Day 22 - Gone Fishin’

Today, we woke extra early to go fly fishing with Ryan. As always, we stopped at every waterfall on the way

beautiful morning drive up north

Waking up at 4am this morning was barely possible as we snoozed our alarms a few times to end up waking up at 4:45. Needless to say that we left a bit later than our planned 5am departure. It was definitely worth it however, after a small breakfast we started our drive up north through the mountains towards Elk River, where we would go fishing. The mountains on the island are different than the coastal mountains and the Rockies but they are still a stunning sight to see.

The stunning Elk Falls

On the way towards the river we stopped at Elk Falls to go explore the area. after a small hike from the parking towards the river, the forest opens up to reveal a huge canyon with a tall waterfall at the end. A suspension bridge leads to a Viewing platform across the river, but the view from the bridge itself is much better than from across the river !

our training grounds

After the falls we continued our drive along Elk River until the Lady Falls parking lot. We had to bushwhack our way out of the parking lot and under a bridge to get access to it but once there, the river was really beautiful with huge mountains surrounding it. According to Ryan, the water level was incredibly low, usually it would be more than 3 feet higher. This turned out to be a good thing for us, as it meant that we could wade through it with only our crocs and shorts, no need for waders, as we would have if the water was higher. This meant that we had to get our feet wet, and being one of the only 2 cold-fed rivers of the island of Vancouver, the water was incredibly cold!

Introduction to fly fishing

Throughout the day Ryan taught us how to find fish pools and the general basics of fly fishing. When fly fishing you have to make the fish think that the fly is actually food floating down the river, being carried by the current. To do so you must keep the fly moving with the current as best as possible. That may seem pretty easy, but in actuality it’s pretty challenging and you have to constantly pay attention to your line and cast it back upstream. Its very different than reel fishing but a lot more fun and interactive having full control of the fly.

Hard catch

After being generally unlucky at the first two pools, our luck switched towards the end when we both caught a nicely sized fish each ! Unfortunately we couldn’t get the net in time and they both swam away. Baiting the fish and getting a bite are pretty challenging on their own, but actually reeling in the fish is where the real challenge comes in. The hook in the fly is a tiny one and it’s usually only held in their mouth by the upward pressure we put on the rod. Therefore, to actually catch a fish you must be very careful you don’t lower your rod, otherwise the fish can get away. And that is what happened to both of us. Nonetheless, the thrill of actually catching something was exhilarating!

Chasing waterfalls once again

Being parked at the Lady Falls trail head, we couldn’t avoid going to see the falls. Surprisingly, Ryan had never hiked up to see the falls, even though this was his preferred fishing spot for many years! The falls were once again very different from the other waterfalls we’d seen on this trip. These falls were going through huge gaps in the granite that had fallen, probably shaken off by earthquakes.

A great steak after a great day

After a 3 hour drive back to Ryan’s, he fired up the grill and made us the best steak of our lives. A huge tomahawk steak so tender it melted in our mouths with flavor. It was our first time eating a tomahawk for both of us, but it’s certainly not the last!

Day 21 - Off to Victoria

Continuing our exploration of Vancouver island, today we set our sight towards Victoria.

Southbound

Having no set plans for today we enjoyed our breakfast then decided to head down south to explore Victoria and go rock climbing over there. The drive down was very nice, we stopped at Cowichan bay for lunch. The views there were refreshing, they reminded Marty of back home, with the exception of the mountains in the background.

BC’s capital

Arriving in Victoria we found a parking spot near the water where we set out to walk on the beach. Its pretty neat to see the differences along the coast compared to the east or even mainland BC. We could see the American mountains in the distance as well making the walk very picturesque.

Mile zero!

Being on a road trip where we spent a few thousand kilometers on the TransCanada highway, we had to go to the starting point of the road at the mile zero monument. Hopefully we’ll be able to go to the other mile zero monument on the other side of the country one day!

downtown parliament

After meandering through the streets behind the Victoria Parliament, walking amongst the California-styled houses, we eventually arrived at British Columbia’s parliament building. Resembling a much smaller version of Canada’s parliament in Ottawa it was cool to see the old governmental buildings right next to the piers.

the best gym so far!

To keep with our plan to climb everywhere we go, we made our way to the local climbing gym, Crag-X.

As soon as we got there we knew we were in for a good time, huge 15 meter walls surrounded the entire gym filled with routes of all types from lead to top rope to auto belays. The gym has two different bouldering areas, as well as two different heights of top-rope walls. As always, we passed the belay test without any issue, then had the time of our lives climbing here. The routes where really fun and the big wall was thrilling being so much taller than anything we’d climbed so far. It’s definitely the best gym we’ve been to so far!

Unfortunately, being the long weekend in BC, the gym closed early at 6pm instead of the usual 9pm of a Friday night. Tim still managed to squeeze out 3 different routes in the last 10 minutes of opening, on the tune of Semisonic’s “Closing Time”, a classic of Climbing Gyms to throw people out

The way back north

On our way back north we stopped by a rest area with an awesome view. Tim decided to fly his drone to get as good a view as possible, and was it ever a great view!

The Grill Master at it Again!

Knowing we’d be coming back to Ryan’s pretty late, we let him know that we’d be OK to make our own food tonight as he usually wakes up very early to go to work. He insisted that he’d wait for us to eat dinner, and so we made our way back to the home base. When we arrived, Ryan the Grill Master had prepared us some great ribs with potatoes, mac and cheese and salad for dinner. What a good meal once again !

Day 20 - A Day of Shellfish

On our second day on the island we went out to explore the surroundings and enjoy the local culture

The dried-out Ammonite falls

After another relaxing morning, we set out to find the nearby waterfall that Ryan told us about, Ammonite Falls. Arriving at the parking lot just a few minutes away from our home base, we started the 2.3km hike in the heat. As we were looking at the GPS to see how far we were from the falls, we turned the corner and were faced with a construction gate with multiple signs marking the falls as off-limits and under construction, as well as danger signs. As you could expect, we ignored those signs and went ahead down to the falls. To our great surprise, they where almost dried out! It’s been over 45 days since the last rainfall. Only a thin sheet of water was falling down. We took advantage of this to go climb behind it and take a nice shower and skip stones on the calm pond at the bottom of the falls.

Going Crab Fishing

After hiking our way back down to the car we went back to Ryan’s for lunch. On our way back we decided that it would be fun to try our hand at crab fishing for the afternoon. After seeing the locals fish for crab the previous day at the pier Ryan had told us we could borrow his trap and try our luck! We bought some chicken legs as bait then made our way to the pier, we also picked up some more Nanaimo bars on the way, as we HAD to try different Nanaimo bars (after all, they couldn’t all be as good as the ones we had eaten yesterday!). On the pier we met up with some locals and threw our traps in the water. As it turn’s out we were right, Nanaimo bars could be even better than yesterday’s bars!

Luck of the Catch

After a few hours of fishing, we learned that we were either a bit early or a bit late for the optimal time to set up our trap. It was only towards the end when we started catching shellfish. Unfortunately we couldn’t keep what we caught because they were either too small, female or simply a starfish!

Another great meal

Tonight our great host and BBQ wizard Ryan prepared some great sausages and burgers, with a side of salad and fries for dinner. Before arriving in Nanaimo, our “luxury” dinners were usually a pack of sidekick noodles with some beef jerky or pepperettes as a protein source. No need to say that we are feeling incredibly lucky to be treated as we are by Ryan ! (sorry for the lack of good pictures of the food, we were too busy enjoying it to think of taking good pictures)

Day 19 - First day on the island

After a good night sleep with a roof over our heads, we enjoyed our morning watching the tokyo olympics before heading off to explore the harbor town of Nanaimo.

Nanaimo bars in Nanaimo

On our first day on the island we went out to explore Nanaimo. Walking on piers, we saw everything from kayaks to yachts and even sea planes taking off! We also had to stop somewhere to enjoy some great Nanaimo bars along the way. All around we really enjoyed the town, it’s a lot less touristic than the other ones we’ve been through and has a big small town vibe.

Romper room climbing gym

To end our exploration, we went to romper room climbing center, the local climbing gym. This unique gym strangely didn’t have mattresses everywhere but gravel (although it had movable mattresses for bouldering) this made it seem as though we were climbing outside. Having only belayed once before, Marty was a bit stressed for the mandatory belay test we must go through at each and every gym we visit, especially as this time we would belay with Tim’s ATC rather than a gri-gri as he had learned with. The stress went away after meeting the evaluator and seeing how friendly and understanding he was. He helped Marty with what he had forgotten, and as Marty’s belaying technique was very good for a beginner, he passed us. Overall, it was a really cool experience, the routes where fun and people there where really helpful and friendly. Some holds were even made of real stones, those were Tim’s favorite for sure.

Amazing halibut dinner

This week we’re on a break from camping as we are staying at Tim’s cousin, Ryan’s place. Ryan, being the awesome guy that he is, received us like kings. Tonight, he managed to get his hands on fresh caught halibut from the First Nations People whos land he is currently working on. Both of us having never had Halibut before absolutely loved it. The halibut is a huge fish commonly caught in the pacific, however, with the license necessary to catch the fish being so expensive and mostly controlled by big corporation, it is very expensive. Fortunately, it is not necessary for first nations to have a government issued license to catch this fish. Therefore, we had the opportunity to taste this great western fish.

Day 17 - Lakes, Meadows and Volcanoes

Today we got up early to hike up to garibaldi lake, a gorgeous, but strenuous hike up to the bluest lake in Canada.

A Hard but Beautiful Start

To say that the trail starts off intense would be an understatement, you climb 800m in the first 6km through relentless switchbacks up the forested mountain face. Climbing through the old growth rainforest is absolutely beautiful though, looking at the giant trees and lovely views we distracted ourselves from the strenuous climb.

Volcanoes and Meadows

After finishing the final switchback we where rewarded with the beautiful views of Taylor meadows mountain flowers as far as the eyes can see with giant glacier filled mountains in the back ground looking on at the black tusk, a pillar of black volcanic rock towering over the volcanic crater of the black tusk stratovolcano.

First View of the Ultra Blue Lake

Walking through the flowers, we arrived at the edge of a mossy forest where we caught our first glimpse of the ultra blue waters of garibaldi lake. Excited, we forgot our exhaustion and made our way through the beautiful lichen coated forest.

Indescriptible Beauty

Making our way down, we arrived at garibaldi lake. The sheer blueness of the lake made us speechless.

The Barrier

The immense stone wall Marty is facing is called the Barrier, it was formed by multiple Volcanic eruptions from the three volcanoes surrounding Garibaldi lake. On our way up the first 6km towards Garibaldi lake, we went off course on an unofficial trail, leading up to a lookout at the bottom of the wall. We decided to take a break at that point and take in the view of the snow capped mountains we were facing in the distance. After a few minutes there, we started to hear a faint rumble in the distance. We looked up at the Barrier and noticed something was weird. Upon closer inspection, we realized that a rock fall was under way, and we were standing in a rock field…

First Sight of Squamish

After our longest hike yet, we were looking forward to settle in at our campsite for the night, although we had yet to find where we’d sleep. We did, however, know that we wanted to sleep near Squamish, so we headed that way. Upon seeing the valley where Squamish lies for the first time, we were completely amazed. The giant slabs of rock on either side of the valley were begging us to climb them.

Our Campsite at the River Fork

After another bit of off-roading, as with most other campsites, we found our way to a BC recreation area on Mamquam river, just out of Squamish. As with most other campsites, there was no table or seating, so we improvised as always and set up a log as a table and gathered stones in the nearby river to use as chairs. We were then ready to eat and play some cards before going to bed.

Day 16: out of the badlands and into the mountains

Waking up with ash covering our tents, we left as fast as we could to go through the badlands and onto the beautiful highway 99 through the valleys towards whistler.

Wild Wild West

Waking up with the sound of the cows, our car and tents was covered by a thin sheet of ash from the wildfires nearby. Not wanting to burn alive, we made our breakfast and coffee, packed our tents then swiftly made our way out from our questionably legal campsite to start our drive towards Whistler. Between the Rockies and the Coastal Mountains, we passed through small mining towns, burning valleys and badlands. It really looked like we were passing through time in the wild west.

The beautifully fun ‘‘sea to sky highway’’

Arriving in cache creek, we started our journey through highway 99, the Sea-to-Sky Highway. This is by far the funnest road we have ever driven and one the most beautiful ones as well. Filled to the brim with hairpin turns, twisting its way through magnificent valleys, the views of the snow topped mountains and glaciers at every turn is some of the best we’ve seen thus far.

‘‘I am obligated to return here with a motorcycle’’

-Marty

mesmerized at every stop

Slowly making our way to Whistler through this beautiful roller coaster of a highway, we stopped on the side of one of the rivers where we found a wooden bridge looking on at the glacier filled mountains in front of us. A bit further along the way we stopped at a random lake besides the highway reflecting the mountain range behind it.

It seems that every turn and every stop we made on the highway became more and more beautiful.

Whistler!

Arriving in Whistler we stopped for the day to explore the village. Being the weekend, the town was packed with tourists and mountain bikers. Marty was drooling over the slopes all around us seeing the legendary mountain bike park just ahead. Sadly, it was wayyyy too expensive to rent and ride here; We’ll just have to return when we’re not on the student budget!

Off-roading to our campsite again!

After exploring the town it was time to find our campsite for the night. Being a tourist town, finding a free camp spot was a bit of a challenge, we had to go a bit out of town in between Squamish and Whistler where we off-roaded up a trail, up one of the mountains that led us to a nice open campsite with a view of the nearby mountain.

After building a makeshift table and chairs out of nearby rocks, we enjoyed a nice drink and played a few rounds of frime before heading off to sleep

Day 15 : Out of the enchanted forest and into the fire

After exploring the magical rain forests, we made our way through the fire and the flames to Kamloops where we rock climbed, swam and rested.

Chasing waterfalls

Waking up in the enchanted rainforest, we set out on our quest to find the mysterious waterfall nearby. With no trails or maps we bushwhacked our way through the lush and mossy forest floor, following the river. Feeling like true explorers, we arrived at the edge of a cliff overlooking Frog falls.

Going through the fires

After finishing our little adventure, we made our way out of the forested valley and into the plains between the Rockies and the coastal mountain ranges. In less than an hour, we were out of the giant trees and into the savanna, burnt grass all around with scarce trees. It’s astonishing how fast the landscape changes. In this burnt valley we found ourselves surrounded by wildfire and the smell of smoke was everywhere making it hard to see past a few kilometers.

Arriving in Kamloops

Making our way to Kamloops, the city was covered by a blanket of smoke making the sun shine red. We then made our way to Costco to restock on bananas and peanut butter (the lifeblood of our trip).

Cliffside climbing gym

Wanting to rock climb everywhere we go, we went to the local rock climbing gym : Cliffside rock climbing. We really enjoyed the atmosphere, the staff was super friendly and the routes where really fun and challenging. It was Marty’s first time belaying and we where lucky enough to get a course free of charge! We stayed at the gym for about 3 hours trying the top rope routes and making our best efforts in the bouldering caves.

Diving, swimming, relaxing and showers

After two days of rock climbing without shower our smell made it pretty clear we needed to find one before the night. We made our way to the Canada Games Aquatic center where for only 4$ each, we had access to a hot tub, a steam room, diving boards, a lap pool and showers. We felt like kings relaxing and having a blast in the pool.

Apocalyptic scenery

After shedding out layers of dirt, it was time to head west to find a camping spot as far away from the fires as we could. After checking with the bc safety fire map, we ended up finding a spot in the middle of nowhere next to a huge copper mine and a field full of cows. The atmosphere was nerve-wracking to say the least, we where a few kilometers in between two wildfires with ash falling from the sky like snow. it felt like the end of the world and we where just playing cards by the cows.

Day 12 : final day in jasper

After 4 days of exploring jasper it was high time we set off to see the rest of the west!

Back to jasper we go!

After waking up a bit later than we wanted we made a quick stop in Hinton to restock. Going from the Hinton airfield, where we slept, we made our way to the Jasper airfield to eat our breakfast before making our way back into jasper.

Rock climbing, Swimming and SHOWERS

It was one of the sub-goals of our trip to rock climb everywhere we went, having not gone yet, we made our way to the Jasper recreational center where we found a small but fun bouldering gym. We were a bit disappointed by the size, but the problems were fun, there was a pool where we cooled off and there where showers!

This was our first shower in a week! To say it felt amazing would be an understatement.

Elks of pyramid lake

Feeling completely refreshed we made our way to Pyramid Lake for lunch. Although we couldn’t find a place to eat, we found a whole family of elks cooling off in the lake!

They were majestic and not shy at all, chilling next to the kayakers, doing their thing.

Goodbye jasper

After lunch we said our goodbyes and made the decision to head back down the Icefield Parkway instead of heading straight west to try and avoid the wildfires of northern bc. this gave us the opportunity to stop at the places we didn’t have time on our first trip up. On our way back down the Parkway, we found a waterfall we hadn’t noticed on our way up! we took the opportunity to fill our water supplies in the fresh water of the snow runoff creek of the waterfall.

another one off the list

Continuing south along the parkway, we saw a few cars stopped on the side of the road. As we’d learnt the previous day, this could only mean one thing, wildlife was near ! And indeed it was, there was a group of mountain goats grazing on a cliff by the roadside.

This was a new species checked off our to-see list; so far we’ve seen a black bear, a coyote, a deer, big horn sheep and elks. There’s still so much to see !

Making our way to parker ridge

The absolute beauty of this highway will never get old, we were left in awe at every turn seeing the monolithic mountains piercing the sky while glaciers made their way into the bright blue rivers bellow. Along the way, we decided to hike up parker ridge; this relatively small but steep 4km hike took us up the ridge where we were rewarded with a magnificent sight of the two adjacent valleys. seeing the winding highway making its way through the mountains on one side and the Saskatchewan glacier making its way through the valley on the other was a truly spectacular sight.

Back to Abraham lake we go!

Midway through the parkway, we decided to head back to Abraham lake for the night. To make things different, we made our way to the other side of the lake where the water went from silty white to a tropical turquoise with white cliffs surrounding it. It was a completely different landscape than the first time we went here.

It was much windier at this end of the lake however. I guess being a 32km long lake makes for a fairly long corridor for the wind speed to pick up.

Blood Moon

With all the wind at the campsite, we decided to spend the evening in the car to work on the blog and some of the previous days’ photos. When the sun finally set, around 10:30 (the sun sets incredibly late in the “north”-west of Alberta!) we got out of the car and were surprised to see the nearly full moon tinted a rich blood red by all the smoke in the air !

Day - 11 Smoky Atmosphere

waking up to a fiery red sun truly set the mood for what was to come of the day, we made our way into Maligne valley then headed further north into Hinton.

wildfire smoked sunrise

Waking up at mount Robson our amazing view of the mountain was replaced by a thick smoke screen covering the valley, a fiery red sun took the place of the normally golden sunrise. even after we made our way to the base of the mountain at the observatory, we where unable to see the top of the mountain, all due to the numerous wildfires happening further west into bc.

Maligne Canyon

After enjoying our morning we made our way back into jasper to go explore Maligne valley. we started off by stopping at Maligne canyon. A 4 km hike took us over and along the canyon where we could see the very narrow but very deep canyon. At 52m deep but only a few meter wide it was quite a sight to see. the fissure in the middle of the mountains looked almost surreal, looking down the canyon made us lose our sense of depth.

Medicine Lake

Making our way up the valley we stopped at Medicine Lake. A few years ago a raging wildfire devastated the area leaving only burnt pillars where the forest used to be. In the middle of the destruction, on a small island in the middle of the lake, we saw a bald eagle’s nest where the mother was protecting her young ones.

Mighty Maligne lake

our final stop at the end of the valley was Maligne lake, the biggest and most pictured natural mountain lake in the Rockies. Normally, its azure waters would reflect the nearby mountains and glaciers leaving an outstandingly beautiful sight, but the smoke covered the lake making it impossible to see the mountains and tainting the bright waters with a more somber tone. It was still a sight to behold with a seemingly endless lake disappearing into the distance with large mountainous silhouettes on each sides.

Back to off-roading the rental car

At the end of the day we decided to head on over to the public land use zone near Hinton for some free camping. The road going there was nice but when we arrived we had to do a fair bit of off-roading, avoiding rocks, ruts, and almost tipping the car over avoiding a large patch of water! Fortunately we didn’t flip it and made our way to an huge field with a gorgeous mountain view where we set up our tents while a friendly deer looked on.

day 8: beauty of the forces of nature

Up north amongst the glaciers and lakes where reception is non-existent, it was nice to completely disconnect from the outside world as we continued our trip through the back country mountains and took a lesson of the forces of nature.

astonishing morning

after a particularly windy night fueled by the neighboring thunderstorm, we woke up to an amazing view of the mountain range reflecting on the lake. The sun was peaking above the higher clouds forming god rays on the mountains, it was a beautiful sight while we enjoyed our breakfast.

continuing our way up north

hopping back on the icefield parkway, the overwhelming beauty of the mountains and glaciers was humbling. everything here is amplified, hills become huge mountains, creeks become raging rapids and snow becomes enormous glaciers. we stopped everywhere we could to take it all in.

Lesson #1 : fire

passing through the valleys devastated by forest fires, we saw the remnants of forest that where once lush and green turned into flower field with black pillars scattered where the trees where. seeing the total destruction of the valley left us stunned with mixed emotions. its really interesting to be able too see the valley mid change.

Lesson #2 : ice

Our first major stop along the icefield parkway was the Columbia icefield. This icefield boasts an impressive 6 glaciers! The most iconic glacier in this region is the Athabasca glacier, which has receded more than 1.5km in the past 125 years. It’s incredible to walk towards the glacier and going past markers showing their recession over the years. It concretizes our impact on global warming.

Along the path we also got to witness the huge gashes and striations in the rock caused by the glacier slowly moving across them over thousands of years, grinding the rocks down. Now that’s the huge power of nature !

Lesson 3 - Water

Resuming our journey up the Icefield Parkway, we made a stop at Sunwapta Falls where we witnessed the power that water bears. violently carving it’s way through the bedrock, it forms canyons and waterfalls. The sheer amount of water going through the Sunwapta Falls was truly humbling. Every river we came across had a distinctively different color form the last depending on witch glaciers they came from. From silty white to bright baby blue all the way to emerald green, its a wonderful sight to see.

Our home at honeymoon lake

Stopping at a random ‘‘first come first serve’’ campsite at honeymoon lake we set up our tents before making our way to the lake. in the middle of a forest beneath the giant slabs making the neighboring mountains lies a ridiculously calm lake acting like a mirror reflecting its beautiful surroundings. we sat on a bench in the water marveling and immersing ourselves in nature.

Day 7: A full week out west!

Time flies when you’re having fun! a full week has past since we landed in Calgary and so much has happened, but the adventure continues on. We’re only getting started!

Eating breakfast during the sunrise at moraine lake

Waking up at 4:30am this morning was pretty rough, as we set off to lake moraine to attend the magnificent sunrise. surprisingly we weren’t the first ones there, not by a long shot. but we did get there in time to set up at a nice spot on the rock hill to get breakfast started. looking on at the beautiful blue lake reflecting the 10 peaks surrounding lake moraine, we sipped our coffee and ate our oatmeal while taking in every inch of the sun tipped mountains in front of us. it was an amazing experience to see the mountains and glaciers slowly getting bathed in the morning sun.

Up north we go!

After saying goodbye to our campsite in lake Louise we started our trek along highway 93, icefield parkway. I know that we are starting to repeat ourselves but this was once again one of the most beautiful highways we’ve ever seen. It seems that every road we go on keeps getting prettier and prettier. Driving along the valley you can see peaks after peaks, each one looking taller and more grandiose than the last, hosting glaciers atop most. This highway sparked a wave of emotion, making me shed a few tears once again at the marvelous display of beauty in front of me.

A devastating display of power

Heading for our campsite at Abraham lake we arrived near the Saskatchewan river crossing were we started to smell and see more and more smoke, realizing that the bc forest fires where just over the corner of the valley, we heard fire fighting airplanes in the distance. Driving along, we saw the devastation of past fires, it left us in awe at the destructive power of forest fires. Thousands of acres stretching the entire valley floor was burned to the ground leaving only traces of the forest that once was.

Life goes on

After destruction comes creation. Where devastation happened, life flourished. The forest floor where the fires raged just a few weeks ago was now covered with an endless bed of flowers making for a spectacular sight; burnt pillars from the dead trees rise above colorful flowers stretching out as far as the eyes can see.

Random camping at Abraham lake.

Arriving at Abraham lake, the water was a bright silty white reflecting the snow tipped mountains across the lake. We settled ourselves in a nice campground filled with tents and vans, all of which came here for the spectacular free campsites the lake has to offer. Despite being in Alberta random camping in this region is encouraged and very simple, unlike Kananaskis which required countless paperwork. after setting up our campsite we made small campfire, roasted some marshmallows then strapped ourselves in for an interesting night as strong winds started flowing in and we could hear the rumble and saw the light show of an incoming thunderstorm.

day 6: Making our way back to Alberta

our business in Alberta isn’t done yet there is so much left to see! making our way back, we spend the entire day going through and exploring the beautiful Yoho national park, filled to the brim with gigantic mountains, huge waterfalls and raging blue rivers flowing from the glaciers above.

what a way to start the day

starting the day we took a small hike to the camp site we wanted up in the wapta falls recreational site to see this absolute beauty of a scene. a large waterfall in the wapta valley beneath gigantic mountain filled with the golden light of the morning sky. what a magnificent way to start our morning.

taking our time on our way to Yoho national park

making our way back to Alberta we passed through the stunning Yoho national park making stops at every exit ramp we saw, our first stop took us to a small meadow on the sides of the kicking horse river to have our breakfast and mandatory coffee, every turn and every stop we made left us dumbfounded by the scenes all around us. glaciers overflowing mountains casting shadows on the valley bellow all the while bright blue waters rush down cascading rivers.

what a sight to behold.

taking in the sights at every turn

our first stop into Yoho national park was at the natural bridge on the way to emerald lake. once a raging waterfall, the raging waters of kicking horse river carved its way through the bedrock forming a natural bridge. this landmark set the scene for what’s to come throughout the day as we say the logo of Yoho national park depicted an immense waterfall, it was now our goal to find this waterfall. in the mean time here is a really nice quote found at the bridge

“water flows through time and wears down mountains. in the moment of our lifetime we see but a part of the process. yesterday’s waterfall in today’s bridge, becoming tomorrow’s chasm.” -Yoho national park

the magical emerald lake

making our way up the mountain pass we made it to emerald lake. a stunning green lake filled with green glacier waters. I find it really fascinating that the different minerals inside different glaciers gives them and there respective rivers distinct colors ranging from emerald green to bright blue to frosty white. walking up to the lake, you are transported to what seams like an enchanted place of wander as the dark waters reflect the surrounding mountain and the forested island found at its center.

driving to Takkakaw falls

driving through the valleys glued to our windows in awe, we found out where the famous waterfalls where located. deep in the Yoho valley, the mountain pass took us past spectacular views of the glaciers nearby and making us go up a step of steep consecutive hairpin turns. this is one of the best drives i’ve ever done in my life.

Takkakaw falls

making the final turn to the end of the valley, Takkakaw falls begins to show itself. the water flowing from the Yoho glacier carved itself into to side of the mountain to form a behemoth of a waterfall, the scale of witch is surreal. from a distance the water falling down the cliffs seams to go in slow motion falling almost 400m before slamming into the valley below.

Try to find Marty for scale.

Off to lake Louise for an early night

as we planned to get up crazy early tomorrow to g see the sunrise at moraine lake, we decided to reserve the last camp site available at lake Louise. being ravished by hunger we also decided to splurge a full 8$ on two foil wrapped potatoes and a few sausages to cook on the camp fire. we ate like kings. the camp site was really nice as well, overlooking mount temple and the 5 peaks surrounding mount Victoria; also, having a bear fence was reassuring!

day: 5 tearing up on the beautiful road to bc

After the grueling hike of yesterday, a rest day was in order; we enjoyed our morning at the hostel then made our way through the Rockies into bc for that sweet free camping!

enjoying the morning

Waking up past 9 with a fresh shower, we took our time and enjoyed our morning, worked on the pictures and blog of the previous days while talking over breakfast with our new friends from the hostel. Sharing stories and setting up a pseudo route for the weeks to come making sure we where going to see everything we wanted to see while not wasting all of our gas money.

camping in bc is rad.

With an idea in mind we headed off to bc for the abundant free camping. Alberta is absolutely beautiful but finding a place to camp for free is a lot more complicated then we imagined. so we decided to run away from that problem to bc! and wow… bc does not disappoint, off every highway you can find free recreational camping sites. If they are all full, no worries, as long as you are not disturbing anybody and there is no sign saying otherwise you can camp there! (in general, exceptions exists). With this in mind, we headed off on highway 1A west towards Banff making a few stops along the way,

tears of amazement where shed today

making our way out of Canmore into Banff, the views where outstandingly beautiful, with the sun starting to slowly start its decent the sky turned a fire-ish orange making the surrounding mountain contrast with the forests bellow. at every turn of the valley a new mountain more beautiful then the last showed itself the shear size of it all makes you realize how truly small we really are. the raging river in the middle of the flowing forests of bow valley below the towering peaks was overwhelmingly beautiful. while driving down, the realization that I was living my life long dream overflowed me with emotions as tears of joy started running down my face. what a place to be.

this is the reason we came here.

into bc we go!

slowly making our way through the valleys, amazed by the jaw dropping scenery before us ,we stopped at the border between bc and Alberta for supper, with a naturel rock table and gigantic mountains filled with glaciers we enjoyed our beef jerky noodles looking on in wonder of the days to come

finding a camp site

when it came to finding a camp site we wanted to find a place really epic to spend the night we tried to go to Wapta falls recreationally site but sadly the two available site were already taking (with hindsight we really could have there but we didn’t want to disturb the people that where already there) so instead we went to Fraser creek recreationally sight. a small meadow on the shore of a beautiful river flowing white and blue from the glaciers above. although absolutely beautiful, we where deep in bear country, deeper into the wilderness that we’ve ever gone before, being out of our comfort zones filled us with excitement as we settled in for the night.

Day 3: down and up to the Rockies

What a day! This wouldn’t be an adventure if things went perfectly! today was full of ups and downs, literally and figuratively. down in the canyons of Drumheller all the way up to the backcountry mountains of the Rockies

high above the canyon

the day started in an epic way as we woke up still atop the horse thief canyon, Tim had the great idea to take out his drone so we could take a look at a birds eye view of this natural wonder.

The Hoodoos

after leaving our questionably legal camp site we headed off to hike and explore the Hoodoos. These natural structures are flat rocks sitting on top of sand stone pillars. a very weird sight to see… but it fits with the beauty of the surrounding sandstone cliffs

Disaster Struck

Like all adventure that ever adventured things tend to go wrong at one point or another. with the dust of the badlands settling in, disaster struck when Tim’s camera body decided to fail as the shutter crumbled away.

Pictured to the left is the last picture ever taken with my trusty Canon 80D. You can clearly see the dust speck on the sensor which ended up being the cause of its demise.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Although very unfortunate, it means an upgrade is on the horizon! mixed emotion from sadness to excitement came about when we drove out to a BestBuy in Calgary to get a new and improved camera body, (the old one can hopefully still be repaired and sold) so at the end of the day life is good!

speaking of the end of the day.

we decided it was finally time to head out to the Rockies. took highway 1a westward bound and wow… i’m struggling to find the words to describe the feeling of seeing the Rockies slowly approaching in the distence for the first time. before weknew it we where hunched over looking at the towering mountains arround us. never have i seen something as massive, imposing and beautifull.

we where utterly enthralled in this foreign beauty

the continual question of where to sleep

we made it a point of this trip to try and minimize all unnecessary spending and a place to sleep is one of them! why pay for a hotel or camping when we have tents on our backs and endless wilderness surrounding us. after a few hours looking around and learning the incredibly complicated policies of public land camping in Kananaskis we ended up finding a nice trail off the highway with back country camping spaces, although still unsure of the legality of our stay it was a really really nice one out in the valley looking on at heart mountain towering over us

Day 2: Into The Badlands

to start, this morning we took advantage of our last time in the luxury of a hotel by taking our sweet time enjoying the free wi-fi, electricity and breakfasts. things that will be scarce from here on out!

setting ourselves up for succes!

Today’s plan was to try and get most of our supplies for the next month. we started off by heading over to MEC to get a few things such as: a head lamp for Marty, bear repellent and a new trophy bottle. totally forgetting about the camp stove fuel… guess we’ll have to go without coffee tomorrow… but thankfully we had more success at Costco witch to my knowledge we didn’t forget anything meaning that we should be good for food for the next month!

ft. Tim and our little home on 4 wheels.

into the prairies we go!

After our little shopping spree we started heading over to Drumheller, a small town we previously didn’t even know existed that was suggested by our airplane friend Dylan. to get there we took what seamed to be the longest straight road in Canada, its baffling how different the scenery is here compared to the east coast, huge rolling hills turned into flat fields stretching out over the endless horizon with roads slicing the landscape in mile long squares. absolutely stunning.

the wild wild west

Deep in the badlands of Alberta, we arrived in Drumheller a small town with its surroundings straight out of a wild west movie deep in the canyons, famous for its dinosaurs and absolutely jaw dropping scenery. this place feels like Radiator Springs from Cars with the huge walls and pillars of sandstone surrounding the valley, we never imagined seeing something like this in Canada!

flashback to the jurrasic age

after taking in the views we headed over to the royal Tyrrell museum to see real dinosaur bones and cool fossils. although unsure in the beginning this place blew me away! we where able to see full dinosaur fossils and we learned a lot about the different ages and how we came to be! apparently Alberta and BC are one of the most fossil rich places on earth.

night in the canyons

realizing that we didn’t know where to sleep we started our little vagabond research and ended up finding a little place out of town called horse thief canyon.

probably the best decision we could have ever made, with clear skies and jaw dropping scenery, we were able to set up our camp and assist to one of the most beautiful sunset in the world.

ft. Marty atop his little corner of nowhere.

todays tally:

marty’s kill count goes up to 2.

Tim forgets the name of Drumheller over 7 times.