Alberta & a little bit of British Columbia

(fyi.... new tundra comic finally added to the end of this blog:)

Day 268 - July 23

We got up and dried the tent off with some paper towels a bit, to speed up the drying process so we could pack it up (it was soaked from the previous night’s storm). Packed up, showered and said our sad goodbyes to Helen. Then it was on our way to Canada. We drove along the Southern border of Glacier Park, and then up along the Eastern side until we got to the US – Canadian border.

At the border, they had us pull off to the side and sit in front of the truck as they searched it. Unfortunately the lady found a tiny (lipstick sized) bottle of pepper spray in my handbag that I had forgotten I had. She held it up to me saying ‘I am going to have to confiscate this.’ I said – fine, throw it away, I’m sorry - I forgot it was in there. They finished searching (she also held up my British passport to me when she found it in one of our bags, as if I had hid it or something, asking me if I was a dual citizen – ummm yes I am). I don’t have to declare that, and she didn’t even make me bring it inside! So they finished searching the truck, and then we went inside where she informed me that she’d be fining me $500 because I didn’t declare the pepper spray. I cried, pleaded, and tried to reason with her (FIVE HUNDRED?? Does that not seem extreme)?? She was nasty, wouldn’t even look me in the face. So, I paid it, we went through immigration, and we were allowed to cross the border. Unbelievable.


Then a big storm rolled in, bucketing rain down on us


We did see a peek of sun – but not much!

We drove on for about three hours, before making it to our lovely grassy tiered campground in Calgary. It was right next to the winter Olympics ski jump! We reheated some spaghetti bolognese and then crawled back into Dolph as it started to rain again. Unfortunately, our campsite was too far away from the building to pick up the wifi, so I called the front desk and asked if we could move closer. They ended up not being able to find us a spot close enough, so we just parked behind the main building, I finished the blog, and then we drove back to our camp spot and went to bed!

Day 269 – July 24

We got up and finished the blog, then drove to Walmart to stock up on supplies and food. Then we drove on West for another two hours towards the Canadian Rockies!


At the entrance to Banff National Park we bought a Canadian Parks Pass (wow it’s expensive to see a park here - $20 a DAY – or you can buy an annual pass – which is what we did – still almost twice the price of the US parks pass though!)


We then drove on a short distance towards Banff

We got to Banff, drove through the lovely town, and then went on to check into our campground – Tunnel Mountain Village #1.


We were shocked to see elk just hanging out along the campground road!!! Amazing!!


A gorgeous male with velvet on his antlers


Gorgeous views of the Banff area near our campground at the end of town


Dolph & our tent – the ground was horrible – hard and rocky – awful for setting up a tent


But we had a nice secluded spot

The tent caused us some drama though, one of the poles cracked a bit from the pressure of putting it up. Murray had to cut it down a bit so that we could get the tent up – what a pain! Its done this before. (and as I write this - mid Sept - we haven't used it since for fear of it snapping more)

After we got settled we drove back into town to have a look around. I knew it was an upscale place when I saw the Louis Vuitton store! It is a gorgeous little town though, cute buildings fronted in stone and wow what a view – surrounded by amazing mountains. The visitor’s center was great as well – they even had a particular counter for hikers, where you could get specific advice – lovely!


Even the drive to and from town was breathtaking


We got back to camp and made some cheesy pasta with tuna and then went to bed because the mosquitoes were out and it was Cold!

Day 270 – July 25

We had a little sleep in and then drove into town to buy…..


Bear Spray. Now, is it just us? Or is it odd that we can BUY pepper spray here, but I got fined $500 for bringing some in? Hmmmmm. And you know what? I didn’t even allow Murray to buy bear spray in the states, because I had heard that you weren’t allowed to bring it in **SIGH** ah well

We thought it was quite funny that we saw a number of people bicycling around town – with their helmets on backwards – odd!

We drove to the Lake Minnewanka area (those of you Brits will get why we kept laughing about that name – he he). We had been advised to hike the C-Level Cirque trail near the Upper Bankhead turnoff. This area is the site of an abandoned coal mining community, some of the fenced off holes were still visible from the path.


The trail was 3.9 km one way, and a gain of 455 meters in elevation


That may not sound like much – but OH MY GOSH it was tough. Uphill for the entire hike – exhausting!


When we got almost to the top we had this lovely view


Murray convinced me that we should continue on higher


So we continued upwards


Up this kind of terrain, it was this angle all the way from the valley floor!


Even though every other hiker we had seen had given up and gone back down


But eventually we got up above the tree line and there was a lovely view of Lake Minnewanka


Murray posing on the rocks


I then gave up after this photo, and sat down to eat my trail mix and try to get some energy back for the climb down.


Luckily Murray climbed just 40 feet higher and was astounded with this MUCH better view of the lake.


He convinced me to come up just a bit higher, and I was glad I did – stunning.

Of course going down was much easier thankfully – hard on the knees though! I could tell I was exhausted when I stepped off the side of the steep path with one foot, catching myself on my other knee and hand, didn’t hurt – but I did get dirty. Oh well. We eventually got to the bottom, and then grabbed our lunch stuff and had a nice sandwich picnic (although the bugs were going crazy – so we made it quick).

Afterwards we drove towards the lake


The surrounding fields were stunning – filled with flowers


Murray IN Lake Minnewanka, which is Banff’s largest lake.
Minnewanka means “Lake of the Water Spirit.” Brrrrr


Me & Dolph at one of the rest stops


Me in Two Jack Lake – the smaller lake just South of Lake Minnewanka


Really a gorgeous view (and the cold water was SO refreshing for our sore feet)!


Wild daisies like crazy – so beautiful


On our way back we stopped in town to look for some wifi. Unfortunately starbucks didn’t have any, so we ended up at an overpriced cafe that wouldn’t let us plug in (they have some sort of goofy rule). Later back at the campsite we had some soup & then just went to bed completely exhausted!

Day 271 – July 26

We had a nice sleep in, then spent the morning relaxing, reading and spreadsheeting. The showers here at close by, but only just warm and you have to push a button every 30 seconds to keep the water going – not great – but at least they are close by! We had a sandwich lunch and then went into town. It was very busy and hard to find a parking spot, so Murray dropped me off to by the move tickets while he went to park. We saw the Dark Knight and WOW was it great!


After the movie we drove to Vermillion Lakes area


This is the Bow Valley’s biggest wetland area


We were on the lookout for eagles – and we did spot these two in the distance, but only took this snap with the little camera - they were too far away to bother to get the good camera out. Besides, there were a million mosquitoes outside!




Then we drove towards the Bow Falls, stumbling upon this gorgeous rainbow on the way


We got a great view of the falls and the famous Banff Springs Hotel – it was built in 1888 to attract visitors from the new Canadian Pacific Railroad which passed nearby. It was styled after the baronial castles of Scotland.


Lovely puddle reflection

Back at camp we made dinner as it was getting dark


The flame on our little burner looks cool in a photo


Me waiting for dinner to cook – gotta love the tent to shield us form the nasty bugs!

Day 272 – July 27

Today we had set the alarm for 5 am, so that we could head back to Vermillion lakes and search for wildlife, but we ended up sleeping til 6.

Luckily the drive wasn’t far – and we had some lovely early morning views






Unfortunately we only saw one eagle, and he was too far away to photograph

But we still saw a few ducks, and the views of the sunrise were worth getting up early for.



Dolph didn’t mind!

We went into town, filled up on some VERY expensive petrol, and then wifi! Later on we went to see the new X-Files movie, which was the quality of an extended TV show – not great.


Later we drove back to Bow Falls on the other side so we could get a better view


We headed back to camp to have reheated spaghetti on grilled cheese sandwiches – yumm


Then we dried off the tent as much as possible, before packing it up. Are these water drops on the inside or outside? Answer - on the outside, but viewed from the inside- doesn't look it though eh?


We drove back to Vermilion Lake for a few more evening photos




A lonely crane


Then we drove back towards camp, and hiked out a bit to see the Hoodoos – these bizarre natural pillars


There was also an amazing view of the Bow Valley and the Banff Springs Hotel


We enjoyed our beers and the view – not bad!

Day 273 – July 28

We slept in, and then packed up and drove 20km down the Bow Valley Parkway to the Johnston Canyon trailhead.


The views on the trail were lovely


We walked right up the canyon, following the water


It was 1.1km to the Lower Falls


There was a cool natural hole that you could climb though to get a closer view of the lower falls




The lower falls viewed from a higher point – lovely


Me by falls




There was a lot of interesting information boards about the canyon


Finally after 2.7km we reached the impressive upper falls, which is over 100 feet high.







It was anther 2km uphill to reach the ink pots


I must admit that after the amazing brightly colored mud inkpots we saw in Yellowstone, these green and blue pools were a bit disappointing. Although it is interesting to note that the springs have a constant temperature near 4 centigrade (38 f), and that pools’ bottoms are composed of quicksand!)


But a nice spot for a rest and a snack with a lovely view nevertheless


We also took a peek at the nearby river

On the back we spotted these weird growths on this tree. They are prized finds for wood workers for their wood grain patterns etc.




A boardwalk along the rock wall leads to the floor of the canyon – pretty impressive

After that 7.2 mile hike which took us 3 ½ hours, we headed back to Dolph


To make a nice sandwich with lots of yummy veggies!


Then we drove on, towards Lake Louise down the Bow Valley Parkway.

When we got there, there was a HUGE line to check into the campground! Luckily we had booked ahead. The tent campsites were completely booked out, so we had to book in the hard sided trailer campground (you aren’t allowed to have tents there because of the bears – the tent campground is surrounded by an electric fence). Eventually we got checked in, and found our spot. We made our way to the local hostel, and used their common area as a lounge so that we could work on the blog and read, that worked well! Back at camp we enjoyed some chocolates and watched the Ben Stiller movie heart break kid on the laptop – nice and relaxing!

Day 274 – July 29


We got up in the morning and drove to the Lake Louise parking area


After just a short walk we had our first view of the stunning Lake Louise, the most famous glacial lake in the Canadian Rockies


The beauty of Lake Louise is an enduring image of the Canadian Rockies. The lake was named for Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, daughter of Queen Victoria.


Me & Murray by Lake Louise


We thought about renting a canoe, but it was a ridiculous 50 dollars an hour, so we hiked on instead.


Famed for the blueness of its water and the snow-capped peaks that surround it, Lake Louise also boasts Mount Victoria and Victoria Glacier. The glacier stretches almost to the waters’ edge, and was named for the Queen.


The grounds of the Chateau Lake Louise had gorgeous flowers






Poppies everywhere


The amazing color of the water comes from deposits of glacial silt, known as rock flour, suspended just beneath the surface.


We hiked up around the lake


Lovely falls along the way


And this giant marmot


He was a big guy!



what a cute fluffy tail


The trail leading up towards the Victoria Glacier




OH Hello – too cute




Murray on the hike, with the glacier in the background


It was 5.3km up to the top


The glacier is a bit dirty here – but quite large


Me at the top of the trail – it was tough – but worth it!


Me & Murray with Lake Louise way in the background!

There was a cute little teahouse at the end of the trail up at the top, and lovely wooden benches to sit and rest your aching feet – really lovely.


After a bit of a rest, we headed back down on a higher trail up above the lake


The Chateau Lake Louise was built in 1894


The lake was formed 10,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age


We took the highline trail all the way to Mirror Lake, where I had to wash my sunglasses off because I had dropped them in some horse poo – lovely


We then hiked up to Lake Agnes, and saw this gorgeous waterfall on the way






At Lake Agnes stood another super cute teahouse with great views of this lake


This guy would NOT leave us alone as we sat by the lake trying to relax


He kept trying to sit on our bag – must smell sweet!


Me & Murray at Lake Agnes


Then we made our way back down


Murray impersonating the statue of the man who first explored this area


After 5 hours of hiking (14 miles in total) we really needed to rest our feet!

So we had an nice tailgating sandwich, and then changed into nicer clothes (jeans) so that we could…

Find a corner in the Chateau Lake Louise to relax and work on the blog for awhile

Back at camp we had some nice soup for dinner, a nice hot high pressure shower (they are hard to come by these days!) and crawled back into Dolph for another movie and chocolate – lovely.

Day 275 – July 30

It was a loud night – the campground isn’t far from the rail tracks and we could hear trains going by and the rain was loud. Wow was it cold as well!

We went into town for a warm bite to eat (since it was still raining) and attempted to get wifi (the only wifi in town is from the post office, but of course you are not allowed to sit inside on a laptop – how annoying)! So we sat in a nearby restaurant, and still did not end up getting any signal, however we did have some nice spring rolls!


Later we drove to see Moraine Lake which also has a shimmering turquoise color


Just a shame it was still raining – so we decided not to do the hike around the lake


The rock pile at the end of the lake


Moraine Lake is also quite famous in that an image of the Valley of the Ten Peaks, surrounding the lake, appears on the back of the older versions of the Canadian $20 bill.

We ended the evening back at the campground with a nice pesto pasta with tuna (of course) and then sat in the cab for a bit waiting for the rain to stop. Then we crawled in the back to watch a few episodes of Lost & went to bed (why does Every episode make us even MORE confused – so frustrating!!)

Day 276 – July 31


Today we left Lake Louise and started driving up the Icefields Parkway


Dolph liked the view


Still lookin’ good


The Icefields Parkway is often called the most scenic highway in the world


It is named for the tremendous glaciers which flank its westward side


The parkway weaves up and around the mountains between Banff and Jasper National Parks




Lovely Bow Lake


Murray & I by the lake


The highway is 230 kilometers of continuous World Heritage Site scenery, completely protected in two national parks


The bright blue glacial water of the lake and the wide view of the Mistaya Valley make Peyto Lake one of the most scenic spots on the tour.


The lake was named for “Wild Bill” Peyto, one of the first game wardens in the park.


Murray & I at Peyto Lake

Not sure why the party is there?


In 1931, the government of Canada put hundreds of unemployed men (due to the depression) to work in building this ‘wonder trail’ through the heart of the Canadian Rockies.


The men were paid twenty cents a day. Using picks, shovels and horses – for mechanized equipment the crews only had a few small tractors – these hardy folks hacked a single-lane gravel tack from Lake Louise to Jasper


The “B-J” (Banff-Jasper) road opened quietly in 1940, while the country was at war.
It was widened and paved during the auto-tourist boom the 1950s and 1960s.


We took a hike off the highway whenever we got the chance


The views were worth it!


This is waterfowl lakes, with Chephren and Howse mountains in the background


Murray at the lake


Another lovely lake stop – we stopped at just about every official point


So did Dolph

Eventually we got to the Icefields area, and decided on which campground to stay at. We picked a spot, and then set up for a picnic sandwich. I set out the camping table cloth Mom had bought for ,for the first time in ages, and wouldn’t you know…. A squirrel jumped up and pooped on it! Unbelievable!

So after cleaning that off, we had a nice sandwich, then went back up to the Columbia Icefield Visitors Center to explore and we went up for our first view of Tangle Falls (a lovely waterfall). The Icefield covers 325 sq km (125 sq miles) – the largest area of ice in the Canadian Rockies. Back at the campsite by 7pm, it was freezing cold, so we just crawled into the back and watched a bunch of episodes of Lost.

Day 277 – August 1

It was SO hard to get up today because it was COLD and raining – lovely. Eventually we got ready and started driving north. We stopped at Athabasca Falls, although only briefly because of the rain – no fun.

We eventually got to Jasper and only JUST managed to get one of the last campsites at the Whistlers campground (I figured we wouldn’t need to reserve and pay their exorbitant reservation fee since there are many hundreds of sites, I guess I was wrong – the place was packed). Once getting our site, we headed into Jasper, did our laundry, checked our email and had some KFC.

On the way back to the campground our day REALLY picked up when we saw……

A black bear and her cub - fantastic!










Only bad thing was that eventually when there got to be too many cars, a ranger showed up. We saw him get out of his truck with a gun (huh?). He fired it in the directions of the bears to scare them away from the road – bummer.


Back the campsite we found a little friend keeping a lookout for us

or maybe just enjoying his pine?








Yummmm, pine

I was washing my hands in the nearby bathroom and managed to soap up enough that the cheap little ring that I have been wearing in lieu of my diamond for the past 10 months slipped off and went straight down the deep drain. Darn it! It looked terrible, all the fake silver had worn off, but I had grown attached to it (that is only til I get my diamond back.....), still a bummer though. Also, Murray accidentally deleted the previous day’s photos when the laptop ran out of battery and didn’t fully upload all the photos - he was quite upset!


But we still managed to have a nice dinner (although I know it looks scary) it was a very nice pork loin which we had with flavored rice

Day 278 – August 2

We didn’t have a great night’s sleep since we got woken up at midnight by my brother calling to play the song ‘Monique Freak’ by Ween to us over the phone, over and over, even after we tried to hang up and go to bed, he called back. We did have a good laugh though.

In the morning we were up and off by 8 to drive to Mount Edith Cavell.






We saw this lovely guy on the way


Nice views along the drive – which was good since it was 14km of very bumpy dirt roads






Not a bad view!


We thought this sign had quite a funny illustration


Lovely falls near the pathway


Me at on the pathway with the tripod


There is a gorgeous glacial lake at the bottom of the 3,368 meter mountain and Angel glacier (which is the most famous in Jasper National Park)


Mount Edith Cavell was named for the selfless, heroine English nurse of the First World War

We hiked around a bit with the big heavy camera, but didn’t see any animals, so eventually we decided to move on.


On our drive we quickly spotted this bear, stalking through the woods


We decided to drive back the way we had come from the previous day, to retake some of the gorgeous photos that had accidentally got deleted. This was one of the lovely lakes along the drive.


Our first big stop was Athabasca Falls.


This 23-meter (75 ft) waterfall has the most powerful flow to be found anywhere in the Canadian mountain parks


Despite being a relatively short drop compared with other falls in the Rockies, the force of the waters of the Athabasca River being pushed through a narrow, quartz-rich gorge transforms these waters into a powerful, foaming torrent.

Nice view driving back up over the mountains












Of course we HAD to drive all the way back to Tangle Falls – which is stunning


It was John Dee Dee’s favorite site in the Canadian Rockies




Me at the falls (with John in my pocket)
















We then went back to the Columbia Icefield center and Murray climbed up on the tires of this ‘sno-coach’ to show just how huge it is!


The sno-coach with the Athabasca Glacier in the background


Such a massive vehicle!


Although the glaciers have retreated over the last few hundred years, during 20th century ice covered the area where the Icefield Parkway now passes, right up to where I was standing for this photo!


You can take overpriced sno-coach rides out onto the glacier (of which you can see one in this pic above), or walk on them yourselves – we just looked from a distance. Although we did hear an awful story about a guy who not so many years ago drove up to the base of the glacier and was walking with his family when he fell down a huge crevasse that had been hidden by snow. He died of exposure before they could get him out, scary.


We then drove up to Sunwapta Falls, and did some tailgating for lunch (we are getting this down pat now!)


Sunwapta Falls was another huge, gorgeous waterfall with both upper and lower falls



We hiked down a the path to get a great view of the lower falls


Murray’s mullet is getting quite impressive! I am so proud: )


The falls tumble into a limestone gorge




Me hiking along the path

We then drove back to Jasper, filled up on petrol and drove on to Maligne Lake.


Luckily we missed our turn, because we spotted a group of elk hanging out by the side of the road.


Elk bum – quite cute


Happily eating away

We got back and took the correct turn onto Maligne Valley Road and soon came upon….


A group of sheep on the road!


They were quite curious (and/or hungry) and came RIGHT up to Dolph and all other passing vehicles


There were signs up ALL over the place though, telling us not to feed the wild animals, it creates a desire for human food in them which draws them onto the road and into dangerous situations due to all the traffic


They had one CUTE little baby with them!




Their eyes are so widely set apart – bizarre looking


Fuzzy baby sheep


See now this is what they really should be eating! Although it was obvious they had been fed by people before because they were walking right up to people and cars. I ended up yelling at a group of people who took food out of their car and started feeding them! I just said – don’t feed them!!! Didn’t you see the signs? This is why they get killed by traffic! The ding dongs quickly obeyed me and put their food away, shame.




Gotta love the cute little stubby baby horns












Hmmmm tasty ground


Eventually a ranger came and zapped them on the bums a bit until they ran up off of the road (although only until he left) – they were quite agile climbers – pretty impressive!

Pee stop.

Is it safe to go back down now?


Maligne Lake Road is 11 km southeast of the town of Jasper


Taking on an Isuzu


One guy peering in at me in the truck – they were quite bold – thus why I stayed in the truck!!


FEED ME! Ummm no, sorry




They were walking RIGHT up to Murray, one even licked his t-shirt, but when they realized he had no food they would continue right on


Off into the mountains again


Medicine Lake (to the right in this photo) is drained by one of the largest underground river systems in North America.




The Maligne River has carved its way through the Canadian Rockies



We loved this little island with just one tree on it in the river – gorgeous


Finally we reached our destination – Maligne Lake, the largest natural lake in the Canadian Rockies


The beauty of this 22-km-long (14 mile) lake is legendary. In 1908 explorer Mary Schaffer wrote, “There burst upon us…. the finest view any of us had ever beheld in the Rockies.”


However, we were quite disappointed to find out that the famous view of spirit island was only accessible via boat tour or kayaking (6 hours to get there & back….. we decided that might be just a BIT much since we both have bad left shoulders). Bummer. I am quite disappointed that they didn’t have a hiking path that went back so you could get a view of the island.

So, since it was raining, we checked out the gift store and then headed back towards Jasper.


The skies looked ominous


Wildlife road block


Long ago the local Native American people believed that spirits inhabited Medicine Lake. This is because the water level fluctuates wildly, sometime disappearing altogether during the fall and winter, due to a combination of an underground drainage system and the spring runoff. It is one of the largest “sinking” lakes in the Western Hemisphere.


Lovely mountain views along the drive


We drove back to Jasper with dark clouds still hanging overhead

We decided to go to a local pub for some warm food and wifi


Murray amused himself with coin photos….






They call these one dollar coins loonies – you can guess why!


Murray told me about these goofy urinals at the pub, and I had him go right back to take a photo to show me – just a bit bizarre!!

Day 279 – August 3


In the morning we drove back down the Maligne Valley Road – Dolph liked the view


Much better pictures today of the cute one tree rock island now that the sun was out


We think it is JUST lovely! A big tree growing out of a huge rock, in the middle of a river!


Medicine Lake was looking much lower today in parts




At the Maligne Canyon stop we came across a German guy who was riding the entire Pan-American highway on his bike along wit).h 2 friends (this is the original trip we had planned – from the top of Alaska to the bottom of Argentina – although in trucks – not on bikes)

Their proposed route – most of which we have done on this trip, or will do, although just not all in that order: )

We spotted some lovely loons on the lake

And got a nice view of the Maligne Canyon




The Maligne River has carved a 50-meter (165-foot) gorge through the solid limestone




Lovely wildflowers in the area


Then we continued on – on our way out of Jasper National Park


The wildflowers on the way seemed to coat the hillsides like lavender blankets – gorgeous


So many lovely lakes along the way – we only wish we had a canoe with us


Our last stop in Jasper Park was to the Mitte Hot Springs


This guy was calmly eating grass and not minding having his photo taken








A group of sheep were patrolling the parking lot there in search of food, Murray joined in..... Check out the one looking back at him....."what the..?"

We had a nice picnic while watching the sheep eat the ashes from the cooking grates, then went to have a peek at the hot springs. They were not natural springs, but just hot spring water that had been pumped into a concrete pool. There was a TON of people in there, it looked overcrowded, and wasn’t natural looking at all, so we took a miss.


And drove on out of Jasper National Park


We drove up through farmland for hours….

And even saw our first ‘Alaska scenic highway route’ sign – VERY exciting! We drove past Hinton and Grand Cache, and got to Grande Prairie just before 7pm.


We checked into a cute little campground that was part of a farm, and setup our table to make some dinner.

Day 280 – August 4

Our truck was parked a bit downhill last night (because there was no other place to park), so we didn’t sleep very well (amazing how even just a slight tilt makes it so uncomfortable to sleep). However we did enjoy the nice clean bathrooms at the campground, and chatted to a lovely Canadian couple who camped nearby with their family (ok – I don’t hate all Canadians now – just the border lady)!


We stopped the city of Beaver Lodge for this photo – because – well, it was just funny.


Then we crossed, although briefly, into British Columbia (I’m not quite sure how they have decided it is the best place on earth – but the territory certainly is pretty)


Eventually we reached Dawson Creek – Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway – the official starting point!!


It was not until the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 that the construction of the Alaska Highway was deemed a military necessity as a supply road to defend North America against the Japanese.


Officially, the highway began on March 8, 1942 with a group starting north from Dawson Creek, a small town of 600; the highway was completed eight months later on October 25, 1942.


More than 11,000 American troops, including seven regiments of engineers, 16,000 civilian workmen from Canada and the US and 7,000 pieces of equipment were thrown into the Herculean task of penetrating the 1500 miles of mountains, muskeg (moss-covered bog) and mosquitoes in the freezing temperatures.

For the soldiers and workers it was a difficult life. Fatigue, hypothermia and accidents were a part of every day life as the workers set down 8 miles of road a day, 7 days a week. The route was literally bulldozed through the wilderness. Road conditions of the Alcan were horrific, with 90 degree turns and 25 percent grades.


The recruiting posters for workers warned: “This is no picnic…. Men will have to fight swamps, rivers and ice, and cold. Mosquitoes, flies and gnats will not only be annoying but will cause bodily harm. If you are not prepared to work under these conditions…. DO NOT APPLY.” Wow!

The Americans paid for the construction of the highway, and turned the Canadian portion over to the Canadian government in April 1946. The highway was officially opened to the public in 1948.

We got into Fort Nelson (300miles up the Alaskan Highway) around 6 pm, and after consulting the visitors center, decided to check into a nearby campground for the night.


We had some nice soup for dinner, worked on the blog, and then went to bed (driving all day is exhausting!)

Day 281 – August 5

We got up early, and set off.


Our first stop of the day was to take a look at Muncho Lake


Then we were lucky enough to spot our FIRST gorgeous caribou by the side of the road


He made a risky crossing, safely thank goodness


We also spotted this female moose and her baby – just stunning with that background as well










The views along the highway are gorgeous – SO many lakes!




Our next stop was at the Liard River Hot Springs


My floating head in the upper pool of the hot springs


The hot springs are the result of surface water trickling down through cracks and fissures to the superheated rocks of the Earth’s crust, which reaches temperatures of 1,000 degrees celsius (1,823 F).


Steam is then released and rises to the surface where it condenses as water.

The water was hot and refreshing – a great break from driving! We then had (of course) a nice sandwich lunch, and got back on the road.


Straight away Murray spotted this black bear by the side of the road – very exciting
However these pics are not very good as they were taken with our little snappy cam and not the good camera.

Happily munching away on grass & flowers








He was happily eating away while we watched him safely from Dolph. The very second Murray finally got his big camera set up for shots the bear ambled back into the woods - gone. Sods law.


We also spotted this Bison – which was larger than the ones we had seen in South Dakota and Wyoming



And that was it for Alberta & a tiny bit of British Columbia….. next up – The Yukon! (coming soon.............)