The Great Canadian Adventure

As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can. John Muir

THE ROCKIES

I only booked one night at the next provincial park. Had I been sure of a reservation at Mount Robson, we may have spent more days there. From there we would cross into Alberta and be on mountain time.

Mt. Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies (12,972’) and said to be visible only twelve days a year. Guess what we saw on arrival?

We went straight to the visitor center but they were closed 6pm

The Indian name is roughly translated: Mountain of the Spiral Road. We were impressed with the layout of the campground when we heard it. Site #102

Blue columbine, now we are in the Rockies

Leaving next morning at 7am, we got to see it as most people do, glorious either way with the carpet of wildflowers leading to the forest. We had caught back up with the Fraser River that we would follow to the heart of the mountains.

Cloud Top Mountain

JASPER

As I mentioned last post, I booked this campground in January because Alberta rolls out reservations for each park, for the entire season, on a specific date. Jasper National Park opened January 31 at 5:00am Hawaii time and with 6605 people ahead of me, I waited an anxious hour for my turn. I got one site for 3 days and another for 2 more days, ie, we had to move the trailer mid-visit. I was ecstatic.

Reservation

We were very lucky to book Wabasso campground as the others in Jasper (Whistlers and Wapiti) had suffered even more from the beetle kill and had had to clear-cut the trees for safety; they are barren! Our site included a fire permit and all the wood we could burn.

Lono got us to the Rockies in fine form

Park woodpile

NOTE: throughout the trip there were warnings to respectfully not move wood because of beetle infestation; most parks either provided or sold local wood for campfires, as long as there was not a fire ban.

I expected over-crowding and a zoo-like tourist atmosphere because of the popularity of Jasper. I couldn’t have been more wrong, happily. This turned out to be my favorite five days of the trip. It was everything I needed: the gorgeous Rockies and big animals, plus, plus, plus.

The Athabasca River valley is extraordinary and mind boggling as the powerful gray glacial water runs north to the Arctic Ocean. The valley is studded with many lakes and diverse landscapes. Short distances from Wabasso were both the hike to the Edith Cavell glaciers and the magnificent Athabasca Falls. An hour away we enjoyed mineral baths. Jasper village had ample parking, a decently stocked little grocer, and the most amazing laundromat we’d ever seen! Go figure.

We went to Athabasca Falls fairly late the first day. What a wonder. I’m not sure what was most impressive, the volume/velocity of the water, the water chiseled rocks, or that we had access around both sides and directly over the water.

You could actually walk down a previous water pathway here to experience the chiseled rocks.

By chance, that first evening, we discovered we were more likely to catch sight of big animals at dusk and that became our habit either before or after dinner.

Beautiful cow elk (7:30pm)

SKYTRAM

We took the tram up for an overview, whew! At the top, we hiked further up until the trail was buried in snow; had our picnic on the rocks as we soaked in the panorama. Tiny, tiny wildflowers everywhere in the alpine tundra – macro/micro moments.

Pleasant little village of Jasper below in Athabasca Valley.

EDITH CAVELL MOUNTAIN

We drove the narrow steep road to the Edith Cavell trailhead. At this roadside glimpse of the mountain, another family told us they come visit every year from Calgary. They were so excited for us to see more, “just wait, it’s even more beautiful!”

Mt. Edith Cavell

I couldn’t help notice the healthy willows here, and the white spruce and white pine across the road.

I didn't realize that Indian paintbrush were any color other than orange-red. These salmon ones opened my eyes and I would be surprised again and again.

We climbed the dirt trail up to the lookout then scrambled all the way down the rocks to get to the meltwater lake below. It was sobering to actually watch the hanging glacier melting.

Angel Glacier at upper right, one wing extends to the left (another to the right)

Cavell Glacier and Pond

Once we took in the grand scope of things, smaller parts of the whole landscape caught our attention. I absolutely love rocks and in scrutinizing them, this hoary marmot came into view.

Gorgeous creature

At the bottom, we spent a good amount of time digesting the sheer beauty of the layered Cavell glacier and the ice in the pond.

It is heartachingly fragile.

Scrambling through the rocks, we would be surprised by random ice. There were warnings against being too close to the wall as sometimes chunks of ice the size of houses came down.

Gil spotted (with binoculars), a ball of snowy white ice ready to drop from the very top of Angel Glacier. Once I got the shot, we realized it looked like a Polar Bear (our first).

Since glaciers are actually rivers of ice that flow, it won’t take much for that giant snowball to tip forward and come crashing down!

Gil on the path back

Menziesia along the way (must be very hardy)

Later we realized this rapid river below the winding Cavell Road is actually the glacial runoff we’d been watching; it will join the great Athabasca River at the bottom of the mountain. The experience of Jasper was proving to be very profound.

MALIGNE LAKE

We drove out to Maligne Lake (65km away) and it was one of those twilight-zone experiences as the road hugged strange up-thrust walls of rocks and passed Medicine Lake surrounded by dead trees. Once we got to Maligne, the lake itself was quite beautiful with the snowclad mountains poking up.

Alberta is known for placing bright red double-Adirondack chairs at very scenic spots, they even appear on maps

We did a hike along the lake then looped through the forest back to the parking lot. We were getting used to starting hikes at 6pm.

Lake Maligne

We expected to see moose here (from all the warning signs) but really had to keep an eye on our footing instead of looking around.

Heartleaf arnica

The strange mountains as we headed back

It was 8pm as we neared the junction back to Jasper when we saw these bull elk one after another and tried to photo them through the window. I’d forgotten their real name is wapiti as elk is the German word for moose.

A half hour later we spotted this female with her two youngsters, all eating flowers. We were familiar with the behavior of the mom instructing her little one to hide in the brush for safety while she eats, but inevitably, they pop up to see what’s going on. The yearling is quite content to be bedded in clover.

As we approached Jasper on the return drive, we had a little encounter with this meandering shaggy black bear. Unperturbed by the truck, he/she just wandered back and forth in the foliage, turning rocks, crossing the road, more sniffing and shuffling.

On down the road, a baby black bear made an appearance but just as quickly ducked back into the trees. So many sightings, so much natural wonder to absorb, we managed to sleep well after a quick dinner.

Time for a hygiene day, we gathered the laundry and our swim gear. We intended to visit the hot springs after the chore. On the way into town, Gil stopped the truck and said “bears!” As I struggled to unplug my phone, they ran right under my passenger window. By the time I got out, they were up the road. I knew the second one to run by was a young grizzly but we eventually figured out he was chasing a young black bear. We’ll never know if they were playing or it was territorial.

We’d seen the laundromat passing through town. Gil let me out and found parking while I got the clothes loaded. Beautiful machines, very clean, there was a coffee corner with leather lounge chairs and couches. I nabbed a cute little table, ordered us drinks, and Gil brought the cards. Most fun laundry day ever! Each washroom (not restroom in Canada) had a very clean coin-op shower. Pretty savvy owners.

Below street level reflecting town

A little chai and cappuccino during the game

We also needed a soak, so off to Miette Hot Springs. On the way, we saw a few cars stopped along the road which means, grab the camera! There was a group of Big-horn sheep up the rocks: females with their kids.

Two moms, 3-4 yearlings and two little ones altogether (I think) made their way up the side. Super shaggy, some haven't lost their winter coat entirely.

As we pulled away, we saw that they were coming over the top. They like to keep their backs to the mountain.

Outer grounds at Miette, lovely.

Multi pools, multi temps, mountains all around . . . We talked with a nice family, high school girls learning all kinds of new things in the mountains.

On the way home, Gil turned toward Maligne road hoping for some twilight friends. We weren’t disappointed when this grizzly, not a cub this time, crossed in front of us. Clean hair, fingernails, and sheets plus lots of critters – great sleep again.

ICEFIELDS PARKWAY

Between Jasper NP and Lake Louise (in Banff NP) the road is called Icefields Parkway, running 233km (145 miles). We decided to drive part of it without the trailer, so glad we did.

Jasper area and Icefields Parkway as far as the Visitor Center. Pink highlighting of most of our excursions.

We stopped at Sunwapta Falls, had our picnic, and did the Lower Falls trail several km that featured multiple drops along the path, as well as glimpses of glacial mountains behind, and a colorful forest floor.

Yellow columbines

Wild rose country (Alberta)

We continued along parkway, stunning, but distant views of glacial mountains fed by the Columbian Icefield hidden behind the peaks. (I’d love to fly over it).

Stutfield Glacier

The gravel in the delta had a pink tinge; we later discovered Fireweed is the first to grow in the silt.

Tangle Falls on the east side of the highway was pretty remarkable

Just before reaching the Icefields Center (ahead on left) Athabasca mountain loomed before us, the glacier of that name curving down at right. The road followed the runoff.

The Visitor Center was a disappointment; beautiful building but a very commercial enterprise. The best thing about the place was a kiosk outside next to some incredible trees, the Engelmann white spruce I had only read about. These trees are 150 years old but they are only about 5” diameter and roughly twelve feet high due to the deep cold coming off the glaciers in winter. (Their norm is 30” diameter and 90 feet high.)

We would recognize these purple cones for the rest of the trip.

We decided to hike to the toe of Athabasca Glacier across the road and try to sort the fast-disappearing natural wonder from the commercial disregard for it. Amazingly we only needed our down vests over t-shirts at 5pm.

Too soon, it was time to leave Jasper. A little nostalgic, we hitched up and headed out early. We came across this fella we now call the good-bye bear. Wandering from one side of the road to the other, I can’t say we were in any hurry and he wasn’t either.

6:30am

6:34am

6:35am

6:38am Grass is always greener?

And with that we were underway, headed to Lake Louise via the Icefields Parkway we had only seen half of.

Southern half of Icefields Parkway

BANFF NATIONAL PARK

On our drive down, we planned to visit the many scenic turnouts. Funny thing about Banff National Park: in spite of the march of mountain peaks, road signage is poor to non-existent. So, Weeping Wall and Bridal Veil falls, for instance, appeared on the map but were not marked on the road. Even in a practical sense, turnouts (to let faster vehicles pass) were not indicated ahead. That coupled with the very steep downhill grade and high winds made the drive uncomfortable. We would have to return later to see anything specifically.

Weeping Wall? No idea.

This spot had a nice long turnout so we could take a breather and let other cars pass.

Our campground was nice. It was situated between the Bow River and the rail tracks that formed the park boundary. I really never minded, hearing the train whistle in the night – not so close it was jarring, it made me smile and fall back to sleep.

We were staying in Lake Louise campground but never actually saw the lake. Everything I had heard about overcrowding and traffic were magnified. Every poster and piece of literature suggests booking shuttles on-line, getting schedules of talks, etc. online – however there was no service to access the info.

I asked a ranger if we could go very early and catch sunrise at Lake Moraine (without the shuttle) and she said the parking lot was full by 4:30am. We were finally allowed on the road at 8:30pm after the crowds subsided. Once we got away from the hub-bub, it is absolutely gorgeous. Such a shame it is so poorly managed.

The stunning Lake Moraine (the one location I was most interested in seeing.)

Its famous aqua color still evident in the evening light.

Johnston Canyon

We tried our luck visiting one of the features of the park during morning hours, Johnston Canyon. On the way, we saw a number of cars stopped both ways and sure enough, a black bear with two cubs decided to cross the road. The first cub kept up but the second got disoriented in the wildflowers on the side – it was so corny adorable when he stood up on hind legs and looked around for mom. Spotted, he quickly ran to catch up. With the traffic, we didn’t manage to photograph them, but it is an indelible memory.

Johnston is a gorgeous gorge with a boardwalk along the rock edge, but it was like a nose to shoulder line at Disneyland for 5km. We skipped one part because the line out a separate little bridge was so backed up for selfies it just wasn’t worth it. It would be so very special minus the jostling crowd. Did I mention the guy pushing his way through with a Rottweiler “service” dog?

Just a foot above the trail, another little group of twin-flowers being totally indifferent to the myriad pounding feet.

Moving on, we found an isolated turnout to have our picnic lunch just below the Castle Mountains. What a relief.

Castle Mountains

Female big horn sheep licking minerals from the ground! We had heard we might see this. The natural minerals provide nutrition for muscle and bone. (Four here and two more near shade up hill.)

PEYTO LAKE, BOW & CROWFOOT GLACIERS

We drove north again on Icefields Parkway to visit Peyto (pee-toe) Lake. Nice hike up to the viewpoint.

We knew glacial runoff was a silvery gray from seeing it in Switzerland, Alaska and the Athabasca Valley. So where did the Caribbean blue water come from in the rivers and lakes?

Another little climb gave us a view at Bow Glacier (with its moraine tracks visible). At front, all the Engelmann white spruce sporting their purple cones. And a view of the delta mentioned above.

The hike back to the car, among tall trees, ravens, and also some ankle-high gems along the way (unknown to me).

Driving back toward Lake Louise, we had more views of Bow Glacier and Lake.

Crow Foot Glacier - easy to see how it got its moniker.

The crest of these mountains is the dividing line between Alberta and British Columbia and I believe the Continental Divide as well.

YOHO NATIONAL PARK

Yoho National Park is just west of Lake Louise and we did want to visit. Takakkaw Falls, Emerald Lake, and Wapta Falls were on our list for Yoho.

The drive to Takakkaw Falls was up a steep incline with hairpin turns; one that required us backing up to negotiate. The falls were fantastic. We found a nice bench and I took this video while Gil went to grab our picnic from the truck.

We tried to find Wapta Falls, however it was only in fine print that there was no access to it if traveling southbound. Confused, we had to leave the park, drive another 17 miles to find a turnaround and then access it from the northbound Hwy. WTF?

Finally, on the right path.

Wapta falls

Next stop was Emerald Lake which was gorgeous and made the nutty day worthwhile.

The water in these mountains is nothing short of luscious. In addition to the lunch we packed in the morning, I had also packed a happy hour knowing we were likely to be out in the lingering light.

7pm and miles from home . . .

Finally on our way out, we stopped at the natural bridge. It is geologically one of the most interesting sights we were introduced to.

It may resemble wood, but is volcanic stone with the water rushing under the center

Because the national park and the highway system through it are shared, they have fenced the highway for miles and miles and built very nice wildlife corridors that cross it. It allows animal migration and reduces car/animal road hazard. When an animal reaches the fence, it may follow it to one or another of these bridges.

Wildlife corridor

Leaving the park, our next stop would be Redstreak Campground in Kootenay National Park just minutes out of Radium Hot Springs. Even though we’d be in BC again for a few days, this little corner of the province stays on mountain time.

We climbed our way up the mountain to the campground. On the hairpin turn to reach it, these fellows were lounging in the noon shade.

After locating our site and unhitching, we did a little grocery shopping in town and when we came back up, they had moved with the shade.

I count 15 rams here, fun to be so close, they were literally a few feet off the road

It is hard for me to pass up a hot-springs so off we went. We could have walked down from the campground but I wouldn’t have wanted to climb back up the trail after relaxing in the warm mineral water.

The rams were gone when we returned, so glad we chanced upon them earlier. It was lovely one-nighter with a deer just outside our door eating flowers while I cooked, followed by a very red sunset.

FERNIE, BC

We were excited and anxious about this next stop to visit friends from Princeville. Les warned us about his road, both figuring out where the unmarked turn was, and negotiating the soft shouldered narrows of it. He was actually on the road waving us down and then he drove us in, in his car, to show Gil where to hug the bank, etc. It went perfectly and we had a nice parking spot with electric and water. The forty some acres are as stunning as foretold.

From our rig toward the house, the Fernie ski slopes behind the property.

Les had built the fabulous house himself over thirty plus years and together they have landscaped it gorgeously, something different in bloom each month.

Les and Stella sitting on some newly made larch log benches, yet to be installed

One corner of the garden with its own aqueduct system

We had not met Stella on Kauai, but felt like old friends in a few hours. She is truly gifted with plants: microscopically, landscape design, and wild identification. We trekked to the creek, where along the way we identified the wildflowers and dodged occasional bear poop.

Makani, their pup

A stubborn little buttercup by the river

Back to the house followed by a nice dinner in the cute ski town of Fernie.

Not so quick goodbyes - looking forward to seeing these guys on island.

WATERTON & GLACIER NATIONAL PARKS

Four years ago, I started thinking about getting to Glacier NP in Montana, not particularly easy from Hawaii. I even asked my sister-in-law if she was interested in her and I going in their camper. It was too big an endeavor for her to leave her animals. A lot happened since then; this year it became the end destination that had started our massive Canadian loop north. Weather was a major consideration since Glacier has a very short window for travelling the Going to the Sun Road through the middle. This year it didn’t even open until July 13 and we got there the 27^th.

Let me back up. Waterton Lakes is the park on the Canadian side just north of US Glacier NP, and together they are one of the few International Peace Parks in the world.

Again, worried about being able to book a Park site within our tight reservation dates, we were at a private one. It turned out we had the loveliest site in the campground. It backed into willows, buttercups and goldenrod, the trickle of Crooked Creek out the window, and our firepit and table were very private.

Lovely evening, the mosquito coils we bought at Radium worked well.

Beautiful as it was, Waterton is known for very little light pollution and incredible star-gazing. Alas, it was overcast the three days we were there.

We had checked out Bison Paddock as the best spot for stargazing; open plains next to the mountains. Entirely fenced, we spotted the group of bison that live there.

There are five obvious adults and a calf here, but I think there is another adult and calf hidden in the cluster.

It took me quite a while to figure out this is wild Bergamot

We were not aware, before going, that there had been a devastating fire in 2017. The park would prove to be shockingly stark. These bison have only been returned to the paddock this year and the two new calves are a very welcome addition to the remaining herd. One bull that refused to be evacuated to Saskatchewan with the others, survived near the pond!

The town of Waterton sits on one of the three lakes, and the historic hotel called The Prince of Wales is a landmark sitting on its own little peninsula. Built as a fancy stop to entice early railway passengers, it was ambitiously named in hopes the prince at the time would stay there. He did not, but the name remains. The splendid view from the lobby and restaurant sweeps right up the beautiful lake.

The town at right

Of course, we took the boat that goes up the lake. It crosses over into the US and then returns. It used to stop on the US side, let people off to wander around and catch the next one back, but due to US understaffing we were not allowed to land.

Canadian-US border (line right of center)

We drove out to Cameron Lake, lunch in town and to Red Rock Canyon for our late afternoon hike. Both then and now this scenery is emotional to view – witnessing the aftermath of the fire brought me to tears. Logic tells me fire is natural, giving light to the understory. My mind knows it but the loss of our cabin in Rocky still hurts. This is five years after their Kenow fire – the trees are still standing and that understory is waist high at most. Kudos to this park for restoring the infrastructure that was demolished. Over the course of the day, I learned to appreciate what is there.

Akamina Parkway

There was a nice mix of roadside flowers, oblivious to everything around them except their nature to bloom.

The ever-present oxeye daisy, goldenrod in foreground

Common Gaillardia

The famous Alberta prickly wild rose, or Arctic rose

A pink version of Indian paintbrush

Alpine fleabane

Cameron Lake was inviting but we did not take the time to rent one of the boats on offer.

We returned to Waterton village for a rare lunch out before heading out Red Rock Parkway to the Canyon. Another austere drive, with Blakiston Creek alongside.

Wild bergamot and yarrow

We spotted a black bear with two cubs below us near the water. She worked, they played, and sometimes kept up.

She turned over rocks for treats underneath

Log rolling

At the parking lot it looked like rain but we charged on along the stream to the falls through what had once been forest.

Marveled at the colored stone

Deer along the path

Blakiston falls

Both red and green coloring in the limestone is from minerals infused during the period it was a seabed!

On the way back we looked for mom and cubs again. They were near a large turnout so we were able to watch them for some time. Past 5:30pm, they hoped for few more bites before bed. So sweet.

Clearly turning the rock

Following her nose (keen smell)

Couple little knuckleheads playing in the flowers

That paw was made for this job

Sadly, we were leaving Canada, for the year, but really looked forward to Glacier NP.

Parks map

The pink line goes from Fernie to Waterton and the excursions there, then across the border into St. Mary, East Entrance. The dotted line is the road over the pass, out the west entrance and around the outer perimeter of the park back to St. Mary.

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

Glacier is all about the Going to the Sun Road. The border crossing was quick and we got settled early in the day. Unfortunately, another one of my 5am in January bookings, it was a pull-thru on the left-hand side of the road; a mistake that won’t happen again. In order to leave room for our pull-out dining room, the entry door was right next to a stump. Gil had to saw it off; very tight space.

That done, we enjoyed the Visitor Center and got great advice from the ranger there for the next day.

US, Blackfeet Nation, Canada

Due to considerable road work being done at night (avalanche two weeks prior) the acclaimed road was closed from 10pm to 6am. Our campground was inside the park, located on that road, so we did not need a reservation to drive it. The glitch was limited parking at the top. We were advised to leave at 6am and drive to Logan Pass in order to find parking, as the cars streaming up from the other end would take a little longer to get there!

BLACKFEET DANCE PERFORMANCE

Luckily for us, there is a performance only twice during the summer and we were able to go that evening to watch members of the Blackfeet tribe dance in their fabulous hand-beaded regalia. This was the only program we had seen even though most parks have outside seating arenas for ranger programs, I think COVID concerns had pre-empted any scheduling. I do know First Nations and Native American tribes were extremely careful about exposure for their people everywhere we went.

The setting was incredible with light still hitting the mountain above the trees at 8pm.

After this young woman danced (she had a 9-day old baby in the audience), we were asked to guess what her beaded cape weighed, no one came close – 85 pounds! And her slippers and several other pieces were not painted, but heavily beaded as well. Of course, she had done the work herself.

The MC combined Indian lore, humble values, and humor. He liked to say “this is an old Indian trick a white man taught me.” He’s the local basketball coach and a couple of the drummers and dancers play b-ball. In addition to school and practice, they make their own outfits and compete in regional and national dance competitions.

Where we had seen puffin beaks on ancient coastal wraps, her jingle dress sported little tinkly cones made from snuff lids!

The culturally significant prairie grouse dance

We had a light dinner at 9pm and early to bed for our morning race up to the Logan Pass parking lot.

LOGAN PASS – GOING TO THE SUN ROAD

Minutes past our campground, the aptly named Rising Sun area. Quite beautiful in the early light, I would like to have come back another morning, to just sit and watch these mountains light up.

The plan worked; we ate our cereal on the tailgate after we got parked at the pass. At the top I spotted what I thought were bear grass flowers but they are actually feathery seeds on spent western pasqueflowers. I love them.

THE HIKE OF THE CENTURY

Of all the trails, we chose to head for Hidden Lake. Wow! There was dirt trail, gravel trail, boardwalk, tromping over icy snow, sometimes slush, all the while surrounded with gorgeous mountains, huge glades with wildflowers and running rivulets, up, up, up. We didn’t get all the way to the lake because the trail was closed due to deep snow. I couldn’t have asked for more.

The scale of the area is very difficult to express, even with the visuals. As we climbed, there were valleys below us where tall trees looked like ants. It was hard to comprehend as every moment was new and beyond dreams.

Glacier lilies - we had seen a few in Olympic National Park, but this is fields of them. What a privilege.

I'm still trying to figure out what this gorgeous pink carpet is (neither fireweed nor the fuchsia Indian paintbrush unique to the area)

Fuchsia Indian paintbrush

Layered landscape

Camouflage, big horn sheep just waking

The look of contentment on this guy’s face as he takes his morning whiz

The one on left hasn’t yet risen his heavy head; the horn rests on the ground to sleep

More layers looking the other direction

Marmot running below us between the layers

Our first mountain goat, what a specimen; he still looks sleepy too (I’m assuming a male with that big scar on his face)

Once we knew they were there, we scanned the rocky cliffs for others. Ten minutes later another, lit from the sun; and then ten minutes more (and higher) one more. Wow!

Not to overlook little critters at eye level, Columbian ground squirrel

Anyone that climbs up knows that the views coming down are entirely different.

Turning point

Would love his perspective

Back at the visitor center, we surrendered our parking place to the milling dozens of cars and headed down from the pass, a narrow two lane with us hugging the mountain that jutted out. It was only 9:30am.

We had stopped to get a closer look at these plants with the bluish flowers (plus the valley view on the other side). We truly had not expected the flora to be such a big part of our adventure.

Turned out to be sagebrush mariposa lily

The little bright purple guys are called self-heal

We made our way down to the river below, following it to Lake McDonald

Lake McDonald

A very nice picnic spot as we eased back into the hordes of people

After Apgar Visitor Center at the west entrance, we cruised the perimeter of the park to return to St. Mary. We scouted a couple roads to see the most suitable route for bringing the trailer south. I’m sorry we didn’t get into Two Medicine Lake (parking lot full) but we had had a really satisfying day. Little did we know it was our only day there.

Next morning, we realized our fridge had stopped working. Off grid in Glacier, I found us a park with electric and we moved to rule out a propane issue. Gil was on the phone with Lance (the trailer manufacturer), we called service centers who said they could look at it in October(!) We got ice and moved the groceries into coolers. Long story short Gil blew out all the propane lines and it is likely one had gotten clogged with dirt. The fridge worked beautifully after that.

We had moved to Sleeping Wolf on the Blackfeet reservation near Browning, it was quite a lovely spot, with the mountains now visible across fields of wild yarrow and cornflower. With our emergency resolved, we were strangely at peace.

Next morning, we spent time in town at the Museum of the Plains Indian.

Some of the peace pipe collection

We talked to local artists and visited the trading post. The merchandise was for the local craftsmen and women – many hanks of beads, good books, herbs, clothing, etc. My kind of shopping (visit their website: theblackfeettradingpost.com)

My whole suitcase smelled like sweetgrass when I got home (eventually)

AMERICA

I knew when planning the trip that once we left Glacier, I’d be like a stable horse heading for home. The yellow line on the previous Parks Map, we headed for Big Fork, MT on Flathead Lake. It should have been nice but the Elmo fire left the area less than ideal. It was too hot to hike and we didn’t like our campground which was in the process of becoming long-term rental only. Expensive and nothing to offer other than a list of restaurants in town; the woods I had seen on the satellite view were fenced off.

Woods Bay looked like a nice little community on the lake

Toys like this would be a lot of fun (Elmo fire across the lake)

Other than boating, there wasn’t much appeal. Until we went cherry picking, that is. They had a bumper crop and since pickers didn’t show up, we were sent into the orchard to pick our own. We ended up collecting 4 lbs. besides what I ate as I picked. It stirred childhood memories of going with my grandmother in Loveland, Colorado. I couldn’t stop smiling. And, it was cool in the shade. It would be a nice treat for days to come.

We drove the length of Flathead Lake on leaving, followed Flathead River until it turned west and joined the Clark Fork that led us into Idaho. We avoided the smoky area enough to not need masks but kept our eye on the air quality index. It was a very nice drive.

Leaving the smoke behind

Clark Fork, Idaho

We wanted to see both Sand Point and Coeur d’Alene so our campground was on the Priest River in between. It was situated in a bowl formed by magnificent cedar trees. It is unfortunate the owners didn’t appear and no one told us we had access to a beach across the road on the river. Neighboring campers told us about it (too late). It is doubtful we will get back that way but I would recommend it to others, especially if they have kayaks.

The beach, with toys, kayak launch, picnic pavilion, etc. we didn’t get to use. Ce’st la vie.

Sandpoint sits on the shore of Lake Pend Oreille at the foot of a skiing mountain. Seeking residents that work remotely they have invested in internet availability. They claim to be high tech/ high rec, with all the outdoor activities of the area. We spent a relaxing day at City Beach and took a nature boat tour, spotting eagles, quite refreshing.

The little boat we would later take

Juvenile Bald Eagle, adult plumage incomplete (pic of the day)

New Princeville neighbors, directly behind us, have a home in Coeur d’Alene and happened to be there as we were passing through. They invited us to park out front and spend the night. They gave us the grand tour of downtown, neighborhoods, the college campus, marina(s) and we went to dinner at a very good Italian restaurant. It was lovely to get to know them.

Ground level view from trailer – the house backs into the woods

Didn’t expect to see a moose downtown

On leaving the next morning, this troupe was at the end of the road

We would soon meet Denny and Darlene in a campground near Bend, OR so we stopped at a truck stop for one night. Much to our surprise, it was actually a very nice grassy RV park with utilities, clean showers, etc. En route we had to don our N95 masks for the first time due to smoke in Washington. The campground was full of killdeer playing in the dusk light; the moon pretty bright.

D&D were already at Indian Ford campground when we got there. Great to catch up with them over picnics at camp, we kayaked at Suttle Lake and walked to the head of Metolius Spring.

Last campground of the year, in Ponderosa pines this time.

Metolius Spring with Mt. Hood in background

We all headed back to Ashland. We had a family birthday dinner in town, third time out in three months! I believe if you pull a kitchen, use it.

Nephew Wes, Robin, Leo and Jessica

We all did a little day trip back to Lake of the Woods for one last boating spree. Weird to see Mt. McLoughlin without snow.

Leo rode forever! He paid with his knees (like rug burns) but just couldn’t stop!

Gil and I had a mountain of unloading and sorting to do. I was able to erase our site schedule and recent menus now that we were back at base. I got a very small image framed that I bought in Fernie of a loon. There is so very little wall space, he is perfect.