Friday, May 3rd, 2002 (164 125 km)
I left Ottawa a bit late because I had a few arrons to run before leaving. It must have been 9h15 by the time I got on the 417. This drive had a nice outlook. I saw an Irving and Sobeys in Pembrook. Too much Corey Hart on the radio. Thank goodness I brought a ton of CD's. I'm impressed to hear the bilingualism around Algonquin park. There are many conifers here. I must be getting far north. The coast line of Lac Huron is very nice. There are signs for moose every 3 km. I guess I should start looking for a resting spot. It's 11 o'clock by the time I find a place to crash. It's way too cold to go camping. There's still snow on the ground and the lakes are still frozen. The Pic River Inn is much nicer than the 2 other dumps that I checked out. 50$ is a bit over my budget, tho. So near Marathon, ON is where I'm staying tonight.
Saturday, May 4th 2002 (165 345 km)
I got up this morning to a crisp blue sky. I slept well at this silent motel. A pretty, but uneventful drive begins. The local gas attendant tells me that a big accident occurred last night. Lo and behold, I drive next to a bunch of men piling plywood sheets on the side of the road. I like driving in the hills. There's no traffic and Max's Mexico Mix is blasting. All around Lake Superior is fishing country. There are bait shops everywhere. One even sells dry ice, but I can't figure out why you'd need dry ice to go fishing. There are also a few mining communities around. You can dig your own ametisth at this place. After a quick visit in Thunder Bay, I hit a boring patch in the deep woods. It's a flat and ugly scenery. Somewhere around here, I drive past the middle of Canada. Finally, I get out of the woods and onto the prairies. Welcome to Manitoba. I drove through Winipeg just for fun. A few kilometers after getting out of town, I spot a deserted camp ground (Portage Campground). It's not as cold here so I decide to risk it. Made a small campfire and cooked some pasta on the coleman. Drank a few brewskies and read the Globe. I decide to put a tarp over the tent just in case. No shower because the pipes are still frozen. Camp site is next to Assiniboine River.
Sunday, May 5th 2002 (166 405 km)
So it decided to snow last night. Tempatures plummeted from +5 to '2. That's '10 with the windchill. Thankfully, I brought my little electrical heater that I plugged in the camping outlet next to my tent. I would have frozen solid if it weren't for it. Not in the best of moods, I pack up my equipment (not very efficiently) and hit the ugly road. There are a few inches of snow and I have my summer tires on. Don't these people have plows? I see my first actual prairy tumble weed. Many more follow. The fields and farming equipment are cool for the first 10 minutes. They then become part of the banal scenery. The farm diversity brings mild attention ' cattle, sheep, horse, buffalo. A hawk seems to be eating a crow in mid-air. Other attractions to note are the oil rigs and a huge Ukranian egg called a Pysanka. I finally get to Edmonton. I'm not in the mood to be freezing tonight, but I don't want to spend too much so I try the Hostel. 25$ for a 2 person room. Drove through Regina and Saskatoon. There are trucks and suvees everywhere.
Monday, May 6th 2002 (167 722 km)
Woke up to the sound of the top bunk bed snoring. Twas a short, but solid snooze. Pack up and head out in search of food. Whyte St. seems to have a bunch of neat stores, but this is more of an evening place. Go visit the legislature, metro, bay/eaton underground mall and the pyramids. I head out to West Edmonton Mall to meet my sister. This place is enormous. Took me 2 hours to cover one floor. Stayed at Fantasy Hotel in the mall. www.assembly.ab.ca www.gov.edmonton.ab.ca/muttart
Tuesday, May 7th 2002 (167 818 km)
I'm a bit sad today because I'm missing Rachelle's birthday. Since Christine decided to stay another week with me, I'll stay in Edmonton one more day until Cindy leaves. The girls spend all day (again) shopping in the mall. What-ever! I fill my day by surfing the web at a public library. Sights and sounds at the space and science museum (planetarium ' Alberta skies; Imax ' caves). Find a cheaper hotel. Westedmontonmall.com
Wednesday, May 8th 2002 (167 942 km)
Got up at 3 this morning to go drive Cindy to the airport. We went to the wrong one (municipal). The international airport was at the other end (south) of the city. This added an extra hour to our drive. Went back to sleep. Got up late and were on the road after groceries. My first sight of the rockies was from a distance through some snow clouds, but they still managed to impress me. There was a bunch of mountain goats that greeted us to the entrance of Jaster Nat. parc. They wouldn't get out of the way. One almost attempted suicide in front of me. I was unfortunately going too slow. I quickly used up a roll of film. Along the way, we also saw tons of elk, 2 black bears, and a few deer. We stopped in Valemount BC to see a friend. I ate a delicious caribou steak at a nice restaurant. Drove through Kamloops to finish the day at Meritt BC in a hotel.
Thursday, May 9th 2002 (168 845 km)
The small fridge allowed me to freeze my ice packs. We saw our first moose while we left Meritt. We stopped in the small town of Hope to catch up on some email. This region was beautiful. There was a lot of traffic driving into Vancouver. There were many avalanche areas so no stopping on the road. We conjured a few hypothesis on what 'runaway lanes' were. Got a little warm up with a 1.5 km hike to go see Bridal Vail falls. All the trees surrounding it were covered with a thick moss. Drove into Chinatown of Vancouver. Got to the Tourist center. Drove through Stanley park to get to the sea to sky highway in direction of Whistler. Stopped along the highway to admire the islands in the Pacific. Went for our second hike to look at Shannon falls ' bigger falls with bigger trees. Decided to camp near Squawmish. Nice sunset over the Pacific ocean. Klahanie campground is located in the shelter of the ocean winds and overlooks Shannon falls. Cooked a nice supper: potatoes, onions, and Buffalo hamburg. Mium.
Friday, May 10th 2002 (169 205 km)
I thankfully woke up to some clear skies and a bunny this morning. We drove to Whistler and on the way there stopped to se3e Brandywine falls. A high clear fall. Whistler and Blackcomb had nice peaks, but stank with money. Turned around and jumped on a ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo on Vancouver island 90 minutes later. On our way to the Tofino region, we passed another black bear and a rackoon before stopping a the Cathedral Grove. This was the location of the 3rd highest tree in Canada. 76m high, 3m diameter, and 9m circumference. It was an 800 year old Douglas-Fir. Continuing on our way, there was much clear-cutting (sadly). The road to Ucluelet was small, narrow, whinding with sharp tuns for 80 km. Just the thing for Max. Went for a run in the Wild Pacific Trail along the coast line. Found a nice B&B in Ucluelet for 50$.
Saturday, May 11th 2002 (169 582 km)
Got up and left for the Pacific Rim national park at 15 minutes from our B&B. We first visited a temperate rain forest which had huge cedar trees. The forest reminded me of the tropical rain forests in Costa Rica. Especially the skunk cabbage. We then went to Long Beach which was huge. I was a couple of hundred meters of sand from the trees to the water and 4 to 5 km wide. There was a class of surfers. They must have frozen their asses off even with a wetsuit. Went to Radar Hill view point (raider). Got to the small fishing village of Tofino and found that it was quite charming. We ate some clam chowder and Ahi Tuna steak with fresh dill which was quite tasty. The local bakery satisfied our sweet tooth with some Tofino bars (like Nanaimo bars) and cinnamon bun with sunflower seed. We bought small souvenirs and headed back towards Victoria. On our way out of Tofino, I stopped at the local fishshop to satisfy my original seafood craving and bought a crab. Stopped at Duncan, BC for a few pictures with the world's largest totem in diameter and with the world's largest hockey stick (made from a Douglas Fir tree for the 86 expo, it's 40 times life size measuring 3'X4'X205' and weighing 61 000 pounds). Found a little campsite called Thetis Lake just outside of Victoria and setup shop for the night. Ate my little crab, but since it was steamed, it was kinda fad.
Sunday, May 12th 2002 (169 971 km)
Camping without an air-tight tarp was so much better. We left the heater on all night which kept us warm and no condensation formed on the tent walls. A quick big breakfast permitted us to roll by 8:30. Got to Victoria and snapped pictures of the parliament, Thunderbird park, and Beacon Hill park ' the location of the world's highest totem (127'6' in 1956). While heading out of town, we stopped at the beach during low tide and saw little crabs, sea anemones, and other creatures among the seaweed and rocks. Before taking the Swartz Bay ferry, we decided to stop and see Butchart Gardens, but bailed out when we saw that it would cost 33$ for us to get in. Not for a garden. The ferry took us to Tsawwassen. It was a nice scenery during the ride. It was cool to see the currents between the islands create almost white water conditions. I don't know who lives on these islands, but their lives mustn't be cheap. Get to Vancouver and find Vij's Indian restaurant on 11th ave, but see it's closed. We instead go to a Sushi bar and stuff our face of good sushi for 25$ for both of us. A quick drive around Stanley park before leaving. There are a ton of people! Sunday picnickers, I guess. There's a game of cricket going on. The hollow tree is cool. Take highway 1 instead of 5 . Nice picture of Tompson river which merges with Fraser downstream. Long, creepy, errie drive through Cache Creek. Looks like Arizona. Find cheap motel in Kamloops called Sage Bush for 57$.
Monday, May 13th 2002 (170 522 km)
Slept 11 hours strait. I haven't done that in a while. You know that the vacation is working when you loose track of time. Packed up and left for Jasper. Don't blink or you'll miss Avola. Yellow fields of dandy lion. Roads are blood stained from road kill. Stopped at Mount Robson for a second time because this time we could actually see it. (3954 m). Get to Jasper to the familiar sight of Old Man Mountain and take a quick bite after buying a bus ticket for Christine. Her plane leaves tomorrow morning at 6 AM. To kill a bit of time we do a bit more turbo tourism and go see: Jasper Parc Lodge, Maligne Canyon, Bighorn Sheep and Edith Lake. Christine jumped on the bus at 7. Dropped off some postcards and caught up my email at the local public library. Then I catch up on Lonely planet reading to figure out a short term tourism plan. But first, where am I going to sleep tonight. I choose Whistler campground over a nearby hostel. I hope I made the right decision. I hear all kinds of creeking and cracling outside my tent. There was shit everywhere on my campsite. I hope it's not bear shit ' it's too big to be from a squirrel.
Tuesday, May 14th 2002 (171 019 km)
'-Is this the man? - Why no, sir. You ah' da man.' This small humorous quote on the local radio helped spin this crappy morning around. Got up around 7 and saw 4 elks just outside my tent. I could of packed up and gone then when there was no wind and no rain, but noooo. A half hour later, the wind rips my tarp and the rain is coming in the tent sideways. Guess what? It's time to leave. Drive back into town to figure out what there is to do on a rainy day around here. I overhear the Miette Hot Springs and it sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately, it looked more like a glorified outdoor heated pool. There are no mentions of the springs(?). It's still nice to go swimming while it's snowing. The head gets cold while the rest of your body is burning up. Take off for the south and pass in front of 'Fairy Dog Mother'. Too much clouds for Jasper tramway. Nice bungalos at Pyramid Lake even if it's still frozen. Saw coyote. There was quite a lot of snow at Peyoh lake. If you didn't stick to the trail, you'd sink to your hip in the snow. Some sweedish dude was camping on top of the snow. Crazy Sweedish. Lake makes for a nice hike. Crowfoot glacier looks nice from the highway. 'Moving mountains' is just another expression until you're standing next to one. Don't drive too fast b/c it's dangerous (pic). Drove to Calgary to go see Luc (university buddy). Crash at his place after catching up at the local pub with a few beers.
Wednesday, May 15th 2002 (171 634 km)
Luc has a very nice home with all the good-looking gadgets, but unfortunately not very far from the city dump. Baja, the 4mo old female golden lab is quite cute. Went for a guided tour of Canada Olympic Park and froze my ass off in the +3 up in that windy tower. Caught up my email at the library and did a few arrons. Spent a quiet evening in front of the TV. Went to bed early cause I was told I'd be getting up at 5. Put my camping equipment in thee garage overnight to dry.
Thursday, May 16th 2002 (171 720 km)
Got up at 6 (waay too early). The farewells are short since nobody is awake yet. I head off for Banff and tour the sights of the city. See prairy dog, coyote, and nice flowers. This is where people with too much money come to retire. I head to Sulphur mountain gondola. Rises 700m in 8 min to an elev. 2285m. Nice view of mountains with their tops in the clouds. Everybody here is either asian, Indian or a senior. I then go to cave and basin national historic site ' the birthplace of Banff. A stinky (old eggs) hot spring which hasn't been transformed into a whirlpool but a museum. Driving through the Kootenays is very beautiful. There are many falls with clear greenish water. Drove south towards cranville and then east towards Waterton. On my way to Waterton, I come across this field which is filled with windmills. Makes me happy that there are some in Canada. Deer may look like they're hopping lightly, but they make a huge thump when they land. This place is beautiful. Maybe because there aren't as many tourists. I find a campsite next to a big mountain and a lake in between. It's a bit cold, but it's not raining. I try a different setup for my tent. Hopefully this will do. I think I pitched my tent on a pile of deer shit. I'm too fucking tired to care much, tho.
Friday, May 17th 2002 (172 443 km)
What a marvelous morning! Tempature rises from '3 to +10 in an hour. I won't wait till the rain comes to pack up this time. Pack while it's nice. Fucking stoopid bird (cross between a crow and a seagull) tries to grab my cereal in flight. A rock wistles by its head. Skipped a few flat rocks on the lake before leaving. Went to write on stone park to see the hoodoos and Indian carvings in sandstone. Pear cactus here and there. I'm tired of driving and visiting. That's it, I'm going home. See the salt hills just before leaving Regina. I forget about going to Dinosaur valley. Grab a small cheap hotel few hours past regina.
Saturday, May 18th 2002 (173 522 km)
4 Moose. This fence is quite the collection of tumbleweed. 'If you look out your window and all you see is white sheep, then you know it snowed.' Eoliennes on landfill.
Sunday, May 19th 2002 (176 100 km)
the end http://www.hostels.com/hostels http://www.parkscanada.pch.gc.ca http://www.camping.ab.ca http://www.travelalberta.com Try to stay off the trans-canada highway from roughly Calgary until just before you hit the Ontario border - you'll see more of Canada's character in the smaller towns, and it's definitely safer! The Fraser River and Thompson River Canyons from Hope north to Kamloops (this is on the Trans Canada Highway #1, NOT the Coquihalla Highway #5). 1) Maligne Lake, which is the largest and deepest glacier-fed lake in the park. It's a super-scenic drive out, and when you get there you can hike, canoe, trail ride up to a superb vantage point, or take a narrated power boat cruise out to Spirit Island. On the drive out to Maligne Lake, be sure to stop at Maligne Canyon and Medicine Lake. 2) Mt. Edith Cavell, one of the highest mountains in the area from which Angel Glacier "hangs." Be sure to do the short walk to Angel Glacier. There's also another popular longer hike here through sub-alpine meadows to an impressive viewpoint. 3) Pyramid and Patricia Lakes: scenic lakes where you have a good chance of seeing a bear. 4) Miette Hotsprings, hottest natural springs in the Rockies. The one- hour drive up is also very scenic and there is an excellent but fairly strenuous hike from here to a point overlooking 3 valleys. 5) Jasper Tramway: gondola ride up to 2,500 metres for a look at the area and optional hike into the alpine eco-region. 6) Jasper Park Lodge: one of CP Hotels' most luxurious resorts. This one sits on 1,000 acres with an internationally-renowned golf course if you're interested in that sort of thing. The public is welcome to nose around. On the way from Jasper to Banff, don't miss the Columbia Icefields where you can hike to the toe of the Athabasca Glacier and, if you're so inclined board a SnoCoach and drive right onto the glacier. If sitting on a bus doesn't do it for you, I highly recommend the "Ice Walk," a guided 3 to 5-hour hike on the glacier. Between the Columbia Icefields and Banff is Lake Louise, a bit overrun with tourists sometimes, but don't miss: 1) Lake Louise itself with glorious Victoria Glacier in the background and another famed CP Hotel, the Chateau Lake Louise in the foreground. From here there are two hikes up to historic mountain teahouses. 2) Moraine Lake: gorgeous acquamarine-colored lake surrounded by 10 snow-covered peaks. This is the trailhead of my favorite hike in the Rockies for spectacular scenery, Larch Valley. 3) The Lake Louise Gondola is my favorite gondola of the 3 gondolas in Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff. Views across the valley are stupendous. Banff: When you get to Banff, don't be put off by the crowds on Banff Ave., the main street. It's easy to get away from them. There are lots of pleasant walks right within the town. Scenic drives here include: 1) Tunnel Mountain: great views plus the hoodoos - weirdly-sculptured natural sandstone pillars 2) Lake Minnewanka: Largest lake in Banff Park. Hiking here, fishing, and a power boat cruise (but the one at Maligne Lake in Jasper is preferable). Bankhead, the remains of the old mining town is an interesting sidetrip on the way. 3) The Cave and Basin in Banff is where it all started - with three bumbling railroad workers stumbling on the hotsprings, catapaulting Banff into the tourist arena. Here you'll find displays, a film, interpretive walks, guided tours and longer hikes. 4) Luxton Museum: Best museum in Banff and one of the few in Western Canada dedicated to the lost culture of the native Indians. Well worth a visit. More museums? Check out the Banff Park Museum (stuffed and mounted animals - but at least you're guaranteed a grizzly-bear sighting), and the Whyte Museum of the Rockies, featuring art and photography exhibits with a man and the mountains theme, as well as permanent displays highlighting the last 100 years of Banff's history. 5) Another CP Hotel- the Banff Springs. This landmark hotel is the oldest of the bunch. I recommend taking the guided tour which really helps you understand and appreciate the place the Banff Springs held in Banff's development. 6) If you haven't managed a dip in the hot springs yet or a gondola ride up a mountain, you can do both of these in Banff (at the Upper Hotsprings and on the Sulphur Mountain Gondola). You may have noticed I've mentioned hiking a lot. Even if you only do a couple of hikes/walks while you're in the Rockies, I'm sure they will be some of the most treasured memories you'll take back with you. I also have information on accommodation and restaurants as well as lots more in-depth info on the sights and hikes as well as other activities such as cycling, backpacking, rafting, birdwatching, fishing, and trail riding. --------------Vancouver things to see (not in any particular order): -Stanley Park -Canada Place & all the cruise ships coming and going -Chinatown -Granville Island (a wonderful collection of restaurants, shops, markets...really neat!) - Gastown (old Vancouver - just down the street from Canada Place) Accomodations. Depends on budget. You won't find a hotel for much less than $125...downtown you can add half again or double it. I have this bookmarked: http://www.tourism-vancouver.org/docs/about-new/v_van.html It's a pretty good guide to the city (I've been there dozens of times for work and leisure so it's getting hard for me to think of what's good to see - the above list are the 'must see' things.
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