Nearly back in the USA. Nearly, because we’ve been sat here in a traffic jam just north of the border in the hot, hot sun for over an hour, with various emergency and traffic vehicles coming up and down the road. One guy says that there’s a trailer turned over further down. We passed an overturned haulage trailer a few miles back up the same road, too. A few police cars are starting to come back up this way, so maybe it’s clearing. We’ve been sat here long enough for the trailer folk in front of us to get out their generator to power their AC.
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On Wednesday last week we left Marble Canyon and headed via Kamloops towards Jasper. It was another hot drive, through arid canyon country and then back into endless trees and meadows flanking the North Thomson river. We found a campsite by the river and cooked dinner while the mosquitoes swarmed in. The river was really full, and moving fast. All the rivers in the Rockies over the next few days were the same, and some lakes were overflowing.
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Thursday morning; on towards Jasper, where we stopped off for a shower before heading south on the Icefield Parkway – supposedly one of the world’s best drives. Yes, it’s a pretty amazing view, all the way. So much BULK in these mountains.
The trees are very different from those on the Pacific Northwest coast – they are smaller, skinnier and more open. I guess they get a much harsher winter. I keep meaning to read up on all the different types on fir, pine and spruce trees – we’ve seen so many different species.
We spent a few days camping at Waterfowl Lakes campground with family; Iain and Helen, cousins Andrew and Alastair, their wives Kara-Lise and Kim, and two baby/toddler boys. Not doing a huge amount of activity, and staying in the same place for 3 nights in a row has been nice. We had a short walk up to Bow Lake Summit on Friday, and a kayak around Waterfowl Lake on Saturday. Plenty of eating and resting.
Last week we had our first mechanical breakdown – the 12v plug for the fridge melted and shorted a fuse. We didn’t have any spares so I stole the wiper fuse, expecting not to have any rain. We did end up having a bit of rain over the weekend, but we weren’t driving. Last night we discovered the gas regulator off our cheap cooker had failed, and even after multiple dis-assemblies, tweaks and re-assemblies it still wasn’t working. I don’t like it when I can’t fix something. So today we spent a while looking around stores in Cranbrook for a new cooker, ended up with a cheapo from Canadian Tire. The reviews are good, let’s see if it survives the next couple of months on the road.
We’ve got three weeks to get across to Thunder Bay where we’re meeting Olly and Kate, so we’re going to head south into the USA and spend some time in Glacier National Park, Yellowstone and a few other places along the way.
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Eventually the traffic cleared and we arrived at the US border. The guard waved us through and told us to park up and go into the office, where we filled out an immigration form and waited while they searched the van. We’d declared our fruit and veg, but not our firewood … luckily we were just scolded and allowed to continue on into Montana – a new state!
So far, nothing to report other than the Rockies have disappeared and made way for rolling, tree-covered hills. There’s a LOT of this kind of driving up here!
We’re now camped at Dickey Lake, about 30 miles south of the border. There are a few camp fires flickering in the trees, and the half moon is bright over the lake. One thing we’ve not seen much of so far this trip is the night sky – we’ve always been tucked away in mountain valleys amongst tall trees. I’m looking forward to the desert and open plains.
Far away in the darkness I can hear the rumble of a train coming closer, along with the characteristic hoot of a North American diesel engine. Over the past few weeks we’ve camped close to train tracks many times – the roads and the railways tend to follow the same winding routes through the mountains.
It’s another warm night, just under a sheet, with the van all closed up apart from one window with a net over it. Need to make a net for the other cab window so we can get some through breeze.
Road and Ocean 