• Road Trip Preparation
• Road Trip Journal

STATS:

• Trip Duration:            22 Days
• Destination:              Alberta, British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Yukon, and North West Territories
• Vehicle Type:            Chevrolet Impala 2007
• Rental Place:             Hertz - McLeod Road, Calgary
• Estimated Total KM:   6,000
• Actual KM Traveled:   8,000
• Passengers:              3

Day Number 1:  Saturday July 14th 2007:

The plane was scheduled to depart from Toronto at 3:30pm and as planned it was right on time.  We arrived in Calgary's airport just after 5pm local Calgary time.  Upon arrival we found out that one of our camping bags has ripped on one side during the flight.  Andrew volunteered to saw it back together, we'll see about that.    We arrived at the motel soon after where we were greeted by a somewhat strange lady with a funny accent, who helped us get settled in by handing us over a huge key to a motel dorm number 1.  We walked into the room to find out that the theme of the room was "off white" that goes for everything from the bed sheets to the colour of the napkins.  The advertised pool on the website was empty with just enough water for some frogs to make a permanent home in it.  Frankly we were not impressed.  When we settled in we went for a stroll down the street to purchase the necessary food and beverages to get us through the day and night.  We settled in for the night after eating Mr. Subway sandwiches and taking a 100psi shower that almost ripped our skins off.

Injury List:  Mariusz: 1.      Chipped a tooth on a beer bottle - I guess he was very thirsty.   2.      Almost cut himself, trying to exhibit his hunting knife.  3.      Injured his toe walking into one of the bags.   Andrew: 1.      No injuries sustained.   Agata: 1.      No injuries sustained

Day Number 2:  Sunday July 15th 2007:

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:   Day 2.jpg (648.52 kb)

Today we woke up early in the morning to pick up our rental car from Hertz rental place and the journey across the mountains begun.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking, nothing like I've ever seen before.  Mountainous terrains, lakes, rivers and beautiful valleys, it was breathtaking.  We stopped to see Lake Louise, and Lake Moraine which were very lovely and beautiful.  We drove a long distance today and before sun set we decided to settle down in a campground we chose on a map.  Upon the arrival, we received the news that all the sites were occupied and we were forced to look for other accommodations......Here is where the nightmare begun.... We were advised that close by was a forestry camping and might have some sites available.  The campground we were advised of was called Skimikin Lake.  We drove on a secluded and empty road and finally arrived at the campground just before the sun set.....Now... Where do I begin???  We drove in and found some campgrounds occupied but no people around... one campsite had an axe stuck to a piece of wood and cats were making barking noises... It looked like a scene from a horror movie.  Finally we spotted some people who informed us about the procedures for booking and gave their opinion about the better sites in the park.  Andrew and Mariusz paid the park host money for the night and we drove in to find a site.  We found a nice site that was almost surrounded by water... the dusk started to settle in, and Mosquitoes took over.  I sat in the car for nearly 1 hour close to tears because there were so many Mosquitoes that you could not avoid them or prevent yourself from being bitten... it was horrible.  The guys managed to open the tent and start a fire.  Mariusz wore a life jacket to prevent his back from being bitten - apparently it worked.  We settled in for the night...

 

Injury List:   Mariusz: 1.      Sustained 1245355 Mosquito bites. 2.      Walked into a log scraping a large portion off the skin on his leg.   Andrew: 1.      Sustained 2556 Mosquito bites.  Agata: 1.      Sustained 45 Mosquito bites.

Day Number 3:  Monday July 16th 2007:

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:  Day 3.jpg (798.83 kb)

After experiencing a horrific first night camping, we were terrified of what would lay ahead of us.  We packed up quite quickly and continued our drive towards Vancouver.  All of us were score from mosquito bites... some of us more score than others.  We drove through the mountains and lost of curvy roads and finally arrived at the outskirts of Vancouver just before dusk.  We decided to settle in to the nearby Provincial Park called "Golden Ears".  We obtained a gorgeous site that looked into a rainforest, exposing some of the biggest tree trunks that I have ever seen and moss was hanging down on most of the trees in the forest.  Soon after arrival we placed our bathing suits on and went for a swim in the lake located close to the site; the water was cold but we were too excited to care.  We sat comfortably by the fire and enjoyed the mosquito free environment.

Injury List:   Mariusz: 1.      No injuries sustained.  Andrew: 1.      Injured his thumb by hammering tent pegs into the ground.  Agata: 1.      No injuries sustained.

Day Number 4:  Tuesday July 17th 2007:

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:  Day 4.jpg (778.27 kb)

We woke up to some rain showers this morning, but the rain stopped just in time to allow us to pack up.  We had a planned excursion today to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge.  This is the place where Mariusz begun his new catchy word.... When I asked him what he though about the Capilano Bridge on a scale from 1 to 10 - he said onnnnnnnnne!!  Everything after that was a onnnnnnnnne!  Oh joy.  Capilano Bridge was very beautiful, it rained a bit but in the forest we didn't feel it that much.  The trees were enormous and the Tree Top Adventure was amazing.  After seeing the Capilano Bridge we started our drive towards the Horseshoe Bay Ferry, were we planned to depart at 4:40 heading towards Vancouver Island.  The sail was about 2 hours long.  Upon arrival to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island we began heading towards our destination point - Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park.  We were greeted by a friendly "host" in the park who had a somewhat overlarge belly with a pocking out belly button.  He was very helpful and assisted us in finding a site.  We were to settle down for 3 nights in this park.  After an eventful day we sat by the fire and fell asleep.

 

Injury List:  Mariusz:  1.       No Injuries sustained.  Andrew:  1.  Burns some hair on his arm by playing with the fire.   Agata:  1 No Injuries Sustained

Day Number 5:  Wednesday July 18th 2007:

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:   Day 5.jpg (555.27 kb)

We woke up in the morning to some rain showers, but by the time we got up the rain stopped and it got warm enough to wear shorts and a tee-shirt.  We decided to go for a hike to explore some of the water falls in the area.  The weather was good for a while allowing us to venture off the trail to find a nice and quiet place to get into the water.  We dipped ourselves a bit in the cold water but the rain soon begun falling so we quickly packed up and begun heading back to the camp.  After lunch we drove to see Cathedral Grove.  The drive to Cathedral Grove was very nice; curvy mountainous road exposed some of the largest trees in B.C.  The rain continued to rain heavily at times so we put our rain jackets on and venture into the rain forest trail.  The walk in the forest was unreal and amazing; I felt like I was in a fairytale, lost in a gigantic forest.  This was definitely something that I will never forget.  After the rainforest adventure we drove back to the camp and the rain continued falling for the remainder of the evening and night. 

Injury List:  Mariusz:  1.  No injuries sustained.  Andrew:  1.  No injuries sustained.  Agata:  1.  No injuries sustained.

Day Number 6:  Thursday July 19th 2007:

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:   Day 6.jpg (659.35 kb)

We woke up in the morning to yet another rainfall, but that didn't stop our plans.  Today's planned excursion was to drive to the west side of the island to a town called Tofino.  Also located at the west cost is the Pacific Rim National Park which we planned to explore as well.  The drive was fairly short compared to what we were used to.  Upon arrival to the Pacific Rim N.P. we explored the Huge!!! Beaches of Tofino and ventured into another rainforest trail.  Later we drove to Tofino and had some Fish and Chips for lunch.  Lots of greasy food kept us going and energized for the entire day.  Surprisingly the sun came out in the afternoon making it a pleasant day.  Andrew went for a swim in the Pacific Ocean, and came out tasting like a salt cube.    We drove back to the camp and sat by the camp fire for the remainder of the evening.

 

Injury List:  Mariusz:  Sustained 2 Mosquito Bites.  Andrew:  Spilled pomegranate drink on him making his "recycle" shirt unusable.  Agata:  Sustained 2 Mosquito Bites. 

Day Number 7:  Friday July 20th 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:  Day 7.jpg (572.77 kb)

We woke up early today at 8am and once again the rain caught up to us.  The misty rainforest rain lasted about an hour but we had to pack up in the rain anyways because we had to catch the 10:40am ferry from Horseshoe Bay in Nanaimo.  We arrived in Nanaimo around 10am to the dock and waited in a huge lineup to board, we were one of the last few cars to get on this ferry; lucky us, at least in one sense.  The ship we boarded was very new and luxurious;  it was the newest ship they had on the waters; I believe that it started sailing on April 2007.  Aboard, was cafeteria, play area for kids, games zone, and internet access, and overall it felt like Titanic of 2007.  We purchased some Nanaimo Bars on the ship; since we were leaving Nanaimo.  We thought that it was funny.   The ship sailed for about 1 hour and 40 minutes.  Upon arrival we were greeted by more rain... of course it always rains here...

We began driving upwards towards Whistler in torrential rain falls and curvy roads.  The rain was not our only delay this day.  The road stretch from Vancouver to Whistler was under construction, that covered over 100KM; this was because the roads leading to Whistler were being widened, in preparations for the winter Olympics in 2008.  Anyways, by the time we arrived to the beautiful and charming Whistler we were tired of the constant traffic and rain that followed us everywhere.  We continued driving further up north through the mountains.  We stopped in a small town called Looloet where we ordered some Pizza but the kitchen staff misplaced the order and we didn't get our pizza until 40 min later and the waitress offered it to us at no charge.    The rain finally stopped after we left Looloet and the roads improved as well.  We arrived at Lac La Hache Provincial Park around 8PM where we camped overnight.  Overall it was a day where we took very little pictures mostly because of the rain.

Injury List:  No injuries accounted for today. 

Day Number 8:  Saturday July 21st 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:   Day 8.jpg (372.18 kb)

We woke up early today, packed up and begun our drive up north.  We arrived at the capital of Northern BC - Prince George around noon where we took the advantage of a Laundromat and ate some lunch.  We did lots of driving this day, covering a distance of almost 700km.  Overall the road conditions were reasonable and we even saw some sun for about half an hour but after we left the city of Prince George the rain started falling again.  We arrived at a provincial park called Tyhee where we took the hottest shower ever!!!  It was Great!  The campsite was in a forest composed of mainly birch trees and the rain stopped for just enough time to set up camp.  Being so much further north now, the skies were still bright until 10:40 or so.  Since we were getting higher in elevation the sun went down later, we were excited to see how much more sunlight we will get further up north. 

Injury List:  Mariusz:  1.  Cut himself three times on one finger opening a luncheon meat, not realizing that there was a key for easy opening at the bottom of the can.  Andrew:  1.  No injuries sustained.  Agata:  1.  No injuries sustained. 

Day Number 9:  Sunday July 22nd 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:   Day 9.jpg (448.23 kb)

The rain continued falling all night but it stopped around 8am, so after taking another hot shower we begun driving further north.  The rain continued falling through our drive on highway 16 west.  We soon found out that the route we were to take "Cassiar Highway" 37 towards Yukon was closed due to a washout; no kidding so much rain fell for the past week.  Anyhow, we continued driving in the rain and decided to explore highway 37a (a little side road just off highway 37) since we could not continue further north.  We were told that it will take the crew 36 hours to fix the road, so we had no choice but to wait.  Highway 37a led to a small town called Steward which is located on the border of Canada and Alaska.  We drove the extra 3km to Alaska through the smallest ghost town called Hyder with the coolest bar.  Inside the bar, the walls were covered with currency, both Canadian and American, with writings on them, people's names, and the date that they were there.  Some of the writing on the currency dated back to 1968.  The town of Hyder with an estimated population of 102 had about 10 houses.  We were told that 5 miles off the town we would find a Grizzly Bear watching area, so we drove through unimproved road to an area that had regular sightings of the Grizzly Bears.  We were there for about 20 minutes but we didn't see anything... but that's ok because after we drove back to Steward we came across a Black Bear eating some grass on the side of the road!  It was awesome!!  The rain continued falling all day and we finally arrived at our overnight stay called "Meziadin Provincial Park" We had a nice view of the mountains in the distance but there were lots of mosquitoes.  The rain stopped falling and we had a nice fire. 

Injury List:  Mariusz:  1.  Fell down from a steep hill, falling straight on his ass and nearly twisting his ankle.  2.  Crushed his finger using the water pump.  Andrew:  1.  A 1mm splinter entered Andrew's finger - he cried like a baby!  Agata:  1.  No injuries sustained. 

Day Number 10:  Monday July 23rd 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:  Day 10.jpg (390.76 kb)

We woke up in the morning to finally experience some sunshine.  After our tent almost dried off around 10am we packed up and left.  We were informed in the town of Steward that highway 37 north was open but only one lane was getting by.  We decided to head up north anyways.  The drive was calm and quiet, and there were very few cars on the road which seemed strange to us.  There were some towns that were abandoned and it looked like a scene from a horror movie.  We drove through a nice spot that was very cute and tourist friendly; a town called Bell II.  The houses were made up of wood and there were cabins around for accommodations.  We continued driving up North though some rugged terrain of dirt roads, pot holes and wash out conditions.  Ohh did I mentioned... it kept on raining all day!  AGAIN!  We stopped in Diese Lake and had some lunch.  Some of the towns we passed by were merely just couple of houses and a store just off the road.  Just before the town of Good Hope Lake, we noticed on the map that close by was an abandoned town called Cassiar.  We decided to try to drive into it to explore.  I was a bit scared driving into this empty town because the houses were so beaten up and old cars were scattered everywhere.  Some places still had curtains in the houses.  It was sure strange.  What was stranger was the fact that at the end of the town there was an old tile factory and while we were there about four cars drove around it to the back through some side roads and a big fuel truck pulled up in there as well.  It seemed strange how these people were driving in and out... when we decided to drive off, a car pulled up beside us asking whether we were lost or had car problems, we declined help and received little information when asked what is happening in there... all evening we kept on thinking what as actually occurring in there?

On the way out of the ghost town we saw two baby Lynx and their mother.  They were a bit too quick for a photo opportunity but it was exciting to see them.  We settled in for the night at a Boya Lake Provincial Park.  We had our campsite located close to the water and the mosquitoes were biting quite a lot.  The skies were still lit at 11:30pm.

Injury List:  Mariusz:  1.  No injuries sustained.  Andrew:  1.  Got bitten 34 times by mosquitoes.  Agata:  1.  No injuries sustained.

Day Number 11:  Tuesday July 24th 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:  Day 11.jpg (544.25 kb)

We woke up to rain, once again, but this time the mosquitoes were biting even in the rain so it was nearly impossible to have breakfast.  Plus we did not put a tarp over our bench so everything was wet.  We packed up and continued driving north.  We arrived in Yukon passed the 60th parallel in the early afternoon.  We decided to stop in a town called Watson Lake.  When we pulled into the information center at Watson Lake, we realized that the building was surrounded by sign posts and on the posts were street signs and other signs from all over Canada or even the world.  We found one for Mississauga; it was amazing how many sighs they had.  The weather was very cold and we took a shower in a nearby recreational center - it felt very nice to warm up.  We stayed in Yukon for lunch which turned out to be very unpleasant in both the food and service way.  After lunch we continued our drive back towards British Columbia through the Alaska Highway.  The highway was very empty at times and we did not see many cars for a long time.  The rain stopped and blue skies appeared... nice for a change.  Throughout our drive we were lucky enough to see some wild life, they included:  Buffalo, Moose - he was so shy.   Caribou, Deer, and Goats; all were witnessed from the road.  Some of the animals were standing right on the road while others were hiding in the forest near by.  On the way to our campsite we stopped at the Liard Hot Springs.  We went inside the river and enjoyed our first hot spring experience.  The water was hot and in some places the water was bubbling indicating the boiling point.  The sign by the water read "temperature can range between 40 to 49 degrees Celsius".  The water had a strange odor of Calcium Sulphate which resembled the smell of boiled eggs; Yukkk!  All my jewelry got discolored to a purple / black colour - I hope I can get it off.  After nice and relaxing hot springs we continued driving down the Alaska Highway and decided to camp in the Stone Mountain P.P. but unfortunately it was way too windy to camp there, so we continued driving further.  We arrived at a Tetsa River Provincial Park and we settled down for the night.  We had a nice campsite with a view at the Testa River which gave a humming water sound all night long. 

Injury List:  No injuries sustained. 

Day Number 12:  Wednesday July 25th 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP: Day 12.jpg (331.13 kb)

The rain continued falling all night but it stopped around 8am.  The skies cleared out and the sun came out making it a very warm morning.  We woke up and ate our breakfast, except that mosquitoes were biting so much that we could not stand in one spot for too long or the mosquitoes would attack.  After we packed up we proceeded driving up on Highway 77 north to North West Territories.  When we arrived at the border and 60th parallel the road was completely covered with packed gravel; gravel road continued for the next 500km.  The drive was not very scenic but somewhat boring and bumpy.  We stopped at Ford Liar – a small town with a population of 596 where we filled up and had some food form a booth – all fried….mmmm. There were so many bugs and mosquitoes that we had to eat in the car.  I have never seen so many bugs flying around.  The dirt road continued and dust was creating a cloud behind us.  Every once in a while we would see a car pass by but for a long time we didn’t see anyone on the road.  We passed Blackstone Territorial Park and drove into it to have a sneak peek at the campsites.  It was too early in a day to set camp so we continued driving further on.  We arrived at a camp called Sambaa Deh Falls Territorial Park just after 8pm.  We found a site and decided to go for a hike to see the falls in the area.  One of the falls looked similar to the Niagara Falls, with an arch like shape falling down furiously.  The other waterfall was amazing, curving in a high current speed down a corridor.  Soo much power and currents were visible.  The sun didn’t set until after 11:30pm this day, to our surprise. 

Injury List:  Mariusz:  1. Mariusz Sustained 62000 mosquito bites.  Andrew: 1.No injuries sustained  Agata: 1.  No injuries sustained

Day Number 13:  Thursday July 26th 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:   Day 13.jpg (276.67 kb)

We woke up in the morning and packed up fairly quickly.  We went again to see the Sambaa Deh falls because we liked it so much and we wanted to take more photos.  Once we were there we met someone from the town of Hay River who seemed friendly and courteous.  We preceded our drive further down Mackenzie Highway on a dirt road.  We finally arrived in a small town called Kakisa with a population of 52, where we paid $1.40 for a liter of gas.  Close to the town we stopped to see Lady Evelyn Falls.  The view was magnificent from the lookout point and Andrew with Mariusz went down a cliff to the bottom of the falls.  After taking lots of photos we continued our drive and merged to a paved road… finally.  On the way we stopped to see the McNallie Creek Falls where the water has dug a deep gore in the limestone.  It was a small and pleasant falls.  We drove further to our campsite called Louise Falls Territorial Campground.  We settled in quite early in the evening so we decided to take a walk to see the first of the two falls that were close in the area.  The Louise Falls was very beautiful and large, and we got a chance to climb down the steep rocks and stand right beside the falls.  The noise was great and relaxing at the same time.  We went back to the campground and the sun did not set until 11:30 or so.  I believe this was one of the first days where we had no rain for the entire day. 

Injury List:  Mariusz:  1.  No injuries sustained.  Andrew:  1.  No injuries sustained.  Agata:  1.  I woke up with a swollen right eye.  The swelling went away as the day progressed. 

Day Number 14:  Friday July 27th 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:  Day 14.jpg (715.00 kb)

We slept in a bit… well at least Andrew and I did because Mariusz woke up earlier.  The warm sun was making the inside of the tent nice and cozy so we slept longer than usual.  After breakfast we drove to see Alexandra Falls 3km away from our campsite.  The fall once again looked spectacular with a long drop in a straight line.  We walked down to the side of the falls to stand beside it.  The force of the water was very strong.  We took some photos and sat down for a moment to enjoy the nature’s beauty.  The water in all the falls we have seen so far was very brown probably because of the minerals found in the water. 
We decided to go and drive into one of the towns located about 45km from our campsite called Hey River.  The town of Hay River is a small town based on our criteria but it’s the second largest city in the NWT with a population of around 3800 people.  While driving into the town we experienced some thunder storms but not for long.  We stayed a bit and did some laundry and shopping.  We drove to see the beach of Great Slave Lake, and sat down for a rest by the water.  When we returned to the campsite we had some more thunderstorms pass by and rain was falling for a bit.  We ate delicious store bought Pierogies with bacon and onions and went to sleep early around 11pm; although we could not fall asleep right away because it was light outside. 

Injury List:  Mariusz:  1.  Sustained 23 mosquito bites.  Andrew:  1.  No injuries sustained.  Agata:  1.  A piece of a fire wood fell on my toe creating a dark bruise.

Day Number 15:  Saturday July 28th 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:  Day 15.jpg (604.99 kb)

Mariusz set the alarm clock to a different time zone and didn’t realize the actual time until he saw people going to take a shower, which indicated 8am.  We packed up for our descent to Alberta.  We stopped at the 60th parallel park where we received our Certificates which gave us the "Order of Arctic Adventurers, North of 60 degrees Chapter" which is basically a piece of paper saying we passed the 60th parallel.  We continued our drive through Alberta which looked very much like a farmer’s province, with bails scattered all over the fields.  It was nice and peaceful.  We had lunch at a restaurant called “Mammas Pizza” in a small town called Fairview, the food tasted delicious.  We drove over 800km and finally we pulled over to a campsite called Musreau Lake.  This park turned out to be “horror no3 for us” It smelled like dog poo everywhere and the people who were there were mostly teenagers.  We even had fireworks at night time, at the beach, which made us somewhat confused because we though that it was some type of holiday for Alberta but it turned out to be just kids setting up fire works at the beach.  We had some home made Bigos made by Mariusz and went to sleep. 

Andrew's list of things he did not like about Musreau Lake Campgrounds: 

1. At the first sight it looked like trailer park. 
2. Cheap decorations everywhere. 
3. Bathrooms smelled horrible. 
4. He could not tell which bathrooms were for boys and girls because the host was using some gay pictures in there. 
5. Dog poo was all over the site. 
6. The fire wood was half rotten and wet - it could not burn. 
7. He himself stepped into poo. 
8. The most expensive firewood. 
9. Very nosy. 
10. People walked though our campsite to the beach. 
11. The water for drinking was in a weird container - it did not look right.     
    

Injury List:  No injuries were sustained during this day.    

Day Number 16:  Sunday July 29th 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:   Day 16.jpg (454.28 kb) 

We woke up early and packed up heading towards Jasper.  We passed a few more small communities along the way and arrived in Jasper in the early afternoon.  We stopped in Miette Hot springs on the way and dipped ourselves in a pool of hot 40 degrees water.  We arrived at our campsite “Wapiti” and settled in to our site G6.  The site was very big and we were glad that we didn’t have to pack up for the next three days.  It was early in the evening so we decided to walk around the town of Japer.  The town was very charming located between mountains.  We walked into the stores and took some more pictures.  We came back to the campground and settled down for the night, after eating some sausages on the fire.  Yum. 

Injury List:  No injuries sustained for today.   

Day Number 17:  Monday July 30th 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:   Day 17.jpg (496.28 kb)

Today we woke up quite late in the morning – 10ish and had some breakfast.  Our day schedule was planned the day before so we knew what activities lay ahead of us.  Our fist destination was a scenic drive to see the Maligne Canyon, Medicine Lake and Maligne Lake which lay at the end of the road.  Malgne Lake was very nice surrounded by mountains.  Medicine Lake was also pretty.  This lake is fed by underwater water stream.  In the fall and in the winter the lake looks almost drained up and in the summer the waters are too much for the underground stream to take therefore the lake is formed every spring.  The Maligne Canyon was very deep and interesting phenomenon.  We went for a hike down the canyon to see the carved out cave.  We came back to the camp for lunch around 5pm to find out that we received a “warning” for having our soap box out and a pot filled with water was also left behind.  They collected our “dangerous” good and made us pick them up from the kiosk.  That was embarrassing.  Our late afternoon excursion included going for a hike and viewing glaciers.  We took a winding road to Mount Edith Cavell and hiked to the nearby glaciers.  There were two glaciers in the area, one called Angel named by the shape it presented itself and second one called Cavell located at the bottom of the mountain.  Since we are such adventure spirit individuals, we decided to venture off the trail over slippery rocks which carried freezing water down the valley to the other side of the water.  We climbed a very steep hill on sharp rocks to get a better view of the glaciers.  We stood very close to the Cavell glacier; the view was amazing.  The reminiscent of the snow was still on the ground.  We climbed further up the hill which seemed nearly impossible but became possible as we kept on looking back and seeing the view that lied beneath us.  We finally came across a trail that looked like it was walked on by many before.  When we got to the bottom of the trail we realized that we had no way of getting across the river again.  Oh No! (I said).  Andrew used an old log to get across, while Mariusz stepped on rocks to get across the river.  I had to find a safer route because the water was freezing and I was afraid of falling.  I finally crossed at a narrow side of the river.  We hiked for quite a long time and we arrived at our campsite around 10pm.  We lit the fire place and had some sausages on the fire.  Yum.  

Injury List:  Mariusz:  While hiking the glaciers his foot went through some ice and scrapped his leg.  Got hit by falling rocks while climbing the mountain.  Andrew:  Slammed his finger in the door.  Agata:  No injuries sustained. 
 

Day Number 18:  Tuesday July 31st 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:  Day 18.jpg (444.31 kb) 

We woke up in the morning and decided that we wanted to take the Jasper tramway up the mountain to see the view.  When we arrived, the lineup wasn’t long and we had our scheduled departure for 1:12pm.  We entered the old looking tramway and the descent begun.  The climb up was somewhat scary because we climbed quite quickly and when we reached the “no tree line” the wind picked up and the tramway shook a bit.  We finally arrived on the top of the mountain and the wind was very cold.  It felt like the temperature with the wind was close to the freezing mark.  We ventured outside the building and decided to walk the remainder of the trail to the peak of the mountain.  The wind was very cold and I only made it to the first peak but not the tallest one.  Andrew made it to the top and Mariusz was too cold and turned around and went back to the building.  After our adventure on the tramway we went back to our campsite to have some lunch.  While we were eating lunch couple of woodpeckers – very large ones too, flew in to the neighbors picnic table and begun chipping away the wood trying to get an access to any type of termites and insects in the wood.  It was quite a spectacle; some people even gathered around and took some pictures.  After lunch we took a drive to see the Athabasca falls and Sunwapta Falls which were located in the area.  Both were lovely, but honestly we were beginning to get tired of looking at the falls.  We went back to the town for some souvenirs and went back to our campsite where we had a very large fire in a very small fire pit, simply because we had access to unlimited wood to burn.  We sure took advantage of it.  

Injury List:  No injuries sustained today. 

Day Number 19:  Wednesday August 1st 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:  Day 19.jpg (491.79 kb) 

The temperature dropped quite a bit during the night and it seemed close to the freezing point.  We were all very cold!!  And I mean cold!!  I did not want to get up because I was freezing sleeping in my two sleeping bags.  When we finally got up we packed up our stuff and left the park.  We began our drive towards Columbia Icefields.  We made few scenic stops along the way to take some photos and arrived at Columbia Icefields around 12:30pm.  We bought our tickets and a bus took us from the lodge up 7 minutes to where the buses with the big tires were to take us to the glacier.  The buses were very interesting to view and the ride was bumpy but a lot of fun.  We got the chance to get up on the top of the Athabasca Glacier where we got out of the bus and walked on the glacier for about 15 minutes.  The weather was quite cold but the skies were very clear.  The tour guides were very informative and fun.  We made it back after 90 minutes and begun our drive toward Banff where we would stay our remaining 4 nights.  We took some more scenic shots while arriving in Banff and we decided to find a campground to stay in.  We drove in to the City of Lake Louise to find out that the campsite of our choice was already full.  We drove to Yoho national Park to see if there was anything available there but all the spots were already taken – the long weekend was approaching and the reservations were already full.  We finally had some luck in a park called Johnston Canyon campgrounds and we drove into site number 59.  We were told that all the parks in the area were out of fire wood so Andrew and I went for a walk where we found some wood in the area and Andrew chopped it nicely into appropriate fire wood pieces.  We had some marshmallows on the fire and went to sleep.

Injury List:  No injuries sustained today.

Day Number 20:  Thursday August 2nd 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:   Day 20.jpg (343.81 kb) 

We woke up quite late and begun our drive towards Lake Louise where we were going to visit the information center to find out points of interest in this National Park.  While there, we visited some souvenir stores and a grocery store.  We decided to take it easy and not do too much this day.  We went for a 4km hike to Johnston’s Canyon which was very close to our campground.  Our campground was actually called Johnston’s Canyon as well.  The hike was quite easy, wheelchair accessible – as Andrew called it.  It led to a small falls and further on the hike was the upper fall.  We were already sick and tired of falls to begin with so it was not too much exciting.  After the hike we decided to go for a swim since the weather was very warm.  We went to a lake beside Banff City and dipped out toes.  I didn’t go in since the water was way to cold for me.  Mariusz went in to his tights and Andrew completely submerged himself in the icy water.  Brave guy!  We also visited the city of Banff since we were in the area.  We stopped in some very cool souvenir stores on the way and came back home for some supper and a peaceful night by the fire.  

Injury List:  No injuries sustained today. 

Day Number 21:  Friday August 3rd 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:    Day 21.jpg (487.18 kb)

Today we woke up to realize that we had new neighbors on our right side.  We had many neighbors through this trip so it was always interesting to see what kind of neighbors we will get.  Before this morning we had very quiet neighbors, a young couple who didn’t speak to us but that could have been because they spoke a different language.  Well this morning we woke up to find new neighbors.  They are a bit strange, but entertaining to watch.  It was clear to see that they were new to camping.
Today we decided to go for a hike around Lake Louise.  The hike took us to the plains of six glaciers.  On top of the hill there was a Tea House but of course the prices were ridiculous, so we didn’t buy anything.  We explored further and went to Lake Agnes and Mirror Lake.  The trail we walked on was also walked by horses so in some places there were hose droppings; just an addition to the tiring trail.  All together we walked almost 17km which left us very tired.  We came back to the campsite around 7pm and had some supper and sat by the fire to relax. 

Injury List:  Mariusz:  1. No injuries sustained.  Andrew:  1. No injuries sustained.  Agata:  1. Sustained two blisters on the back of my leg from horrible hiking shoes.  

Day Number 22:  Saturday August 4th 2007:  

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Day Number 23:  Sunday August 5th 2007:  

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TO BE CONTINUED...