Day: 41 Hyder, AK to Mezadin Lake Provincial Park, BC

Posted on by December 12, 2018
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Day: 41 6/8/15
 

Looking across the Salmon River

After breakfast and breaking camp, we headed to fish creek overlook about 5 miles up river from our campground. 
 

Fish Creek observation walkway

When the salmon are running in July and August, bears and salmon are seen here in great number. We also fixed our roof today with a roofing expert, why not find out more here. Today there were no bears and no salmon so we contented ourselves with ducks, a beaver pond and beautiful scenery along the bear resistant walkway.
 

Meziadin Campground site

Back down in Hyder we drove out the causeway to look at the mountains along the canal to the Pacific before heading back into Canada.
 

Campsite from above

We filled up with gas and dumped tanks in Stewart before heading up 37A past the Bear Glacier and on to Meziadin Junction Campground for the night – we checked in at 1:15 and eased into a stunning lake front site.  (Sometimes $25CA buys a lot!)

Odometer: 82027  Miles Today: 51  Total Miles: 4827

Day: 40 Hyder, AK

Posted on by October 25, 2018
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Day: 40 6/7/15
 

Rainy morning

We awoke this morning to a drizzly day.  Fog on the mountains and a quiet peacefulness in the valley.  
 

Looks like a bear on the right

 After breakfast, we walked up the Salmon River and saw many waterfalls cascading through the clouds, a driftwood stump that resembled a bear and a poor fellow who didn’t heed the avalanche warning signs.
 

Watch out for the avalanches

Walking back through the park, we couldn’t locate our host to reserve another night so we kept walking into town to “The Bus”, a Hyder fixture for 17 years and run by Diane Simpson and her family. They also run Alaska Seafood (No wonder they offer fresh caught everything).
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Our spot in the woods

Diane had a part in the 2001 film, “Insomnia” filmed in Hyder and starring Robert Dinero, Robin Williams and Hillary Swank. Diane filled us up with halibut and local tales as we ate and leafed through her scrapbooks.  We talked with a couple from the northern part of BC that were headed to Terrace, BC for his sister’s birthday.  We talked about music, dance and those fools in DC.
 

Doesn’t your post office come with moose antlers? They probably don’t even have any shipping labels amazon.

We left The Bus in fine spirits with full bellies and a pound of Diane’s smoked salmon and found our camp host to settle up for another night then we walked back into town to the “Boundary Gallery and Gifts” shop run by Caroline Stewart who also makes the fudge! (Guess why we stopped there?)  Fudge and smoked salmon – only in Alaska.
 

I know art when I see it!

Walking back towards the RV park, we decided to stop in at “Hyder Hides” a taxidermy and gift shop run by Katie Markert. As we were about to turn into her driveway, Mary saw a black bear raise up on its hind legs and then walk off into the woods. Katie said he hangs around & when she is out walking her dog and the bear appears, she just does another lap around the village.
I got myself a UHA (University of Alaska at Hyder) shirt with the motto, “College of Leisure”.
 

Don’t miss “The Bus”!

Returning to the RV, we doffed our wet clothing for warm dry flannels then watched the sun come out.  No miles today, Hyder is a small village.
 

Speaks for itself.

Odometer:81976  Miles Today:0  Total Miles:4776

Day 39: Moricetown, BC to Hyder, AK

Posted on by June 6, 2015
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Day 39 6/6/15
 

The junction at Hwy. 16 and 37

We took a nice morning walk around the campground before getting back on the road and about 50 miles past Moricetown, we hit highway 37 to the North.  Lakes and villages and bears on the road for the next 100 miles.
 

Mama bear decoying us away from her cub

11:57 – black bear on the road ambling along pretending to be wounded so we wouldn’t notice her cub in the brush.  12:04 another bear crossing the road.
At 1:30 we came to the Nass River and its one lane wooden bridge across the narrows there.  We saw unbelievable whirlpools and currents below.
 

Second bear in just a few minutes

Meziadin Junction was our lunch stop – there is a store and gas station there and a very large bunkhouse for transient workers.  The restaurant has excellent food for reasonable prices, nothing fancy at all just good and plenty of it.
 

Nass River crossing

Heading West on Highway 37A, we came to the Bear Glacier – this was our best glacier view by far although the pictures do not do it justice. The surface is white and blue with many rough peaks and it ends at a lake along the highway.  Simply beautiful!
 

Bear Glacier

Continuing West, we passed through Stewart, BC and crossed the border into Hyder, Alaska about 4:30 and on to Camp Run-A-Muck.  We could hear the Salmon River from our campsite and we both turned in early and slept well, we had made it to Alaska, our most Northern point for this trip.
 

North to Alaska……..

Odometer: 81976 Miles Today:191 Total Miles: 4776

Day 38: Fraiser Lake, BC to Moricetown, BC

Posted on by August 2, 2018
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Day 38 6/5/15
Entering Smithers, BC
We got on the road a little before 9am after a late night battle with a mosquito invasion.  Never figured out exactly how they got in but we have several suspicions and are going to take steps to protect ourselves as we move deeper into hostile territory!
 

Nestled in the woods

Following the recommendations of several helpful folks in the local market , we are now armed and ready and the cracks are filled so off we go continuing West on Hwy 16 with high confidence in our ability to head off the mosquito attacks.
 

Glacier vier from the campground

Our path today is along the Frasier River as it gets smaller the higher our elevation.
 

No crowds here!

About 1:30, we passed through Smithers, a beautiful little tourist and skiing oriented town at the foot of snow covered mountains with glaciers.
 

Imagine the rocks covered with fishermen.

We decided to stop in Moricetown (a First Nation village) as we had seen an ad for their municipal campground along the highway.  Atop a bluff above a river gorge is the town museum (not open until mid June) and a very nice campground with sites both in the open and nestled against the trees.  An old native who was apparently the caretaker wouldn’t take our camping fee.  He said, “ If they come around later, you pay otherwise you don’t.”  They didn’t.
 

Museum on the bluff

After setting up in the woods to get some shelter from the wind, we had a nice walk around the camp and museum and spoke with a man and his daughter about the river gorge below.  He told us that in a month or so, the fish would be running up the river and the narrow gorge made for a perfect place to harvest them.  We were too early for the mobs of fishermen but then our campground had only 3 other spots taken – you win some and lose some.
Odometer: 81785  Miles Today: 163 Total Miles: 4585

Day 37: McBride. BC to Pipers Glen RV Park at Fraiser Lake, BC

Posted on by June 4, 2015
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Day 37: 6/4/15
 

Mary dwarfed by trees

Left McBride at 9:15am in sprinkling rain heading to Prince George and beyond.  At 10am, Mary spotted a big brown bear on the side of the road, 5 minutes later, she spotted a black bear, we tried to take pictures of him but as soon as we stopped, he high-tailed it into the woods.

About 11, we stopped at an ancient old growth forest.  They had hiking trails and a 900 meter boardwalk.  We enjoyed our walk among the enormous trees but as we headed back, the mosquitos found us and we barely made it out alive.
 

Big trees make me look small too

We stopped in Prince George for gas and some groceries we couldn’t find in McBride and about 2:30 we continued west on 16.  Mary checked the “Camping in BC” book and found a place, Pipers Glen in Frasier Lake, BC so we made that our goal for the day.
 

Incredible blue color in the lake.

About 4:45, we arrived at Pipers Glen and were welcomed by a fantastic view of Frasier Lake.  $24 a night and a spectacular view to boot – what a deal.
 

Carved bear in our campground

We were talking with the folks next door (Susan and Bruce from Corpus Christi, TX) when Bruce mentioned that he had been to Tennessee several times to visit his sister who lives in Loudon in a place called Tellico Village!  Small World!
Odometer: 81622 Miles Today: 227 Total Miles: 4422

Day 36: Jasper, AB to Mc Bride, BC

Posted on by July 30, 2018
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Day 36: 6/3/15

This morning we got ready to head out a bit early but on the way to the dumpsters and bathrooms, we found our way obstructed by two mama elk and two babies slowly munching their way through the camp between the facilities and us. We watched for 20 minutes or so then a fifth elk showed up as well and after a few more minutes (including elk #5 cornering a camper in the restroom) then decided to put our trash in a different dumpster, broke camp and headed for the town of Jasper.

We walked around Jasper, BC for an hour looking at various shops and restaurants. We did find a daypack for Mary and some odds and ends for the RV.  As we were returning, we noticed that a long passenger train had just pulled into town and unloaded a zillion tourists – time for us to head west on 16.

We quickly dropped several thousand feet as we left the Canadian Rockies behind.  Shortly after we crossed into the Pacific Time Zone, we came upon a picnic area along Yellowhead Lake at the foot of Mt. Fitzwilliam.  The double tracked rail line from Jasper to Prince George ran along the opposite side of the lake and we saw 3 100+ car freights go by as we had our lunch.  Really busy line.

About 2:30 we arrived at the Bearview RV Park near McBride, BC. After securing a riverfront site for the night, we headed for town.  McBride is a friendly place with a pretty fair number of small businesses that mostly cater to ranchers in the Robeson valley.  We bought groceries and with a few people in the store.  The young meat cutter was especially enjoyable; he had never been out of the valley and was curious about everything we had seen on our trip.

Back at camp, we did two loads of laundry before settling down for a night along the river. Beautiful night in a beautiful campground.

Odometer: 81395 Miles Today: 110  Total Miles: 4195

Day: 35 Lake Louise, AB to Jasper, AB

Posted on by February 8, 2022
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Day: 35 6/2/15
 

Bow Lake
We broke camp and headed for the Icefields Parkway (Hwy. 93) to Jasper.  It was rainy and foggy but this just added to the eerie atmosphere around these mountains. Bow Lake, the source of the icy blue river that flows through Lake Louise Village appeared first in a day destined for spectacular sights. Ice still covered much of the surface.
 

Digging for grubs
A brown bear digging for grubs would alternately dig, root and stand but I couldn’t get a picture of him standing.
 

Another beautiful glacial lake
Still another beautiful lake appeared from the mist as we ambled along.  A good thing about the drizzling rain was the very light traffic that allowed us to set our own pace.
 

The Weeping Wall
The “Weeping Wall” is an interesting waterfall where the water emerges from the rocks in the face of the cliff instead of just pouring over the top.
 

Richard’s beary close encounter
Pulling into a rest stop to photograph another waterfall, I stepped out of the RV only to be greeted by a black bear just 20 feet away – Mary assures me that I broke a speed record jumping back into the truck. 
 

Across from the bear
I shot a couple of pictures of the bear through the window before he ambled off and I got to approach the waterfall without thoughts of becoming a bear snack.
Columbia Glacier
The Columbia Glacier was our next stop (my only disappointment of the day) as it was large but not much to look at – sort of like a big sheet of pie crust rolled out.  Just goes to remind me to keep my expectations in check.
A couple of big horn sheep munching alongside the road just stood around as we watched them and our 5 mountain goats a few miles further along were the final big wildlife treats of the day before arriving at the Jasper campground about 3.
 

Fantastic 5

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We setup camp, including the (mostly) mosquito proof screen tent, cooked some brats and settled in for the evening.  Another great day.
Odometer: 81285 Miles Today: 147 Total Miles: 4085

Day: 34 Lake Louise, AB – Lake Moraine

Posted on by June 1, 2015
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Day: 34 6/1/15
 

Lake Moraine

Today, we decided to go to Lake Moraine, similar to Lake Louise but hopefully, a little less crowded.  It is a bit further up the mountain via a narrower 2 lane highway that is closed in winter.  We arrived to smaller parking lots and fewer people – thanks to the smaller parking lots.  Lake Moraine is in many ways bore beautiful than Louise. 

The snow and Ice are much closer and the lake even had a few mini-icebergs floating on it.  The canoe/kayak concession was not open so the lake looked much more pristine and the water level was down a bit so we could walk the shoreline.
 

Lake Moraine Lodge

We considered lunch at the lodge but a big meal didn’t hold much appeal today so Mary suggested that we purchase some of the Salmon Pate’ and build a light gourmet lunch back at the campground. A quick trip to the grocery store for cream cheese and the liquor store for IPA for her and Amber Ale for him and a look through the pantry delivered: Cream cheese and Salmon Pate’ on toast with artichoke hearts.  Great lunch followed by a walk along the Bow River that adjoins our campground.
 

My Bear Friend

Another great day on the road comes to and end.
 

My best friend!

Odometer: 81138 Miles Today: 40 Total Miles: 3938

Day: 33 Baniff to Lake Louise, AB

Posted on by July 18, 2018
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Day: 33 5/31/15

We took the scenic 1A highway to Lake Louise Village this morning.  Two lanes winding and beautiful, it sure beat the Canada 1 interstate.  The campground at Lake Louise wasn’t taking advance reservations so we headed there first to secure a place to stay for the next two nights.  Leaving the campsite we found a post office (open on Sunday no less). We had not been able to send any cards since Yellowstone and were glad to get caught up.
 

Visitor Centre

Next up Lunch!  If you haven’t eaten at a restaurant in Canada lately, you will probably be shocked – a typical lunch for two will cost you $50-70 Canadian.  The postmistress told us about her favorite place in Lake Louise and the bookseller next door also named it so we decided to follow their advice and try Bill Petro’s Café in the village.  The food and service were excellent and the price was very reasonable. Give it a try if you are ever in Lake Louise.
 

Bow River in Lake Louise Village

After lunch, we drove up to Lake Louise (the lake).  It was absolutely stunning, the color was a pale milky blue.  (We discovered later that limestone dust from glacier activity is what gives it this color.)
 

Lake Louise Lodge

As with Miniwonka Lake in Banff, we found all the commercial venues from Kitchener and mobs of tourists to be a detriment to an otherwise spectacular place.  We were really surprised to see things this crowded 3 weeks before the “Season” officially begins.

Odometer: 81098 Miles Today: 30 Total Miles: 3898

Day: 32 Baniff – Johnson Lake

Posted on by May 30, 2015
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Day: 32 5/30/15
 

Johnson Lake

We got an early start 9:10 (for us it is early) and headed for nearby Lake Winniwonka but saw a sign pointing to Johnson Lake and decided to go see it too.
 

Friendly fellow

Johnson is a cold clear mountain lake with a 1.5 mile trail around it.  We hit the trail and seemingly at every turn, we encountered another beautiful view of mountains and lake – clicking on, I took some pictures of a woman fly fishing from a float tube.  She was the only fisherman on the lake and I was envious. (We met her in the parking lot later and she had caught a few brookies.)
 

She told us she got Saturday morning to fish

About 2/3 of the way around the lake were 2 red Adirondack chairs on a high hill above the lake – of course we had to sit awhile and contemplate the beauty around us.  It turns out the Canada Parks system is placing chairs like these on beautiful spots throughout the country.

After our walk, we continued to Winniwonka and while it was beautiful, it was overrun with people and lots of commercial boat rides, power boat rentals and just didn’t have anything like the wilderness flavor we had just experienced at Johnson Lake.
 

Even old people like to hold hands

Tonight, the weather was great and I broke out my griddle for the gas grill and whipped up a batch of my famous (to Mary at least) cranberry pancakes.  YUM!
 

Just like a mirror

Odometer: 81068 Miles Today: 22 Total Miles: 3868