Barbara and I are slowly making our way back to Texas. Barbara just turned a year older and it will not be long before I have another birthday. We are doing well and have plans to experience new adventures before returning to Lubbock. The weather has really been good with temps in the mid 40s to highs of 80s. We understand that Texas is still hot and dry with wild fires burning around the Austin and Possum Kingdom areas. We have also been informed of the loss of Bastrop State park. This saddens us as this was a favorite.
8/31/2011
My last update was from the Meziadin Lake Provincial Campground. This is a good one, but we must push south and east along highway 16 toward Prince George, BC. It is a good road with lots of stops and scenic pullouts.
One of the pullouts fits our need for the night. We spent the night here in 2009. This is near Topley and as usual other travelers like this pullout, therefore we are not along.
9/1/2011
We made it to Prince George, BC. The Walmart has been upgraded to a Super Walmart, therefore we can stock up on just about anything we need. Super Walmarts are somewhat new in Canada and this one really has lots of people at it.
At Prince George we have to make a decision on the route we are going to take toward home. We decide we will take Colombia Icefields Parkway (route 93) south from the town of Jasper. In 2009 we took BC route 97 south through BC and then into Washington, therefore routing this time will be a little different.
Mostly just travel days across BC and into Alberta and the Canadian Rockies. Jasper and Banff make up two of the Canadian National Parks in the Rockies, that some consider the most scenic spots in North America.
We do some tourists sites in Jasper and make a few phone calls because we have not had had cell service in the last 10 days. Our overnight stop will be in the Mosquito Creek Campground just north of Lake Lucerne, a popular lodge and ski resort built in the 20s by the Canadian railroad. This is Labor Day holiday and the park is packed with travelers making it difficult to find camping sites. Mosquito Creek fortunately had an overflow area that we used. The Colombia Icefields Parkway connects the two parks and near the town of Banff we can jump back into BC for a trip through Kooenay National Park in BC that follows route 93 all the way into the US. We cross the border at Roosville. We also are back in the Mountain time zone and the long days of sunshine are much shorter.
Along the way we find Loon Lake, a BC Forest Service Park. This place is hidden off the pavement with about a mile of bad gravel road. When we get there, we find it is a great place and the price per night is free after Labor day. Free is good and the park is nice so we spend 3 nights here. We met a few fellow travelers in the park and the time passes quickly. Be sure to see my pictures of Loon Lake.
It is not far to Glacier National Park in Montana (about 60 miles) so our next stop will be in the Apgar Campground near the west entrance. The nearby towns of Colombia Falls and Whitefish, Montana offer services and shopping.
9/9/2011 – 9/14/2011
Glacier National Park is always a beautiful place to come to. On the north is the US Canadian border and the Waterton Glacier International Peace Park, a Canandian US Park formed in 1932. We vacationed here in 1981, 2009 and this year. This is the first time we stayed on the west end of the 100 mile round trip Going To The Sun Highway that connects the west end town of Apgar and the east town of St Mary. This road is also an historic and world engineering landmark. The Sun road is the main attraction and that will take all day to travel, so be sure to pack a lunch and stop at Logan Pass visitor center to eat it. The maximum length is of vehicle is 21 foot long because of the narrow width in some areas and the switch back turns along the way. It is very scenic with wildlife, waterfalls, snowcapped mountains, glaciers and wildflowers. We had a few delays because of construction in the Logan Pass area that slowed travel.
We walked a good portion of the wood planked foot trail that snakes it way up the Logan mountain to the Hidden Lake.
Our campground at Apgar is located on the Sun road just 2 miles from West Glacier, the community at the west entrance of the park. We are also located very near the west tip of McDonald Lake. McDonald is a beautiful lake that was formed in a glacier basin thousands of years ago. The water is clear with depths of 300, thus making it a diver’s delight.
Along the south shore is McDonald Lodge, a beautiful historic Lodge that has been a retreat for the honeymooners since it building. Until the Sun road was constructed the only access to the lodge was boat travel from the Apgar area.
We were camped here for 5 nights.
That is about all for now. We will travel to Yellowstone National Park on the 14 and 15th.
John and Barbara on the road
