Day 28, 22 June 2015

Calgary, AB to Lake Louise, AB 136 miles

After a delicious steak and eggs breakfast with Alex and Rowland, it didn’t take very long to get to Banff National Park.  And what a magnificent place, with gorgeous mountains, nice scenic highway, and lots of trails and lookouts to explore. We walked around the town of Banff and its many shops and restaurants, discovering, among other things, a Harley shop and the Banff Ave Brewery where we had to sample the local brew over lunch. The drive on scenic 1A to Lake Louise was awesome. We hiked the Lake Moraine trail and afterwards rewarded ourselves to the famous Bloody Caesars at the magnificent Chateau, before relaxing at our wooded campsite near the rapids on the crystal clear Bow River at Lake Louise. Life is good!

Weeping Wall

Castle Cliffs

Banff Ave Brewery

Banff Ave

 

Lake Moraine

Moraine Lake hike

Caesars at Lake Louis Chateau

Hike along the Bow River

Day 29, 23 June 2015

Lake Louise, AB to Hinton, AB 214 miles

The Icefields Parkway was built by Parks Canada as a scenic drive to showcase the powerful natural landscape of Jasper and Banff national parks. It has been called one of the world’s most scenic drives. At the Crowfoot Glacier pullout, you can see the edge of the glacier as it falls over the rock below. Originally, it looked like a three-toed crowsfoot, but one toe melted. The vibrant blue Bow Lake is the source of the Bow River, and it has a magnificent mountain backdrop. The Columbia Icefield is the largest mass of glacial ice in the Canadian Rockies. From the Snow Dome in the Columbia Icefield, meltwater flows to three different oceans: on the BC side, meltwater flows into the Columbia River to the Pacific ocean; on the AB side, the North Saskatchewan River flows into the Atlantic; also on the AB side, the Athabasca River feeds into the Arctic Ocean. Some folks were hiking on the glacier. And the stunning Athabasca River thunders over the canyon below at Athabasca Falls. Awesome 233km drive through some of Canada’s most beautiful natural wonders.

Crowfoot Glacier

Bow Lake

Columbia Icefields

Athabasca Falls

Athabasca Falls

Athabasca River

Day 30, 24 June 2015

Hinton, AB to Dawson Creek, BC 290 miles

Since we saw the sign to Rt 40 “the scenic route to Alaska,” we knew we were going in the right direction. It was nice, through the mountains, along the Smokey River. This was an introduction of what is to come, with 180 km between any services. Grande Cache, the only town between Hinton and Grande Prairie, did have a gas station, hardware store and grocery. It was named after the huge stash of furs a fur trader had shipped and left there. This was historically a major trading center for animal pelts. Grande Prairie, on the other hand is bigger, with a population over 55,000, and serves as a business and transportation center for the Peace River valley (meaning lots of red lights and trucks). We were on a roll from an early start, so we headed to Dawson Creek, BC. This is Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway. We went to the Alaska Highway House to learn about the construction of the highway, and we posed for a photo at the Mile 0 marker in the middle of town. Then we celebrated our arrival over Bloody Caesars at Brown’s Social Club where we met the owner, Darcy, who recommended to us his favorite dishes, and they were really good! We enjoyed Rocktails (their camptails) with our new campsite neighbors, Dave and Susan, from Ohio, also going to Alaska. Turns out alcohol and ice cream are favorites of campers, too.

It all started in 1942

Taking time to smell the roses

Mile 0 Signpost

Al & Darcy at Brown's Social Club

Our Neighbors Dave & Susan