Day 39 - Hope - kettle Valley Railway

Hope – Kettle Valley Railway, 16 miles total and 19.3 mpg. Totals for the trip, 6789 miles, 27.9* mpg. Those are the stats.

Recovery day. Seems like after a day with lots of driving we take time to recoup. It’s a good thing. We didn’t sleep in too late, but we had muffin and mocha at the Blue Moose, then went on a short motor tour of town – just for orientation. Stopped at the visitor center where a trainee was very helpful. We took the boys for a short walk in the park across from the motel – and noticed the 3 tennis courts were not being used – so we let them loose in the fenced courts, and they ran and ran and ran. They really needed that, as much as I need exercise and sax playing!

A quick stop to pick up some essentials, like dog food, and we were back in the room. Before long it was time for lunch, and we went back to the Blue Moose – mainly to test their soup, which is one of the things they are known for. And the soup was really good, as was my sandwich and smoothy. If you’re ever in Hope, try the Blue Moose – it’s got good food and a comfortable feel – totally informal – college like.


We finally picked one of the activities we want to do here – see the Kettle Valley Railway tunnels – and off we go. This turns out to be a short easy hike along the old railroad bed. Basically the story is of the resourcefulness of the engineers in being able to devise this route, and thereby keep the train and goods in Canada, out of US corporation hands. It really was quite a feat. The pictures and interpretative signs tell it well – see Flickr. The river gorge is deep and impressive, there is a lot of water passing through, it’s just rugged and beautiful. ( S-H: We could have hiked another 4 k, one way but for some reason turned back)


It was a quick hike, so on the short drive back to town we stopped by another very easy trail along a stream where salmon will be spawning later in the year. It’s a beautiful area as well, with several streams, all merging and merging with the river. No salmon – too early.

We got back to the room, it was unusually early for us, and we crashed. Must have needed a nap, because we sure took one (or four). Woke up in time for supper, and decided to try Asian – a restaurant called Kan Yon – I’m sure that was an accident, not intentional. Anyway, it was good, inexpensive, and we had enough left over for tomorrow night!

That’s about it. A really quiet, slow day. Probably the next couple of days in Hope will be similar – we’re not going to try to do too much. Tomorrow, if the weather holds, we plan to take a tram over a really impressive canyon. That should be a bit exciting!

Day 38 - Golden to Hope

Golden to Hope, 352 miles total and 28.2 mpg. Totals for the trip, 6773 miles, 28.0* mpg. Those are the stats.

Today is moving day. We’ve had a wonderful time here at the Blaeberry Lodge, in Golden, and in all the national parks. Now it’s time to move on. After checking out with Rainer(Blaeberry Lodge co-owner) we head on out to Route 1, and head west. We’ll go through Glacier NP and Revelstoke NP on the way.


The scenery just keeps on going. Wows abound. There are not many ‘sights’ to see in Glacier and Revelstoke, but there is still plenty to see. This is avalanche country. Evidence is all around. I now recognize areas where avalanches occur – they are the places without trees that are usually not ski runs! Clearcuts by mother nature!


We stopped at Rogers Pass Center in Glacier – and got a history lesson in how the railroad was built through the mountains. It is truly incredible what people can endure. Needless to say it was quite a feat. There I also saw the smallest electric train I have ever seen. They had a scale model of that part of the mountain, showing primarily the train route – and a tiny train traveling across the model. Tiny. Another thing that caught my eye was a quote from the early 20th century that illuminates the attitude at that time that bringing the train had turned a place fit only for wild beasts into a useful, civilized area. Unfortunately this attitude is still around today, and only slowly are we beginning to realize the effects of the drastic changes we make to the environment.


There are three boardwalks along the route – one through a Hemlock rain forest, one through a Cedar forest, and one through a wetland area. These were all short walks, and we did each one. The Hemlock and Cedar emphasized the importance of old growth trees to the survival of the forest –and pointed out that most of the old growth had been destroyed when the train track was constructed – burned. The wetland, called Skunk Cabbage, is primarily a bird sanctuary. Of course, both Jake and Woody had to ‘slip’ off of the boardwalk and into the swamp!

We also stopped at Rogers Summit, to view the monument to the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway. You’ll find pictures of the coat of arms for each province on Flickr. Not to forget, through all of this are majestic mountains, glaciers, and wonderful scenery.

Then we were in Revelstoke, the town, and it was time for lunch. We found the Main Street Café, which was highly recommended in our book of information, and it was all we could have wanted. Great food. Service was a little spotty. The building is for sale (!), not quite sure what that means for the restaurant. Gassed up, and on down the road.

There are no more stops to make – it is already late – around 3, and Hope is a long way off. The clouds are building, we’ve had a little rain already, and in general, the rest of the day is just going to be a drive. One thing to note, we went by a big lake – big because we just kept driving and the lake continued to be there. It’s one big lake, and Sally-Heath told me it claims to be the houseboat capital of the world. I can believe it – they sure have the room!


We found Hope. We found our motel, right in downtown, and right across the street from the only eating place recommended by our resource. When I checked in, the motel owner asked me ‘why’ were we staying in Hope 4 nights, as though no one ever does that! I guess we’ll find out – but we think there are hikes and interesting things to see here. Our room is nice, clean, and adequate – but quite a step down from the lovely remote cabin we had the previous 6 nights! (a bit less expensive too….) We went across the street to eat – tried to order soup and a sandwich, but the soup had been closed down. Allowed others to go ahead while we made another decision, tried to order a sandwich, but the deli had been closed down. It was 8:30, and the deli closed at 8, taking soup and sandwiches with it. They did have pre-prepared things, so we went with that. It was good, and we will go back.

It’s raining fairly hard again – forecast has rain for parts of the next couple of days. We’ll see. It’s late. Goodnight.

Day 37 - Banff National Park

Rockies 2008 – Day 37 – 07.28.08
Banff National Park, 217 miles total and 29.7 mpg. Totals for the trip, 6421 miles, 27.9* mpg. Those are the stats.


The boys got us up (the second time) at 5:30. We had a fairly big day planned, so we stayed up, had some hot cereal, and got on the road. Routine by now – we even drive the same route (1) back up the hill to the national parks. But this time, for the first time, we head south, towards Lake Louise and Banff (the town). When we start out from Golden the sky is a mixture of clouds, fog and occasional blue. We’re hoping for the best – this is our last day here, and we’d really like to see the rest of Banff National Park. Turns out the weather worked out well, and we had a great day.

First stop was Lake Louise, the town. We had been warned that Banff was more developed (touristy) than the other parks, and sure enough, that couldn’t be more true. Everywhere we went was crowded (it’s Monday). The parking is inadequate. The signage is terrible, as it has been on the whole trip in Canada – perhaps once we get use to it…(S-H: My observation is that we oversign in the US National Parks. Here it is so naturally beautiful that it seems as though they give you a gentle nudge to either turn out to read a more comprehensive sign or go on as you choose. I like the lack of signs in the parks.) In town we first check out the visitor center, which is nice and helpful, and seems to have more educational displays than other visitor centers we have used. Perhaps they have a bigger budget, but the good news is that it is not a profit center – their product is helpful information, not t-shirts and coffee mugs.

They recommended The Depot (post office plus) for internet connectivity. Since I was now two days behind, we decided to try to catch up a little. And a little is what we did. Flickr wasn’t cooperating – had a good WiFi link, just wouldn’t upload reliably. But we were able to secure a room in Hope for our next four days, and to register the CR-V! It expires at the end of the month. Who knew?! Checked email, abandoned the Flicker upload, and away we went.


First to see Lake Louise – a really beautiful lake, made more awesome by the mountains and glacier in the background. Lots of folks there. Many people admired and pet the boys – they were in heaven. We didn’t stay there long – just too crowded. So off to a slightly more remote lake, Moraine Lake, where surely there wouldn’t be so many people – after all, it is a 18 km drive on a winding, uphill road. Wrong. People galore. It’s a very pretty lake, but again, we didn’t stay long because of the huge number of people.(S-H: I was just finished in a potty and was doing up my belt, no lock, and an older woman just barged in and said “You finished dearie, oh good” and went on from there!)


We’re done in the Lake Louise area, so it’s off to Banff (the town) (we’re in Banff NP the whole time). We take highway 1A, the more scenic route called the Bow Parkway, and are rewarded by bears and goats and sheep. Pictures in Flickr (hopefully). It’s a really nice drive, great scenery. Not, perhaps, as dramatic as the glaciers and peaks to the north, but every bit as interesting and awe inspiring.

In Banff the first thing is to get food. After finding a very scarce shady parking place to leave the boys we hoof it into town (three blocks) and find Coyotes Café and Grill, a place we got out of a book. It was great. Our waiter was a Kiwi, interesting guy, we talked NZ for a few minutes. We both had “the perfect lunch”, half a sandwich and a bowl of soup. Everything was wonderful. There are many eating places in Banff – I wonder if they are all this good?


Then we walked the streets a bit, got sucked into a liquor store, bought wine and JWB (I’ve missed John). Finally back to the car, and headed back to ‘home’. (S-H: This was shopping? I was going to look in a few stores…the liquor purchase took us back to the car and I didn’t want to “drive” around and look at the shopping area.) We took 1A back also, shunning the faster Trans-Canada Highway, and were again rewarded by bear. It was a fun trip, capped by a family of goats on the wrong side of a guard rail and a big horn sheep on the side of the highway (picture), both just as we approached Golden. We had dinner at the Golden Rim Inn, and used their wireless to complete the picture upload for two days ago. The food was great. It wasn’t a place you’d expect to find good food.

Back to the cabin, unload the car in preparation for a repacking in the morning. This is our last night here. It has been a wonderful stay, in a wonderful location. Tomorrow it’s on to Hope, BC, and three days/four nights of exploration just east of Vancouver. Goodnight!

Day 36 - Yoho National Park

Yoho National Park, 134 miles total and 27.3 mpg. Totals for the trip, 6204 miles, 27.8* mpg. Those are the stats.


An easy day is the plan today. I slept IN – until 9. I think the ribs last night might have had something to do with that. Sally-Heath made us a fine breaky, and we spent some time on our plan from here on. At this point we do not have a reservation anywhere from Tuesday night on. What we came up with is Tuesday we drive to Hope, BC, which is about 1 hour away from Vancouver, and we stay there – somewhere with high speed internet that accepts dogs for just a few bucks – for four nights. More on the plan later, as it develops.

We finally get rolling – I don’t remember what time it was, but we’re headed for town to find an internet connection and a snack before heading to Yoho National Park. Our search leads us to the café in the book store, and initially everything looks perfect. Yes, I said initially, because it soon became apparent that the internet connection, which at times was stellar, was flakey, it would simply come and go. After a while we gave up – I didn’t complete yesterdays pictures or the blog – we didn’t get to check the weather – we didn’t get to research places to stay in Hope. But it was by now around 3pm, and our easy trip to Yoho was becoming more difficult.

Yoho National Park is a small area west of Banff. Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway, goes right through the middle of it. We have traversed Yoho each time we have gone to Jasper, Banff or Kootenay National Parks. This is about the fourth trip through – but this time we will stop to smell the roses, or hike the trails, or something. It’s about a one hour drive from our cabin.

I forgot to mention, the weather today might best be described as variable. Sunny, yes, sometimes. Thunder storms, yes, sometimes. Overcast, foggy, misty, rainy – yep, all of those. Changes rapidly. You never know.

One thing going for variable weather – the mixtures you get of clouds, mountains, blue sky, lightning, etc., are just incredible. These cannot be captured on film. The double rainbow at the end of the day, maybe, but even that is never as dramatic as seeing the real thing.


There are four things on our list for Yoho NP. The visitor center, Takakkaw Falls, Emerald Lake and the Spiral Tunnels. We did all of them. Here’s a brief blow by blow.
First was Emerald Lake. It is emerald, to be sure. Really pretty. You can drive to it, and the Lodge w/ cabins that are right on the banks. When we got there it was raining and thundering. Left the boys in the car, took umbrellas and walked around a bit. The rain let up, so we got the boys and started out on a walk that ended up taking us around the lake – 5.3km. At the half way point the sky above was blue, but there were two storms, one north and one south yelling at us (and each other) to hurry up. Just as we finished the hike, the heavens (or sky) opened again. What great timing! It was a good, flat hike. Very easy. Very pretty. Very interesting. The east side trail is through fairly normal forest, right next to the lake. The south side trail is over the alluvial fan, an area that the lake will eventually cover. The west side is through a rain forest! Incredibly different areas for such a short trail around a lake, wouldn’t you say?!

Next was the visitor center. This one is in Alberta. I say that because we are slowly discovering that visitor centers here in Canada are useful, and we first discovered that yesterday in British Columbia. From now on we plan to seek out visitor centers here – they have proven very helpful. They are not (yet) merchandising opportunities – they actually have and dispense information that is helpful to tourists! What a concept! Please let me know the next time you experience a visitor center in the USA that is more than 50% visitor information oriented, or less than 50% T-shirt sales.


As we leave the visitor center a train is just leaving Field, the town, headed up the mountain to the east. I mention this, because here is located the spiral tunnels – an engineering solution to a difficult grade problem faced by the railroad. To reduce the grade, they effectively lengthened the track, by tunneling spirals (two of them) into the mountain. The train, if it is long enough, actually travels over itself. So we raced ahead to the view point to watch the phenomenon, and sure enough, we’ve got pictures to prove it. Pretty neat.

After marveling at the trains, we headed back west to see Takakkaw Falls. Here we have, among many fabulous views, three things to talk about. First, there is a triple switchback on this two lane road that is just incredible. No beating around the bush – full 180 degree turns, and I’m glad I’m in a small car! Buses may do this, but I don’t want to watch! Second, the falls. Wow. Wow. Wow. Did I mention Wow? And thirdly, there were 3 backpackers – 1 guy, 2 gals – hitching a ride. We stopped, explained the two dogs and no seats, and they accepted! So they piled in and we had a nice conversation and they played with the dogs, and we took them to Field. They all worked for the parks, and had been hiking the Ice Edge trail today, 20km, during the thunder showers and rain. Doesn’t seem like much fun, and the lightning did cause some concern, but I guess they enjoyed it!

That was it. We were done. Nothing left but to drive home. Sound boring? It wasn’t! I can’t describe the whole thing, but one example might suffice. Remember the variable weather? It still is. At one point I am driving straight into the sun through a pouring rain. It was around 8:30, about an hour before the sun should set. The reflection/glare off the roadway, and the prism effect of the sun through the raindrops – a different kind of WOW!

We made it home. Sally-Heath made a pasta dinner, guaranteed to bolster good solid sound sleep, unlike the ribs… We have a Canadian Shiraz again, and we can’t quite figure out what it is like. It’s quaffable, but it’s not Shiraz, not really. Goodnight.

Day 35 - Kootenay National Park

Kootenay National Park, 232 miles total and 30.0 mpg. Totals for the trip, 6070 miles, 27.9* mpg. Those are the stats.

The boys were kind this morning, in part thanks to Sally-Heath. They let me sleep in until 6 – it’s my morning to feed and walk. It’s beginning to brighten, so I put the boys back to bed and made a coffee, sat on the porch. No mosquitoes! Must be too cool for them.

It’s just after 7am. I just watched an episode of Sunrise Planet Earth. Not on TV – there isn’t any. It was live from the front porch of our cabin. As I sat there alone for about an hour, just listening and watching, it was just incredible. The sounds – gurgling of the brook that feeds the pond, about 100m away, the birds – how many different kinds are there! – the many wonderful different sounds they make. The train whistle far off in the distance – how far away is that whistle? – how does its’ sound make it all the way here?. The unidentifiable sounds, some man-made, some – who knows? The hummingbird that, after servicing the flowers at the end of the porch, came over and checked me out – hovering so close I was concerned for my eyes, should it think they needed servicing. Then the deer – was it one, or several different ones, one at a time. Hard to tell!

The sunrise. We’re in the shadow of a mountain to the east, so I never saw the sun, but what I did see was the early morning sun, the one that slips under the clouds to the east, illuminates the tops of the mountains to the west and north. It was just incredible – then, as slowly as they were lit, the light faded – the clouds had won. But only temporarily – after maybe 30 minutes, Mr. Sun was back on those mountains, making them shine as majestically as they are.

Every once in a while some outside thoughts tried to wiggle into my head – plans, politics, religion, whatever – but I managed to quiet those and just allow the wonder of our world envelop me. (of course, I had the digital camera ready for photo ops!)

Sally-Heath made a wonderful ham and egg breaky. We got on the road shortly after – we’re pretty efficient at getting ready now, and hardly ever forget anything (not since I forgot the leashes!). The plan for today is a simple one – drive south to Radium Hot Springs, the entrance to Kootenay National Park – and drive through the park, making a few stops to observe and do some hikes that Sally-Heath has picked out. This should be an easy drive and trip. (anything will be easy after Jasper!)
Kootenay NP borders on Banff NP and is south and west of Banff NP. It’s a long narrow park that basically has one road, route 93, through the length of it – there are very few places to drive other than on this main road. There are many turnouts for various features, like lakes and canyons. There are a lot of hikes, opportunities for backpacking, and there seem to be a lot of bicycle backpackers. It is very scenic, but very different from the exceptionally grand scale of Jasper and upper Banff that we have already seen.

We chose to do this in one day, because it seemed much shorter than Jasper – in other words, it seemed easily doable in a day. And really, it was. We made it a little tougher by taking our time getting there and getting started in the park – it was noon when we finally started. That’s a good thing – we weren’t rushed, we did what we wanted to do, and it was a great morning. The drive to Radium Hot Springs was quick and easy, with a reasonable number of trains to watch – and the same wonderful mountainous scenery that we saw on the way to Golden when we first arrived. Very little traffic.

When we got to Radium Hot Springs, our first stop (after watering the dogs) was the visitor center, which is in town, not in the park. But this was without a doubt the best visitor center we have visited! It is small, well staffed, has computers for internet connection and a hardwire connection for folks like me with laptops – I took advantage to upload yesterdays photos and blog. The staff was very helpful, and the literature was what we needed. It was busy! Seemed more concerned with helping visitors than selling touristy crap.

After that it was time to eat – Sally-Heath had a vegetable sub and milk shake, and I had a sundae. The story here is just that the place had a very specific menu of ice cream products – such as the sundaes, which were defined as soft serve ice cream with a topping. But they also had a good selection of regular ice cream flavors. So I ordered two scoops of ice cream, two different flavors, with hot fudge. It took them a while to get there head around this, and come up with a price – I thought for a moment they would refuse – but they did it, and it was great.


Then we gassed up and headed for the park. We stopped at all the remarkable sites, and they were great. Right at the entrance the road goes though a short blasted out section of a hill, and the top of the hill overhangs the road! It really looks like it could come crashing down at any time. Scary! After that it’s pretty calm. I won’t detail each thing we did, but one thing we didn’t do was hike the 2.2km to Dog Lake. We really wanted to, but just as we got to the trail, a summer storm came rolling through, and it just didn’t seem prudent at the time.


(S-H; We walked a trail called “Paint Pots” this is a former First Nations area that has an abundance of “ochre” - actually iron hydroxide. I use ochre paint frequently when I am painting. This walk was very interesting to me. It described both the First Nations use and the later commercial mining of the pigment. The mining was stopped when the area became a park.)


Later we were taking the easy 30 minute walk to see Marble Canyon, which turned out to be a very interesting slot canyon. The hike goes up and across the canyon, which at the top is only about 10-20 m wide. The water rushing down the canyon is impressive, and it is cold. There are places where the air is extremely cool when you cross the canyon. But again, the second storm of the day caught us before we got to the end of this hike. We got wet going back to the car. I had a lot of pictures, but didn’t get to see the very top of the canyon.

We wanted to hike up to Stanley Glacier, but that same storm was raging, and it was quite a little thunder bumper with really good winds. So we had to pass on that as well. Just as well – by this time it was around 6pm, and time to head back home, which was still about 1.5-2 hours away. The drive back is the same road we have taken several times already to Banff and Jasper (from Golden). We trade off driving, and get to the pub for dinner around 8. Two orders of ribs, which were great, and some shiraz, which wasn’t great, later and we’re headed home. (S-H: We already had one Canadian Shiraz at the “White Tooth” dinner in Golden. It was quite good. This Shiraz however was drinkable but not recognizable as a Shiraz. The ribs were succulent !)

It was a great day. We took a moderate plan and made a long haul out of it, but it was fun, and we had a good time. Tomorrow we have an even easier plan – after all, it is Sunday! Goodnight!

Day 34 - Blaeberry Mountain Lodge

Blaeberry Mountain Lodge, 59 miles total and 22.9 mpg. Totals for the trip, 5838 miles, 27.7* mpg. Those are the stats.

We slept in. Yippee! I think today we by default plan to recover from yesterday.(S-H: Default heck I dug my feet in and said we had to slow down.)

Sally-Heath fixed breakfast. I did dishes. We talked about both short term and long term plans for the trip.

The Lodge is fairly empty today – just us for now. So I got out the sax and proved how rusty I am. This is only the third time in the 34 days that I’ve played it, and each time has been very brief. It’s going to take some time to get back into shape when I get home. (That goes for physical conditioning as well – other than hiking, not much in the way of exercise)

Around 1 we drove the 12 miles into Golden for lunch and internet and maybe a car wash. Lunch was good. We hoped to find a place with free wireless access (like we did yesterday in Jasper), but the two places we found wanted $6/hr. I told them in a very nice way that that’s highway robbery, and they should be giving it away! I’m not going to pay for something that I have found to be flakey in many places – you never know if the link will be good, how fast it will be, anything. On this trip I have only had one good wireless connection – the free one in Jasper!

In the pub we had lunch and the bartender (and the customers) suggested that I see what wireless was available there. They didn’t offer wireless, but I might be able to get a connection. So I did (try) and I did get a connection, poor quality, but it turns out it worked pretty well – except for the several times it just stopped. During lunch I got the 50 pictures uploaded and updated the blog.

After lunch we blew off the car wash and came back to the cabin. I stretched out on the bed, and the next thing I knew it was after 6pm! I had a good nights sleep, but I guess I must of needed more after the 500 mile drive!


We wanted to hike to a falls not too far from the lodge, but we didn’t have good directions for how to find the trail. We set out anyway, looking for the needle in the haystack, or the falls in the mountain forest. We never found the falls, but boy did we have a nice ride. We took a dirt road that looked like it might lead to a/the falls. It was, of course, a logging road, and a good road. It climbed and climbed, with nice drops on the side, but it was a good enough road. After just a short while, the views and scenery that this road provided were super! That’s what most of today’s pictures are – the drive along that road.

We’re back at the cabin now. Sally-Heath took the dogs for a walk, no hike today, but I’m sure that will change tomorrow. It has been a lazy day, and we needed a lazy day. Looks like Sally-Heath is getting a pizza ready, and I’m about to pour the wine. Here’s to YOU!

Day 33 - Jasper National Park

Jasper National Park, 492 miles total and 29.7 mpg. Totals for the trip, 5779 miles, 27.8* mpg. Those are the stats.


Early start today. The 5am boys are our alarm clock, and they’re right on time. We’re up and on the road by 6am! Why? Because we’re going to Jasper, in Jasper National Park, and that’s a lot of driving – about 10 hours total just driving!

There is only one way to go. We repeat the trip of two days ago, to the Ice Fields at the boundary between Banff and Jasper National Parks. That represents a lot of the mileage, and since we’ve done it, taken pictures and made stops, you might think it would go faster this time. Well, it did, but we still took a few more pictures and made a few stops. Everything is so beautiful and impressive that you just can’t help it. Plus, the light is different, cloud conditions are different, etc. It can be like a brand new trip!

So it turns out that our previous trip we were always in Banff NP, not Jasper NP at all. The transition is painless, and the beauty just keep right on coming. How many ways can I say incredible? I won’t even try. Look at pictures – ours, whoevers – they should tell part of the story, but in the end, you just gotta see them in person.


We work our way up the highway toward Jasper. When we’re almost at Jasper we take a detour to the Jasper Tramway, Whistlers Mountain. You can take a gondola 3240 feet up the mountain – I don’t know what that elevation is, but it’s probably around 9,000 feet. I’m sure the view from there is spectacular, but after waiting in line for about 30 minutes we realized that it was going to be too hot for Woody and Jake in the car (no shade), so we abandoned the tram ride. It’s okay – it was crowded, slow, and would have taken all of our available time.

From there it’s on into Jasper, a surprisingly bustling little town with a railroad station, five thousand restaurants, and at least that many tourists. It’s a nice little place, devoted entirely to tourism, I’m pretty sure. Sally-Heath has identified Coco’s Café as a potential eating spot, and we locate it with a minimum of trouble. We found a shady spot to park, and off to eat. Inside Coco’s we discover they have free WiFi! So I hoof it back to the car for the computer. Back at Coco’s I find I don’t have my glasses, but I’m not going back to the car – just fake it. With a minimum of aggravation, and the help of a female member of the Canadian Army, I get connected. The few pictures from yesterday are uploaded quickly, as is the blog. Then Flickr goes haywire (am I the only one?), and won’t let me view my pictures – so I can’t connect them to the blog. Oh well.

The sandwiches are good, and after eating and checking email we’re back on the road. By the way, I had to gas up here, and since it’s a very isolated place I expected to be reamed – but surprise!, the gas is cheaper here than in Golden – 12 cents cheaper. I still haven’t figured out how 1.32 per liter compares to 4.04 per gallon…
We really want to hike – it’s been a while – and Sally-Heath has identified what looks like a very interesting hike in Maligne (pronounced ma-leene, we think) Canyon. Sounds like hiking along the top of Paria Canyon – a slot canyon in northern Arizona. It doesn’t quite work out well. We had a short hike, and there is an impressive slot canyon, with waterfalls. But it is crowded – there was even a wedding party hiking part of the trail! Not our cup of tea. We also didn’t really do the hike Sally-Heath had planned – my fault, but in the long run it may have come out about neutral. We hiked and saw the slot canyon.


Then we drove south past Medicine Lake to Maligne Lake. There were great views, and I took a few pictures. By now it’s getting past time to head home, so we retrace our steps – all of them – including a stop in Jasper for coffee (to go). Then it’s on the road to get back ‘home’.

We’re home. The drive was long, and fairly uneventful. We saw some goats. There wasn’t much traffic. We ate a small dinner at the Ice Fields visitor center, while gazing at the glaciers and marveling that the glaciers once filled this entire valley. When it’s all over, we’ve driven almost 500 miles, and spent 14 hours doing it. It was wonderful, and it was hard. We’ve done it, we’re glad, and we won’t do it again (not this way!). Our remaining forays will be shorter, we have promised ourselves. There really wasn’t much choice here, if we were going to at least see all of Jasper NP.

It’s tired out. Goodnight.

Day 32 - Moving Day

Golden, BC – Blaeberry Lodge, 45 miles total and 26.4 mpg. Totals for the trip, 5287 miles, 27.5* mpg. Those are the stats.


Today is a timeout day. We move from the Sportsman Inn in Golden to the Blaeberry Lodge about 20km north of Golden. First order of business is breakfast, however, and we head back to the Deli for a repeat of yesterdays great breaky. And it is – this time we met the owner, a very nice guy indeed. Then back to pack and load.

We headed out to find the Blaeberry Lodge. After a wonderful drive (it included some true dumps, but the forest and mountains are always there), we found it – another Wow! But of course we are too early to check in, so we continue exploring – and discovered the Wolf Centre. If you don’t support reintroduction of wolves, skip the next paragraph or two.


If you’re really interested in this global problem we’ve all helped to create, go to http://www.northernlightswildlife.com. The brief story is this. By destroying the wolves we have created an ecological unbalance of nature. This has been proven in Yellowstone National Park. The same conditions exist throughout the world, not just in Canada and the USA. Wolves are an essential part of the environment, and eliminating them results directly in the decay of that environment. Ranchers, I’m sorry, but you need to figure out a way to coexist with wolves. I won’t preach anymore – these folks do it much better than I ever could.

We stayed for the tour and talk, and looked around for a while. The place is small, and it doesn’t take long to look around. There are wolves to be observed. There are Bear Dogs – dogs crossbred with wolves that do an incredible job – they educate bears! These dogs are trained to encourage bears to leave an area, usually an area inhabited by humans. I didn’t know there was a way, other than physically relocating the bear (or killing it) to convince a bear to stay away from humans, but there is. If this method was used globally, thousands of bear lives would be saved. I hope that is important to you. It is to us.

Okay, tree hugging over, maybe. From there we head back into town for lunch and laundry and gas. We got all that taken care of, and it’s check-in time! So back to the lodge we go. I’ve gotta tell you, I’m one lucky SOB. This place is great. We’re in one of the cabins (I think there are 3). It has a kitchen, and since it is very remote, Sally-Heath is planning to fix a few breakfasts and dinners for us here.

We’re moved in now, and just getting settled. There’s no internet or phone, but just a few kms away there is a pub with internet access. (too bad) So I’ll be doing things off line and having a JWB (I hope) while they upload.

Day 31 - Jasper National Park

Golden, BC - Jasper National Park, 273 miles total and 29.9 mpg. Totals for the trip, 5242 miles, 27.6* mpg. Those are the stats.

Breakfast in our motel ain’t much – cereal and toast. So we went for a café hunt, and gas. At an intersection I asked a pedestrian if there were any good breakfast places in town. She said to try the deli, and gave us directions. What a score! The deli is great, it’s a locals hangout, and I’m sure we’ll be back there a few times.

The plan for today is to explore Jasper National Park. If you were to consult a map, here is what you would see. Jasper NP and Banff NP next to each other with a single road going north-south through them. Highway 1, the Trans Canada Highway, intersects this road between Jasper NP and Banff NP, and goes to Calgary (east) and Golden (west). Both parks are a couple hundred kilometers long. Getting the picture? By staying in either Golden or Calgary, the way you explore either NP is to drive to the middle and then drive north or south as you wish, and when you’ve gone as far as you feel like going, you turn around and drive back. Of course, you can explore many things along the way. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to be back in Golden (or Calgary). It’s not a good way to do it. But it is the way we will do it on this trip.

This day we hope to get all the way north in Jasper NP to Jasper (the town). We don’t plan to do much exploring or hiking, just driving. Turns out, though, that we got a bit of a late start (after 10am), and don’t enter the park until 11:11. It turns out that this will limit us to going about half way, to Icefields, and that’s it. So that’s what we did, making a few stops for gawking and shooting along the way.


Early the sky was mostly clear, and the views were majestic. Picture this: two parallel mountain ranges, both huge – you’re on a road that is built into the side of one of the ranges. Your view of the other range is unobstructed, and it is just incredible to behold – especially the snow and glaciers! Your view of the range you are on is sometimes obstructed by beautiful trees, but most of the time it is right there too. I guarantee your neck will be sore/stiff after this drive. The Wow Factor is off the scale, and it is all around you all the time.


Then there were the animal delays, and the road work delays, and of course the tourist delays. It wasn’t crowded, and actually the traffic moved along pretty well, with open road quite often. Still, I’d guess we averaged about 55kph (33mph). It’s not a fast drive, although at times you can move out pretty well. We got another bear shot, but it’s not a good picture. He was playing on the side of the road and had attracted quite a crowd when we got there. And we got a herd of big horn sheep (ewe and kids) crossing the road.

There is an extensive set of campgrounds here. We drove through several of them – they were all very similar, nice and well maintained. For future reference, if we ever decide to come back and really explore – hike, get involved, etc. – we will have to use the campgrounds. This leads to (gasp!) renting an rv to live in – something big enough for us and the boys and 30 days supplies. Tenting is out of the question for several reasons - #1, Bears; #2 – rain/snow; and #3 – room and comfort. Even Sally-Heath, who hates RV’s even more than I do, agrees that this would be the right way to do these parks. (S-H: I really really hate the idea of RV’s but the bears in there abundance here, would have me staying in one just to be safe and to be camping. The other thing about today was it rained. It started out as partly cloudy and built up and up until at the Icefields it started to rain, a little hail, too. On our way back to Golden we went through a few showers and later on in Golden a substantial rain storm blew through.)

We drove back to town, tired and happy and overwhelmed with the incredible beauty of all the mountains. After a quick clean up and change of clothes we headed out to find dinner. Just on a lark, we decided to check in the same area of town as the deli, and wouldn’t you know, there is the Whitetooth Bistro! The menu looks good, but from the outside we couldn’t tell if the place was open, much less occupied. But when we went in we found an almost full restaurant and a very pleasant atmosphere.

Their special was Bison steak, and we both had it. Very very good – nicely cooked and perfectly seasoned. I had to try their chocolate Bread Pudding, and it was great! Sally-Heath liked it too. The meal was very nice overall, and we had a great time.

It’s been a really good day. Now it’s bedtime once again. Goodnight.

Day 30 - Waterton, then to Golden BC

Waterton National Park to Golden BC, 373 miles total and 29.1 mpg. Totals for the trip, 4969 miles, 27.3* mpg. Those are the stats.


And now for something entirely different. We want to see Waterton as the Sun rises (!), so when the boys sound the 5am food alarm, we’re up and out the door, sort of, headed back to Waterton. Haven’t gotten up that early in quite a while, at least not to stay up! The drive to Waterton is roughly 30 minutes, but we stopped often to take pictures. The changes as Mr. Sun came up were dramatic, and I got a few pics I like. We took pictures all the way down, and then continued to snap away in the park.


We drove from the village to Lake Cameron. At this time of day there isn’t much traffic – probably isn’t a whole lot of traffic most of the time I’d guess. It’s a nice 17km drive. We encountered a baby mountain goat on the road. When it saw us – we were going really slow – it turned and ran away up the road. We followed for probably 1km, it just kept going faster and faster – that was one fast baby! – and finally it had enough fun, I guess, and it jumped onto the hillside, which at that point was solid rock at about 45 degrees – and he ran right up that! Cute little thing…

On the way to the lake we passed Canada’s First Oil Well! It’s capped, of course, and a small white pyramid shaped frame monument covers it. I’m sure there’s a story here, but I haven’t looked it up yet. Down the road was a history sign indicating that many hopes had been dashed – but no explanation. We’ll see. There were also several places for scenic photos, which we collected as we went.


At Lake Cameron we found an incredible experience. It wasn’t deserted, there were two canoes/rafts on the lake, fairly far away, and one photographer on the pier. But the lake is beautiful, the mountains all around are striking, the trees – great trees. And the birds – their sound is almost the only sound, and there are many different bird sounds. Tranquility. Peace. Wonderful! (S-H: there is a sign at Cameron Lake that cautions fishermen to be fishing from a boat in the lake rather than being near the shore or on the shore, the reason, Grizzly Bears are there at the lake! Oh by the way, look at yesterdays photos to see the black bear and two cubs that we saw in the Nature Conservancy reserve just outside Waterton NP yesterday.)

A few pictures later, and we were back on the road to the village. At the village we got some breakfast, and avoided hitting any of the many deer that roam the streets and yards at will. Had a nice chat with a Canadian couple we sat with for breakfast. Then back on the road to Pincher Creek to get packed, cleaned up and on the road.


And on the road it is. Summary – great mountains, everywhere! Going through Crowsnest Pass there was a lot of haze – probably smoke, but we don’t know of any fires – but traversing the first range of Rockies was great. Then it’s a rather long, zigzag turn to the north to head for Golden. There are tall Rockies on your right (east), and plains on the left. But as you move north, Rockies appear on the left (west) also, and the views all around just amaze. As you approach Golden the valley between the two ranges is fairly narrow. The mountains are huge on both sides. It’s really something to see.

So now we are checked in, moved in, fed, and Sally-Heath is planning tomorrows’ activities. I can’t wait. I’m hanging this up for tonight, and getting some rest – days that start at 5am get tired really early! Goodnight!

Day 29 - Road to the Sun - and Canada!

Glacier National Park, 196 miles total and 27.6 mpg. Totals for the trip, 4596 miles, 26.7* mpg. Those are the stats.

Today can be summed up in two words – Oh Wow!

After breakfast we checked out of the Bison Creek Ranch – it was a lovely stay, and was supposed to be on night longer, but we had to move to another cabin, and, well, being basically lazy, we decided to move, but to another country! We left without a reservation for tonight, but we have the backup of a tent and camping equipment (if necessary).

Before moving on, the Bison Creek Ranch is a great, family run operation. Keith (dad), daughter Molly and son Aaron do a great job. The meals have been great, and inexpensive! Sleep has been great. The cabins are rustic, yes, but clean and adequate. The feeling of community is great. We really enjoyed our stay there, and wish it could have been longer.

But the new plan helps us, in that we gain some ground today, going north into Canada instead of south back to Bison Creek Ranch. That’s going to make tomorrow much easier, driving wise.


Leaving Bison Creek, we head back to West Glacier for one last time. Our first stop, thanks to Keith, is at the Alberta Visitor Center at the park entrance, to pick up a guide to places to stay. With the guide, we call the Heritage Inn here in Pincher Creek and make a reservation for the night. That’s that – all is taken care of, and the camping equipment can wait for another day! (S-H I had anticipated camping but the mosquitoes and more importantly the presence of Grizzly and Black bears are determining that we’d rather have a room.)

Today we drive across the ‘Going to the Sun’ road. That’s where ‘Oh Wow!’ gets said a lot, and there’s no way to describe it – look at our pictures on Flickr, look at professional pictures, you just gotta be there. Get Out There!


On the way we took two short hikes. The first was a quick ten minute (one way) jaunt up the trail to Sperry Chalet – a trail we hiked a bunch of years ago with good friends to stay at the Chalet. Lots of memories there, but I did not remember the trail being quite so steep! Perhaps I was younger? The second hike was another quick 30 minute jaunt (one way) on the trail to Granite Park Chalet. This trail brought back memories too. First, it starts out as a narrow trail on a very sheer face cliff. That gets the juices flowing. Then there are the goats – they are still there, right where they were so many years ago. I wish we had time to hike to both Chalets – hiking in Glacier is great (but you must be aware of bears!).





We continued through the park to the Mary Lake entrance, then up and around, finally using the Chief Mountain port of entry into Canada. No traffic, very little wait. The Canadian were inspecting several vehicles in detail, but passed us through with only our paperwork and a brief Q&A session. We drove on to Waterton, where we purchased an annual pass for Canadian National Parks (Waterton, Banff, Jasper for starters). A quick run through some of the park and then on to Pincher Creek and our hotel. (S-H: We are in a smoking room because that is all they allow dogs in, smells and even our spraying Febreze doesn’t overcome the smoky smell.)


By this time it’s well after 7pm, and it has been a long time since breakfast! After checking in, we go in search of food. Turns out it is Sunday, and most places are CLOSED! But the desk clerk recommended Luigis Pizza (and Steak House), so we found it, and got in just before they closed for the evening. We both had pasta, and it was great (plus a little Shiraz, of course). Talk about lucky – phew! Just under the wire!

Now we’re back at the Heritage Inn, and it’s after midnight as I am finishing this. A long, great day. Oh WOW! Good night!

Day 28 - Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park, 220 miles total and 27.3 mpg. Totals for the trip, 4400 miles, 26.7* mpg. Those are the stats.

This morning there was a wet spot on the carpet. Not their fault – we both heard the ear flap that says ‘I need to go out’, and we let it go. First time. Hopefully last time.

We’re up earlier than usual, partially because breakfast is from 8-9. Now to decide what to do on our first full day here. We have a slew of things that Sally-Heath has found – hikes in the Park (no dogs allowed), hikes outside the Park (with dogs), and just driving to all of the scenic views. Driving alone is probably a 3 day affair.

We have a plan. Today we’ll drive the west side of the park, as far north as we can get before we run out of time. Tomorrow we will drive the Road To The Sun loop, from West Glacier to East Glacier. And Monday, when we leave here for Golden BC, we will drive up the east side and visit Waterton National Park (Canada) on the way. And we’re off!


The drive from our cabin at the Bison Creek Ranch to West Glacier is about 55 miles, normally. This morning we made it a tiny bit longer. First we took a bunch of pictures along the way. That means a lot of turning around and going back. We did get some good pics. We got to West Glacier around 11:30, and decided to get lunch before our drive in the park – so we went back to Hungry Horse (the town), to The Huckleberry Patch (again) to grab a sandwich. Well guess what – they have free internet! And it’s a good high speed connection to boot! So while we ate I finished uploading the pictures and blog for yesterday, and we checked email.

From there it is straight into the park. I must give kudos to the Park Service – the backup at the gate was fairly long, but they had a ranger checking as you arrived, and if you had a pass he directed you to GO AROUND THE LINE! ALRIGHT! Good job, Park Service! ATTABOY!

Our plan was to take the Inside North Fork Road all the way north to the end at Kintla Lake. We didn’t have any trouble finding the road, but after about ½ mile the road was closed! Damn. No explanation, no warning. Just closed. But fortunately there is an alternative, the Outside North Fork Road! Before heading back out of the park, by the Camas Creek Entrance, north of West Glacier, we stopped at Lake McDonald, just to sight see. It’s a really pretty lake, and we remember it from our hike to Sperry Chalet some years ago. You can’t see it from the Chalet, but you get to see it from the trail. And today we can almost figure out where the lower part of the trail to Sperry Chalet is (maybe).


On to Camas Creek. Guess what – when we turn on the road to Camas Creek there is a sign – this is well past the turn we took to Inside North Fork Road – explaining that Inside North Fork Road is closed! Not why, just that it is. I’d say the sign is misplaced, by about 300 yards! It’s about 11 miles of paved road inside the park to Camas Creek Entrance, and the scenery in the distance, the mountains especially, is spectacular. More pictures. Most of the drive is through an area that was burned sometime in the last 20 years. In National Parks they usually let fires burn themselves out, and this one covered a lot of area. As we exit the park at Camas the Outside North Fork Road is dirt and gravel – a decent road, some washboard, some bumps, but not too bad.


There is a short paved section of the road, not in real good shape, but better than the gravel. And along the way there are scenic shots to be taken everywhere. It’s a slow trip for at least two reasons – stopping to look and take pictures and the road conditions, which are about to get worse. We go back into the park at Polebridge. Surprisingly this entrance is staffed! ( It is in the middle of nowhere…the ranger offered Jake and Woody an dog treat! S-H) The road has gotten thinner, with more potholes and washboards, and some big holes. It is slow going, but it is interesting too. The changes that occur in the surroundings, from marsh lands to dense forest, to prairie, to pine forest, with streams, flowers – always something new, as you follow the stream upstream to its source, Lake Kintla. Actually there are several streams and rivers, and they don’t all come from Kintla.


When we arrived at the campground on the shore of Lake Kintla we were greeted by Lyle, the ranger/camp custodian, who wanted me to park so another car might have the same opportunity. He was right, I had been sloppy/piggy. I also wasn’t expecting a lot of traffic, although the campground was full. It’s a very nice campground, with tall trees, Kintla Creek exiting the lake just by the campground, and the lake and views afforded are incredible. Well worth the long, difficult drive.

Lyle is possibly 75, and he has stories. A very nice guy. One of the stories he recounted was from just recently – a dog wandered through the camp, looking pretty ragged. To shorten it at bit, there was an effort just to catch the dog, and through rabies records they were actually able to identify the owner! Contacting the owner was another problem, but all ended happily, and the dog was returned to its Canadian owner on the day they were to hold a wake for the dog! The dog had been lost in Eureka, about 25 miles west of the campground, a week earlier. How it managed to traverse the 25 miles of rugged terrain and avoid wolves and other large animals, is anyone’s guess. Lyle was convinced that if left alone, the dog was headed in the right direction (north) to find its’ way home – if it could survive long enough!
I love our boys, but I’m not sure they could find their way home from next door.

We didn’t stay long, about 30 minutes – boys got wet, drank from the stream. Then retrace our steps, all the way to West Glacier, then to our cabin. We were tired and hungry, and went directly to the ranch restaurant for dinner. A good meal, and none too soon!

Oh – I almost forgot! A really nice thing happened while we were taking our picture at the Continental Divide on the way home. Our new friends, Don and Doug from Canada, went by on their bikes after a day trip to Missoula – recognized the boys and honked and waved. That might not sound like much, but it made us feel really good and happy.

It’s late, I’m going to bed real soon. Goodnight!

Day 27 - Woods Bay to East Glacier

Woods Bay to Bison Creek Ranch near East Glacier, 139 miles total and 28.0 mpg. Totals for the trip, 4179 miles, 26.7* mpg. Those are the stats.


We’re close to the Continental Divide at the southern end of Glacier National Park. Our room, at Bison Creek Lodge, is rustic – it has plumbing and electricity, a tiny kitchen. It is in the middle of nowhere. There is no phone or internet service. It is beautiful! The view of the Rockies is phenomenal. And I’m hoping there is some train traffic on the two lines just a half mile away. From here we plan to explore Glacier for two full days, and parts of two other days.

The drive here was short, just 108 miles – we took our time. The day started sort of late again, but we were packed and on the road (to the Echo Lake Café for the last time for brunch).

By noon we were fed and on the road - S-H was driving and I could sight-see and take pictures. It’s just so impressive, the mountains, snow, trees – even the roads and train tracks, bridges and everything are impressive. I’m sure I sound like a broken record, and I’ll continue to do so, but you should do this. First hand observation is the only way. Really.

Oh, a side story. We stopped in Columbia Falls to pick up some food for the cabin and car. While Sally-Heath was food shopping I took the boys to a park – it was cool in the shade. There was a young man sitting on the ground studying a book. He was wearing bright red pants that were well decorated – quite attractive (pants) really. After we had been there a few minutes, he got up and went to his car, returning with a 3 foot Iguana! He put the Iguana on the grass, in the sun. the Iguana never moved. The boys were curious at first, but they calmed down and settled into the grass as well. It’s not everyday you see an Iguana…and this was a big one!

Another thing – be sure to get a huckleberry shake as you go through West Glacier – we recommend The Huckleberry Patch.

After unloading and sort of organizing we decided it was time to explore a bit. Up to East Glacier Park, we checked out the ‘town’. It’s about 1 block long on highway 2 – I’m not sure what else counts. But it does have one trading post with internet for sale, so I check that out. It works fairly well, although it took about twice as long as it should to upload 9 photos. And it’s $4 an hour. But I can stay up-to-date with pictures and blog and email there. There are some restaurants in the area, and our cabin has a dining room for dinner (and breakfast).


Just across the tracks from town is the Amtrak station. We head over there, and just as we are parking a loooong freight train of apparently empty cars comes through. It’s just great! Whistle and all. What a marvel these steel machines are. We got a couple of pictures. I was curious – I still want to ride a train in the USA. The last time I remember, outside of Disney World, was when I went to Great Lakes Illinois in 1961 for US Navy boot camp! That wasn’t a good trip. And I certainly didn’t appreciate the train at that time! I used the train extensively in Japan, and they were great, not expensive, and ran a complete schedule that would support the needs of many people. So, I checked the cost and schedule of a round trip from East Glacier Park to Havre MT. The cost is $120 per person round trip. I estimate the length of the trip, one way, to be about 120 miles. There is one train per day in each direction. We can catch a train in the morning headed east, get off at Havre, wait about an hour, and catch the westbound to come back. Why did we pick Havre? It is the longest round trip we can get in one day from here. And it doesn’t matter if you take a shorter one – you still get back to East Glacier Park at the same time – there is only one train going west each day. Amtrak as a people moving system is woefully inadequate. ( S-H: Also there is another problem, only service dogs may board the train)

We didn’t purchase a ticket. We headed west to explore part of Glacier National Park, the Two Medicine area. It’s a fairly short drive, and what wonderful views of the mountains, and of Two Medicine River and Two Medicine Lake. We toured the campground there, it is very large and very nice, and tonight it is going to be very cold – 35 degrees! It already feels much cooler than the 68 it measures. Anyway, the area is just scenic scenic scenic - and much too huge to photograph. We’ll be back there for some hiking before we leave. But we can’t take the boys hiking in the National Park, so they will be short hikes. We have some longer hikes on tap for just outside the park, but we are only here for two full days, so I don’t know how much we will get done.


The drive back to our cabin is quick, about 25 minutes, and we’re HUNGRY! Quick as we can we get into the restaurant. The menu is good, and the food is inexpensive – we both have fish. Back to the cabin to fetch our bottle of wine. We met a couple of bikers from Canada, Doug and Don, and had quite a talk with them – a lot about dogs, hunting, biking, etc. They were fun, and we will probably hook up with them for our whole stay, in the evenings. After the great meal, we came back to free Jake and Woody from the CR-V. Don, Doug, and Molly came over to meet the boys, and we had a good play session, with the local Springer and Alii (King), an Akita. Our boys were full of energy, and played/ran hard. Luckily we were able to keep them close.

Now we’ve all folded our tents. I’m listening to music and typing this, Sally-Heath is studying park literature, and the boys have passed out for the night. My wine is calling. I’m coming! Goodnight.

Day 26 - Jewel Basin

Rockies 2008 – Day 26 – 07.17.08
Woods Bay, 41 miles total and 22.0 mpg. Totals for the trip, 4040 miles, 26.5* mpg. Those are the stats.

Woods Bay is in Montana, on Flathead Lake, USA. All distance measurements are in miles, 1 mile ≈ 1.59 km. All gasoline quantities are in gallons, 1 gallon ≈ 3.78 liters. All temperatures are in Farenheit. Conversion is C = 5/9*(F-32). Go figure.
Our temperatures have been pretty much in the 80s (day) and 50s (night). Absolutely wonderful.

Today was another late start. Getting to be a habit. A habit I can live with! There’s a hike on tap today, but the first order of business is to get some food. So guess what? Back to the Echo Lake Café(!) of course. It’s a great place, good food, good service, and appears to be the only act close to town. Once you find a winner, ride that pony!

Another great meal, and then on to the hike – turns out the café is on the way! So we continue on with a nice drive to the trailhead. After the paved road ends there are 7 miles of dirt/gravel road, but it’s in good shape – just very dusty. There is also the shear drop to consider – if you leave the road you really leave the road. Hope a tree catches you before you’ve gone very far! It’s wide enough, but it’s still a bit exciting. We only met one car on the way up, and wouldn’t you know, there was a motorcycle parked RIGHT THERE! Murphy is just incredible. - (S-H: I need to tell you that I have been researching trails since just after our return from Hawaii, Trails.com and Gorp.com have provided me with amazing research tools. All of the trails we have done have been quite amazing and different. Lucky me!)

At the trailhead we were met by two unusual things. First, there was a toilet, and that’s not unusual, but it was clean and nice – that is unusual. I suspect the second thing had something to do with it. Second, there were actually Forest Service personnel on site, keeping track of who goes in, who comes out, etc. Answering questions, giving advice, in generally being very helpful. Gently thanking us for having the boys on-lead, and encouraging us to keep them that way. Oh, for the good old days when this was the rule, not the exception! Thanks, Ron. (for those unfamiliar, the National Forests and Parks were great, in many ways, but in large part thanks to a knowledgeable caring crew of ‘rangers’ who hiked the trails, kept track of people, had good information and were more than willing, even anxious to share it with you. All that stopped during the Reagan years. But this is not a political blog, so I’ll stop there. It’s just, as a perpetual hiker, I miss it.)

This trail, up to overlook Jewel Basin, was the easiest 1000 foot (1 foot ≈0.3.48 m) climb you’ve ever done. I’m not sure I believe it was 1000 feet. But that apparently is what the book says, so there you have it. The forest is again beautiful, melting snow fills many streams, flowers are abundant and just striking. What colors. What shapes! The bees really have a ball up here! And so do we.

Have I described how we hike? We have found that Jake must be in front. If Woody is in front, Jake will cry incessantly. And pull harder than ever. He, Jake, is impossible to control when Woody is in front. So, we have usually started out with Sally-Heath having Woody and me, out in front, having Jake. We do half the hike and switch dogs and positions. The other factor is that Sally-Heath likes to use a nose collar to control the pulling. It works pretty well, and the dog is not choked at all. The dogs hate the nose collar. I like to use the training collar, or choke chain. The dogs pull, and are choked of their own volition. They will never learn that they can stop the choking by not pulling. Anyway, that’s what we do. It the trail is wide we sometimes hike side by side, but usually, when I’m in front, I hike for a while, then stop and wait, and when S-H is in front, I give her a good head start, then hike until I catch up, and then let her get ahead again. We always, well, almost always, stay close enough to assist each other if needed. (S-H: I have always felt this is hard for him to do because his stride is about 12 “ longer than mine.)


When you get to the top, at the end of Trail 8, where it T’s into Trail 7, the view is incredible. Just below you are two crystal clear lakes. We would have hiked down to them, but there was snow on the trail. So we just sat and ogled and enjoyed. Only a few weeks ago these lakes were frozen and covered with snow! The hike back down was great too. We just retraced our steps, but we knew a few spots, including a Lookout Point, to stop and enjoy the view and take pictures. Which we did. Check out Flickr, we took a bunch.

Back at the trailhead I asked for a refund – no big animals (deer, elk, moose, bear, etc.) as promised in the brouchure (not).

The drive back to town was good, we never left the road once. We got back to the room, finished up some loose ends and headed one more time across the street to The Raven for dinner. We have discussed it, and we agree, we’d really like to come back here sometime, in summer, and spend a week or so. No agenda, no plan – just do what we feel like doing, which could include staying right here at the Islander Inn all day and eating across the street at The Raven. It’s that pleasant. Who knows how it might be the next time, but it’s a nice thought.


We’ve finished another great meal, and a bottle of Black Opal, and we’re back in the room. The spa will be filling soon – I’m ready! Goodnight!

Day 25 - Big Fork and Flathead Lake

Woods Bay, 135 miles total and 29.4 mpg. Totals for the trip, 3999 miles, 26.7* mpg. Those are the stats.

Doug slept in, as mentioned yesterday. He (I) did get up at 5 and feed/walk the boys. The left knee has been a bit of a problem for about a day and a half, and it was really a problem after feeding the boys. The ibuprophen helped a little…

Somehow it took us 2 hours from the time I got up, 9, to get to the Echo Lake Café (again), this time for lunch! Lunch was great, just as breakfast was yesterday. I suspect we’ll be back at least once more.


Next on the agenda was a really easy hike – along the Swan River. This is a flat hike on a wide path and it is very popular. Lots of strollers, bikes, runners, etc. The scenery is nice, the river rushes downhill with lots of whitewater (not nearly like Stillwater Creek though). It’s about 4 miles round trip. A good hike, and about all I’m up for today with the bum knee (arthritis).

Then back to the room, and on to circumnavigate the lake. Flathead Lake is roughly 35 miles long and 10 miles wide. We’ve driven around most, if not all of it in pieces, but never just driven around the lake. So we did that, with several detours to see places on the lake shore that seemed interesting. It was a nice drive, occasional splats of rain, but generally speaking very scenic. Interesting the map shows the west side of the lake as being the more scenic route – we disagree, the east side seems much more scenic to us – although both sides, and really the whole drive, are certainly interesting and beautiful.

Back to the room, get cleaned up, and go into Big Fork, the town, to look for food. S-H has researched, and located 4 potential eating establishments, so we go in to walk the street, read menus and make a choice. Which is what we do, and the Big Fork Inn wins the competition. We have a very nice meal there, good food, good service.

Here I digress just a bit. We can’t put our finger on just what it is, but Big Fork is not our cup of tea. It’s a small, very small, town that portrays itself as artisan (if that’s the right word), but it is touristy (if that’s a word). The sidewalks are narrow – we had trouble walking the street! We both had a feeling of discomfort about the place, but couldn’t name a specific reason. Actually, Woods Bay is right – possibly that’s why Big Fork (and Kalispell) aren’t that interesting for us.


After the nice meal, back to the room. We need reservations in Canada, so we spend an hour or so phoning places to find out if they are pet friendly, then if they have a room. We end up with two reservations in Golden, 2 nights, then 6 nights. Looking forward to that, but it’s a ways off.

I may have forgotten something, it’s just after midnight, and I’m off to bed. Goodnight!

Day 24 - Woods Bay and Kalispell

Woods Bay, 82 miles total and 28.5 mpg. Totals for the trip, 3864 miles, 26.4* mpg. Those are the stats.


While Doug was sleeping in, Sally-Heath took pen in hand to describe Tuesday.

Today was different! We awoke to clouds … we have had bright blue big skies up to now. Flathead Lake was choppy and grey and we couldn’t see to the south end – I’ve been fixing coffee in French Press cups every morning. What a treat, great strong coffee to start the day. We alternate days to get the dogs fed and out for their morning constitutional: early, early. go back to bed, then coffee when we wake up. I checked at the Islander Inn office about breakfast places. “You want a greasy spoon or otherwise?” she said, then immediately gave me directions to the otherwise… The Echo Lake Café…a ten mile drive. It is north of the Swan River. We got there and Wray had one huge plate-filling blueberry pancake with a freshly made blueberry/raspberry sauce. I had (hummm, of course) a form of Benedict – a sausage patty on English muffin with a great homemade hollandaise, and very good coffee. The ten mile drive will be done again!

The other part of this, near the café, is the road we need to get to Jewel Basin for one of our hikes here.

Back to the Islander in Woods Bay where Doug is consulting with two Serbian Work Exchange students who are attempting to fix the problem we have with the wireless internet. I work on maps and trail descriptions to choose our hikes. A couple of hours pass, and it is determined that more equipment needs to be installed to get the connection done. Doug, after wandering around our cabin to get the one spot that is at least working sometime, places the computer on the bedside table. It is closest to the office where the wireless connection equipment is setup. I decide I can live with that. I’ll share the couch with Jake and Woody for starting to sleep. This is the time that Doug does his blogging.

Off to Big Fork and Kalispell - We’ve decided to explore doing a loop through Big Fork then the 30 minute drive to Kalispell at the north end of Flathead Lake. Grey still, but clouds beginning to lighten – some blue. Once in Kalispell – the search for CostCo – It is up a hill and beyond – fill gas tank – get Doug’s dark glasses replaced, mine tightened (they said to get replaced when home). A bite to eat, then walk dogs at a park (which was filled with a low weed with thorns – all of us picked our way around the weeds after ‘ouching’ a bit). Back to town center, walked with Jake and Woody, located the restaurants I’d looked up, and a blues place (Red’s Wine and Blues), then a derelict looking saloon front (looked sort of closed) – we walked around back where there were about 20 people streaming across the parking lot into Buffalos Saloon – a dark, sawdust covered absolutely packed with patrons – sometime we’ll try it.

Continuing our walk – buy more sunscreen – drive back to Woods Bay.


For dinner we cross the street to the Raven (again). It’s windy and the waves are pounding spray high up into the lower deck (last night filled with people eating and drinking). We sit on the upperdeck, have some wine and some dinner, watching the sunset! And two swallows taking care of their babies. Then back at the cabin – a spa (in our room) by candle, wine – Nice Day!