May 14, 2012 - Icefields Parkway

I once read that if you’ve never experienced the Icefields Parkway then you’ve never really seen the Rockies. And I believe that’s so true. Today was an awesome drive and that’s pretty much all I can say, I’ve used up all my adjectives. There are no words to describe the beauty of this incredible area between Lake Louise and Jasper. And certainly no picture can tell the true story. We finally saw our first bear of this trip. We saw lots of mountain goats and a few young elk today but no caribou. We would really love to see one. Just one!...

Feb 4, 2012 - Week 3

3 weeks in already... So the week before last was pretty hectic, 6 hours of skiing lessons, dinner and first aid course, every day. We had more lessons than normal to catch up on lost time from the cold days, Then I was in the first group to do the first aid qualification so that was each evening. Good to get out of the way but it was a bit of a slog. This last week has been a bit more relaxing though. Back to the normal 3 hours of ski lessons a day, which were a mixture of ski improvement for ourselves and an introduction to assessing...

Jan 31, 2012 - Bogota

Thought I would add one more entry in before things actually got busy. This past week in Bogota has been a fairly good adjustment period. I really didnt know exactly where I was going when I got in so it was semi planning and semi trying to experience Bogota. First thing I realized when I got out the first morning was it was absolutly huge. Something crazy like 10 million people live in this town. Staying with the south america way the traffic is crazy. For the first time today I saw a pedestrian get the right of way and that was still...

Jan 27, 2012 - End of Jasper Start of South America

So the last week and a bit in Jasper was a lot of fun. There was a little speed bump of about 3 days in the middle where the temperature fluctated from minus 35 and minus 42 without windchill. For the most part those days were spent indoors just trying to wait it out. Going outside was a 20 minute escapade of fitting everything you owned under your coat for insulation. Any part of your face with hair on it would likely freeze in 10 minutes, the only time I havent enjoyed my beard. After the temperature went back up to a tropical 22 there...

Jan 19, 2012 - Greetings From Canada

Hello, I suddenly realised it was a week ago that I left the UK already so about time I wrote something. As yet it has been a pretty quiet start to the trip. Having arrived late Thursday night on 12th Jan, all we did on the Friday was to go up the mountain to get lift passes and have a bit of a look around, then a tour around Jasper to see what was in the town. Saturday was the first day of skiing, we skied around the mountain with Kyle and Jez, who will be our instructors over the next 11 weeks, just to get a feel for the place, and so...

Jan 16, 2012 - Jasper

This is my first update to this blog and I am a week and a half into my trip so there is a bit to cover. To say this trip started as smooth as the landscape of the Rockies. But like the old saying goes what doesn't kill you makes you stronger (or at least makes a funny story). I got to the airport on the 6th of January. My folks dropped me off but had to leave quickly due to my moms work schedule. Therefore I was solo to check in all my luggage (which should have gone fine). I went up to the west jet employee and she offered to check in...

Aug 28, 2011 - Jasper National Park

Sorry for the delay in posting the final week and a half of our trip. As you will see, the lack of internet, power,truck problems, rushing to get home was our top priority. These final postings are from home where we have been for three weeks trying to catch up on many pressing needs including adjusting to the very hot weather. Aug 3 Wednesday: Shortly after leaving Smithers, we came upon the first accident we have seen on this trip (9000 miles). It was horrible. A car turned upside down in a ditch plus the truck and 5th wheel that hit it...

Aug 26, 2011 - Stewart, BC, to Jasper, AB

Leaving Stewart, we were concerned about the water over the road. It had rained quite a bit since we arrived and I was certain that the water would be deeper. I had checked the BC road conditions on the internet and the report was that there was flooding, but one lane open. When we came to the flooded part, the water was covering only one lane. We had a lot more visibility on the drive out and the water falls on the mountains were spectacular. We caught another glimpse of the Bear Glacier. Although the sun was not shining, the blue colors...

Aug 18, 2011 - WBanff, Lake Louise and Jasper - Canada

We left Whitefish, Mt on morning of Aug. 11 and headed up highway 93 toward Eureka (Dawn boards her horse there). We had lunch at the "Organic Bistro", shopped for groceries and crossed boarder into Canada...passport inspection and all. Planning on a couple of days. Stop at Fairmont Hot Springs - first private campground...it was OK, but do not want steady diet of these. Highlights: * Kootenay National Park and awesome views. Saw first grizzly along river! * 5 day Canadian National Park Pass $83. * Banff is beautiful and Tunnel Mt....

Aug 15, 2011 - Kamloops - Jasper

The Canadian rockies remind me alot of New Zealand, with the mountains in the back ground and the lakes or river along the train tracks and thousands of pine trees. I feel there would be quite a different outlook to the mountains in the winter/colder months. We were lucky to see Mount Robson in its full, over the past month mainly been under cloud, Yosimite is still bigger. After nearly 18 hours on a train, and so very nice cusine, I arrived in Jasper to what feels like a very cute ski village, nestled at the bottom of some amazing...

Jul 25, 2011 - Jaunt to Jasper

Time to leave Lake Louise and head a little further northwest to Jasper. We had a wonderful stay here and Foxy thoroughly enjoyed this campground. We wanted to get to Jasper before noon if we could to increase our chances of getting the type of campsite we like so we hustled along and didn’t make many stops. It was about 145 miles on the Icefields Parkway. We had driven the first 60 miles yesterday in the Jeep and I had taken a lot of pictures. Today was a glorious weather day and we couldn’t resist making a stop at Bow Lake to catch a...

Jul 17, 2011 - Jasper National Park

We headed west toward Hinton mid-morning and had an uneventful drive, which is always good. There wasn’t much of a climb in altitude as we headed toward the Canadian Rockies again, but just a gradual ascent. We passed through several small towns, which only seem to exist near the road we’re on, which is Highway 16. Again, we saw lots of farm fields that were solid yellow and came to find out that this is the canola plant which is a large crop in this area of Canada. As we traveled west, we finally saw the Canadian Rockies again. Although...