstone fins that were formed when an underlying salt bed shifted and repositioned itself.  Sections of the earths layers turned almost on edge, faults occurred and erosion then stripped away younger rock.  Water seeped into cracks, froze, expanding and breaking off pieces of rock. Wind & water cleaned out these particles and a series of free standing fins remained.  Additional erosion then gradually formed an arch in some fins.

Above - Delicate Arch, one of the most photographed, has an opening of  about 35 ft.  In 2002 the Olympic Torch relay passed through Delicate Arch.  

Balanced Rock   and   Sheep Rock – you can see a sheep’s head at the top left.

The Three Gossips – and typical rock formations around them.

The Windows – North & South.  We were on a nature walk with a Park Ranger.

Landscape Arch – one of the longest natural stone arches in the world with a span of 306 feet and a height of 105 feet.  Since 1991, three large slabs of sandstone have fallen from the thinnest section and the trail that once passed beneath it is now closed.  It was late afternoon when we visited here.

We spent two days, hiking the trails and visiting the many viewpoints.

Another day was spent following the Colorado River north-east as far a Fischer Towers.  We saw the Colorado here as a reasonably placid river but the size and depth of the canyon tells us that this obviously was not always the case. 

The gravel road into the Towers was TERRIBLE – washboard, pot-holes and big rocks. 

The jumble of towers, spires and unusual shapes is set against the background of a solid cliff – quite different than the free standing fins of Arches National Park.

Canyonland National Park is large, 337,570 acres (527 square miles) and lies to the west of Arches and Moab.   It consists of 3 distinct areas although only 2 are accessible by ordinary vehicles.  We spent one day visiting the one area called “Island in the Sky”.  This is a huge level mesa, part of the Colorado plateau, wedged between the Colorado and Green Rivers.  White Rim is an almost continuous sandstone bench 1,200 feet below the island and the rivers are 1,000 feet beneath White Rim.

 A short hike from the road is Mesa Arch (yes, there are many arches located outside Arches NP).  It is exceptional in that it sits on top of, and at the very edge of a 1,000 ft cliff.

The view through the arch was spectacular.

Of note – there are no railings so a miss-step could be deadly. 

There are a number of trails for 4 wheel drive vehicles that descend into and then traverse the canyons.  This is one of the roads as it descends the first 1,000 feet.

Dead Horse Point State Park adjoins Island in the Sky and from it we had more views of the extensive canyon system.

We left the area on Tuesday, October 29th. and followed Interstate 70 west to Richfield where we were meeting our English friends, Heather and Tony.

Interstate 70 cuts through the San Rafael Reef.  The rock here is at an extremely steep angle and there is about a one mile 8% pull to the top of the San Rafael Swell.  The Swell was formed by a geological uplift and erosion has created deep canyons and towering buttes.  The rock there is gray/beige, not the red of Arches.

We spent the next day with Heather & Tony, getting caught up on happenings since we had met them in Creston, B.C. the latter part of August.  They are on their way east and we had just come from there.

We decided to stay in Richfield for a couple more days and visit Capitol Reef National Park as a day trip with the truck only.

But that’s the next journal.

Bernie & Ross

We crossed into Idaho, Sept 25th, on Interstate 15, just south of the hamlet of Monida (a combination of Montana & Idaho).  We travelled over Monida Pass and were obviously in an area where a lot of wind and blowing snow must occur.  For a number of miles we passed permanently installed snow fences, some double and even triple, and were pleased that we were too early for any storms.

An interesting stop in the afternoon was at the Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot ( Idaho, of course).  This is the heart of Idaho’s potato industry and the museum had a great variety of exhibits relating to the potato, as well as  numerous antique implements, tools and other related items.  I wouldn’t make a long trip to see it, but it’s certainly worth a stop when passing by.

Our campground for the night was at the Fort Hall Casino.  It was an excellent full service park and only $20 a day.  We stayed two nights, going in to Pocatello to see the city and to get an oil change on the truck.  That is one thing that Ross is very particular about – we get it serviced every 5,000 km. 

We arrived in Utah around noon on Saturday, Sept. 27th and found colour. The hills were beautiful.  We had no idea that there was so much variety out here.

We had decided to stay at the KOA in Salt Lake City as it was quite convenient to the downtown area as well as the airport.  We were flying home on Tue. the 29th  to Toronto and then after picking up a rental car, on to Cambridge for 2 weeks to visit with our family. 

We had made an appointment for Monday with State Trailer, to leave the 5th wheel while we were away.  We needed some work done - our kitchen holding tank was leaking and we needed to have a front jack replaced.

Now, what to do with the truck.  Our flight out was at 8 AM and we wouldn’t arrive back until the 14th at about 8:30 PM.  The only reasonable course was to stay in a hotel both of those night.  So, on to the Internet and then out to see them.  We found a hotel, about 10 minutes from the airport, with a free shuttle to the airport, a continental breakfast and happy to have us leave the truck in their lot for the 2 weeks.  That problem taken care of.

We spent the Sunday familiarizing ourselves with the city.  One stop we made was to visit the grounds and the tabernacle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – know commonly as the Morman Church.

This is the temple, but non Mormans are banned from entering. The tabernacle – home to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir – is open to everyone and we had a demonstration of the fantastic acoustics. A young lady stood at the dias at one end of the 6,000 seat auditorium and dropped a straight pin.  We could hear it clearly, at the back of the room, as it landed and then bounced twice more.   

It’s very easy to get around Salt Lake City, once you understand the street name system.  There are two main streets, Centre and Main and streets are then named from that intersection.  The first street east is East 100 the second is East 200, etc.  Going south, the first street is South 100 the 2th is South 200 and so on. So, if you want to find 345 West 400 South, you know the location is on West 400 south of Centre Street and between South 300 and South 400.  Now that I have everyone totally confused I’ll tell you why this is important.  Every community in Utah uses this same street numbering system.  Of course, there are a few exception but not enough to really matter.

Our flight was uneventful and we arrived at Michelle’s late Tuesday afternoon, Sept 29th.  Mandi and the two boys arrived from the Bahamas on Thursday, Oct 2nd. (Quincy didn’t come up this time).

What a joy our grandsons are.

Timothy – Michelle’s son – is now 1 year old.  We last saw him in April before we started out and he sure has grown.  He had his birthday on Oct 13th while we were home.  He is such a happy little boy with big smiles and he gives the most wonderful sloppy kisses!
 

Aiden, Mandi’s younger, we last saw mid January when he was only 2 weeks old. He’s a very hefty little guy that crawls all over the house.  He reached 9 months on Oct 3rd.  They grow so fast!  I felt tired just watching Mandi carry him around all the time.  I know she hopes he walks early.

Ricardo, Mandi’s elder, again last seen in mid January,who just turned 3 on Sep. 29th.  Such a mature young man.  He attends pre-school part days and talks a mile a minute with a vocabulary that amazed us.  So much bigger and older, but still the enthusiastic joyful grandson we have known. 
We had a wonderful time at home but it was busy with every one staying at Shell and Barn’s house.  I’m sure they breathed a sigh of relief  immediately after we all left – and then were lonely for us all.

The first Saturday home, Mandi, Shell and I, along with the little boys went to the “Thomas the Train” show at the Ricoh Centre in Toronto.  Thomas and his friends are favourites of Ricky.  Pretty good show.

One day we went on the excursion train from Waterloo to St. Jacobs, then returned to the Farmer’s Market for a couple of hours before catching another train back to our starting point.  At first Ricky was very timid around the big engine, but with Grandpa’s assurance he really enjoyed himself.

Actually, a pretty good ride, with narration all the way to St. Jacobs.  At one place we could only go 5 mph as we were travelling on 100 year old track.

We travelled right through the University of Waterloo grounds and beside the many buildings of Research in Motion (RIM) – makers of the popular Blackberry.

Our family celebrated our Canadian Thanksgiving on Saturday the11th rather than on Monday the 13th, as that was when the White Clan could get together.  We welcomed Jane (she was with us in Alaska for a couple of weeks) and her family, especially another great nephew - Andrew, 2 months old.  We also were delighted to see our nephew Michael, who had spent about nine months in the southern Sudan, working with the humanitarian organization, Doctors without Borders.  What amazing stories he has to tell.

We spent a day at the African Lion Safari – an excellent nature park where the visitors are caged and the animals roam quite free.  Actually, what happens is you drive your car or take a mini-bus through the park – and you can’t get out.  The signs say “Trespassers May be Eaten”.

We took the mini-bus and had a great time seeing so many animals up close. 
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Another reason we didn’t drive is the baboons.  They climb all over the cars and vans and they don’t care if they scratch.  Our van driver stopped near all of the animals and also narrated our tour.  We were probably stopped from close to 10 – 15 minutes in the baboon area as they as so interesting.   However, at the exit gate, there is a park staff with a large stick.  Apparently, the baboons sometimes try to hitch a ride to other parts of the park.

We had dentist and doctor appointments, had lunches with friends and spent wonderful time with family.  We also were able to cast our advance vote in the Federal Election.  After listening for almost 2 years to the U.S. political election run up, it was refreshing to know that our election was called and over in 40 days. 

The two weeks went by very quickly.  Mandi and the boys left on Monday the 13th, and we returned to Salt Lake City on the 14th.

We missed them, but we were glad to be going back to our own home.  Yes, it may be only a 5th wheel – but it is home.  We’ll tell you more of our homecoming in the next journal.

Bernie & Ross

We were still in view of the mountains although they were more at a distance and the road travelled through cultivated flat areas for the most part. 

We did stop for a quick visit to The Miracle of America Museum.  It includes autos, motorcycles, bicycles, trains, tractors, dolls, musical instruments and sheet music as well as washing machines seen here.  I could go on listing more, as I don’t think there is anything made, that isn’t collected – right down to potatoe mashers.  Started by a couple in 1981 it now has over 100,000 items as well as a pioneer village and the Montana State Fiddlers Hall of Fame.

Our plan was to spend only a couple of nights in Missoula, but things happen sometimes to change plans. 

The second morning, as we were getting ready to pack up, the power in the trailer went off.  I went out to check the utility post and as I came back in, Ross told me to quickly go back and unplug the trailer as there was an electrical burning smell.  When I opened the door to the basement (the under storage area) smoke billowed out. 

Long story short, with assistance from another Hitchhiker owner (thanks so much Bob) it was determined that the utility post was sparodically registering 220 volts, rather than the 110 it should be, and the high voltage had “fried” our AC power management system.  We then reported to the campground office what we felt had happened, but as it was now Friday afternoon, they couldn’t get anyone out to check the problem until Monday.  They said that they had had work done on the system in April – but this was Sept.  We tried to find a new inverter in Missoula, but no luck– closest one was in Oregon and it was over $2,000.  No other solution to our AC problem was available in Missoula.

Our solar system was still charging the batteries, so we did have 12 volt power and we had switched the refrigerator and the water heater to propane.  As it was now late in the afternoon, we ended up staying another night. 

The next morning, Saturday, Sept. 13th, we hooked up and went east to Great Falls, MT.  The land is big  and rolling and we could see the “Big Sky” that is Montana’s slogan.

We wondered if we would ever hear from the campground about our electrical  problem now that we had moved on, but they had seemed to be concerned.

The Great Falls of the Missouri River was first seen by the Lewis & Clark expedition in 1805 when they had to portage 19 miles around a series of five waterfalls.  Today the dam right above the Great Falls has reduced that one to a trickle.  There are 5 dams producing electricity on the river and one of the falls has been flooded.  I think we were a bit disappointed.
But we weren’t disappointed with the Lewis & Clark Historic Trail Interpretive Center.

It deals with the 1804–06 expedition, particularly as it relates to Montana. It also highlights the Indian tribes who aided them on the journey.  It’s situated on the Missouri river and features walking trails and landscaped grounds.  An excellent stop.

On Monday morning, after having done research on the internet, we ordered a replacement Xantrex inverter (for $1,400)  which had to come from New Jersey by overnight express to arrive on Tuesday. We made arrangements with a mobile RV service to install it when it arrived.

Meanwhile, that afternoon we visited the Charles M. Russell Museum, home and Log Studio.  Russell, born in 1864, was an artist of the American West who created more than 2,000 painting of Indians, cowboys and landscapes.  He also produced bronze sculptures, was a writer and a storyteller.  As you can guess, no pictures of the paintings were allowed in the museum.. 

He actually was a ranch hand from the age of 16, so his work is wonderfully realistic.   His largest (12–by-25–foot) painting “Lewis & Clark meeting Indians at Ross’s Hole” was commissioned for the State Capitol in Helena.  In order to create that painting, his studio including the fireplace, had to be raised about 6 logs.

Tuesday, Sept 16th, the Inverter from New Jersey, arrived early afternoon and the technician installed it.  Unfortunately, although we now had AC power when plugged in, we found that a very specialized fuse was also blown and we could not invert – that is, produce AC power- when unplugged.   Couldn’t find one anywhere in Montana and had to have it overnight expressed to us from Oregon.  It arrived on Wed. morning and our service man came back, installed it and by about noon on Wed. the 17th, close to $2,000 later, we were finally back in business and on our way again.

But that isn’t all the story.  On Monday afternoon, we had received a call from the Missoula campground advising that the electrical contractor had been out and had determined that there was a manufacturer’s fault in the power box at our site.  We then contacted the contractor and were advised to get everything fixed, being sure there wasn’t any other damage and send them the bills.  We did that and within days the cheque was in the mail to us. 

It would have been so easy on their part to deny liability as we had already moved on and weren’t there to check what they found.  Thank goodness, the campground and the electrical contractor were both honest and honourable. 

As we usually do, we stopped for a few days in the capital of the state - Helena.   The pronunciation is HEL-e-na, as any other way was considered too feminine. The city was founded as a gold camp in 1864 and became the capital of the territory in 1875. 

We visited the Cathedral of St. Helena which is modelled after a church in Vienna.  An elegant building.
We did visit the Capitol which was completed in 1902, built of Montana granite topped by a dome of Montana copper.  Here we saw the C.M. Russell painting spoken of earlier. 

We had an excellent tour guide and one of the many facts stood out:  Montana still has not reached a population of 1,000,000 but at any given time there are 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 cattle in the state.

Our last full day in the Helena area, we went back north to The Gates of the Mountains Recreation Area, and took a narrated boat tour on the Missouri River, through the narrow canyon.  The limestone walls tower 1,200 feet above the river as it cuts through the Big Belt Range.  Lewis and Clark named the canyon in 1805 while on their Expedition.

We next travelled south and slightly west on Interstate 15 to Butte, MT.  On the way we passed an exit to the community of Bernice.  Didn’t know that one existed.

Butte is another community built on mineral wealth; first gold and silver but finally copper made the communitie’s reputation as “the richest hill on Earth”.  In it’s hey-day in the late 1910s and early 1920s it had a population of 100,000.   Eleven (11) billion – yes, that’s a “b” – pounds of the metal were produced.  

Then in 1955 the Berkeley Open Pit Mine was started and was one of the larger truck-operated mines in the world.  It’s 7,000’ long, 5,600’ wide and 1820’ deep and now is filled with water about 1,000 ft deep.  Unfortunately, the water is so acidic that it can not be reprocessed for any use.
  

Butte is a city in the past.  The historic district covers a very large area and has a huge concentration of around 4,000 late 19th-and early 20th-century residential and commercial buildings.  The whole downtown has been named a National Historic Landmark.  We did see a few that have been maintained and restored but relatively few are in good repair and many are abandoned.  There are also mining relics, steel head-frames and other artifacts that speak to the 2,000 miles of tunnels under “the hill”.

We visited “Hell Roaring Gulch and the World Museum of Mining”.  It’s a 50 building, reconstructed 1890’s mining town, on the grounds of Orphan Girl mine, which still contains the original head-frame, hoist and hose house.

Montana’s casinos are interesting.  They are everywhere, but they are small.  The maximum number of machines is 20 and all are poker or keno – no slots.  Only on a couple of Native Reservations are more machines and slots allowed and that was only a little over 100.

We did some shopping, I visited a casino and we were on our way again to Dillon, MT. about 65 miles south.

Our campground was south of Dillon and set in the wide open spaces of Montana.  The nearest neighbours to the campground were herds of antelope and we had some beautiful sunsets.

Bannack State Park was about 35 km west of the campground.  It is one of the best ghost towns and is preserved and protected rather than restored.  Another community founded on gold – in 1862 – and deserted when the gold ran out.  It was the first territorial capital and had among other firsts in the state, the first jail, hotel, Masonic Lodge and commercial sawmill.  A very realistic and interesting visit, as we could wander in and out of the over 50 buildings still there – all frozen in time.

The following day, Wed. Sept. 24th, we travelled to Virginia City.  Totally different than Bannack.  This town is commercialized and although more than 130 early buildings have been preserved it doesn’t have the same feel as Bannack.  That may be because it still exists as a town even up to today, where Bannack was basically deserted after 2 years, when gold was found in Virginia City and the miners flocked there.  Unfortunately, we were there too late as many of the businesses had closed for the season on Labour Day.

Montana had been eventful and interesting and we had spent about 3 weeks seeing the sights.  We made arrangements to fly home, on Sept. 30th, from Salt Lake, Utah for a couple of weeks.  As we had visited central Idaho when we were west in 2005, we didn’t plan on much time in that state.  However, time to move further south.     

 Bernie & Ross

Red Rock Canyon is a spectacular walk around very unique rock formations, and yes you guessed it, they’re red, very red. The trail is kind of a figure eight loop, first to Blakiston Falls and then around the canyon itself.

Our second day we drove to Cameron Lake and walked briefly around the area, but it was cold and the season was winding down so there was little activity.

One of the most famous photographs of this Canadian jewel of our national park system is of the Prince of Wales Hotel, which is sited high above Waterton Lake and looks south down its entire length. Naturally, like all the other visitors, we took our photo as well.

On Saturday, Sept 6th, we travelled south from Alberta (the Waterton section), to West Glacier in Montana. Bernie managed to pick a route beside yet another rail line, this time the BNSF mainline. After setting up at the RV park and a little grocery shopping, we visited the US National Park Visitor Centre to plan our trip inside the park.

If you’ve been following along with our trip this year (and we hope you have), you’ve probably realized this is our year of great drives – the Alaska Highway, the Dempster, Top of the World, Denali Park Road, Klondike Highway, the Richardson, Yellowhead, and the Icefields Parkway – and then the Going-to-the-Sun Road, in Glacier National Park, the US section of the international peace park.  

Most of our drives have been in a valley near the bottom of a mountain range but this one – 50 miles through the park – is along the edge, kind of halfway up the side. Most of the trip is 1 lane in each direction, but some of it is 1 lane total, while they are rebuilding several sections, the first such work in many years. This year is the 75^th anniversary of the road opening.

Vehicles over 21 feet (including bumpers) and 8 feet wide (including outside mirrors) are prohibited, due to the many sharp turns along the route. The road skirts the edge of lakes, McDonald at the west end and Saint Mary at the east end, near the town of the same name and crosses over Logan Summit, elevation 6,646 feet (2,025 metres), a rise of over 3,500 feet from West Glacier.

The NP ranger suggested we allow 3 hours for the drive – about 16 miles an hour – and he was close. It only took us about 6 hours plus the 2 hour return to the RV park on the regular highway. We’ve lost track of the number of short hikes and photo stops we made, but as you can guess, there were lots of them.
The first was a 1 mile boardwalk hike on the Trail of the Cedars nature trail, a protected original growth cedar forest, with some trees estimated to be over 500 years old.

Other spots included Avalanche Creek, (a narrow gorge through red mudstone– picture to left)  Packers Roost, Triple Arches and the unique Garden Wall, believed to have been formed by 2 glaciers scraping both sides of the top of the Continental Divide until there was only a thin wall of rock remaining. Of the many mountain ranges we have seen on this trip, it was indeed one of the most unusual features.  Unfortunately, no good picture stopping area that would show the narrow ridge.

As we travelled we were surrounded by mountains of 8,800 to 10,000 feet, including the Going-to-the-Sun Mountain at 9,642 feet (2, 939 metres), near the Jackson Glacier Overlook. Several were still snow covered even though it was the first week of September.

Along with hundreds of other tourists, we visited the Logan Summit (6,646 ft) Visitor Centre for a bathroom break and more photos of the spectacular scenery.   There are a number of hikes that can be taken from here and this is the view from part way out on one of them.

On the highway on the way back, we stopped to check out the world famous Glacier Park Lodge. The lodge and other out buildings are built with logs (many of the structural ones are 3 feet in diameter).

It was built by the Great Northern Railroad about a hundred years ago and is still a special stop on Amtrak’s Empire Builder route. Luckily for me, the train had just arrived and there was lots of activity.

The train is met by red limousines built by Ford in 1938. These special vehicles, with a capacity for 16 people, have a convertible top and are used for sightseeing in both parks.  A few years ago they were refurbished keeping all the original design.

We arrived back at the RV about 8 PM after an outstanding day. As many times as we have said it, there is apparently a never-ending supply of “Wow’s” to be seen across this continent.

The next day, we returned to Lake McDonald to visit the log lodge there. Although not as big, it is about as old as Glacier Park and has much of the same appeal.

The following day, after a lazy morning we drove into Kalispell, the major community in this part of Montana, for a few supplies.  On our way back we stopped to visit the dam that creates the Hungry Horse Reservoir.  It’s one of the world’s largest concrete dams at 2,115 feet at the crest and has a 39 foot-wide roadway crossing it.  Although all set up to provide information on the dam, we were too late, as everything was closed.  Probably because we were there after the Labour Day weekend.   

Wed. Sept. 10th, we hit the road for Missoula, Montana, the first of several stops in the western part of ‘Big Sky Country’ and we’ll write about them in our next chapter of this great road trip.

Ross & Bernie

At 4:10 am on April 29, 1903 ninety million tons of limestone crashed from the summit of Turtle Mountain and buried part of the sleeping town of Frank, AB.  70 of the 100 people in the path of the slide were killed.

The rock mass that fell was 150 metres (500 feet) deep, 425 metres (1,400) high and 1km (3,280) wide and covered an area of 3 square kilometers (1.2 sq. miles)

The rocks are huge and the debris field is eerie to wander through.

The primary cause of the Frank Slide was a combination of the mountain’s unstable geological structure, water action in cracks, underground coal mining and severe weather conditions.

Mind you, the First Nation residents of the area already called it “the mountain that moves” and wouldn’t camp at the base.  They were smart!

The road today runs right through the debris field and the railroad also runs at its base.  The mountain is still unstable and we learned that many sensors have been placed and are constantly monitored.  The Interpretive Centre opened after extensive renovation, a few days after we visited.  

The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass is made up of the former coal-mining towns of Bellevue, Blairmore, Coleman, Frank and Hillcrest and we spent another day visiting the various historic sites in these villages.

Wed. morning, August 27th. we headed east, still on Hwy 3.  When we reached Hwy 22 about 20 km down the road, we turned north toward Calgary. 

On our way up Hwy 22, we stopped at the Bar U Ranch, a National Historic Site. This ranch, founded in 1882, at it largest, encompassed 157,960 acres and reported 10,410 cattle and 832 horses.

The buildings are original, although some have been moved from outlying areas and the backdrop of the Rockies is beautiful.
 

They had a “round -up camp” set up and we had our first taste of bannock.  It’s an unleavened dough that is fried in fat in a heavy frying pan, over the open coals. 

We had it served with both jam and a honey walnut spread.and it was very good.

We have been travelling so long through mountains that it was quite a change (relief?) to come into the foothills and be able to see long vistas and generally flat roads.

A visit with my cousin and his wife, a visit to a dentist for an abscessed tooth, as well as taking the trailer in to the Hitchhicker dealer for some maintenance took a couple of days while we were in Calgary.

We visited the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller which is about 125 km (75 miles) north east of the city.  Internationally recognized for its palaeontological research, extraordinary collections and dynamic galleries, it sets out the story of the evolution of earth and the golden age of dinosaurs.  We had visited there many years ago – I think about 1987 – and found many new and much improved exhibits this time.

We returned to Calgary by a different route, driving south on the Hoodoo Trail about 16 km (10 miles) along the Red Deer River before heading cross country back to the city.

The strange sandstone formations called Hoodoos are found right beside the highway and there are trails through them that can be hiked. They are very fragile so no climbing.

Hoodoos are sandstone pillars resting on a thick base of shale that is capped by a large stone.  The cap rock is very hard and protects the soft lower layers from erosion. 

In the Blackfoot and Cree traditions, the Hoodoos come alive at night to hurl rocks at intruders.

It was an easy drive south from Calgary on Hwy 2 and we travelled through beautiful flat rich aglicultural land (note the irrigation circles).

We stayed in Fort Macleod, as a base camp,  for 3 nights, as we wanted to visit areas both east and west of the town, and it’s much easier taking only the truck.
After we set up at the campground, and it was early in the afternoon, we headed east to Lethbridge.    The city was founded in 1870 and is an agricultural centre as the area reportedly receives more hours of sunshine annually than any other spot in Canada. 

As most of you know, Ross has a penchant for trains, and things train. Lethbridge is the home to reputedly the longest and highest bridge of its type and construction in the world.

Built in 1909 it is 5,327 ft. (1,623 metres) in length (1 mile plus 47 feet).

It is still in use today.

Sept 2nd, our first full day in the area we went to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a Provincial, National, and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Native people stampeded bison over these cliffs, channeling them to the drop by cleverly placing rock and trees and directing the herd with waving arms, yelling and arrows.  The buffalo provided them with food, clothing, tools and shelter, ensuring their survival.

The name comes from a young brave who wanted to witness the spectacle from under a ledge at the foot of the cliff.  Unfortunately, his skull was crushed as he became trapped between the carcasses and the cliff.

The seven story interpretive center, built into the cliff, has displays focusing on geographical and climatic factors of the tribes.  There are also short trails leading to the hunting site.

We continued further west, to return to the Frank Slide area, so we could visit the Interpretive Centre which had been closed earlier.  It provides history about the area and the mining that took place there as well as the slide (of course).  It was well worth the return visit.

On our way there, we followed a gravel road for about 40 km. and saw some huge cattle herds.

Now, we’ve travelled a lot of miles on this trip on gravel roads and never had a mishap.

Yes, you guessed it. On this stretch of gravel a stone flew up from a truck we met and hit the windsheild.  We ended up staying another day in Fort Macleod to get it replaced.

We left Fort Macleod on the morning of Sept 4th, with our destination somewhere close to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.

We only had about 100 km (62 miles) to travel, so we had lots of time to stop in Cardston, at the Remington Carriage Museum.  It houses the largest collection of horse drawn vehicles in North America – 250 pieces of buggies, carriages, wagons and sleighs. 

Started in 1954 as a private collection, Don Reminton donated his then 48 vehicles to the Province in 1987.  Alberta built the beautiful museum and consolidated another 175 vehicles in the same place.  Another excellent stop.

After lunch we finished our trip to the Waterton area and set up camp a bit outside the park.

Ross is writing about our visit to this National Park that is twinned with Glacier  NP in the U.S.

Bernie & Ross

Every flat piece of land right from the river back to the hills is planted.

We stayed at a great small campground with huge willow trees, across the lake from the town of Oliver.   We had hoped to visit the Citation RV manufacturing plant located there, but they were on an extended summer shutdown and speculation was that they might not reopen.  We had also hoped to visit the Okanagan RV factory in Penticton, but they have closed down indefinitely, with only staff to handle warranty work and maintenance to look after the building.  We knew that the price of fuel and the high Canadian dollar, was hurting the RV industry – but these closings really brought it home to us. 

We drove back north to Penticton to see the city and then travelled back by some side roads so we could see the areas away from the river valley.

There were orchards and vineyards in every pocket of fertile land.  Many of the vineyards had double high fences.  We wondered if it was to protect the harvest from poachers – found out it was to protect the harvest from deer. 

Continuing our travels, the morning of Aug. 18th, we passed through Osoyoos, where we visited the Osoyoos Desert Model Railroad. It’s listed as “The Biggest Little European Railway in Canada”.  I bet it is.  It’s 3,500 sq. ft. with more than 9,000 hand painted little people, 1,200 buildings and at least twenty computer-controlled trains, running through the layout.  There are towns and farms and mountains and forests and rivers with bridges and winter scenes with ski lifts (that work) and summer scenes.  It’s amazing and it’s all done by one family. They aren’t even finished yet.

I guess what amazed us most was that the hand-painted little people – around 9,500 – are all done by Ulla Pedersen. She is confined to a wheelchair because of  rheumatic arthritis and also has extensive arthritis in her hands.  Just amazing!

Our final look at the southern Okanagan valley was from a viewpoint part way up the loooooong pull out of the valley – an 8% climb for 15 km. 

Our route was the Crowsnest Highway which runs east along the southern border of British Columbia.  In the times we have been in BC we have never travelled BC’s Hwy 3, so this was new country.

We stopped in Grand Forks overnight and had dinner with friends then visited the farmers market in the morning before continuing.
 

We reached Castlegar, which is situated on the Columbia River, that afternoon and after touring the town and getting an oil change for the truck, we visited the Doukhobor Discovery Centre.  It’s a replica of a communal settlement of the pacifist group of about 5,000 Russian immigrants, who settled in the area around 1908–13.  It was an interesting visit and we learned many things about this community of people who still reside in southern BC.
Next destination was Creston, around 150 km (90 miles) to meet up with Tony & Heather, our English RV friends.  They were heading west and we were heading east and we hadn’t seen them since we spent time together last January in New Mexico.

Leaving Castlegar we travelled straight south to Trail, BC where we had made reservations to take a tour of one of the largest lead-zinc smelters in the world – Teck Cominco.  No pictures, as cameras were not allowed inside.  From its start in 1896, the smelter has outlived all of the mines in the area (the Sullivan mine closed in 2001 after producing for 92 years)  But, since it has its own hydroelectric dam and transmission systems as well as one of the world’s largest fully integrated zinc and lead smelting and refining complexes, it survives.  In fact, high quality concentrate is shipped from the Red Dog Mine, in Northwest Alaska, for further refining.

The refinery is a major force in the community, employing about 1,500 staff.  One of the most interesting facts about the processes, is that 100% of the products and byproducts are used.  They reuse, recycle and have found markets for everything.

This south-east corner of British Columbia is known as the Kootenay Rockies and is defined by an array of mountain ranges repeating westward from the Continental Divide.  We experienced these ranges as we came over a number of passes, the final one being Kootenay Pass.  It was another looong and steep pull to get over it.

Creston sits along side the broad, very fertile valley of the Kootenay River, south of Kootenay Lake.  In the 30’s about 20,000 acres of land were reclaimed from the Kootenay Delta.

The following day, the four of us took a tour of Columbia Brewing Co., makers of Kokanee Beer which apparently is B.C.’s most popular beer.  Everything is totally automated and we followed the  whole process right from the mash to the cases on the shipping dock. 

After that visit, we drove across town and toured a candle making operation, where everything is still hand done. 

In the afternoon, we hiked some of the trails in the Wildlife Management area.  It’s a 17,300 acre managed waterfowl habitat located in the Kootenay Delta.  There weren’t many birds around but we did get to see a great horned owl perched in one of the trees – and it was a beautiful day!

The next day we drove north along the east side of Kootenay Lake to see the Glass House.

It was built from over half a million discarded square-shaped embalming fluid bottles.  Interestingly, they apparently weren’t washed as you can still see remnants of the fluid inside some of then.

A Mr. Brown, in 1952, retired from the funeral business, decided that he would find a practical use for the bottles which he collected from around Western Canada. 

The house is 48’ by 24’ and with the upstairs room is 1,200 sq. ft. of floor space.  It is still lived in by the family and they give tours (for a fee of course).
 

We said goodbye to Tony & Heather and continued east to Cranbrook, the largest city in the Kootenay Rockies.  It’s only a little over 100 km so we arrived at our RV park early in the afternoon and decided to visit the town of Kimberly about 30 km away.  From there the view of the Rocky Mountains to the east is impressive.  The town is based on an alpine theme and the whole downtown core is pedestrian only.

Just north west of Cranbrook, is the living museum of Fort Steele.  It is a completely reconstructed frontier town with costumed townspeople continuously acting their parts.  The original settlement dates back to the 1860s, and was a ferry crossing.  It’s named after the Northwest Mounted Police Superintendent, Sam Steele.  We spent a whole day there and didn’t see it all, so came back the next morning with the trailer, on our way to the Crowsnest Pass and Alberta.

The Crowsnest Pass, in the Canadian Rockies, was opened in 1897 when the Canadian Pacific Railway built a line through it to develop coal deposits in the Elk river valley and to help assert Canadian sovereignty in an area that U.S. railroads were beginning to build into.  It is the lowest elevation mountain pass in Canada south of the Yellowhead Pass just west of Jasper.  After the passes that we had just come over in the past few days, it was very tame. 

This is Crow’s Nest Mountain, as seen from the Alberta Visitor Centre, just after we topped the pass and crossed the Continental Divide.  The mountain was named by the Cree Indians because of the many ravens nesting around it.

Our stop for the next few days was Blairmore, in the community of Crowsnest Pass – but more of that in the next journal.

Bernie & Ross 

We were fortunate that the weather was great and we had a good round of golf. 

The scores weren’t that wonderful but we had fun and a long walk – and of course we again had impressive clouds over the Rockies

Clearwater, our next stop, is at the entrance to Wells Gray Provincial Park, a 5000 sq. km. wilderness park.  We spent the next day travelling into the park and back.  There are some beautiful waterfalls there.  Helmcken Falls which is 75 ft. wide and drops 465 feet (141 meters) is said to be the fourth highest in Canada.

All through BC we have seen devastating pine tree kill-off by the Mountain Pine Beetle.  It attacks mature lodgepole pines and thrives on warm weather.  Several consecutive mild winters and drought-like summers have allowed the beetles to increase to epidemic levels.  In 2007 the area of provincial Crown forests affected to some degree was 13.5 million hectares (32.1 million acres).  The BC government has increased allowable annual cuts to permit salvaging or recovering the greatest value from the beetle-attacked timber.  The timber can retain its commercial value anywhere from five to 18 years after attack.

We continued south on Hwy 5, following the North Thompson River Valley, to Kamloops.  We have moved from mountains to agriculture and large rolling hills.

Note the red shade on the hills – it’s the Mountain Pine Beetle damage – dead pine trees. 

One day was spent sightseeing in the city, as well as Bernie at the Art Gallery and Ross at the Kamloops Heritage Railway. 

Our campground was 17 km to the east of downtown Kamloops and is part of the British Columbia Wildlife Park. The park is 120 acres and houses, in natural habitats, 65 species of local and endangered wildlife.  All animals have come to the park having been abandoned or injured. They also have a section, which we could not visit, where work is undertaken to reintroduce animals to the wild.

We made a point of being there for the feeding of the Grizzly Bears. A brother and sister, they were orphaned about 23 years ago and have lived at the park ever since.  About 3 pm, keepers brought in a 5 gallon pail of food for each bear –salmon, vegetables, apples, lichees, plums and other fruit. They attacked the food ravenously.  We came back to see them at about 5 pm.  Both bears were laying down, totally satiated, and would plop a paw out to grab another piece of food, drag it close to their mouth and then capture it with their tongue.

When we left the Kamloops area we travelled down Hwy 97 to Kelowna.  We had travelled Hwy 97 back in the spring when we went from Dawson Creek to Watson Lake.  This highway travels the whole length of British Columbia.

Kelowna is considered the gateway to the Okanagan.  The valley was shaped by glaciers.  Mountains, some as high as 9,800 ft., flank both sides of Okanagan Lake.  Fertile soil and sunny weather coupled with irrigation transforms the scenic hills along the lake into an agricultural wonderland.  Peaches, cherries, apricots, plums, apples and grapes abound and we were there right at harvest time.  I don’t think we have ever eaten so many huge black cherries!

Our campground, in fact, was located in the middle of an orchard and we were welcome to pick peaches and plums for our own use.

Our stop in Kelowna was mainly to visit with friends, Jim and Jackie.  We had been through there in 2005 and had seen most of the tourist sights then, so other than a drive up into the hills to see the orchards we basically took it easy.

The road south from Kelowna runs right along the west shore of Okanagan Lake. Everywhere there is a pocket of fertile soil, there is an orchard, a vineyard or a lawn.  The first orchards in the region were planted in 1860 by the Oblates at the Okanagan Mission.

We reached Penticton around noon on Sat. Aug 16th. and discovered a whole new recreational activity.  Rafting – giant rubber tube rafting on the 8 km channel between Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake.  Hundreds of inner tubes and inflatable rafts lazily carrying families, teenagers and every possible age and style of person.  There was even a raft rental company that sends you off close to Okanagan Lake and picks you (and the raft) up further down the channel.

Our next destination - Oliver - is just a piece down the road.

Bernie & Ross

We dry camped at a campground just south of the town of Jasper, in Jasper National Park, which was established in 1907.  Because hunting is illegal, many of the animals have lost their fear of humans.  This was obvious when a herd of elk decided that the grass around our trailer was to their liking.

Aug. 4th, Monday morning, the four of us headed out toward Maligne Lake, one of the most photographed lakes in the entire Rockies.  

However, we had to pass Medicine Lake and found it to be very picturesque as well.

Medicine Lake is a temporary lake – filling with the spring snow melt and gradually lowering as the summer goes along until it is a frozen meandering river in the winter.  But there is no visible outlet to this “lake”.  In fact the Maligne River flows in to it from the south and the lake drains through “sink holes” in the bottom and resurfaces in the area of Maligne Canyon, some 16 km downstream.

Maligne Lake is very beautiful and winds 14 miles beneath towering mountains.  

The Maligne River drops from the higher Maligne Valley to the Athabasca Valley below.  In doing so it has eroded a narrow canyon.  In some cases the canyon is only a few feet wide, but as much as 200 ft. deep.  The beautiful turquoise colour of the river adds to the drama of the eroded rocks.

There was major restoration work being done on the paths when we visited Maligne Canyon,  so unfortunately we were not able to go all the way along the canyon rim.

Late in the afternoon, Deborah and I travelled by tram to the top of Whistler’s Mountain overlooking Jasper.   The tram rises from the Lower Station at 4,279 ft. above sea level to the Upper station at 7,472 ft above sea level. 

Another memory.  While working at the lodge in the early 60s,  a friend and I had climbed to the top of Whistler’s.  The tram wasn’t completed until 2 years later.  The view was just as spectacular this time.  The mountains don’t change, although the town of Jasper has grown somewhat.  That’s the Athabasca River in the valley below.  I remember being so impressed when I first arrived in Jasper, to actually be seeing a river that I had only heard about in history and geography classes.

Another view from the top.
Monday, was a holiday – in Ontario it’s called Civic Holiday – I’m not sure what it’s called in Alberta but it’s a holiday.  Deb & George had headed home after dinner so the next morning we headed south on our own, down the Icefields Parkway.

In 1931, the Canadian Government put hundreds of unemployed men to work building this trail through the Canadian Rockies.  It runs 230 km between Jasper and Lake Louise and is entirely within two national parks (Banff is the other one).  It’s a scenic drive – large trucks are banned.

Pictures tell the drive best:

Athabasca Falls:

23 metres high (80 ft) and 60 ft. wide.  It is known for the power of the falling water as the Athabasca River thunders through a narrow gorge.

The Columbia Icefield is astride the Continental Divide and feeds eight major glaciers.  This is the Athabasca Glacier which is located close to the Icefields Parkway.  It is the most visited glacier in North America but has receded over 1.5 km in the past 125 years – and lost half its volume.

We walked to the edge of it.

Looking back north from the glacier parking lot. 

We only had time to travel as far as the Athabasca Glacier and even then we took all day as we stopped so many times.
We enjoyed our time in Jasper.  It’s a lovely town and still not as commercial as Banff.  We did spend time walking around, checking out an art show and the shops.  Unfortunately for the vendors, we don’t buy a lot of  “stuff”.  We sold most of our “stuff”  when we started this adventure and we don’t need to restock.  We have a rule – if we buy something new, we have to get rid of something old.  Keeps us from getting overloaded.

Wednesday, Aug. 6th, we headed back along the Yellowhead, past Mt. Robson to the junction at Tete Jaune Cache, then south on Highway 5 in British Columbia.

Next journal from Southern British Columbia.

Bernie & Ross

About 125km into the day, we arrived at Jade City – not a city – one big enterprise called Jade City, selling BC jade. All sizes of jade from huge boulders to tiny charms are cut, polished and sold.  We knew that there was jade in British Columbia, but were surprised to learn that BC has 75% of the world’s jade (nephrite) supplies.  The Jade City company sells over 100 tons each year to China,

.
We stopped for the night at a beautiful, well groomed park just north of Iskut, BC.  There was a walk down to a private lake that nestled at the base of the mountains. 

A problem – when we went to close the road side slide-out the next morning as we got ready to leave the park, it wouldn’t retract.  The pin on the gear had broken.  Fortunately, Bev and Ron were with us and between our 6 ton bottle jack to lift the slide and Ron & Ross pushing while Bernie operated the slide mechanism, we were able to close and secure it in about 1/2 hour.  Although it was somewhat awkward living with the slide in, it can be done.   A RV repair shop was in our future.

We continued to the border towns of Stewart/Hyder.  Stewart (Canada’s most northerly ice-free port) is in BC and Hyder is in Alaska (in the pan handle that runs down the Pacific Coast).  To get to these towns you travel over Bear Pass which crosses the coastal mountains. There are some 20 glaciers visible – a number quite close to the road.
We had come to see the bears – both Grizzly and Black – but as with most things this year, the salmon run was about 3 weeks late.   No salmon – no bears.  Hyder has constructed a viewing area on Fish Creek, 11km from Stewart.   It’s interesting, there is no US Customs, since there are no roads that go anywhere from Hyder.  There is however, Canadian Customs as you cross back into Canada.

We stayed 3 nights and went out to the viewing area each evening.  The first night, there had only been 2 salmon spotted in the river, on night 2 there were probably half a dozen and the 3rd evening an estimate of 30 or so.  They were just barely starting to return to their spawning area.  At the height of the return, there can be thousands of salmon coming up the creek.  The salmon hatch in the fresh water, live all their life in salt water but return to their home stream to spawn and then die.

On the third evening, the bears showed up.   There was a mother and 2 cubs, a junior and this fellow.  This grizzly stayed in the stream for probably 15 minutes, so we had good views from the safety of the wooden viewing platform.
 

Bev & Ron left to head home while we were in Stewart, .  They had appointments that couldn’t be changed so we bid them a sad farewell.  After two months of travelling together we sure miss them – we had a wonderful time together.  We expect to visit them on our way through Las Vegas later this fall.

Terrace, British Columbia was our next destination.  There was an excellent RV dealer there – Nor-Burd – and they worked  us in the next morning, to get our slide fixed .  They also found a problem with the suspension which they corrected.  I guess the shaking and rattling of the northern roads did take some toll on the trailer.

While in Terrace, we took a 50 mile day trip north to the Nisga’a Nation territory, to the site of a volcanic eruption some 250 years ago. It destroyed 2 tribal villages, causing 2,000 deaths.  There was a lake where the lava beds are now and later a new lake formed back of the mountains.  We hiked on trails through the lava beds and even after all this time it looks surreal.
Away from the center of  devastation, the forests have returned and we found some beautiful waterfalls.

Another day we drove to Prince Rupert, which is the western terminus of the Canadian National Railway and also the Yellowhead Highway.  This town was founded around 1906, specifically as a port to rival Vancouver, because it is closer to the Far East.  It is now one of Canada’s major seaports.

Fishing was very important and we walked around the North Pacific Cannery (this historic site had closed early that day, due to staff shortage). Built in 1889 in the community of Port Edward (near Prince Rupert),  it is the most complete cannery that remains, of close to a thousand salmon canneries that dotted  remote villages on the West Coast.

There was an interesting tree on the highway just outside Prince Rupert – it had hundreds of shoes, boots, sandles, etc attached to it.

No explanation as to why.

We also visited Kitimat, a planned city built as a company town by Alcan Smelters in the early 1950’s. We had hoped to take a tour of the Alcan smelter, but it is under major renovation, so no go.  The plant is huge and the reason for the town.  It is the only aluminium smelter west of the BC Rockies and produces about 250,000 tons of aluminium a year.

In Radley Park is the Giant Sitka spruce.  It was registered in 1983 as B.C.’s largest living spruce tree.  Over 500 years old, it is now protected by environmental law. This picture is of a smaller spruce in the grove and as you can see, even it is very large. The big one was chained off to protect it from vandalism,so we couldn't get close to it.

We left Terrace on July 28th and headed east to Vanderhoof, BC with an overnight stop in Smithers.  From Smithers the land became much more agricultural and the Coast Mountains gave way to rolling hills – but some mountains are always on the horizon.

From Vanderhoof, we took just the truck and went north 53 km to visit Fort St. James national Historic Site.  Established in 1806 it contains one of the largest groups of original wooden buildings from the fur trade era.  There was an excellent tour and we were able to see a First Nation elder actually tanning a moose hide.

We spent two nights in Prince George.  It’s a good sized city of about 75,000 and the site was first visited by Alexander Mackenzie in 1793.  It is a major transportation and trade centre and is home to the  Prince George Railway museum.

Ross spent the afternoon there getting his “train fix” while I visited the Art Gallery and a local casino.

Travelling east, still on the Yellowhead Highway, toward Jasper, AB where we were meeting friends from Edmonton for the August long weekend, we again headed into the Rocky Mountains. 

And there, as we came over the brow of a long hill, was Mount Robson.  12,972 feet – in bright sunshine – right in our face. 

Now that’s a big piece of rock. Actually, it’s the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies and is very typical with it’s very steep slopes and snow cap.

Our next destination and journal – Jasper – is just under 100 kilometers east, over the Yellowhead Pass.   

Ross & Bernie

We stayed at a campground on the west side of the city, right beside the Chena River and close to the airport.  A nice park with beautiful hanging baskets and a lovely trail along the river bank.  On Jane’s last evening with us, the three of us walked to a restaurant just a bit down the river and had an excellent meal.   Jane said the crab cakes were the best she had ever had!

Fairbanks was founded in 1903 with the discovery of gold nearby.  (Seems like most of the north was founded because of minerals or the fur trade!)  It is right in the heart of the interior and is the northern terminus of the Alaska railroad as well as the Richardson Highway. 

The comprehensive Museum of the North and art gallery is found on the University Grounds and we spent a couple of hours visiting it.  There was a wonderful sculpture there – made from wood and wire.

In the afternoon, we all took the Riverboat Discovery cruise on the Chena River and were treated to a sea plane demonstration, a visit with a sled dog team and time in a native village.

This was a beautifully made and decorated fur coat.

On Saturday morning we said farewell to Jane, at the Fairbanks airport as she headed home to Toronto.  It was a great visit and we were all amazed at how quickly the days sped past. 

This was the first time that we had anyone stay with us in the trailer for any length of time.  Although it was tight quarters at times we think it was very successful and were very pleased that she had come north. 

Fairbanks was our turning location. From there on July 13th, we started to head back east and south. 

Just outside Fairbanks is the city of North Pole and of course, there had to be a Santa Claus House.

This is the biggest Christmas store we have every seen and inside the store is a post box where you can mail your letters and have them postmarked “North Pole”.  Kind of neat!!

About 160km southeast of Fairbanks is Delta Junction, the official northern end of the Alaska Highway.

We stood at this monument, 1,422 miles from the beginning of the road in Dawson Creek.  Although we had not travelled it continuously, it was the guideline of our travel and we did complete the total length as we returned to Whitehorse. 

The highway just east of Tok had numerous sections of road construction and then just inside the Canadian border to about Destruction Bay the road was horrible. That whole section is frost heaves, washouts, cracking and generally unstable.  We were told that there has been mountains of money spent on it but the ground is unstable and nothing lasts. We travelled slowly and were glad to find a campsite in Destruction Bay at the end of the second day.

We reached Whitehorse on July 15th, the third day of driving.  The highway follows the eastern boundary of Kluane Wildlife Sanctuary and a section of Kluane National Park.  Kluane is not accessible by road so we were only able to see it from the edges.

It’s a big park, 8,500 square miles and contains Canada’s highest peak, Mt. Logan.  At a little over 19,500 feet high you would think it could be seen, but not so – it’s way into the park, probably at least 100 km from the closest road.  It is the second highest mountain in North America – topped only by Mt. McKinley.

We only spent one night in Whitehorse as we had been there on our way north. 

We did however visit Miles Canyon which was famous for its rapids which required goods be portaged around them.  With the building of a dam, the rapids have disappeared but the canyon is still there although not as dramatic as before.

We continued south to Teslin where we camped at Mukluk Annie’s.  Now that’s a deal!  If you eat at the restaurant, you get to dry camp free (good sites at the lake), power wash your truck and trailer for free and take an evening pontoon boat ride for free (donations accepted).  The food was good and the prices were reasonable. 

Our last night in Yukon, July 17th, was at Junction 37 which is where Highway 37 leaves the Alaska Highway and heads south into British Columbia.  It’s about 20km west of Watson Lake.  The campground was a disappointment.  The sites were fine but the grounds were poorly kept.  It could be a lovely park if someone cared about it.

British Columbia next.

Bernie & Ross