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Published: July 18th 2010
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to get internet access, so this might be longer than usual...
After leaving Fort St John I headed west along the Peace River valley to visit the W.A.C. Bennett hydro-electric dam, and the Peace Canyon hydro-electric dam. Overnight at a very busy Moberley Lake campground just outside the town of Chetwynd, then headed east again, to Dawson Creek. No sign of James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson or the blonde one whose name I can’t remember. (
Oh, apparently that was Dawson’s Creek. And it was set in Boston, not Canada) Anyway, Dawson Creek is the start point of the Alaska Highway. Apart from one 20-mile long section (which I missed out because of my trip to the hydro-electric dams), I have managed to drive all of the 1,221 miles of the Alaska Highway in Canada. Plus, of course, the section between the US border and the City of Tok in Alaska. (another 100-odd miles or so). I’m strangely proud of that! (
Perhaps I need to get out more...?).
After Dawson Creek, I had a quick re-plan of my route and decided to cross the BC/Alberta border in order to
visit Edmonton. So, after overnighting at a place called Moonshine Lake, I started to drive across the Canadian prairies. Now, I wouldn’t say that the prairies are flat (mainly because their not - they are more rolling than I thought: more like the Vale of York than the Cambridgeshire Fens), but the roads are somewhat straight. I managed to drive for 45 km down one particular road without a single bend. Lots of corn & oil seed rape fields. And grain elevators. And oil wells. If you swapped the oil wells for coal mines, it would be an awful lot like Selby. But without the Abbey.
I didn’t like the campground that I’d intended to stay in at Peace River, so I continued instead to Winagami Lake, which was far nicer. A huge (and I really do mean huge) Amish family was staying there too. The 12 or so girls (all between the ages of 8 and 13) looked like something out of the Stepford Wives with their matching dresses and blonde hair in ponytails. After dinner I went out to watch a big old thunderstorm rage across the prairie. Well I watched it until it started chucking rain
on me at any rate.
Tuesday I drove to Lesser Slave Lake. (
Even though its over 100km long, it’s dwarfed by the Greater Slave Lake, which is about 8 times as big). The thunderstorm of Monday evening definitely had a cleaning up affect, so lots of time was spent lazing in the sun on the lakeshore, trying to avoid the sandflies. No mosquitoes, though, which was a blessing.
Wednesday started off with a bike ride up the local mountain to make up for the lack of exercise the day before. About 6km up what felt like a vertical cliff. To be honest, it was more of a bike push, than a bike ride. But the journey down was fun. Leaving Slave Lake behind, I headed further into the Alberta countryside. A couple of quick stops at lakes on the way, before getting to the town of Athabasca - named after the river, which begins at the glacier in the Rockies.
Thursday, I finally made it to Edmonton. I decided to have a trip to the Edmonton Mall, which is allegedly the largest shopping centre in the world (
at least that’s what it says in my guidebook, and who am I to argue?). Whether it is the largest or not, it certainly is big. There is a theme-park (rollercoasters, waltzers, ghost train, etc) all inside the mall. Along with a huge swimming pool (wave machine, artificial beach, water-slides, etc). And a completely separate area where they have Sea Lion displays. (
I spent about 10 mins watching the display before deciding that Sea Lions probably shouldn’t be kept in a shopping centre and encouraged to perform tricks in exchange for fish, and moved on).
Friday I went into downtown Edmonton, on what must have been the hottest day that I’ve experienced so far this year. At times it was bordering on unpleasant to be out in the sun. So after wandering around the town, doing the (free!) tour of the Alberta Provincial Parliament building (
oddly, all their ceremonies are virtually identical to the Houses of Parliament, including having a Black Rod), and walking along the river front, I treated myself to a pitcher of lager and sat in a beer garden, along with what seemed like half the workforce of downtown Edmonton.
Saturday, I headed south to the town of Red Deer (
perfectly pleasant, but it definitely sounds nicer than it is). Another quick wander round the town, but this time dodging the rain showers. Sunday I ventured west, to the town of Rocky Mountain House. I went to the Visitors Centre and picked up a walking tour of the town. Which had a competition in it - you had to note down particular letters from the historic plaques around the downtown area, which you then had to combine (in a specified order) to make a phrase. So I dutifully completed the competition, returned to the VC and claimed my prize. After receiving a somewhat withering look from the lady in charge I decided that perhaps the competition was intended for people around 30 years younger than me. But I still have a commemorative coin of the town of Rocky Mountain House, and that’s all that really matters!
Overnight just outside Rocky Mountain House at Crimson Lake Provincial Park, Monday I headed west again towards the Rockies themselves. I stopped off for a great walk up a canyon to the Crescent Falls (although on the way back to the van, in the pouring rain, I did wonder if I should just have driven the 3km to
the falls rather than walking it). Further west, I went up to Siffleur Falls - so named because of the noise that the local marmots make - they whistle and
Siffleur is apparently french for “whistler”.
Travelling into the National Park, I headed slightly south to spend the night at Waterfowl Lakes. Tuesday morning, I got up relatively early and trekked 4.2km up the mountain to Cirque Lake. About half way there, there was a slight dusting of snow - yes, that’s right, snow. On 13th July. But despite the path being wet & muddy, I pushed on. And I’m glad I did as despite the snow (perhaps because of it), the view at the top was one of the best I have ever seen. The photographs just don’t do it justice. The snow covered mountains appearing out of the clouds seemed almost otherworldly - or maybe I just had altitude sickness, by then - who knows?
Carrying on further north, I drove into a blizzard. Yes, it was still 13th July. I stopped at Parker Ridge, planning to trek up to the glacier viewpoint at the top. I did at least try. I got about ¾ of
the way up, but the wind was bitterly cold. I’d lost any kind of feeling in my feet (my walking boots have definitely started leaking!), and I decided that given I couldn’t see much further than about 10 metres in front of me, that perhaps climbing higher up a mountain, in the clouds to look at the view wasn’t necessarily my best laid plan. So I returned to the car park and drove to the Sunwapta Falls, and then further on to Honeymoon Lake, where I spent a somewhat snowy, rainy & cold night.
Wednesday morning, I left Honeymoon Lake, and headed north towards Jasper, stopping off at the Athabasca Falls on the way. Needing to dry out the van (
I have discovered that it’s not entirely leak free when it rains a lot!) I checked in to a campsite just outside Jasper relatively early, plugged in my electric heater, and cycled the 3km into the town. After treating myself to a cake & a coffee (
Bear Paw Bakery - fantastic place!) I did the 9km Mina Lakes walk, which starts from the middle of town. When I got back to the campsite, the local Elk herd was grazing
on the grass just behind my pitch. Obviously an opportunity too good to resist, I spent a very pleasant half hour watching and photographing them as they went about their daily business.
Thursday, I set off relatively early to Maligne Lake (
apparently it’s pronounced ‘Ma - LEAN’ as it was named by a Swiss explorer. I got told off by the campsite host for calling it ‘Ma - LINE’). Another great walk up Bald Hill (
No comments please about the state of my hairline!), for some fantastic views of Maligne Lake, Mona Lake & the surrounding valleys. The great thing about the snow-fall is that not only does it make the surrounding countryside look even more impressive, but it also seems to be putting off all but the most serious hikers, and the idiots (
I’ll leave you to decide which group I fit into!). So, on the entire three hour walk to the top of the hill and back down again, I saw only four other people.
Quick lunchbreak, and then walked from Maligne Lake to Mona Lake (via Lorraine Lake) - two other people this time! Then I drove back down the valley to Jasper stopping briefly
at Medicine Lake and Maligne Canyon on the way.
Friday, I was feeling pretty tired after all that walking on Thursday, so I headed up to the Miette Hot Springs north east of Jasper for a lazy morning sitting in the pool interspersed with a bit of sunbathing when the sun came out. After a bit of lunch I headed up towards the source of the springs, but decided against doing the full trek up to Sulphur Mountain. Despite the relaxation in the hot springs, my legs definitely weren’t feeling up to hiking to the top of that particular mountain. Instead I returned to Jasper, and then headed south to a great campground at Mount Kerkeslin, back inside the National Park.
Saturday (National Park’s Day in Canada) I got up early (to try and miss the inevitable crowds) and hiked the Valley of the Five Lakes - named, unsurprisingly, for the five lakes that are nestled in the valley. Another trip to the Bear Paw Bakery for a big old cake and a coffee, before leaving the Jasper National Park behind and driving to Mount Robson which, at 3,954m is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. It
is also possibly one of the most beautiful places that I’ve been to. And it was also relatively quiet (tourist-wise) considering it’s a Saturday in the middle of holiday season. On the way I stopped at Moose Lake, and the Overland Falls. Both of which form part of the flow of the Fraser River as it starts high in the Rockies and then travels 1,280km to Vancouver - for those of you with good memories, the Whale Watching Trip started in at the mouth of the Fraser River.
Anyway, at Mount Robson, I enjoyed a 3km bike ride to the Kinney Lake trailhead, a 9km walk up to the lake, and then a 3km bike ride back (ok, I didn’t “enjoy” the last bike ride as much as the first! But the views of the lake were fantastic.)
And finally (!) today, I have headed south again, to the town of Valemount. First time that I have had internet access for a week, so I’m just enjoying the sunshine and having a lazy Sunday afternoon, before setting off for the Wells Grey Provincial Park tomorrow.
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