THURSDAY, MAY 30

THURSDAY, MAY 30:   

     A long day, and our first “unplanned adventure.”  J  But all’s well that ends well . . . and today did!

     It rained all last night, and all day long, literally.  Sometimes only a light sprinkle, but we never had the windshield wipers off all day.  Grey clouds all day.  We easily crossed the border into Canada about 10:00 a.m.  After conferring with a couple of people about the best route to take to Prince George/Prince Rupert, we decided on Canada Hwy 2 to Calgary, and then Hwy 1 to Banff, and north to Jasper.  We’ll be stopping on our way back home to spend time at these Canadian National Parks, so were looking at alternate routes to get to Prince George in order to not repeat.   But the folks Bill talked to were dubious about our suggested alternate – Hwy 3 to 95, and then Hwy 1 to Kamloops and north from there.  They thought it was pretty narrow & curvy in places.   So Bill decided to take their advice.  On the way home, we can do some of that other route if we feel confident in our “sea legs” – oops, I mean mountain legs.

     Took a long time to get thru and around Calgary, as expected of any large city.  But then made our way into Banff Nat’l Park, and northward to Lake Louise.  Even though it was raining and foggy, we still could see some of the marvelous beauty of this area.  Got out at the Lake Louise town centre to stretch our legs and use the restroom (“washroom” here in Canada, eh).  Then, when we started on the road again, we took the wrong turn – continued on Hwy 1, which turned West, and went thru Yoho Nat’l Park, when we should have taken Hwy 93 North to Jasper.   Didn’t realize it til we’d left the boundary of Yoho, and saw a sign that indicated the distance to the town of Golden.  I knew from looking at maps of this area dozens of times that Golden wasn’t where we wanted to be headed!  So we turned around when we had a chance.  Probably a total of 50 miles out of our way total (25 mi each way).  And not 50 miles @ 65 mph!  More like 25 mph in some spots.  But it was beautiful, even thru the rain . . . we saw several waterfalls gracefully falling down the mountain’s side.  And several crystal clear light aquamarine streams that were just dazzling in their clarity, even in the fog.   This is a side trip we’ll definitely want to take when we return to this area in Sept!
     So started up the right road north.  Knew it was about 150 miles or so to our designated campground – the only one in Jasper with hook-ups.  Thought we could make it before dark, since it stays light so long up here.  But by 8:30, we were only maybe ¼  - 1/3 of the way there.  We came upon a little lodge, gas station, & restaurant at a hwy junction (Saskatchewan Crossing).  Bill was relieved to be able to get some gas, and he asked the lodge folks if they knew of any RV camping places (with hook-ups) between here and at the other end of Jasper, where we were headed.  They said there wasn’t anything, but invited us to park our RV there in their parking lot overnight.  We debated about the merits of that – it was pretty cool outside, and going to get colder (in fact, we learned that they’d had snow that morning!), but Bill was sure that the furnace would work on the propane without electricity.  I agreed that as long as we had heat and water, we could “dry camp” here.   We can power the lights via the battery if we’re frugal.  There were 2 or 3 other RV’s parked there too.

     Well, after a couple of false starts, we got the furnace to work (thank goodness!).  But never could get water.  Bill couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the pump.   It worked fine last summer when we had to use it.  We did a Scarlett O’Hara:  “We’ll worry about that tomorrow!” – we were very tired and hungry by this point, and figured we could use the restroom (washroom, eh) in the little bar across the parking lot for our nightly ablutions.  In fact, we went into the bar to see what they had to eat.  The menu was limited – but had chili on it.   Sold!  Tasted really good!  And a really nice atmosphere.  Felt just like a mountain lodge should feel on a cold, misty night.  The sole bartender/waiter was a young guy who had just arrived last week from Ontario.  I’m sure he’s summer help who probably gets at least part of his wages in free cabin rent, eh.  He was a really nice, friendly guy who was raving about how this was his first time seeing the mountains, and he awoke amazed every morning that he was surrounded by mountains.  We also met a guy in the bar who’s on his way to Alaska – to find work, probably in mining, he said.  Just a free spirit enjoying the journey up there.  He’ll find lots of kindred spirits there!   

     So even though the day was long, and seemed hard at times (mostly Bill driving in constant rain), and we took a detour, and didn’t make out destination, it all ended fine.  Had our first dry camping experience of this trip, and felt like pioneers (well, sort of)   And if you’re going to rough it, what a better place to do it than here, where you’re surrounded by some of the most majestic mountains anywhere in the world??  As I said, even with the rain and fog, we could still get glimpses of the high, jagged peaks. Sometimes fog and mist would be swirling around the peaks – really lovely.  An iconic alpine picture of mountains in chilly mists.   And the clear, crisp fragrance of the mountain pines is there no matter what the weather – when we stepped out of the truck, if blindfolded, we could immediately recognize that sharp pine scent.  It’s been an evocative scent of pristine mountains for me ever since my 1^st time in Yosemite, nearly 50 years ago.