Kamloops, BC to Farmington (Dawson Creek), BC

30 June 2016 - Kamloops to Clearwater, BC

We began our adventure heading north on BC-5, paralleling the North Thompson River and railroad tracks. Ironically, this was the exact route we traveled on our Rocky Mountaineer train trip several years ago. The weather soon became cloudy with some rain, so not the best for picture taking. Our destination was the Dutch Lake Resort and RV Park in the small town of Clearwater, BC, at the junction of the Clearwater and North Thompson Rivers.

The day started sunny - North Thompson River north of Kamloops

We enjoyed a tasty lunch on the deck of the Painted Turtle restaurant overlooking Dutch Lake.

We revived our geocaching hobby, with several finds along three different trails, one near Dutch Lake, one on a bluff above the North Thompson river, and one in North Thompson River Provincial Park. At the provincial park, clouds of mosquitoes sent Barbara scurrying back to the car, while Tom signed the log and replaced the cache!

View from the deck over Dutch Lake, with Trophy Mountain, 8455 ft, in the background

Barbara replacing a cache after signing the log - this one had a hole drilled into a rock, with a bison tube hidden behind a plug, with the plug side of the rock facing down.

01 July 2016 – Clearwater BC to Tete Jaune Cache, BC

Tom drove from Dutch Lake to Tete Jaune Lodge & RV park on the Fraser River just west of the junction of BC-5 and CA-16. Easy drive but unfortunately, it was cloudy and overcast when we prepared to leave, and then sputtered rain the whole trip. We needed long pants for the first time in over a week. The campground was full of people celebrating Canada Day.

The RV park sits right on the banks of the Fraser River; it was too cloudy to see the surrounding mountains or appreciate the true color of the rapidly flowing river:

We had dinner at the park restaurant, but since it was cool and wet, we elected to eat indoors rather than take advantage of the view from the outside deck. Excellent buffet dinner that included desserts – we were stuffed!

The sun finally peeked out, but the mountains were still shrouded. Tom took Shelby for a walk to the nearby Tete Jaune Cache bridge and got this photo looking back at the BC-5 bridge over the river, which we had crossed earlier in the afternoon. Note the little tree establishing a foothold on the rock in river.

02 July 2016 – Tete Jaune Cache, BC to Grande Cache, AB

Barbara drove east from Tete Jaune on Hwy 16 along the Fraser River into the mountains. And mountains they are! Words are insufficient to describe these rugged, almost vertical slopes.

We could see the bottom 2/3 of Mt Robson with a hanging glacier on the upper right (click on picture to enlarge). The base of Mt. Robson (12,972 ft) fills the entire center of this picture.

 Emerald Ridge over Moose Lake was quite spectacular, with fresh green growth covering what look like slide areas.

We saw what looked like a large house perched up on a ridge in Jasper National Park; upon enlarging the photograph, we discovered it was the terminus of the Jasper Skytram to Whistlers Mountain. On a sunny day the views must be phenomenal!

The Athabasca River originates at the toe of the Athabasca Glacier in the Columbia Icefields in Jasper National Park. Flows 765 miles to Lake Athabasca. Eventually flows into the Peace River, the Great Slave Lake, and finally into the Mackenzie River system that empties into the Arctic Ocean.

As we descended toward the Athabasca River after passing Jasper, traffic was stopped in both directions, parked on both shoulders, with people crossing the road without regard for vehicles. A small herd of elk, with about 6 cows and a single velveted bull, were grazing between the river and the road, and folks were photographing them without regard for personal safety!

Again the mountains surrounding the Athabasca River valley awed us with their solid impenetrability. Note the dry cirques that used to contain hanging glaciers:

Just west of Talbot Lake traffic was again stopped by two bull elk with magnificent antlers in full velvet who were grazing right at the road’s edge. Here's one of them:

After failing to find the Flying J truck stop in Hinton that was indicated on our map, we pulled into what looked like the truck lanes at a Petro Canada station. Tom went inside to get instructions, and found that those lanes work only with the Petro-Pass cardlock card. Barbara pulled back around, and into a tight set of very busy pumps. Tom made another trip inside when the pump insisted on having a PIN for our credit card, even though it is chipped. The clerk insisted that credit cards require a PIN, something we've not encountered before or since. We were finally able to use our debit card, which did not require a PIN. Go figure! Turns out the Hinton Flying J is no more.

Alberta Highway 40 between Hinton and Grande Cache alternated between fairly good road and truly awful pavement: crumbled asphalt and a couple of rough dirt crossings where culverts were being replaced. We now have first hand knowledge of the need to slow way, way down when there's a little red diamond sign or www sign at the edge of the road! Both the driver and the passenger have to keep a sharp lookout, as failure to slow results in major jostling. Grande Cache Muni Campground was a nice surprise, with long pull-through sites completely separated by shrubbery hedges. Bear warning signs were posted, but we did not see any bears. Our vehicles were in sorry shape after all the rain and mud of the past few days, so Tom took the time to wash them. After dinner, we hunted for the geocache at the park entrance, which Barbara had failed to find while Tom was vehicle washing. He found it in short order!

03 July 2016 – Grand Cache, AB to Farmington (Dawson Creek), BC

Just north of Grande Cache, we encountered a large coal mining operation that was dismantling the hillside above the Smokey River. Their sign claims that they are environmentally conscientious – who knows? 

All along AB-40 were signs of oil drilling; we were passed by many large tanker trucks that apparently service the collection pads that line the road. Lots of mud!

As we descended into the valley around Grand Prairie, beautiful bright yellow fields of rapeseed appeared. This seed is the source of canola oil – we figure that the term canola was created because marketing rapeseed oil might be a challenge! Rapeseed is a brassica, the family of plants including cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, horseradish, and many others.

We stopped for a quick lunch of left over pizza in the parking lot of the Beaverlodge Area Cultural Center, which is marked by a 15-foot tall beaver perched on a 19-foot log. This sculpture was installed in 2004 in hopes of encouraging travelers on AB-43 to stop in town. Unfortunately for them, we didn't spend any money here!

We were surprised to see herds of Elk enclosed in high fences along the way - in one field, about 20 bull elk were resting in the grass, with their magnificent antlers looking like a strange sculpture. A quick web search revealed the Alberta has a number of elk ranches, and that elk is a popular meat in the area. We went by too fast for Barbara to get a picture - Tom is much better at quick snaps!

We arrived at Farmington Golf Course and RV Park in mid-afternoon in sunshine with scattered clouds and no rain! Our stay in Dawson Creek/Farmington will be covered in our next posting.

Preparations for and travels before our Alaskan Trip - 2016

After spending the winter in Bothell, WA at the Lake Pleasant RV Park, we had appointments to have our motor home serviced in Oregon the first week in June. The coach work was to be done in Junction City and the motor and generator just up the road on the northeast side of Eugene, OR. Originally we had planned on staying in Bothell until the end of May before moving down to Oregon the week before our appointments in order to spend some time with Barbara's two sisters in Stayton. As usual, plans got changed. During the winter, we got to know and made friends with some good people at the Lynnwood Elks, including fellow Seahawks fans, golfers and a camping group. We joined the latter and went on several camp outs (what we call rallies) with them. Since one of these camp outs was to be held in Prosser, WA (east of the Cascades in the Yakima Valley) starting on 19 May, we thought that rather than come back to Bothell, spend a week, then turn around and travel back south to Oregon, we would instead spend some time in WA wine country and in the Cascades of northern OR. Again, plans changed when we looked at the weather forecast (cold!!) for the Memorial Day weekend in the mountains near John Day so we took a short detour to Walla Walla, WA before heading over to the Willamette Valley.

After saying our goodbyes to our camping group in Prosser, we spent part of one day and the night at one of our favorite wineries, Kiona vineyards in Benton City, WA before moving down to Kennewick for a night at the Tricity Elks.

Sunset over the Rattlesnake Hills - view from Kiona Vineyards, Benton City, WA

Mt Adams at sunset - view from Kiona Vineyards, Benton City, WA

While in Kennewick, we made contact with our good friends and fellow NKK members, Mike Carol Lowry and had dinner with them. From there we moved further east to Walla Walla and stayed 3 nights at the Elks lodge there – more sight seeing and wine tasting.

Famous dog statue on the street corner in Walla Walla, WA

RV parking at the Walla Walla Elks Lodge 287 - six 30 amp hookups

Leaving Walla Walla our next destination was the Elks lodge in Keizer, OR just north of Salem. Our route took us along the Columbia River – a little windy but a nice day. 

Mt Hood - view from I-84 west bound along the Columbia Gorge

Sailboarding on the Columbia River

We spent a week in Keizer, visiting Barbara’s sisters in Stayton (about 20 minute drive), shopping in preparation for our Alaskan trip and wine tasting. As our foam mattress had lost its memory, we ordered a Sleep Number mattress, which we found had to be shipped to a physical address – Barbara's sister Nancy agreed to receive it for us, so instead of heading from Eugene to Bend, we returned to Keizer.

While in Junction City, we discovered two other Newmar Fulltimers getting their coaches serviced, so we had a good visit and the promised to see each other again at the International rally in Colorado. Also while there, Barbara’s sister Nancy her husband Carl drove down and we had lunch at one of the largest Oregon wineries, the King Estate winery south of Eugene. Wonderful experience! It was great to have one-on-one time with them, as we usually meet at big family events.

King Estates Vineyards & Winery near Eugene, OR - view from entry road

Our view at lunch at the King Estates Winery near Eugene, OR

Back in Keizer we installed our new mattress and experienced one of the best nights of sleep in a long, long while.

Keizer, OR Elks 2472 - front entrance - note RVs beyond - over 40 full hookups

Keizer OR Elks RV park - our motor home 3rd on left

Before we could officially start our journey north to Alaska, we had to fulfill our commitment to participate in the 3-day RV Owner’s Lifestyle Seminar at the Okanagan College in Kelowna, BC the last weekend in June. From Keizer, we took OR-22 and 20 to Suttle Lake, then east to US-97 and north to Moro, across the Columbia River and over to Yakima. From Yakima we continued on US-97 to the Wenatchee Confluence State Park, north to Omak and across the border and up to Kelowna. 

Suttle Lake at the Suttle Lake National Forest campground - note Mt Washington just behind the hill 

Entrance to the Yakima Elks and Golf Course - Lodge 318 - beautiful golf course

Yakima Elks Lodge 318 RV parking - 38 sites with 50 amp power & water and 18 hole golf course

Kittitas Valley east of the WA Cascades - view from I-82-W looking north just outside Ellensburg, WA

Wenatchee River flowing into the Columbia -  nice 8 mile loop trail crossing both rivers

Confluence State Park, Wenatchee, WA -  one of the nicest state parks that we have stayed in - although pricey at $53 for one night with all the added charges for reservations and out-of-state fees.

After we gave our two well-received 90 minute sessions in Kelowna, on June 27^th we drove to Kamloops for a two night stay. 

Kamview Hts. RV Campground - east of Kamloops - note it's uphill - OK park but some noise from the Trans Canada Highway and trains just below the park.

Leaving Kamloops on June 28, as we crossed the Thompson River on northbound BC-5 we felt that we were truly starting our Alaska adventure. Another blog entry will follow soon, depending on our access to the internet, so stay tuned. 

Shelby with Tom and Barbara

A Trip to the Top of the World - Mt. Evans Co 17 Jul 2013, plus a bit more

The day after our Rocky Mountain National Park drive, we got up early and headed south from our RV park on the 30 mile drive to the top of Mt. Evans, another 14'er that is accessible via the highest paved road in North America. We wanted an early start, as by about 11 am the clouds start to build up along the Front Range, and we wanted to see the views unobstructed by  clouds.

 This is the last hairpin turn before the parking lot near the summit of Mt. Evans. We were surprised that the entire summit is made up of tumbled boulders, rather than a smooth granite dome.

 These mountain goats were perched on the rocks right next to the parking area at the top of the road. They are really scruffy looking as they shed their winter coats.

 We hiked up the very rough, rocky trail to the top of Mt. Evans from the parking lot - only about 134 feet above the parking lot, but lots of switchbacks, and given that the final altitude is 14,264 feet, we were quite out of breath. This is the view to the northwest from the summit. The ridge visible at the mid-left is part of the trail up from Summit Lake, visible at the lower right.

Summit Lake sits on the north side of Mt. Evans. The trail from the parking lot is visible as a diagonal line from the lower right to upper left of the photo.

Here we are at the summit, with a tired Shelby. I'm not sure she liked the altitude any better than we did! It does feel like the top of the world, with 360 degree views all around.

Back down at the parking area, we again document our highest trip to date (I doubt we'll ever get any higher, given that we're not mountain climbers). This view is to the northeast, toward Denver.

 Just below the first hairpin turn on our way down the mountain, cars were stopped in both lanes of the road to view these mountain goat families. The adults are shedding hair like mad, but the kids look soft and fluffy.

 This is one of the turns on the wider part of the road down Mt. Evans (the narrower part doesn't have a center line). No guardrail, no shoulder, and a steep drop off made for very cautious driving! We were glad we'd gone up early, as by noon the summit was completely fogged in by monsoon clouds building on the front range.

After two days of driving mountain switchbacks, we decided to let the engineer do the driving on the Georgetown Loop Railroad - a narrow-gauge steam engine train that climbs from Devil's Gate in Georgetown (8615 feet) to Silver Plume, 2 miles up the canyon at 9178 feet. The railroad was originally built to bring ore down for processing, and was dismantled after the mining boom ended. It was rebuilt in the 1970's as a tourist attraction.

 On July 19th, we left Idaho Springs and headed farther west on I-70. Here were are winding our way through Glenwood Canyon. The Colorado River is full of red silt from the recent heavy rainstorms. Note how the eastbound lanes disappear under the elevated westbound lanes of the interstate - no room in the canyon for side by side roads!

 These twin tunnels are at the western end of Glenwood Canyon. See how much browner the river is down stream from a weir dam that seems to be trapping most of the red silt.

 We stayed one night at Grande River Vineyards, one of the Harvest Hosts that allow us to dry camp overnight - of course, it ended up being more expensive than a campground because we liked a number of their wines and bought several bottles.

We circled the lower parking area five or six times trying to find a level parking spot, and finally ended up at the bottom of the lot propped up on boards to get level - but it sure beats staying overnight at a truck stop!

Later this week I'll post another entry describing our stay in far western Colorado - Colorado National Monument and the Palisade Fruit and Wine Byway.

Circle Trip around Rocky Mountain National Park, 16 Jul 2013

It's been a long time since we posted to this blog - but after hours of frustration trying to post a Picasa web album, which is now apparently only a function of Google+, which I cannot figure out, I decided to post our photos of Western Colorado as a blog.

After a busy spring and early summer of motorhome rallies, Palmer reunion, and a 1-day RV service visit that turned into 11 days (another story!), we hastened to Idaho Springs, CO, about 30 miles west of Denver. At 8000 feet, it was a lot cooler and dryer than the hot, humid weather we'd been having since early June in Illinois. We did some walking along Clear Creek and geocaching around Idaho Springs, but the highlights of our 6 days in Idaho Springs were our loop trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, an early morning drive up to Mt. Evans, and the round-trip Georgetown Loop Railroad between Georgetown and Silver Plume, both old mining towns.

On July 16, we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park along the eastern side, with beautiful views of the mountains to the west.

This is a view of Long's Peak, one of Colorado's 14'ers at 14,259 feet. Several outfitters run trail rides along the margins of the national park

Once inside Rocky Mountain National Park, we drove up through the forest with numerous hairpin curves. This is a view back toward the east from the Rainbow Curve overlook, showing a few of the hairpins that the Trail Ridge Road, the only road connecting the east and west sides of the national park, makes as it climbs to a maximum altitude of 12,183 feet.

As we climbed higher and higher, we saw a number of cirques where glaciers used to be, but are no more.

When we got above the tree line, vast vistas opened up, The tundra was covered with wildflowers. Trail Ridge Road is closed from mid-October until Memorial Day - the sticks along the road are used to guide the snowplows when the road is being cleared in the spring. We call them "Yooper sticks" after the slender branches inserted along roadsides to guide snow plows in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

 These two elk were lounging in the tundra meadow close to the top of Trail Ridge Road.

 Poudre Lake is just to the east of the continental divide. It is the source of Cache la Poudre River, which flows east to join the South Platte River near Greeley, CO.

We crossed the continental divide at the west end of Poudre Lake, and just a couple of miles farther along Trail Ridge Rd we had a great view from the Farview Overlook toward the Kawuneeche Valley, with the source of the Colorado River among the Beaver Ponds. Notice the large proportion of trees that have been killed by the pine bark beetle. From here, the road winds its way down to the valley through numerous hairpin switchbacks

 We stopped for lunch at the Pine Beach Picnic Area on Shadow Mountain Lake, just outside the western entrance to the national park. We had a lovely view back toward Shadow Mountain to the east. Ospreys had a nest in one of the trees at the point of land in the center of the photos - we could hear them, but couldn't see them.

As we were eating our lunch, two white pelicans circled overhead and landed in the lake just a few yards in front of us. We were very surprised to see pelicans up here in the Rocky Mountains, but it turns out that the white pelicans migrate north during the summer from their wintering grounds on the Gulf of Mexico. White pelicans are quite a bit larger than the more common brown pelicans, and rather than diving for fish they scoop along the surface of the water for fish, frogs, and other small aquatic creatures.