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Published: March 30th 2011
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How's this for a new record in blog laziness!? Its now early spring in Toronto, Ontario, with the birds starting to chirp and the trees about to bloom back to life, but lets head back half a year (!) to the brilliant burning leaves of autumn/fall and our road trip through beautiful British Columbia into the Rocky Mountains and awesome Alberta.
Our first surprise came at the car rental place. Like always we ordered the cheapest option - the compact Hyundai or some such where your head hits the roof and your knees hit your chin. But they were all out of those so instead we got a free upgrade to a massive Lincoln SUV with electric leather seats, opening roof and lots and lots of room. In all the comfort we almost forgot to drive out on the right side of the road. And so, across the Lion's Gate bridge through North Vancouver (where we dropped of a random persons postcard from the Galapagos Islands, 12 months later) and onto the Sea to Sky Highway. With the sun glaring, and the playlist blaring we were well and truly on our way into our first big North American road trip!
Beautiful views all the way over the sea and up to the mountains as we reached Garibaldi Provincial Park for a short stroll to some waterfalls and fantastic views. By late afternoon we had arrived in Whistler, famous Canadian ski town and home to one of the largest Australian communities outside of Australia and London. It was no surprise then that we were going to meet up with one of my old school mates, 'Big Red' aka 'Swedes' aka Ben Sweedman. The timing for a visit to this mini-Australia couldn't have been better either as it was the night of the NRL grand final. So we found one of several pubs showing the game, settled in for some food and brews and before we knew it we were dancing the night away.
The next day we woke up late in our campsite on the outskirts of town. Its not everyday that you wake up to the sound of walkers and bikeriders commenting 'hey look at that bear' and 'oowwww and the little baby ones!'.. So we dragged ourselves out of the tent and went searching, but by then there was nothing to see. Some coffee and lunch with Big
Red and then we were off on the road again. We had been driving for less than 20 mins out of town when we saw some cars pulled over on a bridge ahead. As we zoomed past we looked out the window and there, down by the river, a REAL LIVE BEAR!! We pulled over past the bridge and went running back, just in time to see the black bear wander off into the trees - it seems viewing hours were over. Further on we drove, stopping in at Joffre Lakes for another afternoon stroll, where we were came across a film set in the midst of a beautiful forest lake. It was cold enough standing there, so we definitely felt sorry for the poor actor who was playing a dead and bloodied body submerged in the chilly, shallow waters.
That night we bunkered down in Cache Creek and were up early to get some more kilometres under the wheel. Along rivers and lakes, past cargo trains, small towns, roadside deer, wild big-horn sheep and countless roadwork stops we made our way through overcast and rainy weather towards the Rockies. We spent the next night at the foot of
Whistler
NRL grand final with Big-Ben-Sweedman (Jeff's mate from school) the Rockies in Valemont, and awoke to more overcast weather and a distinct chill in the air. As we climbed (in our comfy leather-seated SUV) up the mountain range into Jasper National Park, all of a sudden the sun came out and there were gorgeous clear, big blue skies. This fantastic weather lasted all through our time up in Rockies, providing us with postcard perfect views of some of the most amazing scenery to be seen on this planet!!
A windy climb up Mount Edith Covell provided us with a fantastic introduction to the Rockies - evergreen trees everywhere, views down mountainside over fast-flowing rivers, and at the top an absolute gem in Angel Glacier. The backroad south from here provided us with miles of road to ourselves, giving us plenty of room to stop off at numerous lakes and river sites. Back onto the Icefields Parkway and we were winding along open rivers, between snow-capped mountains, glaciers here and there and the sun beaming down all the while. At Athabasca Falls we were amazed by the sheer power and volume of flow through the headwaters of Alberta's number 1 river. At Athabasca Glacier we walked up the mountain
Whistler
late night photography in weird light (including a green laser coming out of a nearby field!) trail, past the signs indicating the previous edge of this quickly retreating glacier. Past the 1880s, the 1920s, 40s, 60s and 90s you could witness the recent growth of grasses and young trees where once the glacier stood. Up close to the glacier we were hit by the freezing cold winds that instantly took us back to our days in Patagonia at the other end of the Americas earlier in the year.
In the adjacent Banff National Park we wandered through forests and around plenty more beautiful lakes. We arrived at the most famous of these, Lake Louise, a bit late in the afternoon, as the sun was directly above the lake's glacier, somewhat blinding us as we tried to take in this postcard sight. Still, it was a beautiful spot to enjoy some lunch and say farewell to the amazing Rocky Mountains.
The next two days were spent driving back to Vancouver, this time through Glacier National Park and via the Okanagan Valley (BC's fruitbowl). Here roadside hills offered us more brilliant colours as the deciduous trees turned yellows and oranges and reds in preparation for the coming winter. We somewhat unintentionally took some back roads heading
Whistler
more late night photography towards Vancouver, where once more we had lakes and rivers and mountains to ourselves all the while hoping for a gas station to appear soon! But we made it back to Vancouver to pack up our belongings, say farewell to our friends and leave for the east. Thanks BC, Alberta and the Rockies!!
Jeff and Jen
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anonymous
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amazing picis jeff and jen.... oh god i am thinking of moving!!! love ush