August 8 and 9--Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia

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Monday, August 8th, 2011. Redstreak Campground, Radium Hot Springs, back in BC but this corner is on Alberta time. 62 degrees and sunny this morning at 11:00. Starting mileage is 14534.

Since we had electricity, we cooked everything we could in the microwave like a small pork loin roast. We cut it into 2 small 4 portion size roasts and froze them. Also cooked up a winter squash to have later in the week. Cleaned Rosie a bit and then both took showers. Got our water tank full and then dumped both holding tanks. We were determined to get our money’s worth.

We drove about 5 miles to Dry Gulch Provincial Park Campground to get two spots set up together. We had found that some campgrounds had been full if we waited until late in the day and we wanted to make sure we had a camp site as this is where we had planned to meet Jim, Dianne, and Rocky.

The reason we had asked the ranger about the sheep was that a small flock of Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep roam this town and general area. So, after registering for our spot, we drove into town planning on looking for them as we hadn’t seen a male with the big horns yet, just the ewes and lambs in Jasper.

We first stopped at the Visitor’s Center for the Kootenay National Park and looked at the exhibits, got material, talked with the ranger about likely places to see birds and animals and checked our e-mail on their computers. We then went next door to check out the small grocery store. They had an in-house bakery and, so bought some of their fresh made bread. It was reasonably priced, but the rest of the grocery items were way over priced.

The Park Ranger suggested we drive through town to some wetlands and then along a forest road to a wild life refuge. The idea sounded good so, we took off to do so. He had mentioned a short bit of “rough” road, but failed to tell us the whole road was gravel and very bumpy. We saw absolutely no birds nor wildlife near the river and the swampy areas around the river that we crossed on a couple of wooden bridges. We then found ourselves on a forest road climbing up, way off, we thought, the beaten path. That idea was squelched by the fact of several lumber trucks, and a few pick-ups, and other vehicles that came hurling along the road toward us. After some driving, and coming out of the deep forested area, we realized we were on a road that was following the river valley on the opposite side of the town of Radium Hot Springs.

We found a pull off to have some lunch and looked down on the wetlands and valley below. It was very pretty with the red dirt hills ,that was prized by the natives for paint, showing clearly over the town and valley. We continued our drive and saw from above the wildlife refuge, but there was no road down close to it, so if there were birds there they couldn’t be seen by us. After driving about 10-15 miles we came to a small community and then passed through the resort town of Invermere that sits on the dammed up Columbia River forming a good size lake. We then crossed back over the Columbia River and circled back to our campground at about 3:00, coming at it from the south.
In camp, I sat outside Rosie II and read while Valerie took a nap inside. Jim, Dianne, and Rocky arrived about 5:00 and we got greeted by a very excited dog. We talked about what each of our experiences had been while we were apart for the 4 days. Much to our disgust, when they were in the town of Radium Hot Springs at about 3:00 they saw a group of big horned rams hanging out by the fire station. We all agreed on a time to get started in the morning and then we ate a late dinner, and called it a night.

Tuesday August 9th, 20011 Dry Gulch Provincial Park, Radium Hot Springs, BC. 58 degrees at 9:30 with a clear blue sky. Starting mileage today is 14568.

Drove back into town to see if we could find the rams that Jim and Dianne saw. While we were doing that, they were looking at a very well done, wood-like/looking display of the Stations of the Cross that were laid out along a path on the hill directly in back of the visitor’s center. No luck at all finding the rams!!! Got enough gas to get as across the US border--$25.02 worth at $1.339 a liter.
Not at all sure why, but this section of Highway 93 from Radium Hot Springs to the border is lined with resorts, golf courses, retirement homes, and vacation cabins. It is along the river and there were several lakes, but we have seen so many places that were much, much prettier and had larger lakes and there were NO one using them at all and no cabins nor buildings on the shores. The two RT rigs crossed into the US at Roosville, MT with few questions asked and no problems at all. Both of us gassed up at the first station we came to. I have mislaid the receipt so can’t give the particulars on this fill up.

Drove to the small town of Eureka and their city park where we ate our lunches on the banks of a small river. If we had been ready to stop for the night, the city allowed overnight camping for $5.oo per night. Think there were hook-ups with that price also. As we came to the town of Whitefish, it became apparent that this area was a busy summer and winter recreational playground. This town was like a ski resort with everything very neat, flowers everywhere, and buildings in a western style. People were out on all the sidewalks walking the town and shopping the stores. We saw a group of kids being led on a trail ride as we came into town.

We continued on to the City of Kalispell where we had planned to spend the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot. After doing some Wal-Mart shopping---oohing and aahwing about the prices and buying too much ‘cause things were SO CHEAP; we decided that even though by now it was late, it was too hot and too busy in that asphalt lot to spend the night there. So, heading out again, we drove the 40 or so miles to Glacier National Park.

With our senior passes, there was no charge to get in the park and camping is half price or $10 per night. The Apgar Campground on the banks of Lake McDonald, seemed to be full as we arrived, but we did find Bobbi and Carl, a couple of RT people who had been with our Walk-about group to Alaska, camped in the campground. After talking with them for a bit and finding out that they were leaving in the morning, we decided to return in the morning and take their spot. The night before we had driven round and round looking for a spot and finally the campground hosts agreed to put us into an overflow area for that night. Had a late dinner and called it a night. It was raining hard with small pea size hail as we closed up for the night.

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