June 27-July13
June 27 to July 13
We continued our drive on the Icefield Parkway to Jasper and our campground in Hinton. The second part of this highway is just as incredible as the first. To use their WiFi we parked at the discovery centre once again. The weather was absolutely gorgeous for our drive but the forecast showed cold and rainy for the next few days. To take advantage of the good weather, we booked the Jasper Sky Tram for this day and decided to have dinner at the top of Whistlers Mountain. That way we didn’t have to worry about making a late dinner at the campground.
We stopped along the way at many beautiful sites like Tangle Falls and of course at Athabasca Falls.
Across the road from Tangle Falls
Athabasca Falls
Up the Jasper Sky Tram for a nice view and great Dinner
The Jasper Sky Tram is not like the Banff Gondola. It only has two “cars” that pass each other at the mid-point of the ride in mid-air. The tram car is kind of like a subway car but with hand straps and no seats. There’s only one tower holding up the 58 year old cable structure. The tram travels at speeds of up to 6 metres per second and takes just 7 minutes to climb to the upper station at an elevation of 2,263 metres, just shy of the summit of Whistlers Mountain at 2,463 metres.
Whistlers Mountain is named after the hoary marmots that scurry about the mountain and are known for making a whistling call. There is a hike to the summit but we stayed on the boardwalk. The view of the Rockies was amazing and it was clear enough, we could see Mount Robson in the distance.
The building at the top looks like it’s almost 60 years old and we were wondering what dinner would be like. It was very good. Our waitress was a delightful young woman from Cork, Ireland named Lisa. She is travelling and working and enjoying time in Canada.
Jerry has begun to visit coffee roasteries. At dinner, he had coffee from a company called Vale located in Valemount, BC so we made a plan to visit their roastery on our way through. There is also the Rocky Mountain Roasters in Jasper.
Rocky Mountain Roasters/Jasper. Finally found them. “The best kept secret” Near the NAPA store where I bought some decent wiper blades.
We headed to the KOA in Hinton. When planning our trip in February we thought it would be nice to have a full-service site after boondocking along the Icefields Parkway but couldn’t get a reservation anyplace in Jasper. The KOA is definitely a ho-hum campground way out in the boonies with nothing much to boast about.
Our location gave us lots of opportunity to travel the highway surrounded by mountains and beautiful views. The verges had lots of wildflowers, especially wild rose bushes. It was great for spotting wildlife too.
On Tuesday we arranged to go rafting on the Athabasca River and on our way to Jasper we saw a huge bull elk with antlers covered in lovely velvet. He was not phased at all by the cars and was just calmly grazing on the side of the road. On the way back in almost the same place we saw two cows.
Two Elk Cows
The rafting was SUCH FUN! Even though it was a cold grey day we had a great time. Yes we got wet. It was billed as a family trip and we were not required to paddle. We also didn’t raft in any serious white water but we had a good ride in the rapids we did find. The water was very high and very cold. The river is glacier fed. BC Hydro has an underwater turbine generating electricity from the current.
Jerry and a family from Quebec.
A super rafting trip through class II rapids on the Athabasca River
Wednesday was a day for chores but in the evening we went to the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge for a show in their planetarium. Jasper National Park is the second largest Dark Sky Preserve in the world – it’s the largest accessible preserve. The largest preserve is in Wood Buffalo National Park. We’ve been to both!
There are signs on the highway asking that lights be dimmed as you approach Jasper and the town keeps all night lights to practically nothing. The Fairmont Lodge has a 38 seat dome tent “planetarium” where you can see a great show about the night sky in the Rockies. The dome is located in an old tennis court and they have several telescopes as well. Unfortunately it was a cloudy, rainy evening when we were there so no telescope viewing for us. In the fall, they host an educational event at the top of Whistlers Mountain with dinner, talks and telescopes too. I think that would be amazing. I miss the planetarium in Toronto. There were always things happening there.
Seeing the famous Jasper Park Lodge was a bonus. This place is what I think a lodge in a national park should be – rustic elegance.
On Thursday, we made our way back to BC and stayed one night in Valemount. We stopped at Mount Robson Provincial Park just after crossing the provincial border.
Mount Robson is the most prominent mountain in North America's Rocky Mountain range and it is also the highest point in the Canadian Rockies. Behind the visitor centre is a field of wildflowers – spectacular.
Mount Robson
Highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies
This 1931 classic made it through and up the passes (for Mark & Marilyn)
Certainly lots of flora and fauna along the highways
On Canada Day we drove to McLure, near Kamloops, and Pinegrove Campground. Our home for the long weekend. But before leaving Valemount we, of course, made a stop at the Vale Coffee Roastery for beans and coffee to go. I discovered that I like a Mocha – it was yummy. Jerry stuck with his Canadiano.
Vale Coffee Roasters in Valemount
Just outside of Valemount we saw two small black bears peaking over the grasses on the edge of the highway. They were maybe two years old as they were on their own. I sure hope they stayed off the road. We also saw glacier covered mountains on the way. I think we passed the Thompson Icefield but you know there aren’t any signs pointing out these features like the ones we saw in the national parks.
Pinegrove was a quiet (but buggy) camp that was just changing hands to new owners. Our main objective here was to hunker down for the long weekend. What a change in weather! It was hot and humid and I was regretting leaving the mountains and the icefields behind. I finally had to get my summer clothes out of the storage area under the bed.
We did make the drive to Kamloops one day but I forget why. The hillsides around Kamloops were a light green with lots and lots of sage bushes all over. This may sound crazy but I thought they looked like Shrek with green acne – kinda gave me the willies.
Our next stop was Osoyoos on July 4th. Being so close to the border we heard, but didn’t see, the US firecrackers. I hope it was firecrackers anyway.
The drive to Osoyoos was in a torrential downpour non-stop. We took our time and in Penticton had to drive through a flood where the water was two feet high across the road! (We followed a transport.)
When we arrived to our site, it was mushy gravel and we couldn’t get the unit level due to sinking into the sandy gravel in the rain. Also, the site was too small for us and we had to jig and re-orient the camper several times to fit. We ended up on a diagonal across the site leaving hardly any sitting area. All very frustrating but thanks to Elizabeth’s patience we survived. This camp will be condos next year as they are developing it. We don’t think they are doing much at all – everything was closed. Lots of condos in Osoyoos.
One good thing was the view from our Osoyoos site
We visited with my (Jerry’s) cousin Paul and Cathy (and their daughter Laura and grandchildren) at their lovely home on the lake and had a great BBQ, a super boat ride and lots of catch up chat.
We’d been to Osoyoos in 2018 so we didn’t feel the need to do all the tourist stuff. We did have a nice bike ride around town, stopped at a fruit stand (of course) and shopped at a very popular bakery. We also made the trip to the NK’MIP Winery (pronounced Inkameep) – for gifts of course.
On the way to the Vancouver area, we stopped in Hope and stayed at a nice camp and spent Saturday morning doing groceries, seeing the town and in the afternoon, visiting friends (RVers: Mel and Jay https://www.youtube.com/c/HomeARoam .) This young couple helped us out with some ideas of campgrounds and I follow their YouTube channel watching their adventures. We had a great visit and yummy pastries. Jay also is a composer / musician so we have lots to chat about.
Hope is where the first Rambo picture (1982) was filmed.
This year Hope is having a big 40th Anniversary Festival.
There are many chainsaw wood sculptures around town.
I think that’s another festival.
July 10-Aug 7
We are now at our Anmore / Port Moody camp which will be home base for a month as we get ready for our Alaskan Cruise and then explore the Vancouver area. Amie, Robert and Ash arrive today and we are spending Thursday with them doing tourist stuff.
Tree in a tree.
Our campsite is very nice, the campground is quiet and even though we’re just a few kms away from the city it seems like we’re in the country. The weather has been sunny and hot and we’ve been enjoying some quiet time. Tomorrow we are going to Stanley Park with Amie, Ash and Robert.
Buntzen Lake Recreational Area is just a few km from our campground. This urban lake is so busy that you have to make a (free) parking reservation the day before you want to be there or walk/bike into the area. We have biked to the lake twice and I went for a swim on Tuesday. The website says it is a cold lake. They are not exaggerating. I like to swim in cold water but this lake is too cold to do more than dunk under and cool off. I believe Jerry got his water shoes wet. (J)
This will be our last post until after our Alaskan cruise. We need to pack (as George Carlin pointed out “a smaller version of our stuff”), meet with Amie and family, pack, drop off Misty at the cat Alley Cat Hotel, pack, fill out forms and apps and take a Covid test on-line, pack, shop, laundry and pack. On Sunday, we take a taxi to the cruise terminal and meet up with Amie, Chris and their families.
Love from,
Jerry, Elizabeth, Misty, FJ (Flat Jesus), the Guys, Miss Adventure Too, and Clifford the Big Red Truck.
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