Stone Mtn BC to West Glacier Mt

Since our last post we've put some additional miles under the bus and its time

to play catch up with the blog.

Leaving Stone Mtn Provincial Park and our wonderful Northern Lights behind, 

we have traveled south back into the US via the following:

1 Dawson Creek, BC  

2  Hinton, Alberta       

3 Banff, National Park

4 West Glacier, Mont  

The map below shows the route and stops.

(Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge them)

Leaving Mirror Lake at the crest of the BC Rockies, we descend slowly out of the Rockies

as we travel westward towards Fort Nelson, BC.

Along the way we again stop for Cinnamon Buns at Testa River.

After Fort Nelson, the Alaska Highway turns southward and slowly we leave the

Boreal Forest behind.

The colors of early fall still peek at us.

Alaska Highway N of Sikani Chief, BC

A 300+ mile day put us in Dawson Creek where we spent the night at the 

Northern Lights RV Park.  

We've stayed here a couple of times before.

Nothing fancy but it works for the night.

The next day we are back on the road southbound to Hinton, Ab

Since we were unable to find a single open campsite for a few nights at Jasper National Park,

we stayed at the Hinton-Jasper KOA about 40mi east of Jasper.

Our route from Dawson Creek to Hinton, took us south from Grand Prairie, on AB 40

AKA the Bighorn Highway.   A scenic and fairly remote route.

North of Grand Cache, the highway travels thru some hilly country and passes

many natural gas processing centers.

The road is quite dirty from the trucks that constantly enter from the dirt roads to the side. 

In dry weather its no big deal, but when it rains - as it did today - the vehicles get

filthy and covered with mud.

AB 40 - Bighorn Highway North of Grand Cache, Ab

South of Grande Cache the road flattens out and you leave the mud and dirt behind.

AB 40 Bighorn HIghway - S of Grande Cache, Ab

We arrived at the Hinton/Jasper KOA covered with mud. 

This KOA has alot of pipeline workers in residence and about 5-6am you would hear all of them

headed to work - most driving diesel pickups.

Since I'm already up working its not a problem.

We made it all thru the Yukon & Alaskan construction zones without a chip in the windshield.

We were not so lucky on the Bighorn Highway however.

A passing truck chucked up a rock and we got a bullseye about the size of a dime.

I repaired the bullseye chip in the windshield the next morning before it had a chance to spread.

Since it cures by UV light,  I needed to shade it from the sunlight 

during the process till it was ready to cure.

Some cardboard and paper bags did the trick.

Chip repair to the windshield

Our last trip to Alaska had me repairing 5 hits along the way so I consider just one to be a bonus.

I found one of the best self serve RV washes ever in Hinton.

The picture below is just one of the 3 bays.

The other two bays also had catwalks on each side, from where you could clean the roof. 

The bays were over 100' long!

Each bay had several power washers and foaming brushes on

both sides so Kate and I were able to each take a side of the bus and get the deed done

in about 20 minutes.

Hinton RV & Truck Wash

Mud removed...   we headed west back into the Rockies heading towards our next destination...

Banff National Park. 

TC 16 Yellowhead Highway headed westbound towards Jasper, Ab

Our route took us south on the Icefield Parkway.

We've done this drive a couple of times northbound and this was our first heading south. 

As we climbed to the Columbia Icefields the environment changed to Alpine

and the colors of the Alpine Fall increased.

Icefield Parkway approaching the Columbia Icefields

Icefield Parkway just South of Columbia Icefield Center

South of the Icefields we again descend to lower altitude into the forest.

Soon a construction stop has us parked for 20 minutes and I got out to stretch

my legs and take a photo of our newly cleaned bus.

Below was our view while waiting for our turn thru the construction.

N Saskatchewan River Headwaters

 Even on a cloudy or rainy day - the view along the Icefield Parkway is magnificent.

Icefield Parkway approaching Waterfowl Lakes area

Icefield Parkway - Waterfowl Lake

 Further south on the IP we approach the headwaters of the Bow River.

The Bow River flows thru Banff National Park and into Calgary, Ab.

Icefield Parkway approaching Bow River Headwaters

Bow Lake and Glacier - Icefield Parkway

 We now spent a week in Banff National Park in an Electric only site.

They have full hook up sites but none were available for a whole week.

It seems all of Canada was taking advantage of the last of summer.

While there -snow started to coat the peaks not far above us.

We even had snow flurries in our campground.

Early Season Snow in Banff National Park

 One of the great things about this RV Lifestyle is the friends that we meet along the way.

When we decided to change plans and head to Banff, I texted our RV Buddies

Rob and Pat who live in BC to see if they could meet us.

Sure enough...  they made the 6 hr drive to Banff and we spent 4 days together.

Having spent a month or so boon-docking on Lake Roosevelt Az a couple of winters ago,

they fell in love with Gracie & Lucy and decided to get an Australian Labradoodle of their own.

So (L-R)  Lucy, Gracie, and Ophelia.

The 3 Doodles get along great!   

You don't even know that three dogs are in the bus!

One neat feature in Canadian National Parks are the Red Chairs.

Strategically placed with a great view...   just find a red chair and enjoy.

Red Chairs Banff National Park

 Kate and I have been making a collection of us sitting in Red Chair Photos 

and now have them from the Maritimes to the Rockies.

Red Chairs Banff National Park

We spent a nice Sunday afternoon visiting the Banff Springs Hotel.

One of the Great Railway Hotels built in the early 1900's by the Canadian Pacific Railway 

along its routes to stimulate passenger traffic.

Banff Springs Hotel

Banff Springs Hotel Reception Lobby

Banff Springs Hotel Restuarant

 The views from all the rooms and terraces in any direction are stunning!

Banff Springs Hotel Terrace View

 Soon our week in Banff was over and it was time to put a bookend on our Alaskan Summer.

Rob & Pat headed to Kimberly and we headed back to the US.

Leaving Banff I took a picture of Rob leading the way out of the campground.

Banff Tunnel Mountain Road

 We first headed north on TC 1 to Castle Junction, where we would catch

Route 93 west, then south.

Trans-Canada Highway 1 Approaching Castle Junction Ab

 The drive thru Kootenay National Park which adjoins Banff NP is beautiful.

This whole immense area of the Canadian Rockies is just stunning!

There are 6 National Parks in about a 40 mile radius in this area.

AB 93 in Kootenay National Park

 Soon Rob and Pat cut off to Kimberly and we continued south on BC93.

We stopped at a Cardlock in Cranbrook, BC to refuel, and 

then pushed the rest of the way south.

BC 93 just south of Canmore, BC

 Crossing the border into Montana, BC 93 becomes US 93 and travels thru

thick pine forests south to Whitefish, Mt.

US 93 North of Whitefish, Mt

 Our destination for the next 4 nights is the KOA in West Glacier.

It is beautifully redone.  They were rebuilding these sites 3 years ago when we were here.

Its amazing how much the trees have grown since them.

W Glacier KOA site # 33

This section of the park is like a garden.

Quite pretty.   We have the place almost to ourselves.

W Glacier KOA site # 33

This is the third time we've been here and third time Going to the Sun Road is closed.

The other two times it was that the snow had not yet been cleared.

This time Going to the Sun Road is closed due to wildfires.

If we drive 90 miles around to East Glacier we can drive the road 20 miles in from that side

up to Logan Pass.  We might try that drive tomorrow however today part of the

open part has now been closed due to early snow....

We just can't win!

Perhaps one of these days we'll make it.

W Glacier KOA site # 33

Snow dusted the mountains above us here in W. Glacier too.

Winter seems to be following us as we drive south.

Next is Coeur d'Alene Id for a few nights,

Then over to Seattle for a bit,  then down to

McMinnville, Oregon where we will park for 5 weeks at the Old Stone Village.