Camping on the Columbia River Gorge

Memaloose State Park, Columbia River Gorge, OR

After leaving Idaho we cut across the eastern part of Washington and headed for the Columbia Gorge. Bam...just like that we are back in baking heat, and for most of the day dry arid landscape. Mmmm, looks suspiciously similar to how we started out about 5 weeks ago through the southwest!
Last year one of my bestest buddies, Neise (love you girl!) and I took a week or so off and headed up the backbone of the Cascades. One of our favorite days was biking the Historic Columbia River State Rail. It was a sweet 10 mile ride through some tunnels and high up overlooking the Columbia River. Sounds like a great place to camp for the night and go for an evening ride. I knew Ned would love it and better yet this year he's healthy enough to do it. (Crowd roar). It was 100 degrees when we pulled into the campground, but at least we had a shady spot under a tree overlooking the Columbia River. Not a bad spot to wait out the heat and make sure the sun had gone down before attempting the ride.
We waited...and waited and the heat just didn't seem to let up. Finally, at about 8:30ish the gauge dipped to a balmy 92 so we thought it was as good a time as any to give it a go. The ride was definitely as beautiful as I remembered, and the hills just the right amount of challenging. You're working hard enough so that you can't really talk, but not enough that you're dying. And gosh, did we have fun riding the hills down! The view at the top was magnificent, especially since the lights were starting to twinkle from Hood River on the Oregon side and White Salmon on the Washington side. The last couple of miles we were riding in the dark (thank you head lamps for the little amount of light you did provide) but it sure motivated me to keep on pedaling fast.
Hard to believe that in Jasper it would still be bright sunshine at 10! Now, I need to go hose off with some cold water before I can crawl into bed.

Family Time in Idaho

Location: Cary & Lisa's house, Post Falls, ID

We woke up to another gorgeous day in Glacier Park. Normally I'd be a little sad to leave such a beautiful spot, but I knew we were headed for my cousin Cary and his wife Lisa's house. I love my cuz, (don't get me started on the good times and shenanigans we used to get into as kids when we'd get together in Tahoe), and Lisa is really like a sister to me. So, it wasn't difficult at all to move on from paradise.
We drove along highway 2 and then took some backroads through the mountains to reach the panhandle of Idaho. The rains started in again but for the first time in weeks and weeks we did not see rivers flooding or roads being washed out. How refreshing!
(Cue Randy Newman singing "Louisiana - they're gonna wash us away...)
Once we arrived at Cary & Lisa's there wasn't a moment of silence. After getting caught up over dinner at a Mexican Restaurant, we got the grand tour of Post Falls and Coeur D'Alene. It was a perfect summer evening and we took advantage of it by seeing the falls at Treaty Rock park, getting a crash course in the local history and even playing with their grand daughter Aaliyah at the park. Lisa also took us to downtown Coeur D'Alene and we walked along the lake, saw the elegant homes along the shore and viewed the downtown area. Ironically, in a few days Cary and Lisa are heading to our neck of the woods and will be spending 5 or 6 weeks in California. Of course, they are taking the direct route and will actually beat us home!
Looking forward to seeing them again soon, let the good times roll.

Summer in the Mountains

Fish Creek Campground, Glacier National Park

The sky was brilliant blue, the mercury was rising above 80 and the waters of Lake MacDonald were still as a sheet of ice. The only thing planned today was pulling on the shorts and slipping on the flip flops. After a very leisurely morning at the campground we went for a beautiful bike ride along a paved path that took us through the Village of Apgar, through the woods and into West Glacier. We had the trail pretty much to ourselves except for the occasional hiker and a group of trail riders. Once in West Glacier we poked our heads into the Alberta Visitors Center and were impressed with their very professional displays, including a 2 story dinosaur in the lobby. By early afternoon the lake was looking so inviting that we thought a trip to Lake MacDonald lodge would be fun. After a yummy lunch in the Russell Fireside Dining Room, we took a lovely hour long cruise on the lake in an historic wooden tour boat from the 1920's named the DeSmet. By this time it was so hot and the cool breeze off the lake was much appreciated. Ned and I secured the bench section in the front and just sat back and let the summer day roll over us. It was breathtaking to take in the snow capped mountains on one side of the lake and the mountains thick with evergreen trees on the other. The highlight was seeing a bald eagle fly majestically overhead before landing in a nearby tree. Once we disembarked Ned had his heart set on taking out a row boat. We had hoped to row up to the inlet stream and perhaps get a chance to while the day away floating on the lake. Both the row boats were out so we just wandered about the grounds and continued to soak up the hot sunny day.
Last night at the ranger's talk, there were some pictures shown of the cavernous East Glacier Lodge with its massive tree trunks. Over the last couple of days we had seen the other lodges in the park and decided why not drive through a new section and take a peek at this famous lodge. Back in the early 1900's, this was the lodge where the Great Northern Railroad first stopped in the park. The railroad wanted to make a huge impression on the guests with the grand lodge. Well, after seeing it I can tell you that the massive cathedral room and huge supporting columns made of 30" diameter cedar are quite impressive. But, it doesn't overlook a lake like the other lodges and it's really not situated IN the park.
Originally, a hundred years ago, after disembarking at this lodge the guests would still have a bit of traveling to do to get into the park and to Lake MacDonald Lodge. They would need to continue on the train to another station, be rowed across the middle fork of Flathead River, take a very bumpy carriage ride to a steamer, and then sail 9 miles up Lake MacDonald to the lodge. An interesting architectural note - the front of Lake MacDonald faces towards the lake, where the guests originally arrived, and not toward the parking lot where they arrive today. Once you figure that out the hotel makes so much more sense.
We had an hour or so drive back to the campground and decided to stop at a roadside chalet for a rather elegant meal. (I had stir fry elk with kale and broccoli - Ned had a buffalo meat loaf wrapped in bacon.) Bike ride through the woods, lazy day on the water, wandering around elegant turn of the century lodges and ending up with a very Montana style meal - I'd call that a perfect summer day.

Jammin' on the Jammer

Location: West Side Glacier National Park, Montana

Ned here again. Debi wants me to write the blog tonight because our main event today was the Red Bus Tour up to the summit and back. She took this tour with her cousin Lisa last year, so she thought I should give my impressions since I was a newbie. I know that my parents and two sisters camped in Glacier sometime in the mid-60's since I have a strong memory of us getting completely drenched in our tent and my dad frantically trenching around the tent perimeter to save us from disaster. My sister Polly reminded me of us, on that same trip, propping both of our canoes up over the campfire so that we could get dinner cooked without having the fire doused out by the torrential rain. On a subsequent trip, just my dad and I visited Glacier when I was about 14. My strongest memory of that trip is a moonlight canoe ride we made on Lake MacDonald and couldn't see our way back to our landing point. We were proud that we used our noses to navigate back, since we had launched next to the horse stables.
Today's bus tour (historically called Jammers for their double clutch gear grinding) was great for several reasons. First and foremost was that we were blessed with wonderful sunny weather. Second, the 1930's vintage buses are extremely cool. Third, our driver, Decker, was very enthusiastic, and really funny. Oh yes, and then there's the fact that when you're up on the higher parts of the road, basically any direction you look is just amazing scenery. We saw lots of beautiful waterfalls and cascades, lush green vistas of forest, and majestic glacial peaks and valleys against brilliant blue sky and billowing clouds . We did well on our wildlife viewing also. Not only was there a very photogenic mountain goat along the way, but Debi spotted a wolverine. Decker, our driver, was extremely excited with this since he had never seen one, and his boss, who has worked in the park for 16 years has only seen one once. On our return trip from the summit, everyone in the bus got to see the wolverine quickly bounding up to the same snowy ridge where Debi had first spotted him.
After the tour we got some lunch and ice cream at Apgar Village, and just enjoyed the sunshine near the lake and back at our campsite. Tonight we attended an evening ranger's talk about biodiversity in the park, and then headed back to the van for a good nights sleep.

Going to the Sun

Location: Glacier National Park, West side

Today was all about "Going to the Sun" in more than one way. Yep, we were looking forward to driving from the east side of the park to the west side via the "Going to the Sun" road and we were definitely hoping for sun on the other side. While we woke to intermittent blue skies the wind was gusting around 50 mph. All night poor Winnie shook as the wind threw everything she had at us. Even though the temperature was in the 50's the bitter wind made it feel so much colder.
The terrain on the east side of the park is a mix of open prairie, clusters of aspen trees and lots of scrub bushes. As we began the climb to the top, the terrain changed to deep lush green, there were lots of creeks and waterfalls running off the side of the mountain and onto the road and by the time we reached the summit we were driving through tunnels (8 to 10 feet) of snow. We went from a cool spring day to dead winter in less than 20 miles. At the top, at Logan's Pass, we started to watch a couple of ambitious snowboarders who walked up the mountainside, but by the time they were headed downhill a fog bank completely encircled us. It was so thick you couldn't see 100 feet in front of you. Check out the snowy picture below. Even tho the temperature at the Visitor's Center said it was 43 deg, with the bitter cold and rain it felt below freezing.
We couldn't see very much at all going over the road. Heck, we could barely see the road! However, as we descended and eventually made it to the valley on the western side, the fog cleared, the sun peaked out and there was no wind!! This side of the park is deep thick forest with lots of ferns and moss. The weather was so lovely on this side that we even had a picnic near Lake MacDonald and then spent the rest of the afternoon checking out Lake MacDonald Lodge and the falls. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a black cloud arose and the skies just down poured. It's very fickle weather!
Tonight we're camped at Fish Creek campground, which is heavily wooded that hasn't changed in 60 years. It brings back the feeling of camping as a kid. (Lisa, I'm remembering what a great time the two of us had here a year ago.) Tomorrow the weather is supposed to change dramatically and bring in clear skies and hot weather. Hard to believe they are predicting 90 degrees by the weekend. Be still my heart! We signed up for taking the famous red touring cars circa 1930's up to the pass tomorrow. Hope it's hot, the top is down, we can see forever and can enjoy the hot summer again. Check out the photo looking across the lake tonight at sunset.

Gliding into Glacier

St. Mary Campground, Glacier National Park, MT

The Prince of Wales Lodge, looking majestic and enchanting perched high on the bluff, was calling out to us this morning. We succumbed. Ned had a mountain man omelet and I had a cheese omelet. Meh, once again we were paying for the ambiance and not for the culinary perfection. Back home, Ned and I meet my Dad and Uncle Bud once a week for breakfast. So far, nothing has come close to Penny's Diner for quality, quantity, friendliness and price. We salute you Penny.
The storm had broken, but the wind was fierce, close to 50 mph. Seemed like a good choice to do the Red Rock Drive thru Waterton Park, rather than bike, and see if we could spot any wild animals. We were in luck! Not far into the drive we came upon a mama bear and her two cubs. The cubs were beyond adorable rolling over each other, looking like puppies, and jumping around in the wildflowers. It so reminded me of the book I used to read the kids when they were little "Blueberries for Sal". We were mesmerized by their playfulness and watched them for quite awhile. A little farther into the drive we came upon another bear, much bigger, and much more interested in eating. So far this trip we've seen 7 bears!
In this area of the park there are wildflowers, blue, yellow, purple, red and white, brightly displayed and blowing in the wind as far as the eye can see. (Neise, it so reminded me of our trip last year to Mt. Rainer). The many waterfalls running off the mountains could easily give Yosemite Falls a run for its money. After two weeks spent with our northern neighbors it was finally time to say goodbye. Thank you Canada for your warm hospitality, beautiful parks, majestic glaciers and abundant wildlife.
Hello USA! We entered Montana thru the small town of Chief Mountain and were welcomed into Big Sky country. Next destination Glacier National Park. The rest of the day was spent exploring the east side of the park, securing a campground for the night and visiting a couple of the lodges. By the time we arrived at Many Glacier Lodge it was a little after 3 and we were hungry again. Once more into the breach trying out another lodge. We each had a bowl of soup and split a sandwich. It was delicious and a third of the cost of the Canadian lodges. Point USA. While this lodge is much more rustic and not nearly as fancy as the Canadian Park lodges, it also seemed that more people were actually using and enjoying the space. At the Canadian lodges it seemed people, mainly tourists, were treating them as museums and art galleries looking at the architecture and in awe of the majestic decor. At this lodge people were actually hanging out by the fire reading and working at jigsaw puzzles in various nooks and crannies. It also had a much more relaxed vibe. All the lodges in this park are Swiss themed. Apparently, the railroad built them in the early 20th century to entice tourists to the area. The advertising said something along the lines of "feels like the Old Country in your new home." The staff today is still wearing the very fashionable lederhosen.
It's dry, but cold and windy here. The forecast calls for one more day of cool weather and then it's supposed to be in the mid to high 80's! I say bring it on. Tomorrow we drive from the east side to the west side of the park over the Going to The Sun Road. We're really looking forward to it.

Heading to Waterton National Park

Location: Waterton National Park, Canada

We woke up to a soft drizzle and looking up we could see that a major storm was coming through. Looking over the maps last night we thought it would be fun to visit Fort Steele, another heritage village circa 1898. Once we arrived there the temperature was dropping and the sky looked like it was about to open up with everything she had. Since this is predominantly an outdoor event covering several acres we thought it best to pass and drive on instead, once more over the Canadian Rockies and back to Alberta.
Yesterday while driving through Kootenay National Park we saw Columbia Lake where the Columbia River originates. This side of the Rockies has also been hit hard with lots of rain and flooding. Today as we passed many rivers and creeks that feed into the Columbia River we could see that they were overflowing and filled with lots of debris. Reminded us a lot of the Mississippi River during the flood stage. It got us thinking how full the Columbia River Gorge area must be. We decided to alter our trip home to drive through that area and check it out. We'll most likely be delayed a day or two, but it should be worth a peek.
We crossed over the Continental Divide for the third time driving through a really interesting area. It's mainly coal mining towns and it reminded me a lot of our Appalachian area. There are deep hollows, the clouds hugging the mountains looked like the Smokey's and the coal mining towns looked dated and seen better times. Even the long trains carrying coal looked familiar. We thought about taking an underground coal mining tour, but it just looked too depressing. At one point we drove by the world's largest truck, for what that is worth.
Approaching Waterton National Park from the Canadian side you can really see where the prairie meets the mountain. It was absolutely beautiful even on an overcast and rainy day. Waterton National Park is much smaller than most other National Parks we've been to (both Canadian and U.S.) and I was quite surprised that there isn't a lot of "there" there. The actual town is most of the National Park. Unlike Jasper or Banff where the town is a good base to explore from, it seems that this town is the big draw of the park. What is really stunning is seeing the Prince of Wales hotel perched high on a bluff from the distance as you drive into the park. It was built in 1927, has a bavarian style architecture, and the lobby area is quite small compared to some of the huge lodges in Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. The most stunning feature of the lodge is when you first enter and are greeted with a huge glass window that looks out on Upper Waterton Lake. You can even see the U.S. at the other end. Helloooo my fellow Americans, that's me waving.
The national park campground is really a city park next to the lake. It feels so different being this exposed after our wooded campsites in Jasper and last night. The campground is overrun with what we call prairie dogs and the Canadians call Columbian ground squirrels. There are burrows everywhere with little heads popping up and they also love to stand up on their hind legs and give off a high pitched squeak They are hilarious with their little personalities and quite entertaining to watch. Funny story tonight, our neighbors from North Carolina were grilling some chicken when a crow swooped down and scooped up a chicken thigh and flew off with it. The crow then had the audacity to perch in a nearby tree and devour it in front of them. Tomorrow we are looking forward to exploring other parts of the park and hope to see bigger wildlife.

Kootenay, All the Way

Location: Premier Lake Provincial Campground, Skookumchuck, British Columbia

Ned here again, filling in for Debi. We really appreciated our campsite at Wapiti campground for what an authentic camping experience it had to offer. We had the bear sighting last night across the creek, and then today several female elk (no horns) wandered through the campground. We headed south through the park, intent on seeing the Columbia Ice Fields that we had missed out on several days ago when the road was closed. On our way there we detoured for a bit to see the Athabasca Falls, which were really phenomenal. They are very dramatic in the way they suddenly plunge down into a tiny canyon of dramatic craggy rocks, creating a monstrous, roaring caldron of white water. I couldn't help but speculate if some poor fool might have first approached these falls from upstream in a small canoe, without any prior knowledge of what was before him, and decided that he would run the rapids that he could hear in the distance because they sounded like a good challenge. Poor fool indeed... Further down the road we encountered the Columbia Ice Fields and were very impressed with the number of huge glaciers hanging up on the sides of mountains here. Debi was particularly impressed with their size and bluish tint along their broken edges, saying that the small ones in Glacier National Park are even hard to identify by comparison. Next we made a return visit to Lake Louise, since the sun was shining this time. The lake was beautiful, but the sun was high enough is the sky to shadow some of the mountain across the lake, so we decided that maybe our first visit in light rain was even more dramatic. Our next destination was a drive through Kootenay National Park, which is on the west side of the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies. We didn't know what to expect, and we were delighted with the heavily forested park with many beautiful mountain peaks. Rather than the craggy, barren peaks of Jasper and Banff, Kootenay's mountains have densely wooded and grass-covered slopes which offer their own kind of beauty. Best of all, this park is like Rodney Dangerfield "I don't get no respect", compared to it's popular neighbors. As a result, we drove through the park with very few other cars on the road, and virtually no monster motor homes, which seem to be everywhere in Banff and Jasper. We were still intent on finding a natural hot springs in the area to soak in tonight. We had located a hot springs on the map that was associated with White Swan Lake Provincial Park. But alas, when we arrived at the entry gate, a sign explained that the campground was open, but the hot springs were closed because of recent heavy rainfall. :-( So we headed further south and after a suspenseful side trip of 14 kilometers (about 8 miles) down a gravel road we were delighted to find an absolutely beautiful little campground named Premier Lake. The lake we are camped above is a gorgeous turquoise color, and the vibe in the campground is very mellow. Thank you British Columbia for providing such a sweet place for people to camp.

Peaks and Valleys of Jasper

Wapiti Campground, Jasper National Park

Since this was a no travel day we had all kinds of time to explore Jasper. After a very leisurely morning at the campsite, we finally packed up the bikes and headed into town. Much to our delight it was National Aboriginal Day in Jasper and the town park was filled with First Nation People in costume, tipis set up, drumming and other exhibitions going on. We rode our bike through town and then spent some time checking out all the happenings. It's the hottest day we've seen in a week so we thought a long bike ride through the backcountry would be fun. We rode a technical mountain bike trail (don't be impressed, it was an easy one about like Pioneer Trail in Nevada City) and spent a couple of hours going through meadows with wildflowers and butterflies, heavily wooded areas, around a couple of lakes, next to the fancy Jasper Lodge and finally past the Old Fort Point and back into town. Quite a nice little work-out! My favorite part was riding past all the turquoise lakes and seeing the kids scream with delight in trying to get into this very cold water. About half way through our bike ride we struck up a conversation with a Canadian couple from Jasper. Much to my surprise they said that Jasper received very little snow in the winter. In fact, they just swept their driveway and didn't really shovel at all. I'm considering moving here, but I think Ned is putting a kabosh on it. He thinks one day of the subzero and I'm back home.
After that workout we thought a nice reward would be to ride the tramway up to the peak of Whistlers. It lifted us up 3500 vertical feet for a breathtaking panorama of Jasper, the Columbia Icefield and we could just barely make out Mt. Robson, the highest point of the Canadian Rockies at 13,006 feet. From this perspective you could see a lot of yellow "dust" blowing about. Turns out it's the pollen from all the trees. I'm sure all the folks back home can relate to that!
Back at the campsite we were pouring over maps trying to figure a way out of here. The road south to Lake Louise was still closed and our options didn't look good for going east (flooding thru Calgary) or going west (a really long and out of the way option). I decided to bike up to the ranger station and get one last report. As luck would have it, while I was talking with him the road opened!! Sure hope that's true, but we'll find out soon enough tomorrow.
Later in the evening we were reading at the campsite, faced toward the creek. Something caught my eye and I saw a bear directly across from us on other side of the creek!! Wowza. He approached the swift water, took a long drink, but didn't look too interested in getting wet. Instead he very nonchalantly lumbered upstream moseying along. Guess who's making sure that ALL of our food and equipment is tucked nicely away tonight.