As it turned out, the Going to the Sun Road did not open this morning. When we got to the Park Gate, we were told they were shooting for a noon opening. We would only be allowed to drive thirteen miles up the road after we left the camper in the parking lot of the visitor center. We pulled off several times along St. Mary Lake with its towering mountains and emerald green water. Of course the overlook at Wild Goose Island is one of my favorite spots. I think my very favorite is Sunrift Gorge/Baring Creek. That clear rushing water coming through that narrow vertical gorge just delights my senses. The creek moves quickly down from there, making multiple waterfalls, curling under the bridge and tumbling on to St. Mary Lake. At Jackson Glacier overlook ... read more

Happy Birthday, Barbara and Peggy! We left Hinton ready to see Jasper and Banff National Parks after hearing so many times how beautiful they are. And believe me, they did not disappoint. Jasper started out with Jasper Lake and the Athabasca River. Then Pyramid Mountain, covered with snow came into view. Around each curve, it got more beautiful, more snow on the mountain tops, more glaciers, more green lakes and rivers. It’s slow going because you hate to pass up any overlooks. The Canadian Rockies are what the Rockies should look like; rocky. At the Columbia Icefield Kerry, Bob and Gena decided to walk up to the glacier. I only went partway up and watched them as they crawled in places and dragged poor Moe up the steep spots. The wind coming down off the glacier ... read more

I think we all slept very well last night, even after napping after our dunks in the hot springs. It rained overnight, but was clear and sunny by the time we got on the road. We saw a small herd of bison along the highway, including several babies. There was one old guy napping in his dust bowl and another wearing a radio collar. We stopped at the first Muncho Lake overlook. What a beautiful lake with clear emerald green water. We had to stop a couple of more times during the 7 mile drive along the lake. We saw mountain sheep twice, and once they looked to be eating minerals in the sand. The lake was still enough to get some mirror image pictures. Summit Lake was smaller, but had clear, green water, too. After ... read more

It was beautiful this morning with the sun shining on the mountains and on the lake. We watched a float plane taxi out and take off toward Atlin Mountain. We left Gena and Bob in Atlin visiting an old friend of Bob’s mother. We dawdled along, stopping to take pictures and easing over the bumps in the road. We saw two black bears within a couple of miles of each other, but saw them too late to take pictures. Along Atlin road there are two government campgrounds, Snafu Lake and Tarfu Lake. I would imagine there’s a story behind those names. We met up with Gena and Bob at Jake’s Corners and headed east on the Alaska Highway. Until we passed the Cassiar Hwy, it was all scenery we had seen on the way up to ... read more

There was a lot more road construction on the Alaska side of the border than when we came through eleven days ago. Once we crossed the border back into Yukon Territory, we had more than 4 miles of loose, muddy gravel road. To make it even worse, we were stuck behind a road grader going 4 to 5 miles an hour. After we got back onto paved road, a coyote was standing in the middle of the road, looking like it was waiting for a handout, and snapping at flies. We passed the pond where we had seen a pair of swans, one swimming and one on the nest. This time, both adults were swimming and so were their 4 babies. At Kluane (pronounced kloo-WAN-ee) Lake, the water was a deep vibrant blue in the sunshine. ... read more