YAY !!! Covid restrictions have eased and we both have our vaccines. Finally, we can start our journey back across Canada to see our daughters, Rachel & Caitlin, along with other family and many friends and colleagues that we haven’t seen since 2018.
We got an early start on Monday July 26 with an 8:45 ferry booking to the mainland, but we arrived early and got on the 7:45 sailing. Good start!
With 200+ fires burning in BC our plan is to ‘book it’ across the Rockies and out of the smoke. No matter the route planned, according to Drive BC, we will encounter smoke. Game day decision we choose to take Hwy 5 (the Coquihalla) to Kamloops and see where we end up for the night The Coquihalla has one of the longest mountain passes in km., but our Portage conquers it without a hiccup. Shortly after the descent we encounter the first bit of heavy smoke and actually can see flames on a ridge above the hwy.. Arriving at Kamloops we were too early in the day to stop, and it was smoky, so we drove on.
We encounter an eerie scene where fires are burning nearby and encroaching on a very old and beautiful log built resort – it’s been evacuated and crews seem to be in place trying to save it. I sure hope they can.
On the Trans-Canada hwy. we drove along the beautiful Shuswap lake and finally stopped at a pullout in Revelstoke for the night – along with other campers and many truckers. It was a noisy night.
Up early and on the road at 6:30. Today the exciting drive through the Rockies and a spectacular one. Gorgeous scenery around every bend as we went up and down valleys and mountain passes, although smoky skies obscured views. We drove through three National parks areas, Revelstoke, Glacier and Yoho National Parks and we will definitely return. We also drove over three of the highest mountain passes in the Rockies which have slow and steady climb to the summit and long runs down, so the drive is very manageable – except at Golden where some major Hwy realignment is taking place and there is a very sharp uphill and drive along the top of a steep gorge for a while. Near Lake Louise we head North toward Jasper with no set plan for the night. We seem finally to be leaving the smoke behind us. This part of the trip was ear-marked for some sightseeing, so we stopped for a couple short but very scenic hikes. Sunwapta Falls and Athabaskan Falls – we had already taken in the Columbia Ice fields on a previous trip. Feeling tired, we decide to skip the tourist stuff in Jasper. We drove a little out of town and stopped for the night at Snaring Campground $24.85 for a night – free wood. When we left in the morning we discovered tons of pull-outs and rest areas that allow overnights just down the road.
The campground was quiet last night and the air cooler, we slept well. Up early and on the road at 6:30 we find much less traffic so it makes for a good start to our days drive. From Jasper it doesn’t take long before the mountains turn to hills, then flatlands. We are now driving on Hwy 16 (Yellowhead Hwy) which we will take all the way to Winnipeg before getting re-acquainted with the Trans-Can. We stopped for a picnic lunch just past Edmonton at a National Park called Elk Island which is home to two types of Buffalo herds. Great spot with trails, camping, and a lot of people with kayaks and SUPS, but $$ to get in. We had bought a yearly National Parks pass in Jasper, so we were good to go. Hwy 16 is in decent shape and much less truck traffic than Hwy 1. We make good time and try to get as far as possible before stopping for the night in North Battleford. We were heading for the casino, but in trying to do a u-turn we discovered a museum where an RV was parked. They said we could also stay the night.
In the morning before leaving we did some TaiChi which was invigorating and helped to get ready for a long day of driving.