We've just returned from a six week trip in Canada. We left here on the 1st June flying to Vancouver and then picked up a RV to go in a loop through British Columbia (BC) and Alberta to return to Vancouver Island and finishing in Vancouver. We spent a few days in Vancouver at the start and finish of the trip but had most of our time in the Canadian Rockies. On leaving Vancouver we drove east, mainly on Highway 3 stopping at Hope, Osoyoos, near Montrose and then we spent a few days in Waterton National Park (NP) near the border with the US Glacial National Park. From there we moved north to stay a few days in each of the main centres, Banff, Lake Louise, Icefields area and Jasper. We then turned south again to Lake Louise and then west over Kicking Horse pass and Rogers Pass to Revelstoke on the Columbia River. From there we continued west to Cache Creek and Whistler to get the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. We also did a trip over to the west coast of the island stopping at Tofino before returning to Bamberton Provincial Park and Victoria and then onto Vancouver by the Swartz ferry. We also stayed at other Provincial Parks on our route that I'll mention below. We chose this route because normally the weather is warmer in the south earlier in the year and this allowed more time for snow to melt in the northern part of the park. In the event, western Canada had a mild winter and was relatively warm and dry during May and June; in fact we had only a couple of days rain on the entire trip and there were many problems with forest fires (about 180 reported in BC by the end of June) with a fire-ban for most of our stay.
We did a fair amount of planning before the trip but we only booked our hotels in Vancouver. We wanted some flexibility on our route and where we camped so didn't reserve anything else until later. I used the "Explorer's Maps" of SW Alberta and SE BC and also SW BC and N Washington published by Gem Trek and available in the UK. These are good road trip maps with National Parks and Provincial Park boundaries marked together with campsites and lodges. They also have the principal mountains and ranges labelled. I also used a guide for walking called "Walks and Easy Hikes in the Canadian Rockies" by Graeme Pole and published by Mountain Vision, Hazelton, BC. I bought this in Banff and found it very useful with small maps and routes marked together with photos of the areas and lots of information about wildlife, geography/geology and history of selected places in the Rockies covering all the areas we visited. Some the walks can be extended to day-hikes; my only criticism is that the route information didn't give elevation changes but by experience the grade "easy" meant less than 100 m and "hard" greater than 300 m.
Another great book that we used was a Kindle book "A week or two in the Canadian Rockies" by Darren Critchley. This is a good guide with lots of really practical information for each of the main Rocky centres. It is particularly relevant to those camping or with a RV. We also had the "Lonely Planet" guide but although it is packed with information, we found this wanting on several occasions and really not a very useful guide when on the ground. We generally used the information services that were available locally, either in towns or at the campsites.
I'll also mention a couple of books (I'm sure there are many others of a similar ilk). The first is "The Canadian Rockies. New and Old Trails" by A.P. Coleman, Mountain Classic Collection. This recalls the authors explorations in the Rockies and Selkirks starting in 1884 before a road system had been developed. The other book that is widely available in the centres is "A Hunter of Peace" by Mary T S Schaffer which includes a "1911 Expedition to Maligne Lake" and is published by the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies and covers her extensive travels in the mountains at the turn of the century and was the first written account of finding Maligne Lake (one of the places we visited by road!). These books give you a glimpse into what is amazingly the quite recent past and enable a better appreciation of the rugged landscape.
I used the "Drive BC" (Mobile Traveller Information, www.drivebc.ca) for planning the road journeys. This website also gives traffic information and web cams to show the road conditions. I also made use of Viewranger gps (www.viewranger.com). This allows you access to a digital map of Canada (there is a small charge of less than £2) and from this you can save detailed grid maps on your device. This means that you do not need internet access or a phone signal to view the maps and with gps active, you can locate your position on the map. Some walking trails are already on the detailed map (1:50,000) but you can easily add your own routes. It is also useful to locate trail heads as you can note the GPS coordinates from the map and then use them to program your can navigator!
Lastly, just a quick note of some practical matters. There are many ATM's around but the Mastercard ones will not operate with Visa and vica versa. Also we found that in BC and Alberta (probably in Canada more generally) that most places, e.g. restaurants, petrol stations etc did not take Debit Cards only Credit Cards. Petrol (or gas as they call it) is about half the price of the UK but with their much larger engines, it probably works out at a similar price in cost per kilometre. The pumps can be confusing as they don't have specific colours for petrol, they can be red or black and they are mostly self-service using a Credit card at the pump. Of course they do drive on the right and have the American style four-way stops rather than roundabouts (we came across about three roundabouts on the whole trip).
I'll also mention a couple of books (I'm sure there are many others of a similar ilk). The first is "The Canadian Rockies. New and Old Trails" by A.P. Coleman, Mountain Classic Collection. This recalls the authors explorations in the Rockies and Selkirks starting in 1884 before a road system had been developed. The other book that is widely available in the centres is "A Hunter of Peace" by Mary T S Schaffer which includes a "1911 Expedition to Maligne Lake" and is published by the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies and covers her extensive travels in the mountains at the turn of the century and was the first written account of finding Maligne Lake (one of the places we visited by road!). These books give you a glimpse into what is amazingly the quite recent past and enable a better appreciation of the rugged landscape.
I used the "Drive BC" (Mobile Traveller Information, www.drivebc.ca) for planning the road journeys. This website also gives traffic information and web cams to show the road conditions. I also made use of Viewranger gps (www.viewranger.com). This allows you access to a digital map of Canada (there is a small charge of less than £2) and from this you can save detailed grid maps on your device. This means that you do not need internet access or a phone signal to view the maps and with gps active, you can locate your position on the map. Some walking trails are already on the detailed map (1:50,000) but you can easily add your own routes. It is also useful to locate trail heads as you can note the GPS coordinates from the map and then use them to program your can navigator!
Lastly, just a quick note of some practical matters. There are many ATM's around but the Mastercard ones will not operate with Visa and vica versa. Also we found that in BC and Alberta (probably in Canada more generally) that most places, e.g. restaurants, petrol stations etc did not take Debit Cards only Credit Cards. Petrol (or gas as they call it) is about half the price of the UK but with their much larger engines, it probably works out at a similar price in cost per kilometre. The pumps can be confusing as they don't have specific colours for petrol, they can be red or black and they are mostly self-service using a Credit card at the pump. Of course they do drive on the right and have the American style four-way stops rather than roundabouts (we came across about three roundabouts on the whole trip).
Vancouver city
We stayed in two different locations in Vancouver. When we arrived we were in "The Great Western Plus" on Drake Street in the downtown area that was convenient for the shops and the harbour front. We organised our phone chips and car navigator in London Drugs which is down Granville street between Robson and Alberni. We also did a harbour cruise, visited a tower look-out, got a aqua-bus to Granville island and visited relatives in nearby Surrey and had a great dinner at White Rock, a popular beach resort to the south of Vancouver.
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| " A-maze-ing Laughter" 3 m statues created by Yoe Minjun situated near Denman Street on the English Bay. There are a total of 14 statues all in the same area, spectacular sight. |
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| Totem Poles in Stanley Park. There are several different poles here with information boards and a small visiting centre. |
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| This is looking across Vancouver harbour to North Vancouver with Lions Gate bridge on the left but can you spot the two yellow mounds of sulphur? |
East to Waterton National Park
We took charge of our RV from Canadream in Delta and drove to find Highway 1 to Hope. This was a very busy road even though we had escaped the city well before "rush hour". We were told that the roads get less frenetic once east of Hope and that proved to be correct. In Hope we stayed at Coquihalla campsite near the Fraser river and had a nice spot in the forest. This cost about $53 per night which is equivalent to about £26- most sites were around this figure except the Provincial Parks which were about $15 or about £7 but these usually had no services apart from long-drop toilets. The following day was again hot as we made our way to Osoyoos and our campsite: "Island View Resort" on the edge of Osoyoos Lake with its own private beach. On route we crossed two major passes, "Alison" at 1342 m and "Sunday" at 1283 m both at a similar height to Ben Nevis (1344 m)! The scenery changed dramatically as we descended into a temperate desert with low shrubs and vineyards as we approached the Okanagan Valley (the wine producing region of Canada) and Osoyoos. The next day it was 30 C by mid-morning and reached 37 C later. We spent the day doing an early walk to town and then retiring to the beach and a swim in the "warmest lake" in Canada.
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| Panorama from above Osoyoos Lake showing the town in the centre crossing the lake, the "island" or peninsular jutting across the lake opposite our campsite and the surrounding hills at about 800 to 1000 m elevation. |
The following day we gained height above the lake (see photo above) and continued on Highway 3 east to Grand Forks and Christina Lake before ascending the Paulson Pass (1446 m) and descending into Castlegar where we had planned to stop. In the event we decided to continue further towards Salmo and found a rural site: "Pine Springs" opposite Erie Lake (N49.18774, W 117.37035). This was still quite high at about 730 m. The site wasn't busy and I did manage a short walk around the lake and spotted my first Bald Eagle doing a spot of fishing.
From here we continued in the brilliant sunshine over the Kootenay Pass (1781 m) and down hill to Creston for a break. Then following the railway, we headed northerly past Moyie Lake (mostly hidden from view by the forest) to find our first Provincial Park at Jimsmith Lake (1083 m). Here we had a large site with picnic table and close to the lake with a small beach and lots of gophers not to mention mosquitoes at dusk. The warden collected the campsite fees later and we had a pleasant view over the lake as the sun set and the local families finished their kayaking.
The next day we continued the last leg of the trip east to Waterton National Park on the Crowsnest highway (still Highway 3!) passing through Fernie and Sparwood and crossing the Rockies on the Crow's Nest Pass (1358 m), one of the lower road passes of the Rockies south of Jasper. There is an information centre near the summit and great views to the north of the distinctive Crowsnest mountain (2785 m) named by the Cree people because of the abundance of Ravens nesting there. Incidentally, although we hadn't seen many birds on our trip, Ravens were the most sighted with American Robins coming a close second.
After this we were soon in Pincher Creek and leaving Highway 3 to head south towards the USA border and the National Park. Waterton NP is part of the UNESCO first International Peace Park encompassing the US Glacier National Park but they still have a passport and all the customs controls between the two, so we stayed in Waterton!
There is a village in the park and large campsite catering for RVs and tents with cook houses, toilets and washrooms. The campsite is set near where the Cameron Creek (with its own waterfall) discharges into the lake. The village caters for tourists with shops for food, equipment supplies and clothing and specialised activity companies.
As the first day in the park was predicted to be good weather, we decided to try a day walk to Bertha Lake which starts from the campsite and goes to an elevation of about 1768 m and since the campsite is at 1290 m this is an uphill of about 480 m. The route follows the direction of the lake shore but gaining altitude to the lower Bertha Falls. The lake is much further on a twisty well-graded path to reach the upper Bertha Falls which was a very long cascade and much more impressive than the lower waterfalls. The emergence of the lake was quite a welcome sight. There is a back-country campsite nearby together with long-drop toilets and food hangers to avoid attracting bears. It proved a hot day with temperatures over 30 C so we were pleased we had plenty of water and a nice spot to cool our feet whilst eating our lunch. There is a 4 km loop around the lake as well and a few patches of snow to prove we were high but no where above the tree line. The total distance is about 11 km but it is best to leave a day to enjoy the scenery and see all the flowers by the wayside.
There is a flower festival at Waterton later in June and I can see why as the meadows were full of bloom; we spotted many columbine, red paint-brush and glacier lily but needed a better identification guide for the others!
The next day we went on a lakeside walk and to Cameron Falls were we spotted an American Dipper (Cinclus Mexicanus) much larger than our dipper but behaving in the same way. We watched it dive underwater; it has white eyelids which are obvious when it blinks. We also saw more gophers, chipmunks and ground squirrels scurrying around the campsite or nearby rocks. We also saw our first black bear with a cub as it crossed the road as we left the campsite in the morning.
Continuing north we returned to Pincher Creek and up Highway 22 towards Longview through mainly flat cattle country with a few horses and sheep grazing. We stopped a night at Chain Lakes PP which had a self-registration system. This was a pleasant spot with the lake nearby and a good number of day visitors who were barbecuing , fishing or out on boats. We did a walk north on a footpath near the shore and saw a few birds including a large horned owl hunting at dusk, osprey and someone nearby saw a beaver but I was too late to get a glimpse. Next, we continued to Longview but there found that the road we had planned to take to Peter Loughhead PP was closed so we had to continue north and miss that park but found another in Kananaskis country called Gooseberry campsite. This is another PP situated on route to Little Elbow (again the road further west was closed) and was pleasant enough set in the forest near the Elbow river, part of the water supply to nearby Calgary. In fact the river basin was some sight to see with a small water channel meandering through flood debris containing bundles of fallen trees that had been swept down the river; this must have been some sight when the river was in spate.
We had a cold night with temperatures going to near 5 C but it soon warmed up as the sun came out and we moved on to Canmore. Here we found a laundromat to catch up on some housekeeping and a quick look around before heading to Banff where we had reserved a campspot in Tunnel Mountain Trailer Park just outside Banff. We learned that there is no tunnel through the mountain although one was originally planned when they were looking at the route for the nearby railway. There was a convenient shuttle bus between the campground and the centre of Banff which took about ten minutes. Banff is one of the main centres of the Rockies and so suffers from mass international tourism particularly in the high season when the schools break-up in June just after the time of our visit. We were told the peak season is later in July and August and I can imagine it gets very congested with loads of tour buses - the ski season is another matter! Again the nights here were cold, I expect the altitude of 1456 m made a contribution to this.
In Banff we planned to take the Gondola to Sulphur Mountain, see the museums, visit Cascade Gardens, Bow Falls, Cave Basin Historic site, Lake Minnewanka and for me to sample some of the local ales and Helen the Canadian wines.
The weather forecast wasn't good with a change in the weather predicted with rain and cloud cover coming in for a few days. The locals welcomed the rain of course and we could appreciate why. Anyway, as it turned out, on our first full day in Banff we took the Gondola to Sulphur Mountain when the mountain tops were visible in a reasonable clear sky. Near the summit there had been Cosmic Ray Station (dismantled now but a board marks the spot) and there is a weather station on Sanson Peak (2256 m) that is named after Norman Sanson (1862-1949) who was the curator of the museum and keen meteorologist (he must have been as he visited the station over 1000 times!).
For the rest of our stay in Banff we had mixed weather with some rain storms and thunder. We needed rain wear for our walk to the Cave and Basin area where there is a swampland and sulphur spring with a path besides the Bow river. We did other walks from the town mostly alongside the river and visited both the town museum and the cultural museum - Buffalo museum. The town museum was really a museum of a museum and interesting in its own right with lots of preserved birds and animals but lacking on information. It would have been good to see some comparisons of the animal and bird populations fifty years ago with the those of today or more recently. In contrast, the Buffalo museum concentrated on the "First Nations" people of the area with excellent displays of the way of life witnessed in the region by the early European settlers.
We met up with Helen's cousin Lynn from Calgary and spent the afternoon visiting Lake Minnewanka for a pleasant lakeside walk to Stewart Canyon and catching up on family news.
Our next stop to the north was Lake Louise going by the Bow Valley Parkway off the main dual carriageway (Highway 1). This road is closed to traffic overnight to give the wild life more freedom (and prevent collisions with animals) and is a scenic drive though the forest with plenty of places to pull in and see the view. We stopped at Johnson Creek to walk along the creek to see the lower and upper waterfalls. This was about 6 km return along a well trodden path with some places on a board-walk aside the canyon walls. The creek was named after a prospector who tried, and I gather failed, to get rich quick. It is a petty he didn't hang around as he could have made a fortune from the bus loads of visitors, us included, now treading in his footsteps! Why do so many people take "selfies" when sightseeing? The creek was spectacular and worth the climb especially in the heat of the day. There are some "Ink Pot" springs further on which we didn't visit.
The "Lake Louise" campsite (1539 m) is actually about 2.11 km (I measured it!) from the village of Lake Louise which in turn is not close to the lake. In the village we found a grocery store (there isn't a great deal here as it resembles a small shopping mall, in fact it is called Samson Mall!) and petrol station and a few tourist and clothing shops. The campsite itself was fairly crowded with little room between the vehicles but was in a great situation aside the Bow river with views of Mount Temple (3544 m). We planned to visit Moraine Lake and Lake Louise and although the access roads were fine, we weren't sure how much parking there was for RVs. Our guidebook advised us to get there before 10 am, so with this in mind we set off earlier and had breakfast at the lakes. In retrospect, the parking, even for cars, is limited at Moraine Lake and people were parking on the access roads. The situation at Lake Louise was much better with plenty of parking that only filled up later in the day.
The lake itself looks unreal with its blue colour that changes with the sunlight and reflects the colloidal glacial silt the Canadians call "rock flour". We climbed the moraine rock pile that partially dams the lake; it is probably not a glacial moraine but the remnants of a rock slide from the adjacent mountain, hence sadly the lake is misnamed! We also did an interesting walk of about 6 km to the lower Consolation Lake to the east of Moraine lake crossing the shoulder of the "rock pile" and through the forest alongside Babel Creek to reach an open amphitheatre with the lakes in a hanging valley.
The following day we left early for Lake Louise (1731 m), this time with some low cloud cover that cleared as the day progressed. The temperatures in the early mornings meant we used our down jackets but they came off as the sun rose.
We took the shoreline trail (about 5.4 km return) which takes the north-west shore of the lake and gives a great view of the glaciers from the end of the lake. After that we walked to Lake Agnes (about 8 km return, with a 400 m gain in altitude to 2135 m), again through the forest to a hanging valley with its own tea house (first opened in 1901).
This is a picturesque spot even though the tea house was full to over-brimming; we had plenty of time to find the snow line and take in another hanging glacier on Mount Whyte.
From Lake Louise we headed further into the Rockies on the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93) stopping at several places to view the North Saskatchewan river and also at Mistaya Canyon (1523 m), a short walk from the road. We made camp at Wilcox Creek campground (2052 m, another PP, self registration) which is just before the Columbia Icefield Centre. We then went onto the Centre and took the "IceExplorer" bus onto the Athabasca Glacier. They run about every 15 minutes and again this is a major tourist attraction and so we were prepared for bus loads of people. It was all organised very efficiently with no appreciable delays and there is a convenient cafe on-site with information about the area. We also did the so called "Skywalk" which is a few kilometres along the highway but I'm afraid neither of us learned much, if anything. Basically it is an information centre set on the valley side but I don't think it reaches its full potential or may be we'd read too many information boards already.
Returning to camp we found lots of mosquitoes waiting to pounce and also a fire ban caused by the long dry spell and abundance of forest fires. The following day was again clear but with a prediction of some rain later, so we packed our rainwear and set off for the Wilcox Pass which starts from the foot of the camping area. This is about 8 km return but climbs to 2326 m gaining great views of the Athabasca Glacier and getting above the tree line, not an easy task in all these forested mountains. I had the expectation of seeing Big Horned Sheep but was disappointed. Helen had more concern about meeting a bear which I'm afraid was also a disappointment; may be it was my singing! Incidentally, we didn't meet many people on this walk which added to the atmosphere. In retrospect, we should have planned to continue over the pass to find the route down Tangle Creek (christened by Mary Schaffer I think), the original route taken be Wilcox and repeated by Schaffer, but I didn't have a detailed map and the thought of being tangled in Tangle Creek put us off.
Our next stop was Jasper, the most northerly point on our route. Well here we did see some wild life in the form of Elk grazing on the side of the road. We were told they feel safer near Jasper than exposed to the roaming hordes in the forest! Anyway, just to prove it, here is the photo:
Jasper turned out to be our favourite of the Rocky Centres, may be because it was smaller but I guess it had less of a tourist centre feel and you noticed people going about their daily lives. It had a great laundromat which also had a internet cafe ("Snowdome"), shower cubicles and served the best coffees ("flat whites") we'd encountered in Canada. To swing it, it also had a parking lot for RVs with plenty of space and an easy walk from the main street. We saw more cyclists in Jasper than anywhere and also more recycling showing they were more environmentally aware than most places. However, it did seem to have a large population of mosquitoes that even the locals were complaining about.
With fine warmer weather predicted we went on the "Sky Tram" to Mount Whistler (2465 m) and climbed the 200 m gradient to the summit to get a view of the town and surrounding lakes. There was still a few patches of residual snow near the summit.
On the last day in Jasper we drove to Maligne Lake, the largest natural lake in the Rockies, (an early visit and first documentation of this lake is given in Mary Schaffer's book). This took about one hour with a few stopping places including the canyon. We had decided to do a boat trip on the lake to "Spirit Island" (which is not really an island but a small peninsular which sometimes gets separated from the mainland).
Many of the surrounding peaks were named by Mary Schaffer although the First Nations People had visited the lake and I expect some of the early trappers. Later we did a short walk to Moose Lake and managed to spot an Elk in the forest.
In a way this was a turning point for our trip as we returned down the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise and then across the Rockies west on the "Kicking Horse" and "Rogers Pass" at 1330 m. This was a scenic drive passing through Golden and visiting the Glacier Information Centre at Glacier lodge. This was originally an overnight stopping point for the railway but because of the deaths caused by avalanches and steepness of the track, they made a tunnel that by-passes the lodge. The centre has some interesting videos of the effort needed to keep Rogers Pass open in the winter and how they try and control the avalanches. A fact that amazed me was that five years after the rail road company "discovered" the pass, they had a railway going over it!
After this we had a break off Highway 1 at Cedarwood and Hemlock Grove before Revelstoke. This was very interesting and quite a different woodland from that we had been walking through in the Rockies. Some of the western hemlocks were over 350 years old. Apparently this type of forest is rare and thrives on the cool and wet air from the Columbia mountains. It was interesting to see the decaying trees, fallen by storms long gone, that were in varies stages of returning to the earth and contributing to the biodiversity of the woodland. We also learned that Caribou graze on the lichen hanging from the trees and these are the only animals to move to higher elevations in the winter so that they can utilise their woolly feet to stand on top of the snow-fall to reach their food.
As we reached the campsite: "Lamplighter" at Revelstoke, the temperature was over 35 C, maybe the lower altitude was helping (440 m). This was a pleasant enough site which reminded us of campsites at home. In the evening we walked into Revelstoke crossing on one of the three bridges over the Columbia river. This was really just a stop-over as our next destination was to the ferry at "Horseshoe Bay" to get to Vancouver Island. We had planned three stops on our drive west: first near Sorrento in the Shuswap Lakes area, then at Cache Creek and finally at Whistler on Highway 99.
The next day was not a long drive but was interesting in that our destination campground was a little off the beaten track. It was called "Woodhaven" (elevation 536 m at N 50 52' 19.5'', W 119 16' 1.54''). This is a small site with a few long-termers and is pleasantly situated near the south shore of White Lake. Although we had a little rain, we did get to relax by the lake shore in the sunshine. This rustic site would be ideal for a longer stay if you had a canoe or enjoyed fishing. There was also some local walks in the woodland above the campsite. There isn't very much in Sorrento but we did find a grocery store and drove on more or less by-passing Kamloops to reach Cache Creek which is basically a road junction with diners, gas stations and motels (may be I'm being unkind, but that's what it looked like). I understand the name of the town comes from a place where the settlers left supplies on route before heading further into the hinterland. The landscape had again changed as we passed Kamloops, along the lake of the same name, towards Cache Creek. It had a drier aspect typical of an arid scrubland and the walks near the campsite gave views of a wide expanse of land with less tree canopy but with a more open aspect.
However, this soon changed as we headed back into the forested mountains following a hilly and winding road to Lillooet and on to Whistler. There were plenty of stops on route to give views of the Fraser river and canyons but the driving was really slow. We called in at Whistler, another major holiday and skiing centre within easy reach of Vancouver, but it was very busy with holiday traffic and so we didn't stay long. The Whistler campsite is a little distance after the town and set on a hillside with great views over the valley. We had a teepee next door which gave the site a different atmosphere with someone making a not too melodies drum beat.
It was then a relatively short drive to the ferry terminal stopping on route at Squamish. We went to a park in the Bay but it is not to be recommended as the RV was a little too uncomfortable with the width of the road. In the end we returned to the village and parked in the ferry terminal car park. The ferries had been fully booked but we'd made a reservation for a later one and booked the return from Vancouver Island to Tsawwassen, which is close to Delta where we had to return the RV.
Our first stop on the island was near Namaimo at the "Living Forest" campsite adjacent to the sea; well we could just spot the sea from our campspot but there was a small cafe and bar with a view over the harbour and access to a beach. We spent the day near the beach and walking along the shoreline as the tide came in. After this we headed across the island to Tofino a peninsular beach resort known for water sports including surfing. The road over was winding and narrow in places with some steep ascents and descents. A couple of days before we had phoned to reserve a camping site but had been disappointed although "Crystal Cove Beach Resort" where we stayed was very pleasant and close to the beach. We had some refreshing strolls along the tideline to watch the sunset and see all the fires on the beach. Apparently, the BC fire ban did not apply to Tofino because of the prominent sea mists. However, a couple of days after we left, the ban was extended to Tofino as there was a large wildfire at Sproat Lake on our route back to the east coast. We later checked out the village which had a casual atmosphere and seemed to have escaped the major international companies; I'm sure there is a "Starbucks" some where though! There were several tour companies offering seaplane and boat trips.
Anyway, time was pressing and we returned over the island to Bamberton PP to spend a couple of days relaxing before going on to near Victoria (the capital of BC) and Vancouver. We enjoyed Bamberton PP as it was quiet and conveniently situated in the woods with a ten minute downhill walk to the 2 km length beach. The beach wasn't sandy but grit and gravel but had plenty of tables and seats on a grass area above the beach. We noticed a ferry leaving from near Mill Bay to Brentwood Bay so decided to take that and go and see the Butchart Gardens which are in Brentwood Bay. This worked out very well and we had a great day wandering around the gardens. They were a mixture of formal and herbaceous gardens with a dazzling array of colours. They were busy as the gardens are obviously on the tour bus round, but the gardens are large and there is plenty of places to get food and drinks. It was interesting to read that the gardens were born from an old quarry used by a cement works that had connection with Bamberton (the PP was given to the public by a cement company which has abandoned buildings along the coast).
In the evening we met up with Ou and Ye, some friends we hadn't seen for 24 years who had settled in Sydney near Victoria. Ou is also an environmental chemist and it was great to see how they had developed and adjusted to life in Canada. They treated us to a day's tour of Victoria, look-out points and the coastline with opportunities to sample Chinese food and I had Sushi and Sashimi for the first time but we both refused the deep fried chicken claw!
This is a beautiful area with the a stunning coastline. We spent our last night on the island at McDonalds PP campground which is only a few minutes drive from the ferry. After that, we returned the RV and had a few days in Vancouver to wind down our trip staying in English Bay as described at the start.
Our next trip might be a cycle ride, "Tour de Manche" in France if the weather holds!
From here we continued in the brilliant sunshine over the Kootenay Pass (1781 m) and down hill to Creston for a break. Then following the railway, we headed northerly past Moyie Lake (mostly hidden from view by the forest) to find our first Provincial Park at Jimsmith Lake (1083 m). Here we had a large site with picnic table and close to the lake with a small beach and lots of gophers not to mention mosquitoes at dusk. The warden collected the campsite fees later and we had a pleasant view over the lake as the sun set and the local families finished their kayaking.
The next day we continued the last leg of the trip east to Waterton National Park on the Crowsnest highway (still Highway 3!) passing through Fernie and Sparwood and crossing the Rockies on the Crow's Nest Pass (1358 m), one of the lower road passes of the Rockies south of Jasper. There is an information centre near the summit and great views to the north of the distinctive Crowsnest mountain (2785 m) named by the Cree people because of the abundance of Ravens nesting there. Incidentally, although we hadn't seen many birds on our trip, Ravens were the most sighted with American Robins coming a close second.
After this we were soon in Pincher Creek and leaving Highway 3 to head south towards the USA border and the National Park. Waterton NP is part of the UNESCO first International Peace Park encompassing the US Glacier National Park but they still have a passport and all the customs controls between the two, so we stayed in Waterton!
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| View over Waterton village, campsite and lake to Vimy peak (2379 m). There is a ferry to the far shore of the lake and a trail to Crypt Lake. Notice the clouds; we saw many different cloud shapes such as a "doughnut" form and then dissolve. |
As the first day in the park was predicted to be good weather, we decided to try a day walk to Bertha Lake which starts from the campsite and goes to an elevation of about 1768 m and since the campsite is at 1290 m this is an uphill of about 480 m. The route follows the direction of the lake shore but gaining altitude to the lower Bertha Falls. The lake is much further on a twisty well-graded path to reach the upper Bertha Falls which was a very long cascade and much more impressive than the lower waterfalls. The emergence of the lake was quite a welcome sight. There is a back-country campsite nearby together with long-drop toilets and food hangers to avoid attracting bears. It proved a hot day with temperatures over 30 C so we were pleased we had plenty of water and a nice spot to cool our feet whilst eating our lunch. There is a 4 km loop around the lake as well and a few patches of snow to prove we were high but no where above the tree line. The total distance is about 11 km but it is best to leave a day to enjoy the scenery and see all the flowers by the wayside.
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| The view from the north side of the lake with Mt Alderson on the right and Mt Richards on the left both together with Bertha peak forming the cirque in the photo. Both mountains are visible from the Waterton town site. |
The next day we went on a lakeside walk and to Cameron Falls were we spotted an American Dipper (Cinclus Mexicanus) much larger than our dipper but behaving in the same way. We watched it dive underwater; it has white eyelids which are obvious when it blinks. We also saw more gophers, chipmunks and ground squirrels scurrying around the campsite or nearby rocks. We also saw our first black bear with a cub as it crossed the road as we left the campsite in the morning.
Continuing north we returned to Pincher Creek and up Highway 22 towards Longview through mainly flat cattle country with a few horses and sheep grazing. We stopped a night at Chain Lakes PP which had a self-registration system. This was a pleasant spot with the lake nearby and a good number of day visitors who were barbecuing , fishing or out on boats. We did a walk north on a footpath near the shore and saw a few birds including a large horned owl hunting at dusk, osprey and someone nearby saw a beaver but I was too late to get a glimpse. Next, we continued to Longview but there found that the road we had planned to take to Peter Loughhead PP was closed so we had to continue north and miss that park but found another in Kananaskis country called Gooseberry campsite. This is another PP situated on route to Little Elbow (again the road further west was closed) and was pleasant enough set in the forest near the Elbow river, part of the water supply to nearby Calgary. In fact the river basin was some sight to see with a small water channel meandering through flood debris containing bundles of fallen trees that had been swept down the river; this must have been some sight when the river was in spate.
We had a cold night with temperatures going to near 5 C but it soon warmed up as the sun came out and we moved on to Canmore. Here we found a laundromat to catch up on some housekeeping and a quick look around before heading to Banff where we had reserved a campspot in Tunnel Mountain Trailer Park just outside Banff. We learned that there is no tunnel through the mountain although one was originally planned when they were looking at the route for the nearby railway. There was a convenient shuttle bus between the campground and the centre of Banff which took about ten minutes. Banff is one of the main centres of the Rockies and so suffers from mass international tourism particularly in the high season when the schools break-up in June just after the time of our visit. We were told the peak season is later in July and August and I can imagine it gets very congested with loads of tour buses - the ski season is another matter! Again the nights here were cold, I expect the altitude of 1456 m made a contribution to this.
In Banff we planned to take the Gondola to Sulphur Mountain, see the museums, visit Cascade Gardens, Bow Falls, Cave Basin Historic site, Lake Minnewanka and for me to sample some of the local ales and Helen the Canadian wines.
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| View from the summit of Sulphur Mountain (2451 m) reached by 600 m walk from the Banff Gondola. Tunnel Mountain (1692 m) is in the lower centre, Cascade Mountain (2999 m) is the big one on the left and you can also make out Lake Minnewanka in the far distance and Bow river on the right of Tunnel Mountain. Banff itself is in the lower part of the photo. |
For the rest of our stay in Banff we had mixed weather with some rain storms and thunder. We needed rain wear for our walk to the Cave and Basin area where there is a swampland and sulphur spring with a path besides the Bow river. We did other walks from the town mostly alongside the river and visited both the town museum and the cultural museum - Buffalo museum. The town museum was really a museum of a museum and interesting in its own right with lots of preserved birds and animals but lacking on information. It would have been good to see some comparisons of the animal and bird populations fifty years ago with the those of today or more recently. In contrast, the Buffalo museum concentrated on the "First Nations" people of the area with excellent displays of the way of life witnessed in the region by the early European settlers.
We met up with Helen's cousin Lynn from Calgary and spent the afternoon visiting Lake Minnewanka for a pleasant lakeside walk to Stewart Canyon and catching up on family news.
Our next stop to the north was Lake Louise going by the Bow Valley Parkway off the main dual carriageway (Highway 1). This road is closed to traffic overnight to give the wild life more freedom (and prevent collisions with animals) and is a scenic drive though the forest with plenty of places to pull in and see the view. We stopped at Johnson Creek to walk along the creek to see the lower and upper waterfalls. This was about 6 km return along a well trodden path with some places on a board-walk aside the canyon walls. The creek was named after a prospector who tried, and I gather failed, to get rich quick. It is a petty he didn't hang around as he could have made a fortune from the bus loads of visitors, us included, now treading in his footsteps! Why do so many people take "selfies" when sightseeing? The creek was spectacular and worth the climb especially in the heat of the day. There are some "Ink Pot" springs further on which we didn't visit.
The "Lake Louise" campsite (1539 m) is actually about 2.11 km (I measured it!) from the village of Lake Louise which in turn is not close to the lake. In the village we found a grocery store (there isn't a great deal here as it resembles a small shopping mall, in fact it is called Samson Mall!) and petrol station and a few tourist and clothing shops. The campsite itself was fairly crowded with little room between the vehicles but was in a great situation aside the Bow river with views of Mount Temple (3544 m). We planned to visit Moraine Lake and Lake Louise and although the access roads were fine, we weren't sure how much parking there was for RVs. Our guidebook advised us to get there before 10 am, so with this in mind we set off earlier and had breakfast at the lakes. In retrospect, the parking, even for cars, is limited at Moraine Lake and people were parking on the access roads. The situation at Lake Louise was much better with plenty of parking that only filled up later in the day.
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| The scene made famous in Canada on the twenty dollar bill from 1969 to 1979. This is Lake Moraine in the "Valley of the Ten Peaks" (yes there are ten as some are out of view in the photo!) They were named by Samuel Allen from their numbers in the Stoney First Nations Language and some have retained that name. They are all over 3000 m. |
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| Lower Consolation Lake with Mounts Bident (or "two teeth "at 3088 m) and Quadra Mountain (or "four summits" at 3174 m). Incidentally, directly behind and easily missed is the south side of Mount Temple noted from our campsite. |
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| Lake Louise from the north-eastern shore line with the upper part of Mount Victoria (3464 m) at the far end of the lake peeping through the clouds. The hanging Victoria glacier is just in view. |
We took the shoreline trail (about 5.4 km return) which takes the north-west shore of the lake and gives a great view of the glaciers from the end of the lake. After that we walked to Lake Agnes (about 8 km return, with a 400 m gain in altitude to 2135 m), again through the forest to a hanging valley with its own tea house (first opened in 1901).
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| Taken from the edge of Lake Agnes looking south-west with Mount Whyte (2983 m) in the background. We followed the shoreline on the right of the photo to the end of the lake. This is also the route to the "Big Beehive" a distinctive peak out of view on the left. |
From Lake Louise we headed further into the Rockies on the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93) stopping at several places to view the North Saskatchewan river and also at Mistaya Canyon (1523 m), a short walk from the road. We made camp at Wilcox Creek campground (2052 m, another PP, self registration) which is just before the Columbia Icefield Centre. We then went onto the Centre and took the "IceExplorer" bus onto the Athabasca Glacier. They run about every 15 minutes and again this is a major tourist attraction and so we were prepared for bus loads of people. It was all organised very efficiently with no appreciable delays and there is a convenient cafe on-site with information about the area. We also did the so called "Skywalk" which is a few kilometres along the highway but I'm afraid neither of us learned much, if anything. Basically it is an information centre set on the valley side but I don't think it reaches its full potential or may be we'd read too many information boards already.
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| The Athabasca Glacier. This is near the top as it overflows from the Columbia Icefield which is the largest in the Rockies at about 320 sq km with a reported depth of between 100 and 365 m and receiving about 7 m of snowfall a year. |
Our next stop was Jasper, the most northerly point on our route. Well here we did see some wild life in the form of Elk grazing on the side of the road. We were told they feel safer near Jasper than exposed to the roaming hordes in the forest! Anyway, just to prove it, here is the photo:
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| Wildlife near Jasper, well a few metres from the main road and train line. We saw Elk , no Moose and three bears in total on the trip. |
With fine warmer weather predicted we went on the "Sky Tram" to Mount Whistler (2465 m) and climbed the 200 m gradient to the summit to get a view of the town and surrounding lakes. There was still a few patches of residual snow near the summit.
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| The vista from the station on Mount Whistler with Jasper on the right of centre. We continued on a ridge walk past the summit. |
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| Maligne Lake near Jasper. You cannot see the far end of the lake even when you take the boat trip to "Spirit Island". |
In a way this was a turning point for our trip as we returned down the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise and then across the Rockies west on the "Kicking Horse" and "Rogers Pass" at 1330 m. This was a scenic drive passing through Golden and visiting the Glacier Information Centre at Glacier lodge. This was originally an overnight stopping point for the railway but because of the deaths caused by avalanches and steepness of the track, they made a tunnel that by-passes the lodge. The centre has some interesting videos of the effort needed to keep Rogers Pass open in the winter and how they try and control the avalanches. A fact that amazed me was that five years after the rail road company "discovered" the pass, they had a railway going over it!
After this we had a break off Highway 1 at Cedarwood and Hemlock Grove before Revelstoke. This was very interesting and quite a different woodland from that we had been walking through in the Rockies. Some of the western hemlocks were over 350 years old. Apparently this type of forest is rare and thrives on the cool and wet air from the Columbia mountains. It was interesting to see the decaying trees, fallen by storms long gone, that were in varies stages of returning to the earth and contributing to the biodiversity of the woodland. We also learned that Caribou graze on the lichen hanging from the trees and these are the only animals to move to higher elevations in the winter so that they can utilise their woolly feet to stand on top of the snow-fall to reach their food.
As we reached the campsite: "Lamplighter" at Revelstoke, the temperature was over 35 C, maybe the lower altitude was helping (440 m). This was a pleasant enough site which reminded us of campsites at home. In the evening we walked into Revelstoke crossing on one of the three bridges over the Columbia river. This was really just a stop-over as our next destination was to the ferry at "Horseshoe Bay" to get to Vancouver Island. We had planned three stops on our drive west: first near Sorrento in the Shuswap Lakes area, then at Cache Creek and finally at Whistler on Highway 99.
The next day was not a long drive but was interesting in that our destination campground was a little off the beaten track. It was called "Woodhaven" (elevation 536 m at N 50 52' 19.5'', W 119 16' 1.54''). This is a small site with a few long-termers and is pleasantly situated near the south shore of White Lake. Although we had a little rain, we did get to relax by the lake shore in the sunshine. This rustic site would be ideal for a longer stay if you had a canoe or enjoyed fishing. There was also some local walks in the woodland above the campsite. There isn't very much in Sorrento but we did find a grocery store and drove on more or less by-passing Kamloops to reach Cache Creek which is basically a road junction with diners, gas stations and motels (may be I'm being unkind, but that's what it looked like). I understand the name of the town comes from a place where the settlers left supplies on route before heading further into the hinterland. The landscape had again changed as we passed Kamloops, along the lake of the same name, towards Cache Creek. It had a drier aspect typical of an arid scrubland and the walks near the campsite gave views of a wide expanse of land with less tree canopy but with a more open aspect.
However, this soon changed as we headed back into the forested mountains following a hilly and winding road to Lillooet and on to Whistler. There were plenty of stops on route to give views of the Fraser river and canyons but the driving was really slow. We called in at Whistler, another major holiday and skiing centre within easy reach of Vancouver, but it was very busy with holiday traffic and so we didn't stay long. The Whistler campsite is a little distance after the town and set on a hillside with great views over the valley. We had a teepee next door which gave the site a different atmosphere with someone making a not too melodies drum beat.
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| Horseshoe Bay where we caught the ferry to Namaimo on Vancouver Island. |
Our first stop on the island was near Namaimo at the "Living Forest" campsite adjacent to the sea; well we could just spot the sea from our campspot but there was a small cafe and bar with a view over the harbour and access to a beach. We spent the day near the beach and walking along the shoreline as the tide came in. After this we headed across the island to Tofino a peninsular beach resort known for water sports including surfing. The road over was winding and narrow in places with some steep ascents and descents. A couple of days before we had phoned to reserve a camping site but had been disappointed although "Crystal Cove Beach Resort" where we stayed was very pleasant and close to the beach. We had some refreshing strolls along the tideline to watch the sunset and see all the fires on the beach. Apparently, the BC fire ban did not apply to Tofino because of the prominent sea mists. However, a couple of days after we left, the ban was extended to Tofino as there was a large wildfire at Sproat Lake on our route back to the east coast. We later checked out the village which had a casual atmosphere and seemed to have escaped the major international companies; I'm sure there is a "Starbucks" some where though! There were several tour companies offering seaplane and boat trips.
Anyway, time was pressing and we returned over the island to Bamberton PP to spend a couple of days relaxing before going on to near Victoria (the capital of BC) and Vancouver. We enjoyed Bamberton PP as it was quiet and conveniently situated in the woods with a ten minute downhill walk to the 2 km length beach. The beach wasn't sandy but grit and gravel but had plenty of tables and seats on a grass area above the beach. We noticed a ferry leaving from near Mill Bay to Brentwood Bay so decided to take that and go and see the Butchart Gardens which are in Brentwood Bay. This worked out very well and we had a great day wandering around the gardens. They were a mixture of formal and herbaceous gardens with a dazzling array of colours. They were busy as the gardens are obviously on the tour bus round, but the gardens are large and there is plenty of places to get food and drinks. It was interesting to read that the gardens were born from an old quarry used by a cement works that had connection with Bamberton (the PP was given to the public by a cement company which has abandoned buildings along the coast).
In the evening we met up with Ou and Ye, some friends we hadn't seen for 24 years who had settled in Sydney near Victoria. Ou is also an environmental chemist and it was great to see how they had developed and adjusted to life in Canada. They treated us to a day's tour of Victoria, look-out points and the coastline with opportunities to sample Chinese food and I had Sushi and Sashimi for the first time but we both refused the deep fried chicken claw!
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| Parliament building of British Columbia in Victoria situated close to the harbour. |
Our next trip might be a cycle ride, "Tour de Manche" in France if the weather holds!
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