Sunday, August 21, 2016

Headed for the Lower 48


Sweet corn, ribeye steaks, a good pizza, any restaurant hamburger that is less than $16. Direct TV, our comfy love seat and our spacious (relatively speaking) shower…..These are just a few of the things we have been missing in the past few months since embarking on this Alaskan adventure.
As we make our way through British Columbia and Alberta we are have been thinking about some of the things we are looking forward to when we get back in the lower 48. We arrived in Alberta’s Jasper National Park and were quickly reminded why we avoid National Parks during peak tourist season. There are people everywhere! Bikers, backpackers, hitchhikers, RV’s of all sizes and people of all nationalities. If it was not for the beauty of the Jasper and Banff National Parks we would have turned around and found another route south. But instead we took a deep breath and plunged in with the masses.

We had preplanned much of our activities for this area, most of which involved hiking. Our first hike was Valley of the Five Lakes. It was described as a moderate 2 hour hike around 5 lakes of varying colors. I don’t know if it was the 80 degree weather or the fact that we have not been doing a lot of hiking but we were whooped by the time we returned to the truck. The hike was pretty cool, the views incredible and the varied colored lakes looked cool and inviting. There were quite a few other people on the trail, rarely a minute went by that you did not see the group in front of you and a group heading towards you.
Lake #1

Daisy needed to take a break.....
.....and then go for a swim!


More of the 5 lakes....this one was greenish blue
 

It was about 5:30pm when we finished our hike and jumped in the truck to find a campsite. Big mistake. Campground after campground displayed a “Full/Complet” sign. We finally found a spot in the parking lot of the Icefield Centre which had an overnight RV section for $15.80/night. Not the wooded site we had in mind but it still had incredible views out the backdoor!

 
Looks like a plate just lifted out of the earth


 
 Our next hike was a much shorter to Mistaya Canyon. This is an area where Mistaya River dumps into a very narrow channel much like the slot canyons we hiked in Arizona and Utah. Watching the water rush through these narrow slots you can see how dangerous it can become in a hurry when rain hits those dry canyons in southern Utah. No wonder people drown every year during flash floods, there is no way to hide and the water is so incredibly powerful.

 


We smartened up and found a campsite about 2:00 that afternoon at Waterfowl Lake ($21.50 + $8.80 for a fire permit) where we built a fire and spent the afternoon reading and relaxing our sore muscles. We also met a couple from Saskatchewan who had been vacationing in this area for over 30 years. They gave us the scoop on sights to see and the best route to take south. Based on their information we changed our route away from Calgary and onto more remote roads that will get us to Glacier.
Our Waterfowl Lake site


 

Lots of glaciers throughout Jasper and Banff

And lots of rugged peaks
 
Speaking of changing our route, I had eluded to speeding up to make up a few days on our last blog as we were adding another stop on our way back to Utah. We are going to stop and spend a few days with our friends Dino and Lisa who are workcamping in Yellowstone! We realize it is another busy park during what will still be their busy season but Dino and Lisa are worth it.  

After leaving Waterfowl Lake we hiked the Peyton Lake Viewpoint. It is a rather short 10 minute hike up a steep grade again with LOTS of people. This hike actually made us feel a little better as we were passing most of the other hikers going up the trail. Maybe we are not as out of shape as we felt the other day. Although the picture below looks peaceful and tranquil in its beauty, don’t let that fool you. I had to stand in line for 10 minutes to get this picture and had 15 people waiting for me to take my spot.
Peyton Lake
Our plan for the day was to drive to Lake Louise, walk the town, post a blog then carry on to Radium Hot Springs and spend the night at a campground. After fighting for a parking spot, getting the blog posted and fueling up spending all but the last $10 of our Canadian cash, we got out of town and headed to Radium. One thing that we found fascinating was that they actually built crosswalks for the animals to cross the freeway. Complete with trees and grass so they would feel comfortable using it!
I would highly recommend the drive on Highway 93 whether you are heading into or out of Banff.

Animal Overpass


The town of Radium itself is very cute, but again crowded. It was also incredibly hot at 87 degrees (hiking is out of the question) and would you believe the hotsprings were packed? Who would want to sit in a hotspring in almost 90 degree weather with a bunch of sweaty strangers? Instead of partaking in that joyous activity we got an ice cream (there goes the rest of our Canadian cash), walked some of the shops and continued south on 93. This section was equally as beautiful as the last but it transitioned from totally mountainous to mountains with rivered valleys and croplands. Our goal for the day had transitioned to getting a campsite near Radium to driving until we could find a remote campsite to spend the night. Barb searched her AllStays app for just such a spot and noted quite a few free remote campsites south of town on the route we were going to be heading anyway. The first spot was about 30 miles south of town and about a mile down gravel two track road where there were supposed to be 6 sites on a quiet little lake. The sites were there all right, along with 6 campers and about 20 people. No worries, there is another spot on the other side of the lake that has 10 sites. You guessed it, it was packed as well. So we jumped back on 93 south and Barb found another promising spot about 40 miles down the road in the direction we were going anyway.

This next spot was listed as having three sites, picnic tables, fire pits and an outhouse. We turned off of 93 onto a gravel road ¼ mile up turned on to another gravel road, went by a couple of farms and turned again on a two track leading through the wood. After a few hundred yards it opened up to a small little lake with the sites, picnic tables and fire pits as promised and the best part there was no one around! No a single soul! There was however a few Hereford cattle wandering the campsites! We laughed and found a site to our liking and set up for the night. We felt right at home with the cattle as it reminded us of the cattle we raised back in Wisconsin. Although a different breed, they were still curious and cute as they wandered around the campground grazing on the grass. It was great to be alone (except for the mooing)!!!!!

Finally Alone!
 
View from the back of the camper

View from the front of the camper!


 

This is what we raised back in the day!
Vowing to return, we said goodbye to Canada, we will return to Banff sometime in the future, during the off-season when the temperatures are cooler, the kids are in school and there are less people.  How does that saying go? For everything lost there is something gained? In that case…. There ought to be a sweet corn stand somewhere in Montana!

27 comments:

  1. Looks like a wonderful campsite among the cows, my kind of neighbors. Now you reminded me I might not get some sweet corn this summer :( Looking forward to our ride through that same area, thankfully after "the season", heading to Lake Louise for 5 nights in mid Sept, then east across Canada if the weather holds.

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    1. It was a great place to spend the night, you just had to watch where you stepped!

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  2. Too bad you had to rush through the Rockies because of the crowds but at least you captured some of it's beauty in your photos. That's a cool looking cow you used to raise. Enjoy your time with Dino and Lisa.
    Safe travels!

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    1. Seeing that picture made us miss our cows, we had anywhere from 8 12 depending on the calves. We can still see some of their brothers and sisters when we go back to Wisconsin as we sold them to someone not too far from our old house.

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  3. Sorry to hear about the crowds....cannot imagine next year when the parks are free.
    Although the weather was a lot cooler and certainly not crowded when we were there late May, we are glad we did them early.
    Safe travels back to the 48!

    Les and Sue

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    1. Next time we come up it will definitely be during the slower periods. There is a lot to see there.

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  4. I loved the varied strata of the mountains in Jasper/Banff when we were there. My photo looking north up Peyto Lake still ranks in my personal top 5. We went in July and the crowds weren't too bad...I would imagine that early August is peak.

    Even though you'll be glad to get back to your fiver, that truck camper served you well, Jim. We sure enjoyed following along on your adventure!

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    1. We were amazed at how some of the cliffs had all that snow, it looks like a layer of icing on a cake. Peyton Lake was beautiful!

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  5. Really too bad about Jasper and Banff being so crazy but tis the season and next year will be worse. Great blog on your trip to Alaska. I would definitely go the truck camper route after reading about your adventures this summer.
    P.S. if you see a Taber corn truck along the highway, best corn in Alberta!

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    1. We did not see the Taber truck but we did finally find some sweet corn!

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  6. Looks like you took the Icelandic highway. That was a beautiful drive for us when we took it. Or if you didn't take it, you missed out. We sat in a hot spring in Banff. The water was not that hot so they where heating it. Funny. It was crowded. Looking forward to seeing Daisy.

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  7. Sounds like a nice hike. Good thing there was a rock there for you to wait for Daisy to take her rest! (ha) The lakes were beautiful. I love those glaciers and mountains! Can't get enough of that. We raised steers too (Angus not Highlander). I know what that tail up means! Have fun in Yellowstone!

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    1. I am always thinking of poor Daisy! We had an Angus bull for a while and crossed him with the Highlanders. Tasty!

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  8. WOW absolutely beautiful. We are going to pass by that area...hoping it's less crowded because the kids should be back in school.

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    1. You will love it and by then, yes, it will be much less crowded.

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  9. We did the Five Lakes hike the second the week of Sept with long underwear, jeans, fleece jackets, hats, and gloves. We were dressed perfectly:) Our weather was wonderful and nice and cool for hiking. Sorry it was so crowded. We were surprised how many people were around in town mid Sept. Lots of bus tours, but not like what you saw. It is gorgeous country:)

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    1. We would have much preferred the weather for your hike! Cannot wait for the cooler weather of fall....leaves changing, frost on the ground....

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  10. I'm a little sad this Alaskan summer trip is coming to an end. It has been fun and educational. I see a camper or two for sale along the road and I have a terrible to urge to stop. I have never wanted one before. I blame the two of you!

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    1. Good to hear from you, we were just talking about you and Detra the other day! Well today is your lucky day, our camper is for sale! You can read all about it in our next post!

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  11. In true Canadian Rockies fashion it snowed in Lake Louise and Banff yesterday!!! So maybe it was a good thing you were too hot and not driving through slush. Gotta love it :)

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    1. Yikes, we are glad we missed that then! We have not fired up the furnace yet on this trip but we would have had we been there!

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  12. You have had a great adventure up north!! And I love the animal overpass. We have found it interesting more than once how a trail is marked moderate yet it might have you scaling walls. Maybe we are just wimps. Actually after watching your adventure up north I have concluded that WE REALLY ARE WIMPS, Barb would put me to shame not alone you. Hell Daisy makes me look bad.
    Dave & Diane

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    1. LOL! You guys aren't wimps! But you are right on how they designate some of those trails. "Moderate" in whose opinion?!?!

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  13. We've loved following your adventures in and around Alaska. You've mapped out a beautiful well detailed road map for when our compass points us further north. Oh, on a hot day, I totally would have went for the ice cream instead of the hot springs. :-) Say hello to Dino and Lisa for us. Sharon and David RV-Dreams class of 2014

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    1. Thanks guys, feel free to contact us when you make that journey north for any info you need. We will see Dino and Lisa tomorrow and pass on your greeting!

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  14. I hope you ran the crowds out and took them with you. we will be in the area in two weeks! I can relate to the feeling of getting back to the lower 48. ALthough the crowd and traffic as you head back isn't exactly fun to be with again.
    -
    MonaLiza

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