The Icefields Parkway - #52-21

August 27, 2005 (Sat)
Sintich Trailer and RV Park, Prince George, BC #12A w/e $19c B+

Smithers, BC to Prince George, BC (240/9747 miles) Q022064

Up at 6:00 off at 7:15, in the rain, continuing east on the Yellowhead Highway. This is the weekend of the "biggest fair in British Columbia". It's an agricultural fair held in Smithers. We had talked about going to it "it might be fun", but not in the rain. But the location seems appropriate. We were passing through farm lands with cattle, horses and large rolls of hay in the fields. Logging is also a big industry here.

We stopped in Burns Lake for gas and rejoiced at having to pay only $3.13/gal (equiv) after paying as much as $3.74 only a few days ago. We stopped to do some grocery shopping on the way into Prince George and got to the campground at 12:30.

One of the first things we do on arriving at a campground is look for a way to connect to the internet so that we can keep up with email. When we were here with Gail and Phil on the way north, we found a coffee shop with free WiFi. It's not free any longer! The campground has WiFi but at a price - they think/thought. When we turned the computer on we found that we were connected - free! We took advantage and downloaded several days worth of email and updated our financial data.
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August 28, 2005 (Sun)
Sintich Trailer and RV Park, Prince George, BC (2)

It rained most of the night but the morning brought clear skies and only a few clouds. At 9:30 we all climbed into the toads and went into town to church. St. Michael and All Saints is the largest we've been to on the trip. Although we often doubled or even tripled the congregation, today we barely made a difference. That's not to say that we were there unnoticed. When we entered through the parish house the priest came rushing up, introduced himself and ask us to do the same. We chatted for a while and until he had to go to prepare for leading the service. The sanctuary was "A" frame modern with quilted banners hung everywhere. The service was the most relaxed we've ever been to. The priest often interacted with the congregation rather than the more normal, leading from the altar. The sermon was humorous as well as poignant and well delivered.

For lunch we took Bob and Pat out to a highly recommended buffet brunch for their 51st wedding anniversary. It was a wonderful meal and we all ate way too much. This afternoon we didn't do much - read, napped and relaxed.
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August 29, 2005 (Mon)
Whistlers Campground, Jasper National Forest #21F dry $24 B

Prince George, BC to Jasper, AB (240/9987 miles) Q022304

Up at 6:15 (52°) off at 7:25 (50°) We left Prince George eastbound on the Yellowhead Highway with mixed feelings of freedom and loneliness. Bob and Pat had just left heading south. Ed and Kathy were staying on one more day. Chip and Kim had left yesterday. There was no one we knew ahead of us or behind us. And no sometimes inane, chatter on inter vehicle communications radio. At the same time we were free to make decisions without seeking consensus - where to go, what speed to travel, when to take a rest or lunch break, what sights to stop for, where to camp.

The Yellowhead is supposed to be a scenic drive. It might be but the fog obscured everything but the road ahead and the trees to the side. At 9:40 a black bear strolled casually across the road in front of us. He paused when we got there to allow Joy to get a picture of him. We saw another on the side of the road later on but too late for us to slow down without causing a traffic problem.

It rained off and on for the whole trip making us feel sorry for the hearty souls on bicycles, and there were a surprising number of them. We crossed the Province boundary into Alberta at 11:58 and had to set our clocks ahead an hour to 12:58. At the entrance into the Whistlers Campground we got the now usual warning about the danger of bear in the park. But this time we were told that it is rutting season, two weeks early, for elk and they can be aggressive and dangerous too. We spent the afternoon listening to the rain on the roof and reading (and watching out the window for bear and rutting elk).
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August 30, 2005 (Tue)
Waterfowl Lakes Campground, Banff National Park #75 dry $19 B

Jasper, AB to Waterfowl Lakes CG, AB (110/10097 miles) Q022414

Up at 6:45 off at 8:00 (43°) We slept "late" this morning because it's an hour earlier here than we've been used to. Our bodies are still on Pacific time. The weather was clear after raining off and on during the night. And it was cold. There were elk grazing near the park entrance as we left, females we think, and a big male grazing on the side of the road as we chugged south. We have also added wolf to our wildlife sightings because we think we saw one trotting through a nearby campsite (empty) last night.

The scenery along the Icefields Parkway is some of the most spectacular we've seen. The mountains look like huge jagged rocks with a dusting of snow, silhouetted against the morning sky. And the views were endless. A sign for Athabaska Falls tempted us to take a side trip. The short walk to see them was crowded - even at 8:30am - with the contents of 5 tour buses. Although annoying it was worth fighting our way to the view points.

Some of the same tourists were taking pictures of each other at the Icefields Center when we stopped later on. This is where one can buy a ride on an a big ice buggy that goes out onto the Athabaska Glacier. We decided to save that for our next trip.

Waterfowl Lakes Campground, as was Whistlers last night, is a lot like our National Forest campgrounds in the US - high on pretty woodland atmosphere but low on facilities. There are flush toilets though. We got here at about 12:30 and enjoyed a restful, quiet, dry afternoon. There was even sun on Q's roof for a while.
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August 31, 2005 (Wed)
Chain Lakes Provincial Park, Nanton, AB #45 dry $11.00s A

Waterfowl Lakes CG, AB to Nanton, AB (234/10331 miles) Q022648

Our thermometer read 43° when we got up at 6:30. It felt colder than that though. Maybe it was the damp weather, although it didn't rain much. Or the altitude, we were at nearly 7000 feet. It had warmed up to 45° by the time we hit the road at 7:45. The weather was great, the road good and the scenery spectacular. And there was barely any traffic - for a while. What a drive! Bow Pass at 6710 feet is the highest point on the Icefields Parkway. We stopped but decided not to attempt the trail that started there. It was hard enough to breath just walking across the parking lot at that altitude.

We stopped at Lake Louise to find an internet connection. The young woman in the visitor's center said there was none in Lake Louise but there was an internet cafe in Banff. Although she told us exactly how to find it when we got there, we went to the visitor's center in Banff for a second opinion. It was confirmed. Only one place in town - $6.00 an hour for internet connection. Back in Q Mark turned on the computer and found 2 wireless networks within range. We up and down loaded our email for free!

We found Banff to be a very unfriendly to RVs. All the municipal parking lots - there are many - have signs saying no RVs. Street parking was pretty much undefined. It's hard to know whether it's allowed or not. We took a chance and parked behind another RV on a side street. As we left town we saw one sign directing RVs to a special lot - probably on the outskirts. The sign was on a side street. There had been none on the main drag into town. It's an interesting place though and once the RV is parked, legally or illegally, the shops are worth exploring.

We have left the Canadian Rockies for now. We can see them in the distance from our campsite but the area around us is rolling farm land. The sky is clear and blue and the sun is bright and warm. We can see a lake down the hill. It has been a restful afternoon, sitting in the sunshine, reading and relaxing. It's even warm enough for shorts.
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September 1, 2005 (Thu)
Lewis & Clark RV Park, Shelby, MT #44 e/w $25.50 B+

Nanton, AB to Shelby, MT (223/10554 miles) Q022871

Up at 6:30 (45°) off at 7:40 (49.9°) Sunny and clear. Last night at dusk we heard loons on the lake and this morning we saw deer romping on the other side. Going south on PH22 was mostly prairie and farmland with plenty of cattle and horses. There were sheep too and donkeys, mules, and assorted feathered wildlife. After turning onto PH6 we began to move closer to the mountains we'd been seeing in the distance. Some had fields of snow (or glaciers) but they were mostly dark gray. Then we were in the mountains again.

We're getting to be old hands at crossing the Canada/US border. This crossing from Alberta to Montana in Waterton/Glacier International Peace Park was like the others, no sweat. Just outside the park boundary in Montana we saw a small heard of cattle wandering along the deserted roadside. A half mile or so further on a cowboy, a real cowboy with big hat, chaps, leather vest, etc., on a horse and accompanied by two border collies cantered by. We guessed that he was after the stray cattle.

At the top of one mountain pass we discovered we had a strong cell phone signal so we stopped and made several calls. Our phone service doesn't include Canada so it had been a long dry spell. In Cut Bank, MT we stopped and traded in our Canadian money for US and got groceries at a real store. Since entering the US the price of gas had been consistently $2.84 at every station. We picked one at random as we drove through Shelby and filled up. At the very next station we passed the price was $2.79!

There are very few trees in this part of Montana but there are several small ones scattered around the campground. They were probably planted by the owner when he carved a small spot out of the plains for an RV Park. There is no shade but the sun and 79.2° is pleasant after so much cold. We were the only ones here until a few minutes ago so it's quiet.
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September 2, 2005 (Fri)
Downstream Campground, Fort Peck, MT #13 elec. $6.00g A

Shelby, MT to Fort Peck, MT (292/10846 miles) Q023163

Up at 6:30 off at 8:00. Bright with a thin layer of solid clouds - we could see the sun through them as a big white ball. We turned onto US2 and headed east. The gas station we didn't buy gas at yesterday showed a posted price of $2.93 this morning, up 14 cents overnight! The other stations are still showing $2.84. At 9:17 the road turned 10° toward the northeast but 15 minutes later we were going east again. It's exciting events like that that keep things interesting in this part of the country. It's mostly flat plains with a few rolling hills. Black-eyed Susans and a small yellow wildflower line the road and we can see mountains off to the north. In Canada?

Among other very small towns we passed through Rudyard, MT "Population 596 nice people and 1 old sore head" and Chinook, MT. They have strange "Rest Areas" along this road. Two were gas station's parking areas (I guess one can rest there but how do they differ from the many other gas stations that don't have the official Rest Area designation?) Another was a parking area near the fair grounds. A sign nailed to a post at the hard to turn into entrance announced that "Rest Area does not mean free overnight camping". We didn't even want to rest there, let alone camp. We ate a McDonalds lunch in Q's comfortable dining room.

We are in a US Army Corps of Engineers campground in the Fort Peck Dam Recreational Area. Beautiful! It is a very "park" like setting with widely separated sites. The landscaping is mowed lawn with small trees and well maintained shrubs scattered around. All this and electric hookup at the site we get for only $6.00 a night (because we're old folks). We've decided to stay for two nights.
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September 3, 2005 (Sat)
Downstream Campground, Fort Peck, MT (2)

Nice sunny warm day - actually hot! As I write this the thermometer reads 96.6°. The sun is influencing that reading some so it's not really that hot but it certainly is good to know that we aren't missing summer altogether. After breakfast we went out walking to explore the campground. and came across the "nature trail" which is a paved walkway all the way around the outside of the campground. It may be about 3 miles long but we only covered about two miles. Mark's back and hip problems are about cleared up but we didn't want to take the chance of aggravating them again. The rest of the day was devoted to enjoying the weather and being in this beautiful and peaceful campground.
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September 4, 2005 (Sun)
Camp Walmart, Minot, ND C

Fort Peck, MT to Minot, ND (277/11123 miles) Q023440

Up at 6:30 off at 7:40 (63.9°) We took in-house showers because those provided by the campground (Downstream Campground) were less than desirable. We went North on SR117 back to US2 then East. US2 is the northern-most route that goes all the way across the United States. It misses all the big cities and is giving us a real good look at the rural midwest. The road is very good, 70 mph speed limit most of the way except through the villages and construction areas and there is hardly any traffic and virtually no large trucks. We think it is an excellent alternative to I-94 a few miles to the south.

We traveled all over Alaska as well as both directions on the notorious Alaska Highway through British Columbia without a windshield ding. We got one in Montana! The gravel construction area was only a mile long and the gravel pretty well stabilized with tar. An SUV with two kayaks on the roof came at us like the river was about to dry up and threw a stone. We had slowed to almost a stop for him to go by but the stone hit the windshield anyway and hard enough to leave evidence!

After several miles on US 2 we passed two bicyclists that we had passed on the road way back three days ago. Ah, to have the energy to take on a trip like that! On the right side of the road in what looked like a single range that went on forever we saw several large herds of horses. Beautiful animals to see "in the wild" like that, especially at full gallop. In Minot, South Dakota we bought groceries at The Marketplace (great store) with a great bakery (hard to resist those cinnamon buns), and gas (at $3.14/gal for 10% ethanol - cheaper than regular and worth a try). We finally found an electric heater for Q at Walmart (who kindly agreed to let us use a corner of their parking lot for the night).