Day 10. Heading to the sulphur spring at Liard River

We left Dawson Creek on our way to Liard River at around 8:00am, again. Our destination was Liard River campground about 500 miles away. We drove through a great mountain road along Muncho lake where Pepe almost cried. The road winded back & forth along the 10 mile along lake. It was almost sprirtual.

We arrived around 4pm at Liard River. Pepe showed Jim the natural sulphur springs. The water was very hot, around 115F with a strong smell of surphur. We soaked in the waters twice & had a relaxing night at the campsite. The campground was so popular, it was sold out.

The sulphur spring is a must. You can relax amongst the pines, soak in the waters, & meet people from many different places.

Day 9. On the long, long road again

We need to cover about 2,000 miles over the next 4 days. We headed north out of Banff at about 8:00am. We stopped for coffee & scones at Wild Flour one last time. We did a little sightseeing at Lake Louise, but Pepe was not impressed by all the Japanese tourists.

We drove through the Columbia Icefields & out of Banff & Jasper National Parks. Then we find several great little deserted backroads while heading north. Pepe said "the roads are "matsugu." Meme will give a prize for the correct translation.

As we neared Dawson Creek, we saw several elk farms. That must make elk hunting easy since there are hundreds to choose from.

The answer to the liter to gallon question is -- 1 gallon = 3.785 liters. That makes gas in Canada cost about $4.20 per gallon at equal exchange rates.

We are now in British Columbia & have reached the Pacific time zone, so we are now 3 hours behind you.

Day 8. Taking in the mineral waters

We spent the entire day in Banff. After breakfast, we spent several hours at the Internet coffee shop where Pepe earned his blogging wings. Afterwards, we went to the sulfur springs & soaked in the 41C water (first one to figure out degrees F gets a prize from Pepe).

After the spring, we took a gondola ride up Sulfur Mtn & saw a smoky haze. The smoke is from fires in MT & ID. Later, we went sightseeing along the Minnewanka Lake where Pepe harassed a herd of Mtn. Goats. He fit right in. Anyone know why goat's lick the road (this is NOT a trick question)?

Tonight, we need to buy gas at 1.069 candadian dollars per liter. First one to figure out the cost in US dollars per gallon gets a prize from Kent.

We expect rain tonight & for the next several days. So, we have packed the tent & will sleep in the van to stay dry.

We are not sure about Internet access or cell service over the next few days so don't worry if you don't hear from us.

Day 7. Hello Canada, blogging by the fire

We got up early & ate another hearty breakfast of eggs & toast. We packed up & left the park at
8:00am. We headed due North & sailed through customs without a hitch. We wandered through Calgary a few times until finally heading west into Banff.

We are staying in Banff for 2 nights & again pitched the tent. We finally have a campfire. Until now, it has been too hot or too dry for fires. We are blogging in the dark in front of the campfire. The computer doesn't seem to mind the smoke, although Jim does.

We did a little site seeing in Banff including the Banff Springs Hotel (Jim & Karen stayed there when Karen was pregnant with Gregory). We ate at a little restaurant in town where Pepe had Bison & Jim had Elk. They were both tasty.

Tomorrow, we'll explore Banff a little more. We'll let you know what we do.

Day 6. In seach of Hidden Lake

We apologize to all you blog readers for not posting yesterday. Internet & cell phone access in
Glacier National Park is difficult. We stayed in the park for 2 nights & pitched the tent for the first time. It is very easy to setup (thanks Tina).

We spent the entire day in the park. We got up around 6:30am, ate a huge breakfast of 3 eggs, steak, onions, green peppers, toast, & coffee. We took the free park shuttle bus at 8:30am up the Road to the Sun to the Logan Lodge. The Lodge is located on the Continental divide at 6,646 ft. We hiked up 1.5 miles & another 1,000 ft to Hidden Lake. Along the way we saw Marmots, Rams, & Mt. Goats. Jim only had to carry Pepe once (kidding, he did great). We battled several chipmunks over our snacks. After snacking, we headed back to the Lodge & took the shuttle bus to the St. Mary falls trail. After about 0.8 mile hike, we saw a nice water fall. We froze our feet in the glacial water & hiked back.

We continued to have deer in our campsite.

After a good dinner, we hid in the van to avoid the gnats. we headed to bed early, no shower & no electricity makes for early nights. Jim stayed out a few minutes to watch the bats.

Day 5. Hazy, lazy days (no really)

We left 59F Big Timber at 8:05am. At last, a break from the 90 degree weather. We drove from Big Timber, MT to St. Mary MT via many small back roads at 70 mph (the speed limit). We encountered hazy smoke the entire trip from several large wild fires. Most of the Rockies were hidden by the smoke.

We arrived at Glacier National Park from the east side at St. Mary MT around 3:20pm. We got a great campsite in the park called Sunrise. We are under a 100 foot cliff & have wild deer running through our campsite. We cooked our first real camping meal of pepper & onion cube steak. Very tasty.

We expect a cold night in the 50s again. Time to digout the warmer clothes.

We don't have Internet access at the campsite, so we are traveling 5 miles towards the entrance to send this. We will probably have spotty Internet & cell phones over the next few days.

Day 4. Blogging by the river

We have reached Big Timber MT, although, there isn't any timber. We are about 80 miles due North of Yellowstone Park. We lefted Cheyenne WY at 8:10am, travelled through hazy, hot (94F) weather, & arrived here at 4:30pm after driving 553 miles.

We have a great little campsite on the Boulder River. We hear running water over the rocks. It looks a lot like Swift River in NH. The campground is also a trout ranch with ponds full of 10 inch trout. They must feed them by hand because the fish follow you when you walk to the edge of the water. We could have fished for our dinner at $0.45 per inch, but we decided to checkout a local eatery.

We continue to travel well together, argue little, & share the driving. It has been an easy trip so far & Jim is learning Pepe's routine.

Tomorrow is a short day & we are heading to Glacier National Park on the Canadian border.