Sportsmobile: Banff/Jasper: End of the Mayan Calendar

[twolost]

My wife, our three year old daughter and I ventured from Washington State (USA) up into Alberta Canada to find a little powder snow in celebration of the conclusion of 2012. For about two weeks we traveled around by day in the Canmore, Banff, and Jasper areas. Overnight, we stayed in the relative warmth and comfort of a timeshare. This was a simple sightseeing trip with the family (as simple as it gets with an active and curious three year old).

Note: Due to my own personal bandwidth, I chose to to post the bulk of this report on a forum that is specific to the make/model of our van (Sportsmobile). Here are a few of the pics from our trip as well as a link to the more detailed trip report if you are interested.


Sportsmobile Forum: Banff/Jasper: End of the Mayan Calendar


Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail/Shark Road

Spray Lakes Reservoir

Morant's Curve; Banff National Park

Medicine Lake

Maligne River

Athabasca Falls

Athabasca River

North Saskatchewan River (near the Weeping Wall)

Canmore, Alberta

Best wishes to everyone in 2013!!

 

[mph]

Sweet! Love the shots!

 

[Rot Box]

Awesome thanks for sharing :bike_rider:

 

[Willman]

Very cool! You got some mad skills with that camera my friend.

I spent 9 months in Nelson, B.C....What a cool area. I was able to hit Banff and all the surrounding areas.

 

[ANDYROO]

Awesome....adding it to my list of "Must do a road trip to places".....thanks!

 

[Glenn C]

Awesome rig an shots mate

 

[BobA]

Awsome picture with the train.

 

[chevyz71]

awesome Pictures!!!

What is for the black box on you front bumper?? Is that a winch cover ??

 

[twolost]

Thanks everyone! Banff/Jasper is one of those 'must see in-person' kind of areas.

What is for the black box on you front bumper?? Is that a winch cover ??

In the winter, the front box is where I stow my snow chains, bottle jack, and various oils (engine, gear, trans, etc...). The box mounts via a front trailer hitch. The winch sits behind the box and in order to use it, I have to remove the box (which involves removing the hitch pin and then sliding box out of the hitch receiver).

 

[MAD Duo]

Great trip report and excellent photo skills. Question-did you make that front box that mounts on bumper. I have a front hitch under my bumper and would love to have a similar box. Also, is the box just pushed up against the fairlead? or is there an opening that the fairlead slides into the box?

 

[twolost]

I fabricated the hitch extension + tray that the 'box' mounts to. I provided the design/dimensions of the actual 'box' to a fabricator (Aluminess) who actually manufactured the all-aluminum box. This fabrication also included powder coating and the addition of a sealed + locking top. I then bolted the box to the tray, lined the inside of the box, added a license plate holder to the front of the box, and installed two visual indicators so that I could reference where the box was - over the hood while driving. The whole thing uses the existing front hitch receiver to attach to the van and never actually touches the bumper or the winch fairlead (winch is integrated into the bumper).

 

[MAD Duo]

Thanks for the reply...I may have to draw something up similar and have it fabricated where I'm at.

 

[Danimal]

The photo with the train rolling through the snow filled valley is absolutely stunning. I'd hang that on my wall, seriously.

Dan