More Montana & Lost Pictures

Coming Out of Flat Grasslands to Pine Dotted Hills

Tuesday, June 14

We had a good nights sleep, but both of us woke a few times as the strong winds just shook our trailer. It felt like we were moving at times.

We were impressed with this KOA as it was very clean, well set up, and conveniently located. They even had pet sitters. We'd like to go back and spend some time another year. There is just so much to do around there.

We went to the St. Mary's Lodge for breakfast and for memories as we had stayed there on the last trip we took with Chad and Sean. It was as beautiful as we remembered and we relaxed with a wonderful breakfast, Frank Sinatra songs playing in the background, and gorgeous views out the windows.

We went into the gift shop and met the manager who had designed the mugs we used in the restaurant. she advised us to go back up to Babb, just north of us, and take the park road into Many Glacier. There had been lots of bear sighted there. They let us leave the trailer in the parking lot and away we went.

It was a beautiful drive up the other side of the St. Marys River. We climbed into the mountains and into the rain. Mist and fog blew in and out with the clouds the higher we went. We saw one moose and several sheep, but no grizzly. Time to push on.

We took 89 south and drove through acres of sad forest fire damage. Under all of the littered, blackened, bare sticks of trees, there was brave green grass and dandelions.

We went into beautiful range land that looked like I think Montana should look as my head played, "Happy Trails to You." A small herd of horses were grazing right beside the road and we stopped and got out to click pictures of them. As we watched, a cowboy on a Buckskin horse came from a field on the other side of the road and herded the horses away from the highway and back down into their field. It was so cool to watch! I want to be a cowboy when I grow up.

We came into the scrub town of Browning and stopped to buy kettle corn from a Native American. It was just the snack we needed. After that there wer miles and miles of range land and you could see our ribbon of a highway far ahead as in looped up and down and wound through the hills.

Choteau was a nice clean little town with an organic market and expresso shop. There were lilacs in bloom everywhere. We continued on across the vast land until the hills began to get bigger and there were occasional rock formations that looked like the canyon country of cowboy movies.

As we neared Helena, Montana, the grassy hills became dotted with pines and there were more and more cattle grazing. We picked up 15 south into Helena and back to super highways. Helena was a nice, clean, college town built into the hills with views of mountains in the distance.

We picked up speed and enjoyed the convenience of the highway, but we sure enjoyed the interesting scenery, small towns, and the wildlife we saw on the back roads.

Just when we thought we were winding down, we headed into some mountains again. They were pine covered and reminded me of Tennessee. We meant to stop at a campground there, but as we got on 90 east, the campground was the other way and we didn't notice until too late. We were getting pretty tired when we found a camp in our guide in the tiny town of Three Forks, Montana. It was a little scary as we turned off and we were afraid it would be a dusty parking lot behind a gas station or something. It turned out to be absolutely beautiful. It was spotless, friendly and just like a park with piles of trees and birds singing everywhere. We took a nice walk and enjoyed the views and watched the full moon. This was a lovely park. Saved again.

Note: The next morning, getting organized for the day, I accidentally deleted all of my pictures that would go with this post. I lost pictures of St. Marys Lodge, our last moose, some mountain scenes, the cowboy herding the horses, the forest fire damage, and the ribbon of road through the vast range land. We were sick, but the pictures are in our heads. Bob had one picture and was very glad he hadn't been the one to do the deleting.

Back in the USA

Flat Range Land with Mountains in the Background

Fields of Dandelions

Native American Statues in Montana

Going into Glacier National Park

A Bear Crosses in Front of us in the Park




Monday, June 13

We had a beautiful, crisp morning as we had our oatmeal, packed up and headed to the RV Wash in Canmore. Later, after we got on the highway towards Calgary, we hit a heavy downpour and were glad we hadn't spent more time fussing at the RV Wash. At least the top layer of mud, dust, and bugs were off.

The mountains were now behind us with flat, forever land ahead. We missed the turn off for the Cowboy Highway south and decided it was a good time of day for traffic and we wanted to see Calgary anyway, so using our little map book of Canada that we had purchased at Northgate by our cabin, we successfully navigated around the border of the city. The land surrounding Calgary was flat and treeless with sprawling new subdivisions. Then as we approached the city center, we could see the tall buildings of the city center down in a hollow. The land was shaped like a bowl and we were up on a rim. There were six lanes of traffic and a lot of construction. It seemed to be very clean and progressive and we heard later from a fellow traveler that Calgary is Canada's most livable city. It would have been nice to see some of the Olympic areas and the sight of the Calgary Stampede, but not hauling a trailer.

We went on south to Fort MacLeod and past the lovely little hospital that had helped me on the way up. Then we took Highway 2 south through more beautiful range land with increasing mountains to our southwest.

The wind was wild and we saw that Canada was using it with some massive fields of windmills.

We drove through the nice little town of Cardston and on until we crossed the quaint, small customs stop at the border into the USA. It was just a good feeling and Montana truly seemed to welcome us. We stopped to take pictures of metal sculptures of Native Americans on horseback and hurried on to get to Glacier National Park.

We got a camp site in St. Marys at the KOA situated on high, grassy, very windy fields with mountains bordering us. We set up and went into tiny St. Marys to the cafe and had delicious big salads and homemade pie. The restaurant was manned by college kids that looked like hikers and environmentalists. They were having fun joking with each other. Their t-shirts had a slice of pie on end like a pyramid and said, "Pie for Strength."

After dinner, we drove into the Park and twelve miles up the Road to the Sun. That was as far as it was open as there was still a lot of snow and danger of avalanche.

We went from sun to cold and rain the higher we went. We saw one black bear, an avalanche area with broken trees and piles of snow, and a rock slide area. The views were pretty, but the weather made it hard to see well.

We went back to our trailer, took a walk, turned on the heater, watched out our window as the clouds boiled over the mountains, and listened to the howling wind...cozy and content.

A Much Warmer Icefield Parkway

Enjoying Our Campground

Athabasca Falls

A Baby Bighorn Sheep

Two Bighorn Rams

An Elk in Velvet Resting Along 1A Highway Near Lake Louise

Sunday, June 12

We had a relaxing morning in such a beautiful campground with large sites, quiet pines, and mountains all around us. The ground squirrels kept Ben entertained.

We chatted with our neighbors from Germany who had flown in to Vancouver and rented a motor home. They said Germany had comparable terrain, but with many more people in a small space.

As we hit the road going south on the Icefield Parkway, we again stopped all along the way to click pictures of mountains. It looked so different coming south and with so much less snow.

We stopped at Athabasca Falls and walked around. There were many more people and much more traffic than when we were there a month ago, but we still enjoyed it's beauty and it wasn't really crowded yet.

When we were driving in the mountains, we seemed to drive in and out of light rains the higher up we went. It just kind of blew in and out in a cloud. It could be raining and yet we'd be in sun and blue skies. The rain moved with the gusts of wind.

We saw so many waterfalls and we couldn't help taking more and more pictures. We just couldn't capture it all.

We saw a cluster of Big Horn Sheep with mamas and babies grazing in the grass at the base of the rocks. Then down by the river, we saw two huge rams. We sat and watched them for quite a while. It was just so exciting to watch these huge animals still living in the wild.

We saw another large black bear grazing beside the road. Dandelions seem to be a big attraction.

There were more glaciers, more waterfalls, and more sparkling streams. At the summit, there was a huge lake still mostly frozen with huge blue chunks of floating ice.

When we came off the Icefield Parkway, instead of taking the highway, we took the back road, 1A, the Bow Valley Parkway, again to drive slowly and watch for wildlife. It was Sunday, and there was much more traffic, hikers, and bikers. We decided we probably wouldn't see much, but right towards the end, we saw people pulled over and there were two huge elk, lying down, tucked in the trees right beside the road. Everyone was whispering and taking pictures and the elk didn't seem to think anyone could see them or they just didn't care. There huge horns were in velvet and they were so pretty. We again, watched quite a while.

We got back on Highway 1 east, which is a four lane divided highway. We weren't sure we were ready for all of that again. There are big fences along the highway to keep animals out and a couple sod covered wide bridges over the highway for animals to travel across without getting in the road. They've thought of everything. We did see a small herd of deer beside the road and some single deer along the way.

We passed Banff and went on to Canmore and the Spring Creek Campground where we had stayed coming up. There were more campers and the price had gone up, of course, but it was still beautiful and a nice place to stay with great views. There were ducks walking around looking for hand outs and bunnies of all colors all around. We had to keep Ben in check, but he sure enjoyed watching.

We chatted with our neighbor who had a spotless motor home towing a spotless white compact car. He was on his way to Alaska and had really researched his trip, planning everything with detail. He was washing his windows and said he washed his motor home every couple of days as he likes to keep it all in good order. We couldn't help but smile thinking of him hitting those roads in Alaska and on the way up with the clouds of dust. The man is going to be a wreck!

We went into Canmore and ate a fabulous dinner at the Grizzly Paw Brewery. I actually had one of their light beers, a Hound Dog Pilsner, mixed with their own brewed Orange Soda. It was yummy.

We walked around Canmore a little. It was very much like Jackson Hole with lots of young people, outdoor cafes, and people playing music. We were full and relaxed. It had been a great day and we were ready to call it a night.

Back to Jasper

Farm Fields and Mountains.

Cherie & Ben at the Rearguard Falls

Bob & Ben at the Path from the Falls


Birch, Pines and Mountains

A Grizzly in the Park

Saturday, June 11

We enjoyed our beautiful, clean campground in Vanderhoof by taking a long hot shower and doing some laundry.

We loved the countryside and could have been in northern Michigan or Wisconsin with the rolling green fields bordered with pine and birch and occasional lakes and streams.

Back on the road, we went through Prince George which was on the Frazer River and is quite big with every store and busy traffic. We stopped for gas and the machine wouldn't authorize us for more than $80. That should have been a clue that something wasn't right. We were going to have a nice lunch in town as we had only had oatmeal early, but with the traffic and gas station trouble,we just got out of town.

We were instantly back in the woods with no stores or anything but beauty. We stopped in a rest area and made lunch and saw the first dead moose by the side of the road that we'd seen the whole trip. They are so massive. Sad to see it there.

We started to gradually climb back into the mountains. We saw a young moose beside the road and one black bear back in the woods.

We drove through another beautiful valley with lots of small farms and horses and into the town of McBride, which was a sweet small ranch town.

We stopped and walked to Rearguard Falls. It was very impressive and a nice walk.

We went into Robson Provincial Park and read the sign that cautioned about weather changes in the high mountains. Up we went again. We drove into rain and then sun with fluffy clouds. We were in snowy, jagged peaks again as we drove across the BC/Alberta border into Jasper National Park we changed to mountain time and only two hours behind home.

Shortly after entering the park, we rounded a curve and saw people pulled over. They were watching a huge grizzly grazing in the meadow. My camera just couldn't capture it, but Bob took many pictures and the grizzly was fascinating to watch.

We finally left as the grizzly sauntered into the pines and we went into Jasper for gas. Jasper was a crowded resort town with most gift shops, restaurants, and gas stations on one side of the street and a park, train station and train tracks on the other. Mountains were on every side. We drove almost to the end of the street for diesel as others either didn't carry it or were out. After filling up, our Mastercard was rejected. I reminded Bob that we had our Visa, but that rejected too. Thank God we had cash. We couldn't imagine what had happened , but we had been without phone and knew we had messages we couldn't get and dreamed up all of the worse case scenarios.

We were dizzy with hunger, so decided to eat first and then figure out what to do. We picked a nice log cabin restaurant with a great view and the young man who was our waiter couldn't have been nicer. We ended up telling him our story and he even offered his phone as we had no service. He gave us a map that showed area campgrounds and made us laugh with biking and bear stories.

We had delicious salads, smoked salmon and warm french bread. In much better spirits, we stopped at a pay phone and called Mastercard. They let us know that all was well and they were just being careful because of out of the country charges. We had called them before we left, but they were still cautious. The released the freeze and we were on our way.

We drove onto the beginning of the Icefield Parkway and stopped at the first park campground and they had two sites left and they were full hook up. We were blessed. It was one of the more beautiful places we have stayed. We took a lovely walk in the pines and enjoyed the lodgey smell of campfires.

Note to self: Remember that things always look worse when over tired and hungry. Learn to let go and trust.

Lush Green Valleys

Misty Mountains

Waterfalls and Train Tracks Following the Beautiful Drive

Green Valleys

Bright Dandelions

An Old Farm in the Valley




Friday, June 10

We slept well in the quiet of the mountain and had our first dark night in a long time. We did have trains off in the distance, which made us feel right at home.

A word about choosing campgrounds -

Don't trust the Milepost book where businesses write their own ads. Check the RV Guides that have ratings. This Kinnikinnick Campground advertised: Pristine views - the tops of other crowded in campers. Walk to the beach - the fenced in old cannery on the harbor. Internet - We couldn't get contact at our site and there was only very low service down by the office, which wasn't even strong enough to bring in Yahoo. TV - You might get TV if you had your own large antennae that was a lot bigger than ours. We got one weak station that played cartoons and hockey. Hot showers -a space, two by three feet (Bob measured), with a dirty shower curtain and a musty smell. Yuck! The owner was a creative writer for sure.

We headed east away from the coast and enjoyed the misty mountains once again. The land leveled out a little with more birch and wider valleys as we went. We saw a deer beside the road drinking from a stream. That was the first deer we'd seen in a while. She was big and a light, tawny color and luckily she turned away from the highway.

We drove into the clean, friendly town of Smithers. There were snowy mountains on both sides in a lovely green valley with horse ranches all around. We saw a sign by the fairgrounds advertising their approaching rodeo. We stopped for groceries and were impressed with the well stocked fresh offerings, and, they had a Starbucks, which we took advantage of to give us a little boost. We saw several ranchers in their pickup trucks and wearing cowboy hats making it feel like Wyoming.

Everything was lush spring green in the valley with lots of birch and pine. There were also large bright dandelions and lilacs thickly in bloom everywhere. Spring was in full swing there, which felt good as we had missed much of it at home. We got the occasional glimpses of snowy mountains in the distance, or it would have looked like the countryside southwest of the Mackinaw City or Traverse City areas. There were quaint farms with some cattle and many horses. The air was cool and so fresh.

We saw a young buck in velvet by the road and he also turned and ran away from the highway. We saw a mama moose and her little one running along in the ditch and then up and over the road behind us. It was so much fun to see the calf determinedly trotting along to keep up.

Spring is a great time to travel here. We missed seeing the bull moose with their big racks and the Grizzly Bear fishing for Salmon, but what a treat to see all of those babies.

Right outside of a little town, a black bear ran across in front of the semi that was in front of us. We both had to slam on our breaks.

It was a long, but beautiful day of driving. We wanted to make it to Prince George, but knew it was time to quit in Vanderhoof, BC at Dave's RV Park. It was just outside of town with full hook up except for TV, and it was spotless. We were happy to settle in.

Waterfalls, Mountains, and Mist

The morning mist in the mountains.

Waterfalls and snow gates.

The view from our sun roof.

Waterfalls and streams.

And, more waterfalls and lush green vegetation.

Thursday, June 9

I stepped out of the trailer in the gray morning to go to the shower and stopped in wonder. The mountains rose huge around me with misty clouds enclosing the top. It was so quiet and it almost felt sacred. I just stood there for a minute while I soaked it in.

I popped out of it pretty quickly when I got to the rustic showers and put my Canadian dollar, a loony, in for 4 minutes of shower time. The owner, Ruby, said to only turn on hot as sometimes it doesn't heat up real good. Well, I'm here to tell you, I knew those minutes were ticking away, so as soon as it wasn't freezing, I jumped in. It was so cold that I showered in record time and forgot shaving my legs as I would have cut myself cutting off the tops of my goose bumps! I did not use my full four minutes. By the way, I'd like to thank Nance, my yoga teacher, for the ability to stand on one foot while using these showers.

We had coffee, watched the Today Show and went into town to the bakery for breakfast. It was fun meeting some locals and chatting over coffee. It reminded us of Northgate up by our cabin at Montreal River Harbour. We found out that our "Gayle" character at the General Store,was full of hot air and exaggerations. We laughed and had fun with these great, hardy people.

We packed up and started out of Stewart in a soft rain. Thirty kilometers down the road, we realized we were low on gas. After checking maps, we decided we had to go back. I can't think of a more beautiful road to have to backtrack. We marveled at the sights both ways. At one point, when there was no pull over to stop for pictures, Bob slowed and I stood up through the sun roof. It was probably not a smart idea, but it was fun.

We saw gates all along the road like at a railroad crossing for roads to be closed in heavy snow. I guess it happens often in this area.

The temperature came up to 54 and the clouds burned off. We saw more black bear. We saw more green vegetation, glaciers, birds, waterfalls, rocky cliffs, streams, clouds, beautiful textures....HEAVEN!

We turned south on 37 down to 16, the Yellowhead Highway, and turned west on a whim towards the west coast town of Prince Rupert. It clouded up and began to rain, but we hit a nice stretch of smooth road. We passed a few First Nation Villages and saw their interesting totem poles. The highway followed the wide, fast moving, Skeena River and the drive became more scenic as we went.

We drove through the nice town of Terrace, which has the Kermodei Bear (white spirit bear) as their symbol. It was the first actual town we had been in in a while with traffic lights, Walmart, McDonalds and everything. It felt weird.

We climbed higher in the mountains as we neared the coast. It just got prettier and prettier and definitely rivaled the drive in to Stewart. The huge dark pines, the misty clouds, the massive mountains and numerous waterfalls gave the surroundings a spiritual, Holy place, feeling.

Our brains went on overload as we were unable to absorb any more. We quit talking and just clicked pictures. Then we quit doing that too as the vastness of it and the feel of it could not be captured.

We found a camp in Prince Edward 6 miles from Prince Rupert. It was built into the side of a mountain. Bob showed his ability with trailers backing into that narrow spot. There were steps up to a landing for the picnic table as everything was steep and in tiers.

We drove into Prince Rupert and watched the Skeena River widen with small rocky, pine covered islands dotted throughout.

We were bone tired and stopped for dinner at the edge of town with a view of the Harbor. There was a Norwegian Cruise Ship docked and we also watched a rowing team practice. We had the sweetest waitress who was First Nation. She made us feel so welcome and she followed us out to meet Ben who liked her right off and is a good judge of character.

We were feeling so overwhelmed and tired, that we actually drove down to the Alaskan Ferry Dock to see about taking a ferry to Seattle to drive home. People load their RVs on and it is a great way to travel. Luckily, they were closed and we went back to camp for a good night's sleep and a clearer head.

And the Scenery Prize Goes to ....

One of many waterfalls with snow at the bottom.

One of many bubbling, fast streams.

Beautiful, snow covered mountains with spring in the valley.

One of many bears right by the road.

The General Store in Hyder Alaska.

Wednesday, June 8

We had a lovely, peaceful sleep on the shores of Dease Lake in our rustic camp site and had coffee by the campfire. We chatted with the owner who was a retired miner. He took great care of his lovely campground, but could not afford to get power in way down there. It might be just as well as it had so much character just as it was.

The community of Dease Lake was 6 miles further down the road and kind of scrubby looking. We were glad we stayed where we did.

We went by several little white water roaring streams and then across the huge Stikine River (Great River). The road became a steep winding climb with no shoulder and sharp drops. We could see an old, dormant, snow covered volcano in the distance. (Following along with the Milespost Guide, helps explain what you might be seeing. I keep it open on my lap as we drive.) There were mountains all around us, with some barren and snow streaked, and some lush green. We saw more and more black bear which was fun, but we couldn't stop on the winding road.

And then, we turned off on 37A back into Stewart, we saw the most awesome scenery to date. We snapped pictures right and left while oohing and ahhing. At one point, as we looked up towards the top of a mountain, we saw snow break loose and shower down in an avalanche. It only made it part way down the mountain, luckily, but was grand to watch.

You would think we had seen it all, but we hadn't. These mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, and canyon walls were spectacular! We were in awe and ranked it number one in scenery.

We drove on through the little town of Stewart, and in a short two miles crossed the unmanned border into Hyder, Alaska. What an experience! It was a rustic town with made over shacks and a dirt road. At one time, when mining was big, both towns were a lot busier and many more people lived there. For now, I think there were 83 who lived in Hyder full time and a few more then that in Stewart. The towns were on a Fiord that was about 90 miles long connecting them to the Pacific Ocean. There were a lot of scrubby fishing boats at dock. There was also a long board walk that went out in the marshy part for bear viewing when the salmon are running in July and August.

We met the owner of the General Store and he was totally a north woods version of our friend, Gayle Heller. He was a riot to talk... wait, to listen to. He explained that Hyder had no customs and no law enforcement, yet little crime as they all carried guns and knew where to find everyone. We stayed quite a while and solved the problems of the world. Four other tourists joined us and the stories just got better as "Gayle" loved an audience.

We went back to the Canadian side and had to go through a folksy customs and stayed in the Bear River Campground. We had great views, cable TV, and internet. Everyone was glued to the hockey playoffs.

Bob fixed his lovely fish and we had leftover stir fry veggies for dinner. We settled in for a quiet nights sleep in the narrow valley of Stewart, where it actually got almost dark for a while.