INTO CANADA--JUNE 8 THROUGH JUNE 13, 2017

NOTE:  I will try to remember to convert miles and temperatures to degrees Celsius and Kilometers for my Canadian and European friends who are reading this blog.  I can’t guarantee that I will catch every one of these, but I will sure try!

Additionally, I will be making comments about road conditions, particularly from Dawson Creek, BC to the point at which I cross back in to the lower 48 next fall.  The reason for this is that there will be other RVers that I am aware of who will be traveling the same routes behind me and I have told them I would share what I am encountering vis-à-vis road conditions.

DAY 10: :  I was up early to hook up the Jeep and get the coach ready to travel; however, I wanted to watch the James Comey hearing with the Senate Intelligence Committee before starting out.  Bob and Judy Bales came over to watch the last part of the hearing and to see me off.

DEPARTING EMMETT, ID (PHOTO COURTESY JUDY BALES)

I took an alternate route west to Payette because a cold front was forecast to move in, then turned north on Hwy 95 and took it all the way to Grangeville. 

WEST OF EMMETT, HEADED TO PAYETTE, ID

I followed the Little Salmon River for a ways and it was flowing fast, so I just HAD to stop at one point to take some pictures.



LITTLE SALMON RIVER--FLOWING FAST

Further along, waterfalls next to the road were flowing—I didn’t get any photos of them because I didn’t know they were there until I was passing them!  There were quite a few of these.  It was a very nice drive and I had tailwinds most of the way, which was also nice.  Winds were very strong through the Salmon River Canyon, but still on my tail.  The Salmon River was running high, muddy, and fast with a lot of large logs and other debris flowing downstream.

SALMON RIVER

After driving 197 miles (317 km) today, I camped at Bear Den RV Resort in Grangeville, ID for the night.  (It is a very nice park with long pull-thrus.)

DAY 11, JUNE 9:  It rained off and on most of the night and I drove through light rain during the first part of the trip this morning.  Pulled out of the park at 0845 and made the 187 mile (300 km) trip to Coeur d’Alene, where I am parked at the Elks Lodge.  (VERY NICE PARK)  I drove through large rolling fields of small grain, most of which looked like they were planted in wheat.  Saw some fields planted in a crop that was a very bright yellow, but I don’t know what the crop was.  I didn’t see much of it, but it was very pretty on the hill sides. 

WHEAT FIELDS

 

                ???

Skies started clearing about 35 miles southeast of Lewiston, ID.  The drive through the Nez Perce Indian Reservation southeast of Lewiston was particularly nice as the gently rolling hills gave way to much steeper, higher hills and bluffs as I got closer to the Clearwater River.  Croplands gave way to pastureland with a lot of cattle grazing up high.  North of Lewiston I was driving among more tall trees all the way to Coeur d’Alene.  The drive today was a fun one to make because I saw the land from the ground for the first time after seeing it from the air day after day in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s as I flew fire patrols over much of the area.



DAY'S END

DAY 12, JUNE 10:  I worked around the MH all day finishing loose ends.  I also bought the final things I thought would be needed for the trip that I might not get later; i.e. oil, a 20 A to 30 Amp dogbone, etc.  It rained off and on all day but is clearing tonight.  The weather has been cold all day and tonight will probably be pretty cold, too.  It might have hit 60 degrees for a short time.  (Fairbanks got up to 94 degrees!  Guess I am headed the right direction!)  Hooked the Jeep up tonight, so will be ready for an early start.  Four travel bugs were activated and I found a nearby geocache to get them traveling.  The travel bugs will go along with me.

DAY 13, JUNE 11: I woke up to beautiful blue skies!  As I was getting ready to move out, I lost power to the satellite receiver, both TVs, and a few power receptacles.  I couldn’t figure out what the problem was at the time but decided to go anyway since I had partial power and figured I would do further troubleshooting at the destination.  (The “issue” was the inverter had tripped—again.)  I got out of the RV park at 0800 and left the gas station at 0830, headed north for the 242 mile (389 km) drive on Highway 95 to Radium Hot Springs, BC.  It was a nice drive to the border—again it was fun to see the country from the ground that I used to fly fire patrol over.  The drive north of Bonners Ferry, ID was especially nice in a wide valley bounded on each side by tall mountains. 

NORTHERN IDAHO

I crossed into Canada about 11:15 a.m. and had a very nice road surface on Hwy 95.  The border crossing was routine except that the agent asked what my license plate number was.  Since I didn’t expect that question, I stammered a little while answering, but got through anyway.



BORDER CROSSING NORTH OF BONNERS FERRY, ID
TIME TO RECALIBRATE MY THINKING RE SPEEDS & DISTANCES







Initially, it was a very scenic drive along the Moyie River which was running high and clear.  And, the scenery just kept getting better and better!  I got my first good view of the tall, rugged, Canadian Rocky Mountains just outside Cranbrook, BC and soon descended down into the Rocky Mountain Trench following it on Hwy 95 all the way to my destination. 

ENTERING CRANBROOK--THE CANADIAN ROCKIES AHEAD

 The scenery constantly changed as I followed major river valleys, crossed over divides between rivers, watched the ever-changing mountains to the right and left of me, and followed long narrow lakes for miles at a time.  One lake of note was Columbia Lake which is spring-fed and is the source of the Columbia River.  I turned into an overlook to see the lake and get some pictures; however, it was hard to do either because of the tall trees below the overlook. 

COLUMBIA LAKE

Broad-leafed trees gave way to various fir, spruce, pine and other evergreen-types of trees as I drove north the past few days.  I enjoyed seeing lilacs, lupine, and wild roses alongside the road—these really gave me a feeling of being further north.  I am parked at Radium Valley Vacation Resort, an RPI resort, for a few days.  It is a nice park at the very foot of the Canadian Rockies.  I have been going back and forth between Pacific and Mountain Daylight Time so many times the past few days that, at this point, I am not sure which time zone I am in at any given time.  Thank goodness for the telephone which shows the correct time for the location I am in!  Signs were posted all around the RV park warning people to be on the lookout for bears.  I was told that a grizzly bear was spotted a few days ago at the entrance to the park so the signs went up.

Wildlife spotted:  2 deer, 1 large brown bird which I think was a grouse

DAY 14, JUNE 12:  Today was a perfect day to go touring in Kootenay National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site!  The skies were clear, the temperature was forecast to get up to about 80°F (27°C), and winds were calm.  My first stop was the Park’s visitor center where I picked up my free pass to all Canadian national parks this year.  The Park Service is giving the passes out as part of Canada’s 150^th Anniversary.  This was my first visit to Kootenay N.P. and it didn’t disappoint!  Many trails and campgrounds are closed for maintenance because of damage from the severe winter up here.  Others were closed in the lower elevations due to bear activity in the area.  The west entrance to the Park is through a cutout portion of a tall hill (actually, I believe it is a glacial moraine but could not be sure) followed by driving through a tunnel.  The road winds past the Radium Hot Springs and then the view opens up to spectacular panoramas of very tall mountains and the wide valley of the Kootenay River.

 

KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARK, BRITISH COLUMBIA

I wasn’t far into the park when I had my first wildlife encounter—a black bear was very busy eating dandelions alongside the road.  It didn’t pay any attention to me as I took pictures from inside the Jeep.  I continued on into the park, climbing up towards the Continental Divide and looking at the spectacular scenery along the way.  My first stop was at the Paint Pots where I took the short hike out to the pots and bagged my first geocache in Canada.  It was a virtual geocache, meaning there was no container or log to sign but other criteria must be met to log it as “Found”.  The Paint Pots’ history goes back a long ways as the indigenous people used the red soil that was stained by the iron-rich mineral springs around the emerald green “pots” (pools).  The mud, called ochre was once used to decorate their homes, their bodies, and for rock drawings.  At the turn of the last century the ochre was mined by hand, sacked, and hauled in horse-drawn wagons for 15 miles to a train station where it was shipped to Calgary to be used as a pigment base for paint.

PAINT POTS



VIEW FROM THE TRAIL

OLD MINE EQUIPMENT





MY FIRST GEOCACHE IN CANADA!

My next stop was Marble Canyon where I took a short hike to Marble Falls.  The canyon was like non-other that I have seen beginning at the bottom with a broad streambed narrowing dramatically as I climbed up to the falls.  There is a lot of geology associated with this that I won’t go into here, but it was a very interesting hike.

MARBLE CANYON HIKE


 
 NATURAL BRIDGE

 

MARBLE FALLS

 

 

 

 

 

VIEW FROM THE  FALLS

 

 

 



After hiking to the falls, I drove over the Continental Divide and down into Banff N.P. (in Alberta) to the intersection with Canada Highway 1.  I then turned around and retraced my route, giving me the opportunity to see the countryside from a totally different perspective.  (I like to do this in mountainous country,)  On the way back to the resort, I stopped and watched a grizzly bear eating dandelions along the road.  (The dandelions must be good here because both bears were really munching them down today!)  Finally the bear became agitated by something back in the woods behind it and eventually crossed the road, perhaps 3 feet (.9 meter) in front of the Jeep—at the most.  At that point, things were happening so fast that I wasn’t able to get a very good picture of it, but will post the photo anyway.  You will be able to see the front of the Jeep’s hood at the very bottom of the photo.  The bear went up the steep hillside and disappeared into the woods and I continued on to the RV park.

 

GRIZZLY BEAR

OKAY--TAKE MY PICTURE



 

TIME TO LEAVE THE AREA



MOVING PAST THE JEEP--HEADING TO THE WOODS

All in all, it was a very satisfying day with perfect weather for seeing the area.  It is 11 p.m. as I finish writing this and you can still see the final red light from the sunset in the west.  Have I mentioned how much I love these long daylight hours???

Wildlife spotted:  7 mule deer, 1 black bear, 1 grizzly bear

DAY 15, JUNE 13:  I worked on the blog today and plotted out the route for the next few days.  Weather on my planned route through central BC doesn't look appealing for the most part during the next several days and, indeed, the skies are already overcast here.  Therefore, I have made the decision to go over the Continental Divide and drive through Kootenay National Park (N.P.), part of Banff N.P., and Jasper N.P., and out into the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains.  Weather forecasts along the intended route look much better to me--I don't do rain and cold very well any more. Ha!  The rest of the day has been spent getting some groceries and preparing to travel.