Our next destination is
Glacier National Park. We have heard that the “Going to the Sun” Road is the
best road in the States (There are so many best roads that maybe they voted on
their best roads and they all came out first equal!!!). Anyway it is a very old
road built through the Rocky Mountains, with some amazing views of the
glaciers. We are very excited, especially as it is still open. As soon as it snows
it will be closed for the season. The weather is still gorgeous so we are on a
roll. Bring on more National Parks. We head north doing lots of driving,
stopping for the usuals – food & fuel. Lots of farming areas, so we tuck up
a side road for the night. The next day we pick out some scenic routes – but
they really need to cut down some trees before they can be called scenic!
Finally we arrive at our destination……but no. At the Park Entrance we are told
we are too big to drive the road. Not too long, not too wide (as most
motorhomes are) but too tall. We can go in part way and come back out. They
even take our rego no to make sure we are obedient. So we head in as far as we
are allowed. A lovely scenic reflective lake, lots of leafy trees & a great
river. Sadly we turn & head back out. (If it was still summer we could have
taken the free shuttle bus!) We have to skirt the outside of the park & re-enter
on the east side. There are 3 entrances on this side so we will try all 3.
Bonus: It is a really
lovely drive that we hadn’t planned on doing. We stop for some really good Huckleberry
Pie & ask the owner about camping John even cons the owners out of a free T-shirt
for taking a photo of the truck. We are now in Indian land & will get
charged $10 to camp anywhere, so he recommends the southern entrance to the
park – Two Medicine Lake. So in we go. Fortunately there are a few spots empty
& we settle in for the night. Great views, big fire pit with firewood &
lots of visitors. Three young guys, all wannabe Winter Olympiads, share our
site for the night (Memo: must remember to watch the 2018 Winter Olympics to
see if they get in) and a lovely couple, Kelly & Eli, who make DVD’s. The
next morning John gives them an interview, while I head off to take photos –
yes I know: excuses!
Time to move on. This time
to “Going to the Sun” east side, but here we discover we can only drive in a
few kilometers – we thought we could go a lot further. Oh well, north we head
to the last entrance – Many Lakes. And for us this is the most beautiful
section. A great old Chateau set on a shimmering lake, surrounded by huge
mountains. The bonus is 2 black bears (Finally!) – The first we see run up a
bank, cross the road & head up another steep bank. Boy he can move fast.
The second was high up the hill munching on grass & roots. At the end of
the road there are a few very long treks to glaciers. We decide not to spend the rest of the day
hiking, but to head north in to Canada.
Before we know it we have
crossed the border. Usually it is no drama, but John has been collecting spent
bullet cases and pushing them into the tread of our spare wheels on the back of
GR2. The border officials consider this a bit suss, and so decide to search GR2.
A pretty fast look, and we are off. Canada here we come.
What a change of scenery.
This first part of Alberta is flat, flat, flat. So we just drive on until early
evening and find a convenient Walmart near Calgary to stop for the night.
Dinner out tonight as we are in town – Ocotoks to be precise. It is pretty
chilly, and the next morning is drizzly. Fortunately it is Saturday so we
decide on a “drive through” exploration of Calgary. Really the only way to explore
on a miserable cold day and it is just another modern city. Of course we stock
up on groceries & the cheapest diesel in town – then on to our next
destination - The Icefield Parkways. We have been here years ago when everything
was covered in snow, so it will be great to see it again. The weather clears
& the drive is magic. First stop: Cranmore, to stop at the info centre, use
their dump station & have lunch before heading to the very touristy town of
Banff. Wouldn’t have recognized it – and we stayed here last time. Finally on
to Lake Louise. We stop at the overflow carpark to get on the free shuttle –
but it has finished for the day – so we drive up instead. First to Lake Moraine
– lines of cars parking & queues waiting for the shuttle. We have found
Chinatown. It is wall to wall tourists – and it starts to snow. A quick dash to
look at the viewpoint before heading to Lake Louise. Again, many more tourists.
Too late in the day to go on a hike so we console ourselves with a hot
chocolate at the lovely Lake Louise Chateau. Then we nick back to the overflow
carpark for the night. In the morning we find a few others have joined us.
We spend the next day
driving the rest of the magnificent parkway. We stop at lots of the viewpoints
to ooh & aah, and then stop at Colombia Glacier to do the touristy thing –
ride up the glacier in a huge 4x4 snow bus. Pretty awesome. Finally some great
waterfalls and the town of Jasper. We head out of the park & on to yet
another Walmart in Hinton.
Coming soon: The long
drive to Yellowknife.
