Jewels of the Crown

We left Montana on Friday crossing the border into Canada in the little town of Roosville. The crossing was pleasant enough even if they did make me give up my blueberries and apples. Soon after we crossed the border, I saw my first bald eagle in flight. Magnificent!

We headed on RT 93 to Radium Hot Springs and spent the night at Canyon RV park on edge of the Kootenay National Parks Canada. The sights were on the small side but it was very well taken care of and we took a pretty little hike to a water fall from the RV park. Next day drove through Kootenay on up to Lake Louise. We saw quite a bit of tree die off in this park due to bark beetle infestation.

Oh! Canada! If Glacier National Park and Waterton National Parks Canada are the “Crown of the Continent” then Lake Louise and Moraine Lake in Banff National Parks Canada are the jewels in the crown. Nothing compares to color of the water in these glacier feed lakes. I am not exaggerating! Words nor pictures can truly capture the color.

From Lake Louise

We spent three nights inside the park near Lake Louise, no water or sewer only electric. The sites were large but were side by side and oddly placed so you were facing your fellow campers. We were lucky and got one of the few single sites. But I did get to ride my bike around on a fun trail that followed the Bow River right inside the RV campground. I had to pedal fast to get away from the bears. No just kidding but there were warnings everywhere and the campground for tents had an electrical fence and gate to keep them from being bear snacks during the night. We were able to do laundry at one of nearby lodges and we met a nice young couple traveling through the US and Canada from New Zealand. We had fun time chatting with them while the clothes dried.

This area can be crowded and pricey but so worth it! A day trip to the town of Banff can be fun but it is a bit of zoo. Jack and I spent our honeymoon at B&B in Banff so we spent some time trying to find it but were unsuccessful. Kinda of amazing since this a small tourist town – where did it go?

We headed out via Jasper in the pouring rain. We were planning on getting to Prince George but the drive was slow and decided spent the night near McBride.

Crown of the Continent

Here we are in northern Montana just outside Glacier National Park aka "Crown of the Continent". What a beautiful place to stay. Originally planned on staying four nights but added on another night. This area is chocked full of scenic vistas!

The only down fall was that the “Going to the Sun Road” was not completely open. Read the link to find out why! We had to turn around at the area around Avalanche Lake and Walk of the Cedars. We did do some tromping around and planned on hiking to Avalanche Lake but the trail just got too muddy for us. We did the Walk of the Cedars instead and ran into the “Good Morning America” camera crew filming a segment. They did try to talk Jack and I into being anchors but our schedule was too busy. We had a pleasant lunch at the lodge at Lake McDonald.

We are staying at Mountain Meadow RV park in Hungry Horse, MT. Highly recommend this place, large sites and spaced out so you are not on top of each other. Very wooded and well maintained. Take the walk up the dog run past the water tower – fantastic view! I let Zuzu loose and she had a blast running around the hill top. I also took my bike out from this area. There is road on the back side of the park if you walk up the dog run. Still the hills are killers. What I find interesting is the altitude is 3,000 feet lower then my house in Tijeras but it looks like you are in the heart of some very high mountains. And feels it when riding a bike, I truly have much more respect for bike riders these days in areas like this! Yes, one could be lulled into moving here when the weather is warm and sunny. However, talking to the locals the winters are hard and this has been an especially harsh and wet winter. They said we had the best weather they have seen since last August. Still get’s you thinking and I did see Jack browsing the real estate listings online. Hmmm.

From Glacier NP

Hot Rocks

Started heading north on Rt 191 after leaving Vernal. The drive took us through the Uinta Mountains and Flaming “George”Gorge. A little steep for the pulling the Biff and we had to pull over for a bit to let the breaks cool down. We didn’t mind, the view was fantastic.

Originally, we were planning on taking some time to see Yellowstone National Park but we opted out and decided to head towards Glacier National Park and spend a few more days there instead. Jack and I were in YNP few years ago and figured it would be too crowded. We cut through the southwest corner of Wyoming on some back roads and on to Rt 30 in Idaho up to a little tourist trap type town called Lava Hot Springs. I have mixed feelings about the place. They have some natural hot springs and a pretty sunken garden. The place has its charm but apparently this is a big destination for families. They have a giant pool and water slide complex and are big into tubing on the Portneuf River that runs through town. Like all the rivers so far on the trip the Portneuf was swift and swollen and way too dangerous for tubing this time around. We stayed at the KOA right off Rt 30, it had the required railroad tracks across the road and a billion kids running around the place. It was noisy! Plus the cotton wood trees where snowing and making mess out of everything. There are some little hotels and plenty of RV parks in town. If I didn’t need to do laundry, I would have opted for one of the older RV parks that looked like they may have been quieter. I suggest avoiding the place in the summer when kiddos are out of school.

We headed out on Sunday (Father’s Day and Matt’s birthday) to Montana and the big sky country. We did an overnighter in Garrison at a pretty RV park off the beaten path. Great views and quiet at last! Next stop the land the glaciers carved out.

Arches and Dinosaurs

Headed out of Durango for Moab Monday morning. Moab's high tourist season is on! Jack and I have been to Arches National Park a few times but it never fails to wow a person. This is where picture postcard moments are made or to quote a popular commercial "Nature Valley" moments.

We ended up staying at Spanish Trail RV park on the south side of Moab. The park was clean and spaces large but too close to RT 191 and a bit on the noisy side.

We got an early start the next day, we were on the trail by 8:00AM. We hiked to Delicate Arch, it is bit of climb and I could not even imagine doing this hike in the heat of the day. But that being said it was truly worth the effort. The views were incredible - I got my granola moment for sure.

By the time we left the park it was packed. So my advice is to get to the park early before the heat and crowds are stifling. We also took drive down highway 128 which follows the Colorado river. The rivers are very high and swift this year, it is great to see this much water after how dry New Mexico has been this year. Supposedly, there is a bike path that follows the river but the water was so high it was completely under water.

Next we headed to Vernal. Vernal is famous for it's fossils in particular Dinosaur fossils. They make the most of it, with giant plastic dinosaurs everywhere. The landscape is not as dramatic as Moab but still quite beautiful. The town has a natural history museum worth taking the time. Unfortunately, the quarry museum in Dinosaur National Monument is closed and will not be opened till sometime in the fall.

We stayed at Steinaker State Park just north of town. A few sites had full hookups. Nice park on the water. It was quiet during the week, but I suspect that might not be the case on the weekends. Headed out on Friday morning toward Flaming "George" Gorge.

From Moab

Part Two - North to Alaska, All Aboard to Durango.

Going North to Alaska! We have started our next big Biff adventure and time to start blogging. Few tips about the blog. Any time there is highligted word indicates a link to more information about the place or thing and if there is link under a picture that will take you to more photos of the area.

We left Tijeras on Friday June 10 with Durango as our first destination.

We were glad to leave the smoke. Albuquerque has been in the direct path from the fires burning in southeast Arizona. It has been surreal and apocalyptic. Maybe that crazy dude was right but just had the date wrong? Naw, safe to say Durango is smoke free and beautiful. Locals say a lot of folks have been escaping ABQ and heading up here. The weather has been perfect!

Our good friends Mike and Martha met us up in Durango and we spent the day taking the narrow gauge railroad up to Silverton. Something everyone should do once in their life.

From Durango 2011

Just spectacular. Jack was also quite creative with his translation of the whistle blows. Two -here we go, three - prairie dog on the track, four - elk ahead, five - drowned kayaker on the shore. The Animas River was swollen and swift from the snow melt off. Those kayakers had a death wish! However, I do recommend taking the bus back and not doing the train ride as a round trip. You do get little weary and the bus ride shows a different perspective of the surrounding mountains equally as beautiful.

I am also having good time riding my new bike. I took an early morning ride Sunday on a road the back side of the Alpen Rose RV park that paralleled 550 for awhile. The air was cool and crisp and very few cars. I turned around just about the time the road started veering to the left and climbing. Ok, I'm a wuss. I did all this while Jack worked on the trailer plumbing. Yup, ran into our first snaffoo on the road. Jack is truly a "jack of all trades". So good to have a man around the camp. I did kill a wasp when I got back to do my part.

Next stop Moab.