September 19, 2005

September 19, 2005

Jasper to Lake Louise, Alberta

YEAR 2 DAY 94

 

Today was cloudy, cold, and raining. Snowing at the higher elevations.

I was sick today. I made an unwise choice for a bed time snack last night, and suffered today as a consequence.

Bo was unhappy about going out in the rain for his bathroom walk this morning. As soon as he stepped out of the trailer into the heavy rain, he urinated quickly, and wanted to go back into the trailer. After showering and breakfast, we hitched up and prepared to leave. We drove over to the dump station, dumped the holding tanks, refilled the fresh water, and headed out, south on Hwy. 93 / The Icefields Parkway.

As we pulled out of the campground, a bull elk was grazing at the side of the road. It was raining. As the elevation climbed, the heavy rain became a snow blizzard. We stopped at the Columbia Icefields Interpretive Centre to have lunch and wait out the blizzard. The trailer had a thick coating of snow and ice on the front. Poor Harvey. I had promised him after he sat on our driveway covered in snow the winter before we began our travel adventure that he wouldn't ever have to be covered in snow again. While Joanne went into the Interpretive Centre for information, then made lunch, I took a brief nap in the trailer. By the time we were finished lunch, the blizzard was over. We continued south on The Icefields Parkway. There was a thin layer of fresh snow on the side of the road and in the forest. The evergreen trees were dusted with snow. It looked like a Christmas card scene. "Christmas" trees with a light dusting of snow, mountains in the background. Very lovely.

We stopped at the summit of Bow Pass ( elev. 6875' ) to get out and romp in the snow. Bo had seen snow in the mountains last spring, but it was old, dirty, hard packed snow. He had never seen soft, fresh snow. He was stunned at first, then excited to romp and play in it. When we resumed driving, the snow all over his fur melted, making him soaking wet. He seemed puzzled about how he got so wet. HA HA HA ! Poor little Alabama mutt.

We stopped for tonight at Lake Louise campground. It was raining again, and cold, when we arrived. We haven't seen much of anything here yet. I was sick, and it was too cold to do anything but stay in the trailer, hiding from the rain and cold, drinking tea. I did today's accounting, and journal entry. I have many photos from the last few days to download from the camera into the laptop, and process. I think I'll spend the evening doing that.

DSK