AUGUST 2008
CANADA-Haines Junction
Friday
1st was a
continuation of yesterday. We did see a Black Bear 
ambling across the road a quarter of a mile
ahead of us. We arrived in Whitehorse just before lunch to do
some shopping. We visited the Visitor Centre and then drove to
the Yukon Wildlife Preserve to book a tour for 1200 on Saturday, the
other tours being full. A mile further on was the Hot Springs
camp, where we booked in.
Saturday 2nd A lazy morning, Howard baked a cake. Then we went to the Wildlife Preserve for a conducted tour in a bus. It was excellent, each group of
animals had at least six acres in which to
roam. We saw:- Wood Bison (Buffaloes), Caribou, Elk, Dall Sheep,
Stone Sheep and Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. We then drove east
of Whitehorse to the Pioneer RV Park. On Sunday we set off from the
Pioneer RV Park and headed for Teslin. When we stopped for tea
break we met two Dutch and the tea break extended from thirty min. to
an hour and three quarters. We arrived at the same RV park that
we had used on the way north and they remembered us. We took the
same site. Monday
on a fine sunny day we set off towards Watson Lake. On a good
road we arrived at the junction of the Alaska Highway (1) and the
Cassiar Highway (37) just after lunch. The Wi-fi at the camp did
not work for us. We had dinner in the restaurant. Tuesday after putting in
some expensive diesel we drove south on the Cassiar Highway. The
road was supposed to be tarmac but there were lots of short
stretches of gravel and one long stretch of packed dirt. We
arrived at Dease Lake soon after lunch and booked into the RV
Park. Wednesday
we made a reasonably early start on the road south to Bell 2 Hotel and
RV Park. Again we arrived just after lunch, we started on a road
with gravel patches and two dirt sections. The second half of the
trip was on a recently finished road, very smooth and
level. Since we left rainy Alaska we have had hot sunny
days. It is nice to drive along the tree lined road, in the sun
and the mountains, with snow patches showing, over the trees. Thursday from Bell 2 we cont
inued south and saw a
Black Bear crossing the road two hundred yards ahead of us. We
moved on to Kitwanga and called in at Gitanyow to see the ancient Totem
Poles. At Kitwanga there was tax free fuel, but only if we lived
there, we turned east to Hazelton and the ‘Ksan Village where we took a
guided tour to see inside the ceremonial houses. As the
camp could not sort out if it was full or not we returned to the
Cataline Country Lodge to camp there. Friday we started out early
on the road to Burns Lake, there was not a lot of interest on the
road. We arrived in the early afternoon to camp.
Saturday 9th we took a rest day, Mervyn rose early to bake a cake before it became too hot. Soon after it was cooked the day began to cool. Mervyn then edited his film and Howard worked on his jigsaw. Sunday we awoke to the sound of rain, but still set off to Prince George. It rained all day. We arrived before lunch. Monday we spent up to 1115 visiting shops in town. Firstly the food shop, secondly the computer shop, there they were very helpful, but couldn’t help with the printer. We moved onto Costco, the main reason for our visit but they didn’t open before 1100, the salesman there was extremely helpful, he gave us ideas on how to order tyres for an unknown (Iveco) van. We set off in the direction of Tierra Del Fuego, but only as far as 20km south of Quesnel. It is nice to have the sun back. Tuesday we continued our journey south to Clinton, where we camped on a pleasant site. Wednesday we made an early start southwards to Whistler, the site was full but we used the overflow RV Park for $35, NO HOOKUPS. Thursday we moved on into Vancouver to look for a Costco, when we found it, it was closed and up for sale. A friendly garage a
ttendant directed us to
the new Costco. The tyre salesman ordered our tyres, with 7 to 10
days to wait. We then found our camp. Howard still doesn’t
like big towns, we missed our way three times, and took a long time to
get to our camp. Friday
turned into another tour round the area
. We set off to go
shopping, missed the turn (unsigned) and took thirty min. to
return. Safeway is a good store to shop in. The trip to
Thermo King was uneventful as was the return to camp. We booked a
return trip to Saltspring Island to visit John and Rosemary, friends
from Mexico City.
Saturday 16th we visited the town by bus (two of them) and the Sky train (monorail). Having arrived we boarded the tourist trolley for a tour of the town. The highlight of the tour was in Stanley Park where the Totem Poles were absolutely superb. The day was very hot but fortunately it didn’t rain. The return trip to camp was better, the Skytrain and only one bus. Having eaten Lamb, which was excellent, at midday we had a light snack in the evening. Sunday we didn’t go anywhere. This was good as we had light infrequent showers. We just relaxed in the heat. Monday we made an early start to catch the ferry to Saltspring Island. The boat loaded and left at 1030. After calling at three other islands we arrived at 1330. John and Rosemary greeted us on arrival and took us to our camp. Having settled the caravan we were driven to their house to talk away the afternoon and evening. Tuesday John and Rosemary were to show us the island, but only John arrived, Rosemary was unwell. We had a tour of the island and then took John out to dinner. Wednesday our hosts had to go to Victoria on Vancouver Island and they took us with them. They dropped us at the Empress Hotel (the best on the island) so we had hot chocolate and a cake there. Mervyn wanted a bank and this took till lunch time. A lunch of pancakes and maple syrup was followed by a visit to the Museum, this lasted until it was time to be picked up. We were returned to our camp. Thursday was our day to return to Vancouver but first we were taken to John and Rosemary’s house to use their wi-fi. While we were waiting to be picked up a young stag strolled along the hillside just above the camp road. After lunch Rosemary received a phone call to tell her an order was in. They dropped us at our RV and returned later to lead us down to the ferry. The return voyage was much pleasanter in the sunshine. We had a late evening meal. Friday most of the day was spent at Costco fitting our new tyres. Firstly their cash machines would not accept Mervyn’s debit card necessitating a trip to the bank, then the Costco jack broke. One of the tyre fitters set off to borrow a jack. We arrived at Costco at 100
0 and left at 1800,
luckily the nearest camp had space. We had another late meal.
Saturday 23rd we made a reasonably early start to go shopping and then drove to Merritt where there was plenty of room in the City RV Park when we arrived at 1330. We seem to have left the rain behind at the coast. Sunday hooray, a fine sunny morning. We left after using the net, and continued east to Sicamous where we arrived soon after lunch when it rained. Monday we left Sicamous along Highway 1 to visit Mt. Revelstoke National Park, it was badly signposted so we missed it. This was not too bad as we would have had to take a shuttle bus and in the low cloud we would not have seen the view. The next stop was at Glacier National Park, it rained all the way but it cleared after we had camped. We decided to go on a walk the next morning. Tuesday it was still raining lightly and we decided to return to the Hemlock Grove Trail. It was along a walkway and the rain was very gentle. From Glacier National Park we drove to Yoho National Park and detoured to see the Natural Bridge. After we left the bridge two Spotted Fawns crossed the road in front of us. We continued on up the side road to the Emerald Lake, it was a fine colour when we arrived but by the time we had parked and reached the lakeside the sun had gone in and the colour had dulled. We drove back to the main road and on to Lake Louise, in Alberta, and the Banff National Park. It was a nice camp in the sunshine. Wednesday Mervyn’s night was disturbed by the railroad next to the camp, it was the train whistles. Howard slept on oblivious to the noise. It was another day of driving, we left the town of Lake Louise to travel south to Fort Steele campground, an uneventful day. Thursday from Fort Steele we continued southeast, then north, east and south and arrived at Waterton Lakes mid afternoon. We were able to book into the main site for one night and were told that there should be room at the second, unbookable site, tomorrow. Friday we moved from Waterton Lakes to Red Rock Canyon camp site, after booking in we drove to the end of the road and walked the short route around the canyon. The rocks were a rich red with narrow white layers. As we returned to the camp we saw a Mule Deer 50m off.
Saturday 30th we took a rest day in the sun among the pines. Sunday a visit to the shops was necessary, on the way there we saw two Mule Deer in the ditch alongside the road. When we returned to camp a single Mule Deer strolled past us. Mid afternoon three Mule deer walked down the road, a Stag, a young Stag and a Doe.
ambling across the road a quarter of a mile
ahead of us. We arrived in Whitehorse just before lunch to do
some shopping. We visited the Visitor Centre and then drove to
the Yukon Wildlife Preserve to book a tour for 1200 on Saturday, the
other tours being full. A mile further on was the Hot Springs
camp, where we booked in.Saturday 2nd A lazy morning, Howard baked a cake. Then we went to the Wildlife Preserve for a conducted tour in a bus. It was excellent, each group of
animals had at least six acres in which to
roam. We saw:- Wood Bison (Buffaloes), Caribou, Elk, Dall Sheep,
Stone Sheep and Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. We then drove east
of Whitehorse to the Pioneer RV Park. On Sunday we set off from the
Pioneer RV Park and headed for Teslin. When we stopped for tea
break we met two Dutch and the tea break extended from thirty min. to
an hour and three quarters. We arrived at the same RV park that
we had used on the way north and they remembered us. We took the
same site. Monday
on a fine sunny day we set off towards Watson Lake. On a good
road we arrived at the junction of the Alaska Highway (1) and the
Cassiar Highway (37) just after lunch. The Wi-fi at the camp did
not work for us. We had dinner in the restaurant. Tuesday after putting in
some expensive diesel we drove south on the Cassiar Highway. The
road was supposed to be tarmac but there were lots of short
stretches of gravel and one long stretch of packed dirt. We
arrived at Dease Lake soon after lunch and booked into the RV
Park. Wednesday
we made a reasonably early start on the road south to Bell 2 Hotel and
RV Park. Again we arrived just after lunch, we started on a road
with gravel patches and two dirt sections. The second half of the
trip was on a recently finished road, very smooth and
level. Since we left rainy Alaska we have had hot sunny
days. It is nice to drive along the tree lined road, in the sun
and the mountains, with snow patches showing, over the trees. Thursday from Bell 2 we continued south and saw a
Black Bear crossing the road two hundred yards ahead of us. We
moved on to Kitwanga and called in at Gitanyow to see the ancient Totem
Poles. At Kitwanga there was tax free fuel, but only if we lived
there, we turned east to Hazelton and the ‘Ksan Village where we took a
guided tour to see inside the ceremonial houses. As the
camp could not sort out if it was full or not we returned to the
Cataline Country Lodge to camp there. Friday we started out early
on the road to Burns Lake, there was not a lot of interest on the
road. We arrived in the early afternoon to camp.Saturday 9th we took a rest day, Mervyn rose early to bake a cake before it became too hot. Soon after it was cooked the day began to cool. Mervyn then edited his film and Howard worked on his jigsaw. Sunday we awoke to the sound of rain, but still set off to Prince George. It rained all day. We arrived before lunch. Monday we spent up to 1115 visiting shops in town. Firstly the food shop, secondly the computer shop, there they were very helpful, but couldn’t help with the printer. We moved onto Costco, the main reason for our visit but they didn’t open before 1100, the salesman there was extremely helpful, he gave us ideas on how to order tyres for an unknown (Iveco) van. We set off in the direction of Tierra Del Fuego, but only as far as 20km south of Quesnel. It is nice to have the sun back. Tuesday we continued our journey south to Clinton, where we camped on a pleasant site. Wednesday we made an early start southwards to Whistler, the site was full but we used the overflow RV Park for $35, NO HOOKUPS. Thursday we moved on into Vancouver to look for a Costco, when we found it, it was closed and up for sale. A friendly garage a
ttendant directed us to
the new Costco. The tyre salesman ordered our tyres, with 7 to 10
days to wait. We then found our camp. Howard still doesn’t
like big towns, we missed our way three times, and took a long time to
get to our camp. Friday
turned into another tour round the area. We set off to go
shopping, missed the turn (unsigned) and took thirty min. to
return. Safeway is a good store to shop in. The trip to
Thermo King was uneventful as was the return to camp. We booked a
return trip to Saltspring Island to visit John and Rosemary, friends
from Mexico City.Saturday 16th we visited the town by bus (two of them) and the Sky train (monorail). Having arrived we boarded the tourist trolley for a tour of the town. The highlight of the tour was in Stanley Park where the Totem Poles were absolutely superb. The day was very hot but fortunately it didn’t rain. The return trip to camp was better, the Skytrain and only one bus. Having eaten Lamb, which was excellent, at midday we had a light snack in the evening. Sunday we didn’t go anywhere. This was good as we had light infrequent showers. We just relaxed in the heat. Monday we made an early start to catch the ferry to Saltspring Island. The boat loaded and left at 1030. After calling at three other islands we arrived at 1330. John and Rosemary greeted us on arrival and took us to our camp. Having settled the caravan we were driven to their house to talk away the afternoon and evening. Tuesday John and Rosemary were to show us the island, but only John arrived, Rosemary was unwell. We had a tour of the island and then took John out to dinner. Wednesday our hosts had to go to Victoria on Vancouver Island and they took us with them. They dropped us at the Empress Hotel (the best on the island) so we had hot chocolate and a cake there. Mervyn wanted a bank and this took till lunch time. A lunch of pancakes and maple syrup was followed by a visit to the Museum, this lasted until it was time to be picked up. We were returned to our camp. Thursday was our day to return to Vancouver but first we were taken to John and Rosemary’s house to use their wi-fi. While we were waiting to be picked up a young stag strolled along the hillside just above the camp road. After lunch Rosemary received a phone call to tell her an order was in. They dropped us at our RV and returned later to lead us down to the ferry. The return voyage was much pleasanter in the sunshine. We had a late evening meal. Friday most of the day was spent at Costco fitting our new tyres. Firstly their cash machines would not accept Mervyn’s debit card necessitating a trip to the bank, then the Costco jack broke. One of the tyre fitters set off to borrow a jack. We arrived at Costco at 100
0 and left at 1800,
luckily the nearest camp had space. We had another late meal.Saturday 23rd we made a reasonably early start to go shopping and then drove to Merritt where there was plenty of room in the City RV Park when we arrived at 1330. We seem to have left the rain behind at the coast. Sunday hooray, a fine sunny morning. We left after using the net, and continued east to Sicamous where we arrived soon after lunch when it rained. Monday we left Sicamous along Highway 1 to visit Mt. Revelstoke National Park, it was badly signposted so we missed it. This was not too bad as we would have had to take a shuttle bus and in the low cloud we would not have seen the view. The next stop was at Glacier National Park, it rained all the way but it cleared after we had camped. We decided to go on a walk the next morning. Tuesday it was still raining lightly and we decided to return to the Hemlock Grove Trail. It was along a walkway and the rain was very gentle. From Glacier National Park we drove to Yoho National Park and detoured to see the Natural Bridge. After we left the bridge two Spotted Fawns crossed the road in front of us. We continued on up the side road to the Emerald Lake, it was a fine colour when we arrived but by the time we had parked and reached the lakeside the sun had gone in and the colour had dulled. We drove back to the main road and on to Lake Louise, in Alberta, and the Banff National Park. It was a nice camp in the sunshine. Wednesday Mervyn’s night was disturbed by the railroad next to the camp, it was the train whistles. Howard slept on oblivious to the noise. It was another day of driving, we left the town of Lake Louise to travel south to Fort Steele campground, an uneventful day. Thursday from Fort Steele we continued southeast, then north, east and south and arrived at Waterton Lakes mid afternoon. We were able to book into the main site for one night and were told that there should be room at the second, unbookable site, tomorrow. Friday we moved from Waterton Lakes to Red Rock Canyon camp site, after booking in we drove to the end of the road and walked the short route around the canyon. The rocks were a rich red with narrow white layers. As we returned to the camp we saw a Mule Deer 50m off.
Saturday 30th we took a rest day in the sun among the pines. Sunday a visit to the shops was necessary, on the way there we saw two Mule Deer in the ditch alongside the road. When we returned to camp a single Mule Deer strolled past us. Mid afternoon three Mule deer walked down the road, a Stag, a young Stag and a Doe.
CANADA-Waterton Lake