Vancouver Island BC, Canada

Surf, Surf Surf – If I were to try surfing, I would come to Vancouver Island in the summer. 

 I have never seen so many surfers in thigh deep water riding waves, not like in California where you see tons of people out there, waiting and waiting and waiting for that perfect wave.  The two famous west coast beach towns, Tofino and Ucluelet, are full of surf lesson offerings and gear rental (it’s still the Pacific and wetsuits are a must if you’re not a penguin-Waikiki no wetsuits sounds better to me). These towns have a collection of tourist shops, libation centers and restaurants. 

Ucluelet has a beautiful two-mile easy hike, “Wild Pacific Trail,” that goes through lush cedar forest with so many beautiful lookouts to the crashing waves on rocky cliffs and islands.

It was my favorite thing we did while on Vancouver Island.  (Reminds me of the Hike near Trinidad Head Trail Loop in California ) 

Ucluelet is probably a bit more surf oriented than Tofino which seemed to be more whale watching oriented and to its east there are several smaller islands to explore.  

These are only reachable by boat or water taxi of which the town is full of offerings. 

The Pacific Rim National Park, Greenpoint Campground, lies between these two towns on this 24 mile peninsula which has an excellent paved multi-use bike trail for the entirety – no highway riding here, just smooth relatively flat pedaling unless you go down to one of the many beaches along the way. 

There are all kinds of beaches to stop and enjoy on this trail, but really no real libation stations or snack bars that I remember seeing. 

The beaches were very flat and perfect for getting in all those steps that old people like to do each day or even ride a bike.  The first campground I booked before the magic Pacific Rim National Park book date was a surfing campground and I wonder if our experience would be different if we had arrived here. Our Greenpoint Campground had beach access and we even watched the bioluminescent waves crash on the shore in the dark after we were clued in my Jimmy Sims the auto racer who we had met the night before at the Tofino brewery and then again when we wandered into them on the “Pacific Wild Trail.” No photos of this phenomenon but a really beautiful sunset instead. 

 The campground has excellent new facilities and is nestled in long thin evergreens making it almost dark in many areas, and we even had a primo site that sat on the bluff overlooking the Ocean. 

The Ucluelet Brewery is a renovated church and was quite nice I really liked the bitter orange lavender cider, but John has not found a dark that he liked even though there was a porter on tap. 

Butchart Gardens was busting with the blooms and beauty as and our 3 hour wandering was an incredibly beautiful day even though it started with a bit of some dark cloud action.  

The sun was out in the afternoon and the colors were brilliant and the so many different greens so varied on this Monday.

As I was looking at the aetherial fountains, it is here that I found out my Tante Cilli, my moms oldest and last living sister at 99 years of age had passed. Her single swirling stream joined by an array of others, was the 5 Rockel sisters finally excitedly joined together once again, and I found comfort in this.  

Victoria, the city that we have heard is so beautiful and finally our ferry ride would allow us to walk around the harbor area for a bit.  

Like all the Fairmonts in Jasper, Banff and Lake Louise, the Empress Hotel in Victoria is one of those grand places where you can have high tea. 

The Harbor area is bustling with yellow/black  checkered water taxis, seaplanes and whale watching tour boats and more flowers and a bagpiper playing America Beautiful, but not so crowded on this 9/11 afternoon.     

Qualicum Falls Campground and hike presented yet another impressive waterfall surrounded by fencing as the cliffs drop offs and many treacherous edges. 

On our way to there, we took in a short walk in the Cathedral Grove with its 800 year old growth forest carpeted with ferns and draping moss. 

very similar to the Hoh Rainforest In Olympic NP.

The drive on Route 4 west across Vancouver Island was beautiful, but slow. The road was in surprisingly bad shape with large dents and would definitely not do at night when you can see them. 

We took Sunday for the birds, that is the Eagles and went to the Canadian Brewhouse in the Uptown Outdoor Mall.  There were TV screens all over the place and luckily the birds eeked out a win, so Paddle Boy was in a good mood.  We stayed the night ant Goldstream Campground before doing the Gardens on our final day. 

When we arrived by ferry in Namaino there was no allure to the famous Vancouver Island. It was bustling with all the stores on the main thoroughfare including Costco like any other city outskirts.  Driving out it is much like Oregon and Washington with tall spruce trees.   Rathtrevor Beach, our first night campsite  had the very tall thin trees that made much of the campsites very dark, but the campground was quiet and had a great bike bath and ran along the bay.  We were able to ride bikes to the brewery on nice wide shoulders.  Unusual that we had very few people interactions here except coming across a black rabbit near our bikes. 

If you read until the bitter end here, you will be rewarded with this great tip I received from the Ferry personnel.  You can start parking your car/van as soon as the prior ferry departs.  Meaning you could park at around 330 pm and not have to be back to your car to meet the custom agent until 6pm.  A free place to park and wander around the harbor area for a few hours.  He volunteered that if you take the first ferry out in the morning, you could park the night before which would be handy for us.  One could go out and paint the town and come back to sleep where we do every night.   

Next time- Before going to ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay on BC mainland,  we stopped at a Park that had a dive air dispenser.  It may have been Lyons Park, but not sure.  The area was beautiful. 

Although Vancouver Island was beautiful the $150 ferry cost each way with Vinny, and the fact that the beauty was much like Oregon and Washington, and we are not surfer dudes, we will probably not return. I do envision taking the ferry from port Angeles to Victoria and doing a high tea at the Empress or taking a sailing day trip 

Also as a highly recommended venture was Salt Spring Island that is a ferry ride from Vancouver island.

I was reading through my blog and somehow the whole post got lost, so I am copying it from my documents and re-posting.  

Whistler,  British Columbia

Seaplane Glacier Tour – a first in such a flying machine for Vinny VanGo dwellers, and it was so awesome. 

We had seen the seaplanes  land and take-off from Green Lake on the first day bike ride and decided the $200 a person was well worth it. We were only in the air for about 40 minutes but it was a view like we’ve never experienced. 

I’ve tried to keep the video clips under a minute, but this one is 2 min but my words would do it  justice. I really need to do a whole slideshow on this one, but we are just too busy riding our bike all over on this fabulous Valley Trail system that connects so many places in Whistler. 

The 10 fellow passengers were witness to a topless show that had me ripping off my shirt because a yellow jacket from a nearby flower pot flew under my shirt and stung me on my shoulder about 2 minutes before we were to leave.  

Luckily,  I am cut a bit from the vintage that one gets dressed up when taking a flight, and I had suitable underwear/bustenhalter where it did not become R rated. 

Taking off and landing on water is so smooth, especially if you don’t crash into other types of water enthusiasts who are in the lake.

A new day a new experience that is the “360 Whistler Experience”, a 1.88 mile gondola ride, among the world’s longest that goes back and forth between Lodges at Blackcomb to Whistler Mountain. Towards the beginning, after you hit on support tower you can see the path of the gondola dip down (like entering warp speed) as you ascend to its bottom elevation screaming “Woooowww!” Finally it heads up to the next support tower. It is 1430 feet above the ground at its highest, and was the first gondola to connect two side by side mountains.

Also included in our “360 Experience”, was the Cloudraker suspension bridge that connects two rock peaks and is about 427 feet above the Whistler bowl at an elevation of 6562 feet. We had seen this on our seaplane ride.  

But first a hike down to a chair lift ride up from the Whistler Peak to the swaying steel Cloudraker. I was so surprised that John wanted to do this because he doesn’t like heights (remember, the Parkinson fear of heights is how we named our band “Treacherous Edges” after all) .   Kate’s  brother who works on tall buildings etc.  said you should never hold on to scaffolding or railings and just walk. 

This seemed to help, and he got across with minimal issues. When I got off, he was busy photographing other tourist couples so he didn’t seem to be to affected.

Before reaching those new heights, we had already accomplished a 6.9 mile hike to Decker Lake which started at the top of Blackcomb Mountain. 

It had incredible views of those on steroids Canadian Rockies.

John saw his first moose that he had been so wanting to see ~ just because it was in the backpack of the hiker in front of us ~ need to take what you can get.  

We were told they are more prevalent up north so since we are traveling south this most likely will be the only moose sightings. There was a bit of rock scrambling down to the lake, but at least there were no chains and stairs like Ha Ling.  

We have found that we need to add at least an hour onto whatever All Trails App says it’s going to take, but we got there and were happy to sit on that Peak to Peak Gondola for a bit.

When all was said and done,  it had been a 10 mile day according to the little heart app on my phone.  Luckily, I had pre-ordered the Mountain Buffet at the top of Whistler Mountain because we were starving, and for a buffet it was very good.  But first a beer at the mountain top bar that commands the view of the valley, and a musician was outside rocking it.  He even did “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” among many other of our favorites.  Here we met another Lisa, a local Whistler middle age teacher, with whom we enjoyed talking.  We joined her table as she was positioned close to the music, but not getting wind blown with the cool mountain winds that were outside for a beautiful sunset.

She told us that we must come to Merlin’s and see the Hairfarmers. Well technically they say they stop running the gondola at 8pm, but they said we are not allowed to sleep under the bar, so we were one of the last ones out, as the staff scurried around with cleanup.  We had been talking to Eric, the musician and before you knew it we were on the gondola with this lovely couple and discovering more about the Whistler Music Scene. Now we have a Spotify Playlist called “This is Whistler” with many of the local bands and musicians.   His band, Big Love, would be playing at a park in Whistler the next day.

Yes, we were securely back on the spreadsheet enjoying the famous Whistler BC tourist town. First, the bike trails are amazing, many paved, some gravel, and some well we need to push up and very carefully ride down.  The Riverside Campground is right on the fully paved Valley Trail and you can get to Whistler Village, or several lakes and parks without having to share the shoulder with speeding trucks and cars. 

Green Lake is beautiful, that’s how we discovered the Seaplane Ride in the first place and there is a Jack Nickalaus Golf course complete with 19th Hole overlooking the lake, and we needed a bit of settling in after the incredible flight.  In fact, I felt a bit queasy as we were approaching the landing, and one poor guy had to use the little white bag.  After a bit of foot planting on land and half a turkey club, we were ready to carry on with our bike ride.

Alta Lake is another one of the many Lakes on the Valley Bike Trail. Unfortunately, the Rainbow Park was closed for construction (you could actually see the machines working) and we had to simply turn around, but oh the peaceful mostly flat ride through nature. We decided to head toward the Village for some walking and groceries.  And why not a bit of libation at Black’s Pub rooftop deck.  Mountain bikers came pouring off the trails into the gondola lines to head back up for more thrills.  There was a jump at the end that we could witness the bigger thrill seekers doing their thing from our roof top table.  

Well, we decided to make it an early night since we had the 360 hiking day planned and we had been out quite late the night before at the Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub for our rainy day undertaking. 

The first day in Whistler was supposed to be on the rainy side, so we kept the bike exploration under 3 miles, but were keen on getting a sweet treat in a coffee shop type venue.  The Alpine Café was discovered the afternoon, and wouldn’t you know it they were having their 20-year anniversary celebration later that night.  So, after riding to Lost Lake 

and taking a nap, back to Alpine Cafe  we went,  and the place was hopping.  Patrons came from far and wide, and we met a lovely family from New Jersey who had been coming for years.  The father was really funny and said he was a comedian yet worked in finance.   Then there was the mother-in-law of the owner who came from Vancouver.  Evidently, she had been living on leased land for some 15 years and the owners wanted it back so she was lamenting about having to find a new place.  They had three bands which were very rough.  Seems like they may have been old patrons or friends of patrons and the sound system was poor, but that was fine because we could sit way back and talk with people.  Most importantly, everyone was having a great time and the sense of this community was evident.  It was a beautiful night to hang at the Alpine Café.

A rainy day is always good for Vinny because he generally gets an inside thorough clean and needed maintenance (the bathroom sink P-trap had become a bit too slow. Paddle Boy turned plumber,  and before you knew it,  swished down the drain.  A bit of a break in the clouds, and decided to walk the 2 miles into the Whistler Village to experience the nightlife with a taxi home alternative planned.  The Whistler Village is much bigger and spread out compared to our familiar Mammoth Lakes Village, and has many more refreshment possibilities.  

We ended up at the Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub, where again ended up sitting with a middle aged woman hiker, who did the film work and actually did work on “Watchman”, one of John’s favorite movies as well as the reboot of Star Trek.  Decided to head out to the public concert of the Whalers (Bob Marley variety), but as the rain started, we found a Crepe place for a dessert instead. The waitress here told us about the local Red Chair Band that was to play on Sunday.   We were trying to make a night of it, so we went back to the Dubh Linn Gate to see the Irish Duo that was scheduled to play that evening.   

Our final day in Whistler would be a music day (also laundry). We would go to see the Big Love Band in the park.  They had a stage on a trailer where both front and back were opened affording good ventilation, but rain protection which was needed.  Although  a section fell to the ground during the end of their performance. 

Later,  Eric the lead, who we had met atop the Whistler Mountains said, “I guess I jump around a bit much and hope they don’t charge us.” I had never seen such a movable stage trailer on wheels, and thought it was a great idea.

Then it was the Hairfarmers who are a legendary local duo who have been playing together for 24 years. 

It was definitely the most high energy show in a bar setting I have ever experienced.  

The guitarist was masterful and the vocal range of the lead singer who played conga drum and other percussion was incredible.  We would definitely look up the Hairfarmers for the next time.  We luckily sat in the balcony above the stage and had an excellent view.  The next thing we knew there was our new friend Lisa who had told us about this concert. 

We were going to head out to Red Chair that night but were too pooped. 

As our time in Whistler comes to a close, we hope to be back here as it is not so far from Washington.   The campground although expensive after tax etc $100 per night was so convenient, well located, and in excellent condition.  All the washers and dryers worked!  I believe this is the only campground close to Whistler Village.  In Pemberton we were told to eat at Barnnork, an exceptional Thai Restaurant, and guess what they are located right in our campground, yum. We had the most quiet spot on the edge and were enjoying regular showering, full hook-ups, Wi-Fi and cell coverage. We’d do it again!

Birkenhead & Gates Lake & Nairn Falls

Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park BC is a Stand-Up Paddle Board (SUP) paradise.  We have been off the spreadsheet for about a week now due to the smoke from wildfires and the obsession with getting John a SUP.  We had been told by many that this is one of the most beautiful Provincial Parks, and the bonus is that it is so perfect for the new found paddling pastime.  So, on our final days off-the-spreadsheet, we were on dirt packed, washboard road up to this Lake.  This very bumpy ride keeps the Park small and the remoteness big, and the campground has huge private wooded sites.  

We were on the water before noon, with Paddle Boy carrying one under each arm on the 3-minute walk to the water.  

An all-day adventure was planned, and the goal-oriented selves that we are, decided to reach the other side of the 4 mile lake which at the time we really didn’t know exactly how far it was.  

But as we paddled out, we met a paddler trio and were given a bit of a low down about paddling on Lake Birkenhead and where there are some good places to stop etc… 

We would meet these same three on our way back and it was good to hear about paddling in BC. 

The day was warm and sunny and several off-board lake frolics were experienced including a 360 degree in the lake vantage point. 

Another important aspect of paddling is a term we coined called, Nap-Upon-The-SUP( NUTSUP)   Nothing like floating on your back on the board with slapping water gently rocking you to sleep.  

Although engines are allowed on this lake, Monday was not popular and the few ski boats were out in late afternoon as the lake temperature is still cold. Especially as we reached the other side, fewer and fewer humanoids were around, and we did a NUTSUP right under a Bald Eagle who I was hoping would take flight, so not exactly a nap for me.  But the lazy bugger just sat there for ½ hour and we still had about half the lake to get to, so the inflight eagle video will need to wait. 

As we made our way back, we had been warned that wind picks up on the lake in the afternoons making the return a bit more challenging. The on-line Provincial Park Info actually says that SUP is not suitable for this reason, but the paddler trio just said keep to the shore and it will be fine.  So, we did some wave bouncing and really got a great old people balancing workout down.  The wind wasn’t really that bad as far as our desert standards go, but we for sure made slower progress.  Met the same paddler trio on the way back, and the women even offered to give me a tow, she said JoJo was not tracking so well.  I think she felt bad because on the way out she had said that the wind blows the opposite way usually, and it is easy to get back.  She who owns three SUPs, and the choice of the day was a narrow touring model which went gliding through the water unlike our more stable fatso models.   Winds can change and we have not found paddling to be tiring like climbing a 2300ft Ha Ling Trail where you are sweaty, and quads burn and breaking something on the way down is always on your mind.  After about 45 minutes of paddling, my feet fall asleep, so luckily, I have no knee issues and I drop down to carry on until they wake up, but upper body is not burning at all.  NUTSUP or a swim in the lake will always bring them back to feeling quickly too.

We arrived back at our Campground beach waters and suddenly it was placid after quite an enduring paddle.  The sun was setting into the mountains and what a better time for some NUTSUP.

 Our 6-hour tour was certainly a highlight of our Canadian experience.  Don’t worry, we had several other shorter, gaining experience, paddling ventures before undertaking this grand one.   I had to put this one to the front of this post because of its awesomeness, but the how we got here and the people we met along the way are the story that follows.

Nairn Falls

Nairn Falls was to be a pass through on the way to Whistler, but after waking up in Salmon Arm BC in the residual smoke we decided to keep going West where the air quality was better.  We never did the Revelstoke National Park, just a drive by and wave on the way to Salmon Arm to find Paddle Boy a Paddle Board at Canadian Tire.  JoJo needs a cohort – so far John’s SUP remains nameless.  That’s what brought us to the Harvest Host, North County Cider for and overnight where we played music in the orchard and chatted with the evacuee and Sadie, her golden retriever, who was operating the tasting room and staying in a trailer on the property. Notice how we remember the dog’s name and not the woman. And the next day, John was equipped. 

A bit of Canadian/Native culture…Joffre Lakes was supposed to be a mid-route stop on the way to Nairn and for a hike, but the park suddenly closed an hour before we got there.  A hand written sign said sorry the Native Peoples needed to inhabit the area for their gathering and rituals, and they were exercising their rights to their land.   One of the very few times we have seen the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (they were in Patrol cars with earpieces talking to what appeared to be the leaders of this native people-no horses). There was no show down or anything, but I guess they were there for law and order, since camping reservations were canceled without notice for some. We learned a lot about the Natives People of the Spirit Island area and how similar to the US, they were put on reservations in Canada in the early 1900’s, and now how effort is being made to give rights back without disrupting the entire National and Provincial Park System.   Joffres lakes will need to be next time and it is supposed to be one of the premiere blue glacier’s hikes…I think it is just a hike, and would be too far for Paddle Boy to carry both boards anyway.  We were keen on paddling now that we had two. We decided to head all the way to Nairn Falls and arrive in the evening on a Thursday.  We were a bit stressed about not having a spot, but now we know how to navigate the last-minute cancellation system within a BC  park campgrounds.  Successful day, tomorrow would be pumping JoJo’s new cohort and making sure he doesn’t pop. 

First, a lovely morning ride to check out the possibilities. We ended up on a mountain bike path many times needing to walk up the hills, but that meant there were hills to ride down too, and there were no huge rocks or cliffs.  We found One Mile Lake (SUP possibility) was close but would need to drive to transport JoJo and Duke (John has decided to name his SUP after his favorite 4 legged).  Talked with an older couple with their delightful English accents about Pemberton (so English) this is town just a bit down the road.  We were starved after this unexpected “little” campground ride-about and had delicious lunch at the Mile One Restaurant. Luckily Canada takes Apple Pay almost everywhere because all we had was my phone.    The friendliest visitor’s center ladies pointed us to Gates Lake, a 25-minute drive, but bigger than the One Mile which looked like it was crawling with young school groups. 

Duke was pumped up and had his virgin launch at this gorgeous Gates Lake that was set in the mountains and so peaceful.  

The water was clear and beautiful, and the skies were partly cloudy so it was quite nice to paddle, but a bit too cool to jump in the lake.  John was really SUP hooked now and the Salmon Arm smoke was worth it, as we paddled and napped on the boards in the late afternoon on a Friday.  

When we arrived back at the Gate’s Community Park launch, we found out about the Gates community buzz – there would be a community market with a band all afternoon at the park the next day, not to mention something about a garlic fest too.  The bakery was doing the once-a-month brick oven pizza night (not that we aren’t accustomed to that Thank Jim).  Well, we weren’t about to miss out and talked to several different friendly people about this small-town hoopla. We had decided to slide both fully blown paddle boards into Vinny for the first time. 

 It worked perfectly because the bikes and rack were back at the campsite, and the Vinny’s French door easily opened which not usually the case.On the way home, of course, was the Pemberton Brewery, about which we were under-whelmed, but met a really nice young couple who we had seen at Gates Lake earlier.    

The next day, we were at Gates lakeside by noon and the local band was superb playing 60’s and 70’s music, what else would postpone our paddle.  It delayed our launch for over two hours as we listened and talked with the organizer all about the area.  Finally, Paddle Boy with JoJo and Duke under each arm, headed down to the lake.  The last of the songs echoed across as we paddled away.  

It was a warm one and soon Paddle Boy was searching for some shade for that wonderful NUTSUP.  I decided to take a jump off in the middle of the lake to cool off before my NUTSUP. 

The wood fired pizza would have to be another time because we were starving at 5:30 and it didn’t start until 6:30, and frankly it is a bit commonplace since we hang with the Hoovers.  We never did see anything about the Garlic Fest on the way back to Pemberton  although we saw a hand written sign announcing it on the way to the lake.  We were told that the owners open their land/house and have all kinds of celebrations for the immediate community.  They had said something about a garlic pot-luck in the evening, so it is a very small community affair, all hand written on cardboard signs is how this community rolls, although in front of the bakery it says Open Saturday 10-2pm on a wooden sign.    The small community vibe was really evident on this final Saturday in August. 

Well, where does one go on the way to anywhere if John is involved, a brewery.  The Farm Brewery was a 20-minute drive from Pemberton and it was in beautiful farm country with towering Canadian Mountains.  

There never seems to be any stouts, and John was a bit disappointed in that.  But it was for sure the most flower filled beer garden that I have ever seen.

Then you could walk around to the Sunflower Maze on the property 

and visit the cutest little brown pigs.   

Driving in this area in the last three days, I have never seen so many self-serve-honor-system farm stands, many of them that have refrigerators in them.  There are many small farms all over the place. 

But as we got ready to leave for the remote Birkenhead Lake, we were going to do the Nairn Falls Hike right from our campsite first, not pulling another Linville Falls VA experience by never hiking the falls from our campground because of logistics.  

We hadn’t worked our quads for days and wanted to keep up with that endurance too.  

Onto Birkenhead Lake, but first a stop in town for supplies and the Pony, where John found a Salted Carmel Stout from Vancouver which is one of the top three Canadian Beers.  

To end this post, just some Lisa broadcasting about navigating the BC Provincial campgrounds if you ever find yourself needing to so.  We have several reservations on the spreadsheet after Whistler, and a few we need to find along the way before we get to Vancouver Island.  Most have been reserved, but if canceled less than than 48 hour in advance they become game for “First come First Serve”  until the next On-line reservation.  So there is a two-day window of arriving at a campground and driving around looking for the placard of “1 or 2 night available” at a specific site because that very site most likely is reserved after that. Summer camping reservation in BC are generally sold out.   This is how we got both Birkenhead Lake and Narin Falls  Campgrounds. The park attendants get word of a cancellation within two days, and they place a placard saying it is available for 1 or 2 days, usually there is no cell service for us to check.   Our attendant said our site was available for 3 days at Nairn Falls and we went for all three, but then a different attendant came along on the final reservation day, and said it had been reserved on-line for the final day we had gotten.  Luckily ,we had already decided to leave early for Birkenhead Lake after the Narin Falls hike.  This could have been problem, the first attendant should not have let us have it for 3 nights because someone went in an reserved it for the 3 night. Turns out there were all kinds of places to stay in Pemberton to overnight in Parking Lots if needed.  So this is a pretty good place to travel without reservations.  When we got to Birkenhead Lake. we drove around looking for a 2 night and only 1 night was available, and since we couldn’t find the attendant just took a 1 day available site.  After John had unloaded bikes and SUPs, of course, the attendant then came around and told us the one site that was available for 2 nights.  John was a bit cranky about that because he needed a nap after his two Salted Caramel Porters, but luckily it was just a few up and Paddle Boy under-armed it with JoJo and Duke.  After his nap he was a cream puff and we did a reconnaissance of the Birkenhead Lake facilities.  Both Nairn Falls and Birkhead Lake only had vaulted toilets but those Canadians do a super job of keeping them clean and not smelling bad.   Generally the sites are very private. 

Yoho National Park Area

We found some more iconic Canadian Red Chairs for our rest day ! I had promised John a rest between the 11 mile Plain of Six Glacier, and the upcoming Lake Agnes Tealess House hike.  After an extra leisurely 2 pm start, we headed to Yoho National Park which was supposed to have the best hike to Lake O’Hara, but I had missed the March 23, magic date, and there were no bus tickets available.   We had heard that Yoho is less traveled and really beautiful.   I believe there were no reservable campsites in Yoho, and the two roads into the park are only about 10 miles long, so I didn’t look into camping there in the original spreadsheet creation.  

Takkakaw Falls, Yoho NP was the destination. It was Saturday, so the place was bustling, but when we arrived around 3pm parking spots cleared out.  You can really get up close to these falls although since it was to be a “rest day” we decided not to take the path up and just enjoy them from afar while we had a nice leisurely walk probably under 1 mile.  

The road up was very windy and there was a hairpin turn with which Vinny had no problem, but on-going traffic had to take turns maneuvering and if you were a bit longer than 22ft you may even need to back up to make the turn.  Coming down we were mesmerized by the towering mountains on all sides.

This road follows the Yoho River which as we descended had once upon a time carved a deep canyon that I could not find a suitable path to even look down, but you could hear and see tiny glimpses of the rock walls through the bushes.  The Yoho River then meets with Kicking Horse River, at least that’s what the signage said at the Lookout.   Unfortunately, we couldn’t see it, but the rushing water seemed far below as the cliffs, mountains and glaciers towered above; maybe Parks Canada needs to work on its Look Out Viewpoints is what it seemed.  Yoho National Park seems to have many longer trails for the more agile crowd, although we could have leisurely walked 4 km to Laughing Falls, but it was to be a “Rest Day” so we declined and just to Takkakwa Falls. 

Emerald Lake in Yoho was the next stop. 

There appears to be only two roads going into Yoho and in terms of most National Parks, they are short (10 miles maybe), so may as well investigate on our leisure day drive.

And emerald the Lake was!  A bustling parking area, and there was even an Emerald Lake Lodge, small cabin units around the lake, and a restaurant, Cilantro Café.  John was sad because it was closed for a private wedding on the deck and we couldn’t have a bite to eat.  There were no signs like the Fairmont where it said for “Lodge Guests Only” so we partially walked around the lake on the lodge compound.  Again, the beautiful mountains towering over the emerald were enchanting.  It was so very peaceful, so perfect or SUP and we started to contemplate whether Vinny could store another paddle board so we could paddle together in these beautiful waters.   

On the way home, we turned off at the infamous  Lake O’Hara exit which was basically a parking lot off the highway.  I had hoped since it was about 7pm that maybe the road up would be open to the public like Lake Louise had been after hours.  We found out that the only way up is to hike the 10km up, up, up before you even get to the hike. Lake O’Hara will be a stop next time with the bus ride up.

Paddling was the main agenda item for the day, and back to Emerald Lake we drove.  No cilantro in the hot chocolate John got from the Cilantro Café, as we decided to walk the lakeshore path a bit.  The red canoe rentals were out in force during this mid afternoon and the lake was perfect for paddling.  Paddle Boy had Jojo pumped up lickety split and I was out in the sea of emeralds under the towering Canadian Rockies and some people even paddle with their 3 chihuahuas.

John took a spin around the lake too and now he is hooked on the tranquility of paddling, and we are planning on getting a second SUP for him.  But they don’t have a Big 5 in Banff like they had when I got Jojo on the whim in Washington State last summer. 

Heading out of Yoho, we stopped at the scenic overlook called Natural Bridge, 

where the Kicking Horse River kicks some large crevices into the rocks and starts the water a-swirling violently.  

The force of these rivers in nature, quite a sight to behold just like a kicking horse. Not that I’ve ever seen one.

The rain is coming, hopefully to put out all those wildfires and we will do laundry, find John a SUP and drink beer. 

Lake Louise Area

Lake Louise is perhaps the most popular tourist visitation in Canada.  

And yes, we found that to be true as we boarded our shuttle bus for a 1pm departure for the Lake and the iconic Fairmont Hotel which we had already visited the Restaurant on our pass-through day to Two Jacks Lake.

This first Lake Louise exposure had been at around 6pm when much of the crowds had thinned, and there was no traffic control waving you away unless you were a hotel guest.  Parking is very limited and Parks Canada has a limited number of spots on shuttle buses that leave from the nearby ski resort if you are not a daybreak visitor. Luckily, I had gotten those reservations early on because there were only a few two-day prior ones that are released at 8am.  I guess a public bus with long lines can also get you there, but was glad to have reservations.  The rain was coming tomorrow so we wanted to take advantage of a gorgeous day!

There were mobs of tourists in the area as we disembarked for our hike, but the lake crowds thinned after about a mile and the lakeshore trail ended.

It is an extremely easy and hard packed few rocks trail.  The hike along the lake is a delight.  Our original plan had been to the Lake Agnes Tea House, but as the first two miles along Lake Louise were so easy, we decided to do the longer Plain of Six Glaciers Trail which too included a Tea House.  

This was over 2000 feet elevation gain, but it was over some 4 miles so not another Ha Ling experience with chains, ladders and foot holds and narrow views of forest.  There were beautiful and varied views along the way from the aqua Lake Louise, to the Glaciers that were making booming crashing sounds in the distance.  And there was a Tea House motivation. 

 Although we heard they were to close at 4pm, we got there 15 minutes earlier and only dessert and beverages were available. No iced tea as where would they have ice?  stupid question I had asked.  We got to eat our peanut butter sandwiches and delicious cake in the beautiful surroundings with a glacier view and were energized to make the additional 1.4-kilometer ascension to the top. 

 The crashing glaciers could sometimes be seen in the distance, but the sound occurred every 20 minutes or so at varying intensities, as we hiked upward.  The last part was on a relatively narrow pile of rocks path which led to the end of the trail.  

I really never counted the six total glaciers when we were at the trail end.  Also, it was getting smokier and that impeded our clarity and they were also becoming moraine (dirt and rock filled snow).  

The glaciers are best seen in the photo I took in the evening when we drove up to Lake Louise.  With all that crashing, it could be that they were all disappearing quickly, and maybe they need to rename the hike Plain of Four Glaciers. That is a google question.  The hike even included singing Fly Eagle Fly song with another Philly enthusiast as John had his Eagle Superbowl T shirt on.  

We actually met several different hikers where Eagle interactions ensued. 

We made it back 30 minutes early to the 7pm shuttle that left a bit late.  Lake Louise does not have much in the way of a town, just a Village shopping center that has a descent market, bakery, liquor store and ATM, so no brewery stop and back to find our campsite where I was too exhausted after the 11 miles we had clocked that day to have more than just baguette and cheese.  John made his own broth. 

The next day we had a shuttle too, and even though it had rained in the morning it stopped and we decided to head to Lake Morraine, supposedly the bluest of blue glacier lakes in Canada.

The bus went up about 10 miles from where Lake Louise and there were only a few hoity toity lodges along the way and of course the traffic guard who shall let no car pass without the proper credentials.  

The Lake Morraine Lakeshore Hike was beautiful and super easy, again about 1 mile long with lots of aqua color, but would not say that it is so good super blue compared to others

 although it was a combo of smoky and cloudy, so perhaps we just didn’t have the right light.

The canoe rental was closed for bad weather, but a few brave souls brought their inflatable SUP which you are totally allowed to bring on the bus.

Then it was up to the Rock Pile which is the result of thousands of years of glacier activity and made for an impressive contrast against the aqua Lake Morraine.  

As we descend the rock pile thunder was crashing in the back ground and we made it to the Lake Louise transfer bus without getting sopped.

It too was raining at Lake Louise when we arrived and we decided to duck into the Alpine Social in the basement floor of the Fairmont for some Good Morning Vietnam Stout and food like we had done our first evening visit to Lake Louise.

 FYI you go into the main entrance, actually there is one slightly closer, go to the main lobby and go left through the sign that says Hotel Guest Only, right past the grand piano, and left to the steps down to the restaurant.  There always seems to be seats at the bar even though all time the restaurant has been quite empty and a couple in front had a 30-minute wait for a table.  It was pouring outside and this was the perfect reprieve and we felt sorry for all the people who were obeying the signs and were outside with only a few bus shelters while we were drinking good beer. 

We sat there for about two hours and the rain stopped, as we contemplated our next move.  Lake Louise was totally placid unlike we had seen it during any other of our visits.  

We decided to walk off our libations and enjoy the serenity of Louise without so many people running around doing photo shoots.  The reflections of the mountains were so intense in the glasslike aqua surface and the I-Phone just doesn’t do them justice.  

We had the best of what was to be a rainy day, before heading for some groceries, cell connection, and dumping.

Agnes Lake and Tealess House

All the Lake Louise Tea Houses are against us! Remember Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House closed early and we only got dessert. Determined to have an authentic mountain tea house experience, we had gotten the 11:30 am bus and should have been up there by 2pm, but the little hand written sign on the beginning of the trail marker said “Agnes Tea House will be closing a 1pm, sorry”, foiled again.  Oh well not meant to be and who wants warm tea after an uphill hike, at least they let us know before we hiked up there! 

After the tea house disappointment, we decided to do the hike anyway, continuing on past Lake Agnes to Big Beehive making it a 2867 ft elevation gain, but over 3 ½ miles, not a Ha Ling (I think we will describe anything that is above our endurance level simply as a “Ha Ling” from now on.)  

The hike up to the Big Beehive which we had discovered at the first lake to Agnes provided incredible views of both Lake Agnes and her little Tea House as well as the entire valley 

The top of the hive had incredible views of the aqua Lake Louise as well as the tan glacier flour waters we had seen on the way up to the Plain of the Six Glaciers. 

We were now eye level with the towering Rockies from the Big Beehive. We didn’t hear the crashing of Glacier calving this time, maybe because after the thunderstorm the day before, there was a cold snap and we even got out the space heater that night, or maybe we weren’t close enough.  After a steep descent we walked to more meandering Highline Trail which led to the Lake Louise flat shoreline trail and the aqua green lake spotted with red canoes. 

Usually after about 7 miles of hiking I start the “Ma Waddle.” We name this tired walking style after Ma because when she would do her long daily walks, toward the end, you would notice a waddle to her gate.  I find I have that same waddle when I’ve walked a lot.  It started only in the last mile or so this time.  Ma had always told us to “Keep Moving” as you age and we are certainly pushing it here in the Canadian Rockies.  

The night before we had discovered Bill Peyto’s Grill in the town of Lake Louise.  Good beer on tap, excellent food, and great Wi-Fi to get all those updates.  We only occasionally get a text message through at the campsite, and I have a blog to maintain, and children getting ready to leave the continent.  Yup, we are not the campers who want to be off the grid, John enjoys wearing his Eagle T- Shirts and we get to chitchat with Bird Fans.  Last of which who were a couple from Valley Forge Are that started full-time RVing 6 years ago and finally gave up their storage unit this year as they make there way round and round North America, always going to Tuscan to winter.

Bow Valley / Banff / Two Jacks Lake

Departures at 11am are perhaps the most stressful things these retired folks have because of you know who’s awakening time.  And it really was a Saturday today!  So it’s off to Canmoore in the Bow Valley to find a bike shop for John’s tire,  as well as a Propane,  refill of 26 Liters, about 6 gallon, good idea since our take is 8 gallons and our propane gauge has not worked for years indicating 80% or more all the time.  But this is the first refill of the trip since February while using a stove, hot water and let’s say 30 days of propane fridge use.  What does bike repair wait time equal, well that’s easy = brewery wait time..so off to the lovely Canmore Brewery on the outskirts of town where John had a Smokey Porter and I had a proprietary mix of a very dry apple cider along with a bit of hibiscus juice.  And another great Wi-Fi spot to back up my I-Pad.  Perfect wait time activity.  Canmore seems like a vibrant place where our favorite Birch bartenders said this is where the locals go.   A fussganger zone and lots of cute eateries around.

Decided that we wanted to paddle and the Barrier Lakes were recommended since you could also rent kayaks right there. There is a very strict vessel entry policy in Kananaski County,  Alberta where your personal vessel, including SUP,  must be cleaned and out of the water for 48 hours before transferring to another body of water; therefore deciding that renting is the way to go.  But the Barrier Lakes are man made and the shores were too man made sandy looking, and we decided to abandon the plan and do the short hike up to the lookout point which also was a bit of a disappointment as you saw the dam machinery and only a tiny little glimpse of the Blue Lake through the trees.  The hikes in the area all seemed underwhelming so we headed back toward Canmore and decided to go for the Ha Ling Peak. 

One of my bloggers had recommended it and we had been finding that the All Trails “hard” listed for both Parker Ridge and Wilcox Pass were well within our ability level.  We knew this would be harder as the elevation gain was listed as 2500 feet for the 2 miles and Wilcox Pass was only 1,400 for 3.5 miles.  So off we went on this first incredible no clouds, sunny day.  

Let’s call the experience an achievement and I was almost too tired to even take photos.  There was a halfway viewpoint with one side Valley view. 

We only went as far as the trail end,“the saddle” and did not scramble another 200 feet up the rocky slab to the top. 

We had held on to chain fences,  

rock slabs, two sets of wooden railed stairs

and interesting foot steps that somehow the Canadians blasted into the rock slabs making them somewhat flat like foot size indentations to ascend upward, all the while with Avalanche warnings posted along the way and lots of loose boulders and rocks all around. After sitting at the top and finishing our sandwiches, we had enough energy to scramble up about 20 feet to the otherside, and see the Canmore side of the valley, not the 200 feet to the top.  Here we talked to some people with two dogs and I found a nice seat in the rocks as we chatted and found out more about the area.  

We made our way down with our poles, chains, steps, footholds with no slippage or falling and even saw some big mountain goats.

As we made our way across the street into the Trailhead Parking Lot, a car with an opened window asked “You weren’t tired after hiking Ha Ling?”  We were quite confused with this statement and finally he said  it looks like your t shirt says “Not Tired”  but really this was the bottom  section of the John’s Ridgecrest earthquake T-Shirt that says “Shake Not Stirred” We had to laugh because we were more than exhausted.

Post assessment of Ha Ling is that effort was not with the payoff.  As we drove down the bumpy, washboard, road  and looked up at the peak, we were pretty impressed with ourselves, even though we only made it to the saddle.

The trail itself was really not scenic along the way with only one viewpoint half way up to the dam side of the valley, unlike Parker Ridge, Wilcox Pass, and Whistlers (Jasper Sky Tram Hike) where it was scenic walking through the alpine meadows. There were many of the beetle infested evergreens down low, and the need to look down all the time for safety made it not as enjoyable as these other trails. Exhausted, we headed to the Grizzly Paw Brewing Company where we sat outside in the lovely town of Canmore once again.  The highlight was the Korean Barbecue Cauliflower-move over Buffalo Air Fried Cauliflower!!

 Later that night my watch said I set my all-time high move record and burned just under 1200 calories !!

Bow Falls in Banff – we needed a low key day after Ha Ling !  The infamous fancy pants Banff was the mark, so we decided to hike Bow Falls (recommended by people on top of Ha Ling) which is a very manicured hike along Bow River where all the fancy hotels have entrance ways and there is an art in the woods exhibition and big tour buses park at the end.  

It was perfect and we realized that the “Garden of Time” was right nearby so we climbed up to the gate of this very stately building and gardens.  

The flowers were ablaze all over

 as we tried to keep out of the way of Asian families doing photo shoots of their petite young family members on the various perch-like features in the garden.  

Truly a beautifully manicured garden up on a hill looking over the city.  

Across the bridge and a blick into the bustling tourist city. 

Tunnel Mountain Campground on the outskirts would be ready to receive Vinny, we needed napping and showering.  

Ready for a bike ride into town trying to find a brewery with a Stout.  No such luck, but we found Bear Street Tavern and sat at the bar and talked to a ICU nurse who was on a 5 month hiatus to hike his way from Vancouver Island to Jasper, kind of like what we are doing but in reverse. He was delightful and recommended hikes and places along the way as he told us about intensive care nursing in Canada. Two early 20’s girls from North Dakota/Wyoming who were also delightful to meet and Johns decided on a Whiskey nightcap .  It was dark and to some degree we knew that we would be walking our bikes because it was all downhill from the campground. But it took 20 minutes to walk back.

Again needed to leave by 11am and can’t check in until 1pm.  So one more in-town of  Banff tourist excursion to climb Tunnel Mountain, afterall King George VI and Queen Elizabeth stood on this 5,543 ft summit in 1939, so we should be able to do it too.  

More Red Chairs and views all around Banff including the golf course. 

Atop a summit one finds answers to those pondering questions..And we finally found out that the Hogwarts Building across the valley is the Banff Fairmont Hotel, sister to the Lake Louise Fairmont which we had already visited upon arrival, and I guess we missed the Jasper Fairmont, Oh well. 

Tunnel Mountain was again a nice moderate short hike  after out Ha Ling experience. 

Byb, Bye Banff off to Two Jack Lake about which people have raved. Our hike had been warm and we thought it would be great to jump into the lake to cool off, but that didn’t quite happen.  I had in mind to paddle for two days, but google had sent us to bustling Lake Minnewanka Day Use and not Two Jacks.Lake.  Minnewanka adjoins Two Jack But is much bigger and has marina/motor boat action, and then the wind began to blow and decided against a Jojo launch. At least I got a nice Pic of me on Minnewanka

On our way to the campground we saw the Two Jacks Day Use and we got waved on by the parking attendant as the lot was full.  So we had an all time early campsite check in of 5pm and even visited the wood pile.  We drove down after check-in and by then the attendant had gone home, the parking lot was cleared out and I devised a plan which was a deviation from our leisure morning.  Our campsite was on the edge of the campground and we were hoping that a moose or bear would finally show their faces but no such luck as I played the Uke and we sang songs. 

As I pulled out of the campsite at 7am, Paddle Boy was still sleeping in bed.  A quick, 2 minute drive and Vinny was backed into the lakefront parking spot where we enjoyed the entire day, I even made dinner here.

Two Jacks Lake is a beautiful, small paddling lake that is much warmer for swimming than the glacier fed lakes surrounded by the towering Rocky Mountains. 

After doing our microbe prevention permits,  JoJo and I did a 2 ½ hr  paddle to the other end of the lake that really narrowed into a 100 ft wide stream toward the opposite end.

I had to slide under a wildlife bridge at one point and coming back the wind was with me and little effort was required to just laze on my board surrounded by beautiful peaceful mountains.  Luckily, a woman had told me to slide under the bridge, and I watched others do it, so why not me?  

John did a bit of paddling too, but the wind had picked up. Still no bears because I forgot my bear spray – a woman who had launched her kayak early morning said she had seen bears around the lake during other paddles.  

Early in the morning the lake was glass and the mountain reflections were amazing, but as the day wore on the distant ranges disappeared into the smog probably caused by all the British Columbia Fires that were burning.  I understand, like the US West, this is a common theme in this area during August and September. 

Toward the end of the evening, we met Martina, an Austrian solo camp-in-you-car young woman on a yearlong sabbatical traveling around.  She was wondering if you could park in day use all night.  As this is generally not allowed, we offered her our campsite  number alternative for parking overnight in case she got booted out.  She arrived at 10:30 pm and was happy to have a place to stay. She was off early as she had a Lake Moraine shuttle bus reservation at 10am  and  it’s an hour drive.  She was just another lovely young person, like the ICU Nurse, Adam, who we met on the way.  

Two Jack Lakeside Campground, not Two Jack Main would have been more optimal as driving was right on the lake, but those campsites had all been taken by the time it was my turn in the que.  The Two Jacks Main was beautifully wooded and we were on the outskirts and our evening fire roasting dogs was so peaceful.  Both Lakes have no electricity or showers, but are beautiful.  Coffee,  Two Jack Lakeside,  was amazing in the early morning and our two blue chairs were right next to the iconic Canadian Red Chairs marking the most beautiful views.

Columbia Ice Fields Parkway

Wilcox Pass

It’s another Athabasca Day, this time seeing the Athabasca Glacier way up high from across the Valley at Wilcox Pass as well as Snow Dome Glacier and  Dome Glacier on the way up. 

Yes, a steroid Canadian Rocky Moment.  

We were able to experience the Athabasca Glacier from afar this time on this incredible, 7 mile,  Wilcox Pass Hike through the Christmas Tree forest, to the windy cold infamous Red Chairs about 1 mile up,

And onto the peak with sun, wind, clouds and rain sprinkles and through the alpine meadows where we saw bighorn sheep grazing. 

The weather was quite varied and we started the hike by taking a nap because it started to rain, but then parts of the sky were blue and the sun shown in the puffy cloudy day so we were off to peel off all the layers in some sections, getting blown where I needed to wear my beanie as face protection, to getting out puffy jacket/purple gloves on the way back.  

Back to our most rustic first come first serve campground, Wilcox Creek,  where we had already self-registered and accumulated fire wood for the evening.  As we descended the mountain,  it became still and the fire, not only built for ambiance, but also kept us warm, as we had our bear spray on the ready fireside.  Seems like Canadian campgrounds have kitchen areas with tables, water, and this one even had a huge wood burning cast iron stove that was burning hot out of the shelter’s chimney when we arrived back at camp. 

 And it got cold and I could even see my breath this morning.

Parker Ridge Hike 

Another day another glacier viewing hike, 

Parker Ridge, we are again surrounded by the dominating mountains. Saskatchewan Glacier, the largest of the Columbia Icefields Valley is in grand view.  

Another hike through the Christmas Trees, and up to the alpine meadow.  We first took the main trail that went along a steep ledge to the end. This  included  some rocky ledges about which John was not too excited.   

All along the trail, a beautiful view of the meandering, light blue milky Saskatchewan River into which the glacier(s)  flows.  Then we took an off shoot up  higher here the wind blew and on went puffy green.  I forgot John’s Eagles hat so he had only his sunhat and shorts.  Well, after two days of 5 mile plus hike with elevation gains of over 1000 feet, we sat back and enjoyed the Columbia Icefields Parkway ride into our next stop, Lake Louise Campground.   

We couldn’t resist stopping at some viewpoints along the way.  I was intrigued by Panther Falls, which I learned afterward is a short up and back .8 mile hike, which normally would be a nice leg stretcher at 256ft elevation gain.  Around the Big Bend (no, not Texas) Over the Saskatchewan River to more blue, blue Lakes.

 Waterfowl Lake was beautiful and also has a campground.  Then Bow Lake and Crawford Glacier ~had to stop and take a pic for our favorite Crawford’s,  Steve and Terri.

Of course upon arrival in most places,  a brewery was in order. 

This time a very fancy pants place down in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel which is right

on the famous Lake Louise. 

Normally parking is for Hotel Guests only, but as it was 7pm, things were emptying out and we scored.  I don’t think we saw Louise in her blue glory since it was getting dark.   

Greeted with a grand hotel setting, women playing and a grand piano in the lobby,  we snuck by the “Hotel Guests Only”  sign to descend to the restaurant bar.  Luckily they had John’s new favorite Good Morning Vietnam Coffee Stout, not on tap like the Birch, but good enough, and the food very good.  It’s so nice to have daylight and we arrived around 10pm to our lovely wooded campsite for the night at Lake Louise Trailer (hard side).  Evidently the soft side area has an electric fence around it for bear mitigation.   We had also discovered John needed a new tube and the tire was balding so needed to look into that. 

Jasper, Alberta Canada

Athabasca – the River, the Glacier, the Falls

As soon as we got into Jasper Country the milky light blue water of Athabasca River pulled us out of Vinny and we staggered down to the sandy beach. 

It was a very placid wide shallow section and others were frolicking in her water, and they didn’t even look cold ~Never have seen this glacier flour water,  as it has glacier particulates that cause the color. The Athabasca flows in a northeast direction and at this point we were 200 kilometers from its Glacier Source, and it had warmed up and gotten peaceful, much different than we would discover upstream. 

In the excitement to get to those Canadian Rockies we had pulled a 400 mile day out of Minnesota, and arrived to get our National Park Pass site and bit of info before overnighting at the Jasper Gates RV Park outside of Hinton. Little beknownst to us, Folding Mountain Brewery is almost on the same property. The first Canadian Poutine (French fries, cheese curds, peppered gravy) was experienced.  Food, atmosphere, even a bit of Cornhole was enjoyed on the first evening after our butt relief hike around the campground trail.   Jasper here we come.  

Around Snaring we entered the mountain ranges with the Sulphur Range Granite spires commanding the area.  Luckily the road was closed because the hike is supposed to be tremendous, but I read mixed reviews about the  scrambling on the rocks which is not our cup of tea, so we didn’t even need to make that choice. 

There was nothing on the spreadsheet for the night, so the first order of business was to find a Vinny overnight spot.  Luckily Wapiti Campground has this first come first serve overflow area with electricity, but otherwise like a parking lot. It was perfect and our site was 100 yards down a bank to the Athabasca River, only this time it was moving and John and I got inspired to find a rafting trip as we watched the rafts go by. 

The weather was to be superb in the next few days, so Edith Cavell Trailhead here we come.  

This was an incredible hike as we first hiked high on the mountain tops

and saw Cavell Glacier calving (snow wall crashing into  the green milky glacier lake below). 

Then we would hike down to lake level and experience this from the ground floor. While hiking high above the glacier, we heard and saw rocks  tumbling from the mountains.  This was one of the reasons we decided not to go and stick our toes in the Lake Cavell

Calming fire with a bit of Salted Caramel Whiskey that night.  In Canada there is firewood available if you buy a fire permit for $10, what a deal!  We decided we would like to cancel our Whistlers reservation and stay longer, but missed the memo that required us to sign up before 8am when the line formed and our spot was sold away. Oh well, I had a beautiful morning coffee by the Athabasca.  

But this is an excellent resource and both Wapiti and Whistlers are a bike trail ride into the town of Jasper.

Jasper Sky Tram  to see the Canadian Rockies from the top of the world on the Whistlers Summit Trail.  We traversed up side trails to the left that provided extensive views at a less rapid elevation gain instead of the  path straight up.  Dirt in My Shoes podcasters had described the Canadian Rockies as Mountain Ranges on Steroids and this is right on!

We were again mesmerized by the Athabasca River and could see it flow along the Ice Fields Parkway near Banff down past Jasper with its milky light blue color dominant along the way.  

Sometimes it broadened and even had islands within its shores.  Other times it curved and got narrow as it made its way north east. And the deeper aqua and blue waters of Beauvert Lake, Annette Lake and Edith Lake were mesmerizing from the mountain top

Mount Robson, 3954 meter high, with its snow capped A-Frame mountain topper seemed so perfect as not to be nature made.  

The view all around from the top was definitely on the most awe inspiring experiences of a lifetime.  Let the photos do it a tiny bit of justice!  Recovery at the Tramtop Café before the 8 minute ride back.

And that evening, 9:45 pm even provided a beautiful sunset for Vinny. 

Glacier Ice Walk Time – we love the afternoon starts,  as this was about an hour drive to the Columbia Ice Fields Discovery Center Parking Lot and we certainly don’t like to disrupt our leisurely morning routine. 

Couldn’t resist stopping a bit along the way to photograph the glacier as we approached.  The name placard of the Ice Field Discovery Center doesn’t exactly match up with Google Maps and we were a bit uncertain in this busy parking lot where the huge Glacier Bus was also on display.  Before long we had our crampons for our boots and into the van we were loaded walking to the Athabasca Glacier. 

We learned much about glaciers, but I would need to look up the spelling of many attributes, so we’ll just say it was incredible to be walking on a glacier.

We saw the erosion waters that carved their way down.

Some places had huge holes that we peaked over as our guide, Heather, held on to our hand.

We saw where the Glacier line had been in 1920, 1985 and 1990.  It is expected to be gone in anywhere from 30 to 80 years…probably in 50 or so. 

We had a gorgeous day for a hike on a glacier and although it was colder, boots, jackets, hats and hiking kept us comfortable as we stopped to learn aspects of this mighty force of nature. 

Athabasca Falls, the next stop on this Athabasca day. 

One of those tourist attractions that have paved sidewalks and safety railings all around the Falls, and the canyon that it carved, but oh, does it show another force of nature here in the Rockies. 

Hiking down to the bottom of the canyon, the water became peaceful and green. This is where our raft trip starts. 

It was after 7 PM, and the crowds were relatively small, but so glad we made the stop. 

An E-bike food tour took us lakeside to those deeper aqua and blue waters of Beauvert Lake, Annette Lake and Edith Lake that we had seen from the Sky Tram. As we zipped by on bikes,  it looks like the road in got closed down for no parking on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. 

Lake Edith has kayak, canoe and SUP rentals right on the beach and this is one thing that we hope to do.  A sneak preview of Maligne Canyon was incredible.  An appetizer at the Maligne Canyon Restaurant, a sandwich at the Fairmount Golf Course,  and dessert  at Tekarra  Lodge all while touring those beautiful area lakes.  Vinny says E-Bikes are too heavy, so we rode back from the tour on our old reliables. 

Another day, another tour. This is the third one in a row, but we are so happy we jammed them in because the rain is coming.

I even had to pry John out of bed for 10am drive to Maligne Lake, so we could have our first seat in the epic Canadian Rockies red chairs.  This happened as we walked the path along the lake waiting for our boat tour to infamous Spirit Island. 

Again we were overwhelmed by “the gods” which are the nickname of those mountains surrounding this beautiful backcountry place only reachable by boat or backcountry hike. Maligne Lake is fed by multiple glaciers from the mountains that surround it. 

There is a marina where motorized boat tours leave and head out for a 45 minute ride to Spirit Island or you can do a 5 hour paddle to get there if so inclined.  

There are backcountry campsites along the way if that is more than one day for you.  The tour boats do an exceptional job slowing to prevent wake for the paddlers.  

Spirit Island is not really an Island, but a spit of land form the southern end of Maligne Lake that is sacred to the native peoples.  Similar to the US policies, the native peoples were put on reservations in the early 1900’s.  As the injustice of the system became debated, places were returned to the indigenous people and as of 2017 tourists are not allowed to actually step foot on Spirit Island.  There has been a resurgence of the native peoples after a large fire burned around Medicine Lake. The Maligne Lake Tour company (only one which has been in operation since the early 1900’s)  will allow you to walk the trails on the mainland and take photos of the island

It certainly is an incredibly beautiful place.

Well, we thought we saw a bear,

But it was only John slipping from a rock into the water as we were told to splash some water on your face and say some special native words and feel the spirit.  This ended in hiking boots full of water and a bit of embarrassment for my Paddle Boy.  And a memorable story to be told of the spirits on the Island. 

The southern serene end of the Maligne Lake is incredible.

Spirit Island was the furthest destination of the day, and the remainder of it we worked back down Maligne Canyon Drive stopping at Medicine Lake after a huge downpour.  

We had noticed that there was a huge fire scar area near it on our drive up.  Evidently this was one of the sacred signs that culminated a resurgence of the native people to claim back Spirit Island in 2017.  Fire Scars are places where new growth occurs which encourages wildlife that feed off berries and new growth to frequent here.  We decided to set up at the parking lot as it rained,  and be on the lookout for moose or bear which as of yet, have not seen a single one.  But no such luck, and after an hour, we decided to head down and do the Maligne Canyon Trailhead.  Luckily, we found a primo parking spot and actually took a long nap before grabbing a dessert at the Canyon eatery and hitting the trail.  

Maligne Lake feeds into Medicine Lake to the south,  and finally these two narrow down into the Maligne River.  This narrow river has carved this incredibly deep and winding canyon for about 2 miles before it becomes wider and empties into the Athabasca River in Jasper.

There are so many incredible views with the largest depth of 167 feet.

 Like Athabasca Falls, this tourist attraction is well protected not only for it, but for the safety of visitors and is mostly fenced in with many overlooks on the trail.  

There are a series of six bridges that take the trail overtop of the canyons where the views have so many varieties of water color and riverbeds.

At the 5th Bridge on the Maligne Canyon Trail, the river widens.  There is a big parking lot in this area and in theory if you arrange the rides,  you can bike between the Canyon Lodge and this parking area and hike the trail between the two.  On our E-Bike Tour we did turbo mode hill, so one would need to coordinate the Lodge to 5th Bridge on the bike and then hike the return, if you are pedal pumpers like we are. 

Although we started the hike after 6pm, by 8:30 pm after a ticker work-out back up the Canyon we were at the Birch Eatery having a beer.  We finally found a restaurant/brewery that had a good stout on Tap. 

It was a rainy morning making it later than usual morning with a 3-week-fridge-defrost the night before,  and we needed food and clean clothes.  Both needs were steps away from each other in downtown Jasper and there was even a cafe in the laundromat for John to wait for dryer loading while I shopped.  We were starving by 6:30pm and couldn’t wait to hit the Birch kitchen for the Good Morning Vietnam Coffee Stout that he had enjoyed the night before. And they had great Wi-fi and if I dump my phone in the Athabasca River during our raft trip, we won’t have to re-work the spreadsheet since all is on the cloud.  

The Athabasca Rafting Trip. I only brought the GoPro and am struggling with the download. It was an active trip in some places and the need to paddle did not fend well with good photography. The GoPro is doing its thing and hopefully will have a good video or two. Met a lovely German Family and we taught our red haired, green eyed guide, Kate, a bit of German as we bounced over some rapids. The rain stopped for our trip and the wetness was totallyl caused by the rapids .

Apostle Islands, WI on to Canada

This veer off the spreadsheet has set a high expectation for next year.  Apostle Islands are a group of 22 islands off the Bayfield Peninsula in northern Wisconsin.  

After our Picture Rock kayak experience, and the Jam Pot line lady raving about this, I got on our not so great Fort Wilkins  bathroom Wi-fi, I booked the first easy rated tour that fit our tight schedule that I could find. Well, even though the tour was a Bayfield tour company, the tour ended up being to Chequamegon Bay, south of Washburn and we really didn’t see the Islands. 

We saw some sea caves, but there were none that we kayaked through, nonetheless an enjoyable outing putting us a bit closer to our gallop to the Canadian Rockies.

What we did find however are two delightful towns.  We headed to Bayfield and got set up in Over-flow parking at the Apostle Islands Campground the night before the kayak tour.  Besides having a welcoming office area and well taken care of facilities, it is in walking distance to the Adventure Club Brewery(lots of covered outdoor space and the huge wolf sculpture in the field.) Breweries are always a first stop in any new location as John exudes an enthusiasm, and  takes over my role as the trip organizer as he is excited to taste new beer.  There is a new section to this RV park that has theme cabins around a sandy swimming pond and mini golf course that would be great for grandkids. 

After viewing YouTubes of the Apostle Islands, we definitely need to go back.  Music is the other attraction of Bayfield and there is a group that puts on summer music under a Big Top Tent. This summer Gaelic Storm and Brandie Carlisle were on the schedule. There is a whole fruit scene with a big apple fest in the fall, blueberries and cherries.  Hmm tha campground books a year in advance you can kind of plan on fruit but what about the music? Well there is an Open Mic Night every Wednesday at the Backstage.  

Our tour put us through Washburn, and a real grocery store and a delightful little town that had a fest or farmers market going on.  The atmosphere was vibrant and would also make this town a stop, with live music advertised on the main street.  This was about a 25 minute drive from Bayfield. Both towns have numerous bike trails,  some gravel too, as per Howl Adventure Center. I think this would be a good place to call if interested in planning a biking adventure.  This area has kayaking, biking, hiking, breweries, sailing tours, and restaurants. 

 It would be a perfect area to rent in the summer months!  But people keep saying how cool, I say freezing, it is in the winter.  

It was a bee-line to Orr, Minnesota which was a lovely drive, and we started a new Baldacci Audiobook and the drive sped by.  We arrived at Pelican Lake which looked like a once-upon-a-time vibrant resort where Port-a-potty replaced boarded up wooden out-houses in our remote section of the RV resort and the lake is big with islands.  The office looked like part of the house, but very friendly, kids coming up to us wanting to tell us a joke, a small store with ice cream, and you signed in a guest book to register, but they did take credit cards.  We were set up in a line of empty campsites at the end of the road.  Many trailers looked like full-times summer residents as we drove to our end spot where he said we could take any one.  We did not dare walk out on the dock that was lakeside to our site, and as we employed the netting, and I did photos while John played his computer game(AT&T excellent 5G), we saw over a hundred mosquitos on the outside of our net since we had lights on!  We haven’t seen that kind of action yet.  Not necessarily a place we would come back, but convenient for Canadian gallop.  Glad we didn’t decide to stay 2 nights and did the “pseudo” Apostle Islands Jam Pot Lady Excursion.  It’s Sunday and the Stone Angel Brewery outside of Winnipeg closed at 6pm, Paddle Boy may arise before noon so we can arrive after our 5 hour drive in enough time for some tasting which he always asks for the pint size taster.  We needed to venture out and shake out the netting. 

The mosquitos didn’t fly away when the lights were turned off, and we decided to drop it on the front mat rather than risk bringing it inside!

Copper Harbor Michigan

As we spend our last day in Michigan it is yet again raining.  Paddle Boy almost inflated JoJo last night because there was no rain in the forecast and we are at a campsite with close access to tranquil Lake Fannie Hooe.

But he agreed to limit his morning slumber, to pump up JoJo so I could paddle in the morning. I looked out the window at 6:30am and blue sky and I thought this is gonna be a perfect paddle day.  But the next thing is 8:30am I awoke and am scrambling to pull the chairs in because droplets are coming down fast and it is now dark and gray.  Patches of rain come and go unpredictably here in Michigan, sometimes morning sometimes evening showers, and forget the forecasts. As of yesterday afternoon when we went to the Wi-Fi building, it was gonna be nice for the next 5 days.  This turned out to be a small system and the sun came out by noon and I was on the lake to see Fort Wilkins. 

It turned out to be the most perfect paddling day for which I had been so dutifully planning. 

The river raft tube, purchased after Lake Higgins, was inflated for the first time and after a solo paddle by both Paddle Boy and me, we took off with the river tube in tow, taking turns to paddle and sprawl in the headrested river tube.  Photos will need to wait, but hopefully not too long because it has been over a month with not optimal weather for such an outing.  

John is realizing the tranquility of paddling, especially in a lake like Fannie Hooe where there are very few motor boats speeding all around, and the water is warm and peaceful for him to gain his SUP legs. 

After an early dinner, I went out for another paddle and before you knew it,  there was Paddle Boy wanting another turn.  But as he returned, the droplets began falling once again. 

Heading up to the bathrooms for a bit of Wi-fi weather revealed serious thunderstorms tonight; there is absolutely no cell service here.   Yikes, drying  off all paddle equipment and stowing into Vinny half damp and sprawled out for some evening dry time.  We are headed out tomorrow with many damp dirty foot towels, not to mention damp bathing suits and sunshirts, all items that indicate fun has been had.  This is just the reason our bathroom floor has a stack of about 6 bathmats folded in half. 

There is not too much in the way of mountains in Michigan, but we found one on our third day at Copper Mountains area.

As it was a rainy day plan, we drove up the Brockway Scenic Drive 

(wouldn’t want to bike up this) which gave a commanding view of Lake Superior 

as well as lake Fanny Hooe and Manganese Lake. 

 We had kayaked the entire length of the lake

from our RV park (only $30 rental for half day). What a peaceful paddle

to a sandy spot at the other end where we met 8 year-old with downs syndrome, Brady, who was quite inquisitive and wanted to know our names.  

His extremely nice nanny made us feel quite welcome on their beach.  And it even had a tiny island. 

She was the one that said we should go to the Jam Pot for muffins. 

The Jam Pot is a business where the Monk entrepreneur commandeers a $25 for a small jar of their famous ThimbleBerry Jelly – we thought we may as well not get hooked on this stuff.  We just got two muffins and two  $12 jars of interesting jam, evidently their fruit cakes are well known and a regular loaf pan was about $45.  Yikes….There was a 30 minute line into the JamPot. As one party left, the next party went inside, and we found out more interesting facts about the area and about the restaurant, Fitzgeralds, that two different people in our travels had raved about.  It is located in Eagle River and there is  $10 a person reservation fee that is required..hmm never heard of that before.   Well, we have found the food and beer in restaurants and breweries to be very reasonably priced compared to California, not so much the grocery stores.  They seriously need a Grocery Outlet.  

Copper Harbor, Michigan is named for the area’s rich history of copper mining, which dates back to an ancient people as far back as 7,000 years ago. The copper rush hit in the 1840’s when the land was officially ceded to the US Government, and several small towns popped up around the industry. Today, the small town on Lake Superior is a destination for those who love the fresh air and year-round outdoor adventure. Copper Harbor is home to one of the world’s best single-track trail systems.  I think that means one-way and riders go fast and don’t need to worry about head on collisions. We saw trails that had One-Way warning signs posted.  There are a lot of mountain biking and water sports since it has both Lake Superior and smaller Fannie Hooe as well as other small lakes.

It is a gateway to Isle Royale National Park which is supposed to be an exceptional experience and the 3 ½ hour ferry ride there leaves from Copper Harbor. We met several couples at the local beer joint (a brewery bike ride is always the first stop after relocating to a new campspot).  They had just returned from Isle Royale NP, one of whom went on a water plane to get there.   We were warned to bring food because the camp store has very little and there are gear limits on ferry vessels, although there are restaurants on the Island.  If we plan a trip, it will be to stay at the Rock Lodge.  The woman in the Jam Pot line said they had a three-meals-a-day plan here. 

Day 3 at Copper Harbor,  a planned overcast rainy day, so we decided to do the Brockway Scenic Drive into Eagle Harbor as we had planned to drive to Fort Wilkins State Park that day.  We drove along Lake Superior and enjoyed the variety of lakesides.

 Between Eagle Harbor and Copper Harbor, there were several very protected coves with scenic shores of  rocks and trees, 

and those of sand beaches,  like Esrey Park, which would be fun for paddling on really hot days, none of which we had during our month-long stay in Michigan.  Falling into Fannie Hooe would be much warmer than Superior. 

The “planned rainy day” ended up to be quite nice as the afternoon progressed, and we did a  bike/hike.  We started out mountain biking with our street bikes, but when the banked curves came up, wanting to protect our bones for Canada,  we decided to tie up the bikes and hike.  There were nice up and down on the trails that would be really fun on a mountain bike.  

We stopped and had a beer at the brewery before playing music at our campfire where our next-store camper came over to sing a few with us.  The evening was absolutely still and beautiful and one of the reasons I had such high expectations for this morning. 

Hiking in a green canopy of trees among the ferns and relatively flat, is one of my favorite things about Michigan, and as much of our country is in high heat warnings, we always need jackets at night and hiking and biking is quite comfortable.  

The woman in the Jam Pot line also said we should kayak the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin.  After a quick Roadtrippers check, it was nearly on our way to the Pine Acres, our next spreadsheet plan in Orr Minnesota, so off the spreadsheet we go and  will only spend one day in Minnesota, but will get a day in Wisconsin kayaking at what look to be a beautiful place. 

I sit here at the Wi-Fi bathroom, brought my towel for the damp seat at the picnic bench, but the severe thunderstorms that were to happen last night never did, and blue sky is upon us, but I am constantly looking up for the droplet signs.  The sun is out and a late start as we needed to to some drying!