Year 3 Week 14

September 17 to 23, 2006

Daysland, Alberta to Revelstoke, B.C.

Year 3 week 14

 

Sunday ; Daysland to Rocky Mountain House, Alberta

BRRRRR ! When we woke up this morning, it was snowing lightly. By late afternoon, the sky had cleared a bit, and the temperature had climbed a few degrees. The temperature overnight tonight is forecast to be -3 C. / 26 F. !

We had breakfast with Tom and Ruth-Anne this morning, then visited for awhile before leaving. Bo and Emmalynn played so nicely together, running around the Huggard's trailer, romping, chasing, growling, and wrestling. Emmalynn is still a puppy, and plays like one. Bo very nicely played along. Emmalynn and Bo would trade off who was going to be dominant during their playing. It was a bit surprising to see Bo so willing to play the submissive role. He usually postures dominance quite obviously.

We filled up with diesel as we were leaving Daysland. Yesterday I bought 2 litres of diesel fuel additive, and as I began to fill up today, I transferred a litre of it to a plastic squeeze bottle that I use to squirt the additive into the fuel tank. I dropped the rigid plastic bottle, and it shattered, splashing a litre of greasy diesel fuel additive all over my pant legs and jacket < fume > !

We drove west on Hwy. 13 through Camrose to Wetaskiwin. At Wetaskiwin I refilled a propane tank, then we turned south on Hwy. 2A. South on Hwy. 2A and Hwy. 2 to Red Deer, then west on Hwy. 11A through Sylvan Lake and Hwy. 11 to Rocky Mountain House. As we were driving Joanne was phoning campgrounds ahead of us in Wetaskiwin, Red Deer, and Rocky Mountain House to try to find a campground with cable TV, or at least a CTV signal that we could pick up by antenna, so that we could watch the season premiere of Amazing Race tonight. No luck. Darn !

We got set up in Riverview Campground just outside of Rocky Mountain House, then took Bo for a hike along the North Saskatchewan River. Bo and I played in the campground playground, running a "Bo-gility" course on the playground equipment, jumping in and out of a huge tractor tire, and climbing an inclined "rock wall" leading to a slide that he would slide down quite willingly. HA HA HA ! Bo always has so much "game".

As Joanne was preparing supper, we enjoyed watching 3 deer, a doe and 2 fawns, grazing behind our campsite.

 

Monday ; Rocky Mountain House toLake Louise, Alberta

Today was cold and cloudy, with cold rain all evening.

This morning when I walked Bo, he picked up the scent of deer, and went wild. He sniffed frantically, tugging at the leash, running around trying to follow the scent. Too bad he was so occupied with sniffing that he didn't lift his head up from the ground and see the 3 deer grazing about 100 feet from us. HA HA HA !

We got a late start this morning, leaving the campground about 11:00 A.M. We drove a few km. back to the town of Rocky Mountain House, filled up with diesel, shopped at Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire, and had lunch before hitting the road. We drove west on Hwy. 11. Within half an hour after leaving Rocky Mountain House, there was deep snow on the side of the road. Quite a bit of snow fell in this area over the weekend. I stopped to take some photos, and romp in the snow with Bo. He's not too impressed by snow.

Shortly after reaching the eastern edge of the Canadian Rockies we entered Banff National Park from the east side, into the middle of the park, about halfway between Banff and Jasper. Once in the park we turned south on Hwy. 93 / The Icefields Parkway, heading to Lake Louise. We saw a bear on the side of the road. We got set up in a campsite at Lake Louise, then phoned my sister to see how her knee surgery went earlier today. Bud said that the surgery went okay, but that she's in a lot of pain.

 

Tuesday ; Lake Louise, Alberta to Donald, B.C.

Today started out cloudy and cold. By late afternoon it was sunny and mild.

We departed Lake Louise this morning heading west on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1, through the west side of Banff National Park, into British Columbia, and Yoho National Park. We stopped at the Finn Creek Rest Area to take some photos and walk along the Kicking Horse River. Through Field, B.C., and out the west side of Yoho National Park, through the Kicking Horse Pass, and into Golden, B.C.. The Kicking Horse Pass was the first real difficult test of mountain driving for Lanoire. She did well.

We continued past Golden to Donald where we stopped at Campers Haven RV Park. It's a Passport America park with a special discounted rate for a minimum 3 night stay. So ... we're staying 3 nights. Around suppertime, a motorhome moved in a few sites down from us. Their 9 year old dog, Murphy, looks like Bo's twin brother.

 

Wednesday ; Today was cool and raining.

I had intended to do a few small maintenance jobs, go hiking, and have a campfire today. But the weather made me feel like doing nothing except read and nap. My sole accomplishment for the day was to make blueberry pancakes, using, of course, wild blueberries we picked this spring in Northwestern Ontario.

 

Thursday ; Today was partially sunny, and cool.

Another lazy day. I did some maintenance chores. I lubricated the rubber weatherstripping around the bedroom slide. I cleaned and re-caulked the lower edge of the guard plate on the bottom edge of the bedroom slide. I caulked it in Steinbach a few weeks ago, but I noticed in Lake Louise a few days ago that the caulking was peeling off. I wonder if I used the wrong type of caulking ? I caulked it today with the same caulking, and if it peels again, then I'll know that I'm using the wrong type of caulking. I removed a shelf beside the recliner in the trailer. Bo uses it to get from the recliner to the window sill, and his weight is breaking it. I adjusted the trailer brake controller in the truck. Somewhat to Joanne's chagrin, I performed some self-surgery, cutting open and draining a big lump ( boil ? ) on my forearm. We went for a short hike. I started feeling ill, so a short hike became a very short hike. I read. I napped. Joanne baked cookies. We watched TV.

 

Friday ; Donald to Revelstoke, B.C.

Today was sunny and mild.

We left Donald this morning heading west on Trans Canada Hwy. 1. We entered Glacier National Park. We passed from the Mountain Time Zone to the Pacific Time Zone. We drove up, over, and down the Rogers Pass. I was running a bit low on fuel, so I had to buy some diesel at the Rogers Pass summit. What an outrageous price ! We stopped at the Rogers Pass National Historic Site and looked around the Rogers Pass Discovery Centre, a museum and information centre. We drove through a series of tunnels on the highway. We drove out of Glacier National Park and into Mount Revelstoke National Park.

At the small city of Revelstoke we stopped for information and groceries. While Joanne went into Cooper's Foods, I walked about 6 blocks to the Post Office to buy a stamp for a letter to the U.S., then about 3 more blocks to the library to see if they had Wi-Fi ( they didn't ), then about another 3 blocks to the Tourist Information Centre, then all the way back to the grocery store. Long walk ! We had a very late lunch, then found our way to Williamson Lake Campground, just outside Revelstoke. It's a very nice campground operated by the municipality, reasonably priced, with cable TV and Wi-Fi.

We set up in our campsite, then went walking around the campground, and down by Williamson Lake. Very pretty ! I reset all our clocks and watches, then downloaded and processed photos. I couldn't get a Wi-Fi signal in the trailer, so I went and sat outside the campground office, got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, retrieved updated investment data ( finally ! ) , and retrieved my MasterCard statement.

 

Saturday; Today was mostly cloudy. In town, the temperature was 17 º C. / 62 º F.. At the summit of Mount Revelstoke it was 5 º C. / 41 º F..

This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off for a day of exploring Mount Revelstoke National Park. As we drove through Revelstoke we noticed a Farmer's Market so we stopped to buy some fresh produce. Joanne thinks we should get a bumper sticker that says " We brake for Farmer's Markets". HA HA HA !

We entered Mount Revelstoke National Park, and drove the 26 km. long Meadows In The Sky Parkway to Balsam Lake. We had our picnic lunch in a log cabin with a picnic table and woodstove inside. There was already a fire going in the woodstove when we got there. After lunch we hiked the 1 km. very steep Summit Trail to the summit of Mount Revelstoke. Whew ! Hiking uphill at an elevation over 6000 feet is very difficult. Once at the summit, we hiked the 1 km. long Meadows In The Sky Nature Trail. Along the way we took a short detour to The Ice Box Viewpoint. Then we hiked the extremely steep 0.5 km. Firetower Trail to The Parapets Viewpoint, and the old fire lookout tower. This was the true summit of Mount Revelstoke, at 6360 feet. Somebody had built a Snowman on the wood deck surrounding the fire tower. Bo was thirsty, so he just ate some of the Snowman. HA HA HA ! Then it was back down the 1 km. descent along the Summit Trail to the parking lot at Balsam Lake. Our legs and knees ache !

I shifted Lanoire into second gear, and we coasted 26 km. down the mountain, no accelerator and no brakes required. HA HA HA ! We drove back into Revelstoke, and filled up with diesel. At the summit of Mount Revelstoke, we had overheard a Park Ranger talking about the Kokanee Salmon spawning run, so we asked her for directions. We found our way down some back roads through the Industrial Park of Revelstoke, to the Kokanee Salmon spawning grounds where Bridge Creek flows into the Illecillewaet River.

Wow ! WOWWOWWOW ! ! ! What an amazing spectacle ! The Kokanee swim upstream from the river into the creek about 2000 feet. All along this 2000 foot stretch of this narrow, shallow creek, there are bright red Kokanee Salmon swimming upstream, making amazing jumps over obstacles and rapids, and spawning. We had seen Coho Salmon spawning near Hope, B.C. about a year ago, but seeing it for a second time is still just as amazing ! I could actually reach into the water and grab fish, although they were too slippery to hold onto. Bo was certain that he could catch a Kokanee. We didn't allow him to try. There are signs along the creek warning about bears, because they come down to the creek to feed on Kokanee during the spawning run. Easy pickings !

We returned to our campground, aching and tired. But what a great day !

DSK