Jasper National Park

 Jeff plotted a days activities to the west of Jasper. Had a look at the Beaver boardwalk near Hinton. Locals had undertaken a sterling effort boardwalking some 3km over a water meadow near a lake. We did not see any beavers ( they are nocturnal) but were impressed with their dam.

Next stop was the Mt Solomon 13km hike. Was heart beating 5km climb but enjoyed the views from the top....smoky horizon notwithstanding.

Beaver boardwalk

Road into Mt Solomon trail

Track up to Mt Solomon

View of Lake Brule

A seat at the top ....excellent.

Chipmunk, very cute. We all remember Alvin and the chipmunks as children

Map showing various section ...anti clockwise was the best option and back the same way.

 We decided we deserved dinner at the Folding Mt restuarant beside East Jasper cabins where we were staying. Was very entertaining people and dog watching outside in the warm sun. 

Today was the drive through Jasper National Park from Jasper to Lake Louise turnoff. 233km that took 3 to 4 hours. The road is tolled $21.50 CAD to drive through.

Athabasca Falls

There were amazing views along a section called Columbia Icefields. Hanging glaciers, impressive slabs of granite, really spectacular.

Colombia Icefield

There are plenty of pull over areas usually with toilets and rubbish dumpster. Was not too crowded. Many waterfalls also. Stopped for a break at Saskatchewan crossing - turnoff left to go to Edmonton. We carried on 75km and turn left before Lake Louise and took Highway 1 to Revelstoke our overnight accommodation. Although Lake Louise is famous given it is a weekend and summer holidays we decided to forgo as it would be heaving. We will be coming from Calgary in a couple of weeks on a Monday and will stop in then.

Revelstoke is a nice old town with the railways a feature.

Opposite where we are staying...the old courthouse

Trains have multiple engines hauling rolling stock hundreds of km.

Main Street Revelstoke.

Tomorrow we head for Nelson, British Columbia (we had to really) we will be crossing a lake a couple of times on a car ferry on the journey.

Prince Rupert to Jasper

We left Prince Rupert township on the Yellowhead Highway towards Jasper some 1,150 kms 12hrs driving away. 

Had a look at Port Edward just down the road which has the historic Nth Canadian Cannery as a ghostly reminder of more prosperous times.

Closed down in the 60's but all the machinery, factory, houses and barracks remain. Some 200 staff lived there from 1900. Wooden buildings with huge wharf area where millions of salmon processed and canned. Mostly Japanese, Chinese and few locals lived there May to October each year.

Were just one hour from Smithers, our accommodation for the night, when a road accident closed the road for four hours. Got to meet other travellers, fishermen and truckies on the road side as we wiled away the time. Made it into Smithers with 1/2 an hour to spare before last dining option closed...a hot tip from another roadside traveller.

Smithers is a nordic/cross country skiing centre. Many trails through the forests and the  "downtown" area lots of alps type establishments. Stayed the next day and ticked off the town river walk, crater lake hike and twin falls. Folks are very patriotic with Canadian flags on many homes, businesses and even little flags put on your dinner.

Smithers to Prince George was uneventful and the town of Prince George even more so where we stayed. We took a long walk to a dinner option we had been recommended and as Jeff said saw the underbelly. As cannabis is legal and sold in shops we saw a girl cross in front of us carrying her groceries and a cannabis plant!!!

No real Main Street as big box establishments scattered about. Prince George town 80,000 people and like many towns thus far in Northern British Columbia geared to services for trucks, machinery, big rigs, engineering.  Off the highway are huge portocom establishments that hundreds of chaps live in while working in logging or the gas/oil pipelines. Canadian govt decided to use their own resources eg gas and oil rather than import. NZ could take notice. Also a lot of fly in fly out here similar to Australia.  Work in the oil sands area for four weeks then get flown back home for 10 days or so.

Have not been able to see much in the distance due to the smoky skies from the fires many kms away. Left Prince George and rained all the way to Jasper. This should help with air quality but not any views.

On the way to Jasper stopped in at "the ancient forest". Remaining hectares of Western Red Cedar (thuja plicata) that are over >1,000 years old. The one I am standing beside is >5m at the base. The area has been boardwalked to save the swallow roots of these old trees. Seemingly the "Forest Service" were logging these giants and incredulously burning then up until 1990's then saw the error of their way.

We opted to stay in East Jasper 35 minutes away from Jasper township. Like all resort towns accommodation is pricey and staying 35 minutes down the road reduces cost considerably.

Our cute cabin with wee squirt Toyota

A glimpse of the Rockies, massive piles of bare faced stone. 

Jeff is finding driving on the otherside of the roads easy. Very wide roads generally, no Whangamoa windy roads at all. Huge rigs, RV's and Dodge Ram vehicles need the space.

Speed limit 100km phr or 70km phr if "wildlife" roaming. We have seen black bears, moose, deer. 

This morning was a visit into Jasper. Felt like Wanaka or Queenstown. We visited the laundrette which was on an industrial scale.

Includes a barrista where we had our first decent coffees since arrival in Canada.

We were appalled to find the town boasted two cannabis stores but no bookstore!!!No hope for civilisation. Canadian govt considering making cocaine, fentanyl legal in addition to cannabis I kid you not.

Having bought some of our picnic set from home, purchased a small chilly bin we are setup for breakfasts and make lunches.  We love our fresh fruit and greek yoghurt whereas de rigueur here is waffles slathered in maple syrup with muffins for breakfast. Also de rigueur is hamburgers and fries, every iteration thereof. Even something called poutine - layers of french fries with gravy and cheese. No wonder the populous are so obese.

We manage to dodge our way around said hamburgers and poutine with Caesar salads and pasta variations if dining out or cook ourselves in cabins. 

Jasper National Park has many hiking trails. This afternoon was the Maligne which was a doddle. We felt underdressed as other hikers looked set to walk to the Antarctic such was the volume and fashion of clothing, boots etc.

Stopped raining and blue sky day forecast for tomorrow. Hopeful of clear views.

Vancouver Island

 The airport on Vancouver Island is north from the main city of Victoria. We went straight to an area called Sidney and spent two days of acclimatisation. Temps in the mid 30C. Surrounded by water, a popular holiday destination with "crabbing" off the pier a popular pastime. Sidney is handy to Butchart Gardens.

We saw an otter frolicking in the water in front of the fountain 

The gardens were started in 1920 in what was a disused quarry. Mrs Butchart diligently converted 55 acres into these famous gardens. Today they have 50 gardeners and thousands of visitors. We admired the efforts but too immaculate for us, our preference being Westonbirt in the UK.

After the gardens called into the butterfly gardens nearby.  

Was incredibly hot, humid in the enclosure but the insects and reptiles flourished. 

A local beach barely used, water was dead flat with some weed. Timber floats up everywhere.

Was quite taken with this expressive sculpture in the main street of Sidney.

We left Sidney and took the inland road to Ucluelet on the south coast of VI. Incredibly it was unsealed for 2 hours, think the Molesworth. Landscape is thousands of hectares of Sitka Spruce, Douglas Fir and the obsequious Sycamore.  Whereas in NZ rural road signs show "wandering stock" being cattle here the pictures are "elk next 65km" or a sign of a logging truck. The island is sustained by logging and fishing - halibut, black cod and salmon in the abundant surrounding sea.

Quite interesting style of house construction

This was called Japan harbour. In 1910 or so 40 Japanese family set up homes and a fishing port becoming part of the community. In 1942 the Govt gave them  one day to leave with one bag and confiscated their boats and homes. The locals were appalled but the govt said they were a threat to the country ala bombing of Pearl Harbour.

Drove on to Campbell River, another fishing town in the north. They drive mammoth vehicles here, Dodge Rams etc. Usually a huge slab of a man fills the drivers seat. Long grey beards are favoured - think ZZ top musicians sans guitars. Very loud and obesity an epidemic. " Don't look Ethel!!" as the song goes.

this mammoth vehicle with a 6.6litre engine just makes our wee squirt Corolla rental seem funny.  A lot of the 4 x 4 are 5.7litre and one wonders how they manoeuvre them, massive.

Were favoured with spotting an eagle at Campbell River.

Next stop was Port Hardy at the Western tip of VI to get the ferry to Prince Rupert on the Mainland the following day. Stayed in this cute cabin at Port Hardy. Next day 5am at the terminal as required. Ferry finally left at 8am for the 16hour journey. 

Wee squirt Corolla

The journey on the Inland Passage

Lanscape all conifers with barely any civilisation other than Bella Bella which exists for logging and fishing. The water seemed to be teaming with fish and a big plus of the trip was seeing several whales both Humpback and Killers.

We passed a barge being towed called the Arctic Titan which leaves Seattle via the Inland Passage to Alaska.  Goes at 10knots loaded with construction material, groceries, household goods and vehicles. Must take days and mind numbing for the tug master.

We thought of friends Pete and Jennie who barged in the Marlborough Sounds.

Arrived in Prince Rupert well after midnight, found our lodgings and crashed. Town is similar to Port Hardy being terminal towns, very low social economic.  Vagrants a common sight going through bins. Fish used to be canned, processed but not anymore so many large empty buildings. We note food prices similar to NZ, fuel roughly NZ$2.20 per litre. Canada also struggling with inflation and issues with Canucks (indigenous population).