Monday, May 26, 2014

Crossing into Canada!

After leaving Glacier, we drove to north Dickey lake campground. It is a national forest camp about 30 miles south of Canada.
Shelly keeping Sadie warm. Or maybe, Sadie keeping Shelly warm.
Dickey lake camp.
The camp overlooks the lake, and is only $10 per night. My kind of camp! Shelly is getting tired of me saying that. And that I don't like rv parks. It was raining when we set up, but quit soon after. The hosts, Fred and Jo Shauer, were very friendly. Shelly was gathering firewood, when they offered free firewood. I was getting to try out our canoe for the first time on this trip. The lake was calm, and was perfect for canoeing. We built a fire, and invited the hosts to join us. We visited with them until it started raining about 9 pm. We got to hear the loons calling. 
 We got to the Canadian border the next morning, and had no problems getting through. We drove to Edwards lake campground about four miles off hwy 93, and got set up on a grassy site near the lake.  
We enjoyed the day relaxing, and got to watch the loons and bald eagles. 
This one landed in a tree about 80 yards from our campsite.
Taking off!
What a sight! Having a good camera to shoot these pictures is nice. We sat by the fire again, and listened to the loons calling. At home, watching the bats leave the bathouse, Shelly says I am bat sh*t crazy, and now she says I am looney. I don't know if that is an improvement or not. 
Edwards lake in the morning
 We decided to only drive an hour toward Cranbrook, B.C. We need to wash clothes, and buy a few groceries. We found Horseshoe lake campground about 20 miles from Cranbrook. It backs up to a mountain range to the East, and overlooks a small lake.
The scenery is so good, after setting up camp, we decided to stay at least two nights. 
An osprey hovering over the lake. 
We drove to town and did chores. We got our first Canadian sticker shock buying gas. It is 1.39 per liter. I think that works out to just under $6.00 per gallon U. S. Ouch. Then there is the $26 for a 15 pack of beer. Another ouch. The campground is free, so it all evens out, especially considering we paid $40 for a night in an Rv park in Columbia Falls. This is much,much better. That is another funny word. Much. Much. We visited with Ray and Shannon, and sat by their fire until about 11:30.  Mick and Connie, and their daughter Connie, also sat by the fire that night. They are all from Cranbrook and super nice people! Ray told me of a trail that follows sunken creek, and took me to the base of the trail on his Polaris. He also loaned me his bear spray, which made me feel more secure in Grizzly country. As I said, super nice people! 
Sunken creek. There is not much perspective here, but the boulder is about 10 feet across. I was playing with the shutter speed on the camera to get the different effects.
I got to go wading to get to the log bridge.
 The first log bridge. 
The second log bridge
Yup, bear poop! I was a lot more cautious after seeing this. I was glad Ray loaned me his bear spray
I kept waiting to see this, but this was actually taken in Kootenay park from the truck. 
Ray had said he would be back in four hours to pick me up at the base of the trail, so I hiked 2&1/2 hours uphill, and I hiked back in about an hour and a half. 
 Shelly went back to Cranbrook while I hiked, and had pizza waiting for me when I got back. I think she was glad she didn't have to hike with me. We visited with everyone again until about 11:30. 
 We packed up and said goodbye to everyone, and drove through Kootenay National park, which is where Shelly pointed out the bear in the picture. The drive was scenic.
Our rig
Going into Kootenay park. 
We drove to Lake Louise, and found out all the Rv parks were closed because of all the snow this winter. We decided to stop at lake Louise camp. It was $32.30 which wasn't bad for an electric site. We drove to the village, and found wifi. We talked to Tyler on FaceTime, and chatted with Erica, who was at our house. We drove up to lake Louise and Moraine lake.
Moraine lake
Lots of snow here!
Lake Louise 
You can see the glacier on the mountain. 
 We left Lake Louise about 11:30 in the morning and ended up in Whistler campground near Jasper about 5. It was only about 150 miles, but the ice field parkway was amazing. We saw a black bear near the road, but it kept it's derrière toward me, so I couldn't get a good shot. The snow covered mountains and glacial lakes were everywhere. I had heard from everyone who had been here this was worth seeing. 
One of many stops
It describes itself!
A lakeside stop
Our Airstream by the lake
Athabasca falls
 We left Jasper, and headed west toward Prince George. We hiked a trail to the Overlander falls. 
It was sprinkling again. 
Shelly forgot to get the picture of the falls behind me.
This was the third black bear we saw, and the first that wasn't camera shy
He was curious about us, or maybe saw his reflection in the Airstream.
Shelly in the ancient forest
I had to say something goofy to get Shelly to laugh.
We stopped in Willow river campground. It is more of a wide spot in the woods, but secluded and free. The mosquitos have come out with a vengeance, so we played cards in the camper. 






























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