Prince Rupert BC

The city known as the Halibut Capital of the World has been inhabited by the First Nation people for over 10,000 years who populated several villages along the coast during the fishing/hunting seasons.  The city was founded by Charles M. Hays, president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway who sunk with the Titanic in 1912, survived by his wife and daughter who were lucky enough to get on a lifeboat.  His visions of grandeur for the city died with him but the city evolved into a mainstay of fishing and boatbuilding industries.  Salmon canneries also sprung up everywhere including the North Pacific Cannery which is now a National Historic Site, and a very educational tour with insights of the day in the life of some 1200 cannery workers.  There were several classes of workers at the canneries, with a hierarchy of English, Japanese, First Nation and Chinese workers segregated and paid accordingly with the worst jobs paying the least.  We also enjoyed a hike to Butze Rapids through old-growth forests, coastal wetlands and forest bogs to the rapids, a natural feature due to the tide around Kaien island causing Fern Passage to reverse on each tide.  We finished our exploration of Prince Rupert with a walk around town browsing the shops downtown and historic Cow Bay, waterfront filled with boats, a cruise ship, seaplane base and painted murals everywhere.  We will board the ferry tomorrow for our next destination, Ketchikan AK.  

 

 

 

 

 

British Columbia CN

5/20 – 5/31/2016 – BC Travels – We traveled the Yellowhead Highway across BC from Jasper NP in route to Prince Rupert and the Alaskan Marine Highway Ferry.  Mount Robson in BC was really the best scenery we saw for many miles; have to say Alberta has it all over British Columbia. 

First stop was the northern capital of British Columbia Prince George, and the campground (MamaYeh RV Park) was totally ghetto.  We pulled into the gravel road and the first thing we saw was the “Office” sign, next to an open canopy with folding chairs and a money box.  Since we made reservations ahead of time, we proceeded to our reserved site, which already had an RV parked on it.  No worries, the site next door was empty so we pulled in.  The pull through site was level with full hookups and good water pressure (we needed to do laundry), that is the only thing the campground had going for it.  The weeds and dandelions, which seem to be the provincial flower of BC since they are everywhere, were two feet high all over the site, there is no bathhouse and they allow tenter’s, not sure I want to know what they do for a restroom.  We did enjoy our stay in Prince George, played some golf, hit the casino (LOSERS), hiked some of the parks, toured the town, and got the laundry done. 

 

 

From there we moved on to the little town of Telkwa and stayed at our first Provincial Park, which are like State Parks in the US, no hookups, wooded and scenic.  We hiked the park with the dogs as they were getting fat and lazy,and took a ride into the town of Smithers to get some information on the local sights.  On the way out of the information center we ran into a nice couple from NY who were making their 4th trip to Alaska and provided us with lots of tips.  We checked into Glacier View RV Park just on the other side of Smithers BC the following day and true to its name, we can see the glacier right outside the RV window.  Smithers is a picturesque little four season town at the foot of the Hudson Bay Mountain, which is a very popular winter ski destination for cross country as well as downhill with one of the highest ski hills in BC with a 3700 ft vertical drop, and in summer the Bulkley River which borders the town, is one of the world’s great steelhead rivers.  We hiked to Glacier Gulch and Twin Falls a Smithers landmark, gushing from the Kathlyn Glacier hundreds of feet above and it was beautiful.  We also enjoyed several of the scenic drives in the area including Babine Mountains and Driftwood Canyon Provincial Parks (site of the earliest known salmonid fossil) and Moricetown Canyon and Falls a little further west.   

 

 

 

 

 

Arrived in Prince Rupert where we will catch the Ferry, next stop Ketchikan Alaska!!!!!

Alberta CN 2

5/18 – 5/20/2016 – Jasper AB CN – Traveled from our campground in Canmore today to Hinton AB where we are staying at Jasper Gates Resort and RV, about 250 miles.  We traveled through the rest of the Icefields Parkway towards Jasper NP and saw waterfalls, amazing viewpoints, and glaciers highlighted by the Columbia Icefield which is one of the largest accumulations of ice south of the Arctic, some 83 sq miles and 1200 ft thick.  Six major glaciers flow from the Icefield which feed rivers that eventually flow into the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans which is known as a hydrological apex (no kidding look it up).  We settled into the campground for the night, caught up on wifi stuff in the really nice “Bear Den” game room, determined there were no TV channels available and played cards.  Chippy cleaned my clock at 500 rummy and strip poker, no further details available at this time. LOL

 

 

Rained pretty hard all night and into the morning, which is probably a blessing for the firefighters just to our north in their efforts with the devastating wildfires, so we decided to start the day with a visit to the hardware store and Wal-Mart for some supplies.  The rains slowed to a trickle and we decided to spend the rest of the day in Jasper’s Maligne Valley.  First we hiked the rim of Maligne Canyon and enjoyed stunning canyon views and a rushing river.  Next we were off to Medicine Lake which not so mysteriously vanishes in early October each year.  The waters depth can vary as much as 20 meters through the year.  The actual disappearance of the lake which Indians believed was by “Big Medicine” or magic slowly dissolves into a network of underground passages which exceeds the undergrounds system during the meltdown in spring and summer, and finally catches up in the fall.  The road ends at mountain-ringed Maligne Lake, the largest glacier-fed lake in the Canadian Rockies, which was discovered over 100 years ago by a Philadelphia artist by the name of Mary Schaffer.  While enjoying lunch at the Maligne Lake Lodge we were entertained by a pair of moose frolicking on the other side of the lake and finished with a leisurely stroll around the lake.  We got back to the campground and plugged into wifi to find we are expecting 1-3 inches of snow tonight…bbbrrrrrr..Tomorrow we are off to Prince George in British Columbia.

 

 

 

 

 

Moose

Elk

Alberta CN

5/15 – 5/17/2016 –Banff AB CN– Happily the border crossing at Roosville British Columbia was a breeze.  The border patrol asked a few simple questions, with the biggest concern about weapons, which are a big no no in CN, and we were on our way.  Well we thought Glacier NP was amazing until we arrived in Alberta CN.  The ride through Kootenay NP on the way to the campground in Canmore AB was just the beginning of the beautiful Canadian Rockies.  We arrived at the campground situated in the Bow Valley and had a panoramic view of the mountains without even getting out of the motorhome.  After we set up the motorhome, walked the dogs, did some food and alcohol shopping, and ate dinner, we decided to take a walk and window shop the quaint little town center.  Biking is definitely the favorite activity in the area as we saw hundreds of bikers in our journey.  Another observation is that the cost of living here is outrageous,   alcohol is almost double the prices we were paying in FL, food is 25% higher, gas is $1.06 a liter, post card stamps are $1.20 each, and housing in the area we are staying average $500K, maybe the high costs are for location and scenery, but you can break the budget pretty quick…LOL….

As we set out on the Trans Canada Highway the jagged mountain peaks are absolutely the best scenery we have experienced in our travels so far, with large arched overpasses that were built solely for wildlife to pass over the highways in safety.  We first visited Lake Louise, the most famous glacial lake in the Canadian Rockies, which was absolutely more beautiful than you could imagine.  Surrounded by Mt Victoria, Victoria Glacier, Mt Lefroy, Mt Fairview, and Fairmount Chateau Hotel make the entire area picture perfect.  The water was a beautiful turquoise, and stays frigid year round.

From Lake Louise we traveled the scenic Bow Valley Parkway and were treated to Johnston Canyon waterfalls, the winding Bow River and a herd of Big Horn Sheep who were very cooperative with a photo session.

 

 

Next we were off to the town of Banff, which is the highest town in Canada at 4,537 ft.   We took the gondola ride to the top of Sulfur Mountain and hiked to the Sulfur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station to observe the beauty of Banff townsite and valley from some 9,000 feet, totally amazing.  We also enjoyed Bow Falls, flowing over limestone bedrock between Mt Rundle and Tunnel Mountain, creating rapids as the Bow and Spray River join forces.  The Cave and Basin National Historic Site was closed, but we were able to stroll the boardwalk which wanders up the mountain to the source of the mineral springs and sulfur pools.  We finished the day strolling the streets and shops in the downtown area of this beautiful and historic town.   

 

 

 

 

Hot Sulfur Spring

Hot Sulfur pool

 We started off Tuesday 5/17 with a ride up the Trans Canada Highway to the Icefields Parkway for about 60 miles from the campground, which by the way translates to about 100km, yes we are bombarded and struggling greatly with the metric system, with meters, liters and grams have us spinning.  Our first stop was Bow Summit which is the highest point on the parkway at 6,785 ft, which is the starting point to a short hike to Peyto Lake where we were dazzled with the bluest glacial water you have ever seen and a wide view of the Mistaya Valley. Too bad the pictures don't show how royal blue the water was.

 

  

From there we descended to Bow Lake which is the source for the Bow River which flows through Banff and Calgary fed by the Bow Glacier.  Further down the parkway was the Crowfoot Glacier which could be viewed roadside and we also spotted our first Black Bear only about 20 feet off the highway and we actually got his picture. 

 

 

 


On the way back to our campground we stopped at Lake Minnewanka, the largest lake in Banff NP and the only one which power boats are permitted.  A very unusual fact about Lake Minnewanka is the lake is a high altitude dive site where divers can view what is considered the best preserved example of a submerged historic village in Canada.  The village of Minnewanka Landing established in 1888 was completely flooded in 1941 by the Calgary Power Company under the War Measures Act in order to create a dam for much need power during WW II.  We will continue our exploration in the Motorhome on Wednesday on our way to our next campground just east of Jasper NP.