The Salmon are Running

August 27/2014  Weather 85 hot and sunny, night 60 but a fall change is forecasted for the long weekend. 
When we paid for our camping at the office at Wild Rose Campground in Hope, we noticed a small sign that said fresh Sockeye Salmon Steaks $3.00.   Later that day we went back to see what exactly the deal was.   Ok when we get a salmon steak at home in Ontario it's usually Atlantic Salmon which is not as good tasting as Pacific and the steaks are about 1 inch thick and expensive.   So we thought lets get a couple and have them on the BBQ.   OMG.   check these out!!!!

fresh today and 4 inches thick

Little did we remember that Pacific Salmon spawn in the fall season so the fish are just starting to run.   All the lakes and rivers and creeks within the next few weeks will be covered with fish.  Jumping and making their way back to the place they were actually born.  Isn't that amazing?  Salmon are hatched in fresh water and live in the rivers till they are 2 years old then make their way to the ocean for the next 2 years and return on their 4th year back to the exact spot they were born.  Scientists believe they are guided largely by smell to find their way. 

on the porch at the local general store

Driving in the Mountains or are the Mountains Driving You?

August 26/2014  Weather is beautiful high of 85, sunny
In British Columbia we find there just are not very many primary highways and even fewer interstates or freeways.  To move from Kelowna to Hope we took 97C to Hwy 5 the Coquihalla, we climbed for about an hour then came down and made the connection at Merritt and climbed again and then went down all the way thru the Fraser River Valley. 

looking down before the descent into Merritt  on 97c

The last 17 kms (about 10 miles) is the worst on the Coq.  It is all downhill at 8% with heavy cross winds.  Can you just imagine driving this in the winter???  The first thing we saw on the Coq was a truck on fire in the northbound lane.

those are flames above the cab

Then after a day at Wild Rose Campground we watched on tv the news of a  tourism bus that had rolled over with 59 passengers.    Billy often follows the truckers up the mountains in the slow lane taking our time and coming down as well, maintaining speed and control.  We had a trucker tell us if you go up at 35 mph then you should be coming down at the same rate.

Fraser River somewhere in the valley below

runaway ramps always make you feel at ease - no they don't!

It reminded us of a fellow RVer we met a month ago in Cody, Wyoming;  he was laughing at our Canadian West roads.   His thought was that "you Canadians you like to go straight up and up and up, then you want to go straight down and down and down "!!!  He said he felt the USA was a bit different "we like to wind our way up the side of a mountain then wind our way back down".    So we have learned from experience what he was trying to tell us.  He was right. 

heading down into a tunnel on Coquihalla Hwy 5

Before coming on this trip we have often watched the Highway thru Hell on National Geographic and the Discovery Channel.  It is a reality tv show out of Hope, BC that follows Jamie Davis Towing and crew with heavy vehicle recovery on steep hills, lethal drop-offs, killer rock slides, and notoriously rapid changing winter weather all on the Coquihalla Hwy.    We are glad to have driven it on a beautiful summer day and "no" we are not coming back in the winter!

Wine the day away

Weather - sunny 80's mid 50's at night.  we had our first rain day all day on this trip.  t storms threaten and we run through them with little rain.

High density apple orchards, pruned and tied to produce as much as possible

Kelowna is a pretty area on the Okanagan Lake, much of the housing and vineyards are built on the sides of hills and canyons and valleys.  

Osoyoos - like an oasis in the Canadian Desert

Orchards for grapes, peaches, apples, apricots, pears, cherries paint the landscape.  We even saw a golf course with each hole between the apple orchards!

A golf course in the middle of an apple orchard

You could spend a few days just following the wine trails.  Some of the vineyards are multi million dollar estates and others are little small sheds. 

Watermelon and beet salad at Cedar Creek Winery - all locally grown

One thing we learned is that BC means "bring cash".   We stopped and had a beautiful lunch with a glass of wine - one glass is $14.   Really?  So we tried again yesterday at another winery and once again a glass of Pinot Noir was $14.   Yikes!    Better to buy the bottle at $26 and get a few glasses back at our campsite. 

the grapes, the bottle and the biker chic

rose garden on the walk into Mission Hill Estate Winery

lovely property on lake okanagan amongst the grape vines

Cock a doodle doo !!! Kelowna & Okanagan Valley

August 19 - 26/2014  80's then dropping to mid 70's a storm is due mid week.  Looks like our heat wave has finally broken.  nights in the mid 50's.

garden when you drive into Canyon RV Park

chicken coup

dahlia garden

We have moved into Canyon Farms RV Park in East Kelowna for a week, to see the popular Okanagan Valley with all its orchards and wineries.  34 wineries to be exact!!!    Driving into the rv park seemed like threading the needle in the city streets then on into golf courses and finally a canyon and a dead end road.   Billy was starting to wonder if there really would be a park.    And we are not disappointed, it is adorable:)

The park has only 8 sites but they are all long and beautiful with flowers and grapevines between them.   Entering through the gate we are met by the chickens and flower gardens and vegetable gardens of which you can purchase fresh  organic produce and chicken and eggs!!!  Awesome.

picked for supper + eggs from the morning + chicken in the freezer

dahlia

Our lady host provided us with our recycling pale to feed the chickens - all scraps from produce, bread, noodles, coffee grounds - just no meat of any kind.   So every night we go feed the chickens and they come running and fighting for their piece of food.   It's hilarious.    I know what your thinking.....   Yes it really doesn't take much to amuse Billy and Rosey anymore.   The simple life is grand.

feeding the chickens - they come running

Ooops,,, Kamloops

August 17/2014  Weather is still warm, hot actually. High of 90 today low of 63.  Elevation is only about 1100 feet and Kamloops is in a semi-desert area. 

sides of the valley along Thomspon River

The topography is stark and rocky with sage brush except next to the water where the small valley allows pasture and vegetables to be grown.   Kamloops is a busy town, very long and narrow following the railroad, the Trans Canada Hwy and the Thompson River.  Native Indians, fur traders,  gold rush miners and loggers made this a busy way station/post in the 1800's via the trail north.   

coming back on the Westsyde road

Ooops Kamloops is our nickname since we are not that enamoured with this area,,, it's hard to find motorcycle roads that are not also the primary highways.   An maybe because we left some of the most beautiful scenery in Canada behind last week.   We did take a motorcycle ride north along the Thompson River and saw 2 black bear wandering around the tall grass and an eagle tearing apart his fresh salmon caught for lunch.  Scouts honor on this, the road was too busy with traffic to stop so we did not get any pictures!

isn't it barren and dry looking?

The highway from Kamloops north will eventually take you up to Prince George and then on to Alaska.  That will be another trip some day:)

McClure Ferry, about 330 feet across the river

We did take advantage of a quaint old way of transportation that exists in BC, a ferry that held 2 cars and was powered by the movement of the current only.  The operator told us there are only about 5 of these antiquated style ferries left in BC. 

Glacier National Park & MT. Revelstoke National Park

August 15/2014  Cloudy with a chance of rain today, high of 80. 
Well the weather doesn't matter too much as we are moving West via Trans Canada Highway 1 to Kamloops.   Both of us are a bit unnerved wondering how severe the inclines and declines and sharp curves might be.  On the map it shows it being a scenic route and we much prefer doing scenic routes on the motorcycle!  Shortly out of Golden we enter Glacier National Park and see in the distance some foreboding mountain tops.

Entering Glacier National Park

There is a very extreme area in winter here for avalanches that took some thinking on the engineering to keep this route open in the winter.   Roger's Pass has several tunnels with avalanche sheds over them.   Certainly won't see them back in Ontario:)

Avalanche sheds and tunnels - Roger's Pass

Mount Revelstoke

Some inclines and declines but nothing that Billy couldn't manage and then on through Mount Revelstoke Park, and we are happy that it was not so bad either.  Phew!

train tunnel in the valley beside the river

Onward we drive through the beautiful valleys in the Salmon Arm watershed area with the most houseboats in Canada.   There are many lakes and rivers attached to each other here and it lends itself to endless possibilities for the touring houseboats.  The topography changes so much in the 200 miles.  In Kamloops the hills are rocky with sagebrush and grass, very arid looking.  Yet the Thompson river and its forks run through the valley.  We are camping a few days here at Kamloops RV Park.

coming into Kamloops

Icefields Parkway - Columbia Icefield - Scenery Overload

August 12 & 13/2014  Beautiful Hot day Tuesday 90 leaving camp in Golden, B.C., cloudy and showers  Wednesday morning in Jasper as we head back.
We decided to leave the motorhome at camp for a couple of days while we ride the motorcycle on possibly one of the most beautiful rides in Canada - The Icefields Parkway. Our round trip is 420 miles, and we have a bed and breakfast booked in Jasper.  Tip: book your room as Jasper is an extremely busy tourist village. 

a stop for our bike along the way

All visitors entering at Jasper National Park will have a fee to drive the parkway, ours was $19.60 for a 24 hours pass, which allows us to return the next day.  The parkway follows the Continental Divide in the Rockies and the Icefield feeds 8 major glaciers, not to mention 11 mountains that are from 9200 feet to 11,200 feet .  A must stop is the Athabasca Glacier where the visitor centre offers a trip onto the glacier in a snowcoach and new this year is the 900 foot skywalk over the Tangle Ridge Canyon.  It's a drive like nothing else,,,,,,,, take a look.

Bow Lake - really is that colour!

another corner along the parkway

road threads through the mountains

Athabasca Glacier

Rosey drinking the Glacier water - it has magic powers

Billy talking to our Snowcoach driver, no he wouldn't let him drive it back

Skywalk - we actually didn't think it was that great

Athabasca Falls

Lake Louise, Alberta

August 10/2014  Beautiful 80's day, sunny.
We have to say that half the beauty and fun of today was getting here.  Just a great ride with so much to see.  Even while we were here Billy was still talking about those Spiral Train Tracks. 

Lake Louise

Being that it is Sunday and lots of tourists out for the weekend we thought let's take the gondola ride like we did in Banff.  The lineup was minimal, no wait at all?  Where are all the tourists?
Lake Louise Gondola is better (we think) it is the lift system they use for the snow skiing and you can take the open chair!

walk to lunch

 Watch below for Grizzly and Black Bears.   We heard of about 6 sitings that day during the ride up and down, but we just could not spot them ourselves :( 
We bought the lift ticket and the lunch at 7000 feet on the deck of the Whitehorn Lodge.  The lunch was an extra $7 and I thought even if it is just a sandwich and water that is fine.   Well, we had a million dollar table right on the deck looking out at Lake Louise with Cheese Fondue for two and wine!!!  How civilized,,,,,,  ahhh :)

Billy at lunch looking at Lake Louise from Whitehorn Lodge

ride coming down

What I know about Lake Louise is that is a famous blue jewel coloured lake.  What I didn't know is that it is the highest Canadian community at an elevation of 1540 meters/5052 feet and it was the former Laggan CPR station with over 12,000 workers in 1884 when they railroad was constructed over Kicking Horse Pass.  

lodging at lake louise

Oh and we found the tourists!  We crossed over to the streets leading into Moraine Lake and Lake Louise and voila..... traffic jams everywhere.   So glad we did the gondola and lunch first, it was heaven.

Along Trans Canada 1 - Yoho National Park, Spiral Train Tracks, Continental Divide

August 10/2014  Sunny, high 80's again, cool at night 58
From camp we took the motorcycle and road Trans Canada Hwy 1 east from Golden, British Columbia to Lake Louise, Alberta.  This being a major truck route we were a little surprised in the steep inclines and descents and sharp turns. 

descent on hwy 1 into Golden

When heading into Golden it warns you of 14 kilometers/9 miles of sharp turns and decline, trucks chain up in the winter - no kidding!  Well we were glad to be on the motorcycle and not in the motorhome.  Everyone tells us we will see enough mountains with it.

in the distance is the village of Field & the Yoho visitor center

Before coming to British Columbia we had never heard of Yoho National Park.  The scenery is beautiful.  No wonder the Cree Indians named it Yoho meaning "awe".   There was a huge archaeological find in the highest peaks of Yoho, it is the 505 million year old Burgess Shale.  Kind of looks like an ancient "bug" to me but it is a marine organism.   Remember.... 505 million years ago these mountain ranges were an ocean flour.  Ok.  Now that makes you think, doesn't it!

Burgess Shale

In the Rockie Mountain range all through North America you will cross the Continental Divide.   The Great Divide separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those that drain into the Atlantic Ocean.  We crossed it a few times in Montana but never saw the reality as simply as here at Kicking Horse Pass.  Divide Creek has a fork draining west and another draining east.   We were driving up to the Pass and you could see the water flowing towards us;  a few miles later you could actually see the water flowing with us!  Don't you love it with Geography comes alive???  

map showing the spiral tunnels - 1 upper and 1 lower - follow the tracks

On and off along the Trans Canada Hwy 1 you can see that it follows the CPR Canadian Pacific Railroad line, which was here before the road.  In the early 1900's the railroad track summit near Wapta Lake was the steepest in North America with a 4.5 % grade.   Extreme for trains, causing trains to come off the track and crash with fatalities.

Here comes the train!!!

 In 1901 CPR opened up a pair of Spiral Tunnels to reduce the grade to a manageable 2.2%.   You can view the tunnels and see the exhibit from a stop on the highway.  How lucky could we be? We could hear the train coming through while we were there!!! (Billy lets get that lottery ticket tonight).   This was better than Disney World,,,  so cool.

See the Engines above coming through the tunnel while the train cars are following below