FIDO Expeditions 2016

[yabanja]

To Glacier!

Sakshi had never been to Glacier, and I had fond memories of the Going to the Sun highway so we steered in that direction. We were out in the middle of nowhere when we ran into this motley crew:



They were on a dirt road trip across the country in their sweet cruiser and home built camp trailer. We simultaneously stopped to admire each other's trucks. They were very nice people! I can't remember their names but they said they had posted some popular trip reports on the forum. If anyone has a link please share!

We spent two days along the continental divide trail and bumped into a ton of cyclists all of whom got granola bars. Months later as we were driving down the freeway in Salt Lake someone was hanging completely out the window of their car waving maniacally. It was one of the cycleists we had bumped into. Small world. That is the nice thing about driving a unique vehicle. You are easy to spot!

We had a couple of very nice wooded camp spots along the way.



We are pretty goofy people. At one point we decided that we had to make foil examples of every bird we saw..... Here is a crow, wild turkey, and a roadrunner:

 

[yabanja]

Glacier

We saw some nice spots along the way.









Just outside of the Western Entrance to Glacier was a nice dirt road along the river and we settled in for a foggy evening.

 

[yabanja]

Glacier

Glacier is one of my favorite places. We hadn't booked camping in advance so we got up early to drive all the way through he park in one day. It really was beautiful!















We topped our water at one of the campgrounds and headed for the border! Waterton Springs campground had some lovely spots available with stunning views across prairies teeming with wildlife. The only concern was that they were trying to catch a bear that was roaming the campground but hey! Whats life without a little excitement. It is moments like these that I realize Sakshi was absolutely correct in insisting on a hard sided camper. We slept safe and sound.

 

[yabanja]

Canada!!

We had a leisurely start in the morning before heading in to Waterton. At the entrance we invested in a Canada annual parks pass which we would more than amortize by the time we headed back into the US. Canada charges fees by the day as opposed to a one time fee each time you enter. It adds up fast. If only they were offering free annual passes like they are this year. Timing is everything. It was super busy, I can only imagine it will be outrageous this year with everyone getting in for free. We poked around town for a bit and it was cute, but we aren't really city folk. We decided to go for a bit of a hike to a view point above town. It had been raining, and it tuned into a deluge about halfway through our hike. Rain makes for dramatic pictures!







Just as we returned to the parking lot I spotted our friends Alexandre and Mathilde whom we had met a month prior in Arizona in their cool Land Cruiser.



They stopped in for a cup of tea and we compared notes. Such a pleasure. They are down in Guatemala now. Can't wait to head south of the border ourselves!

Here is a link to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ptitspommes/?notif_t=fbpage_fan_invite&notif_id=1493389447967381

 

[yabanja]

Castle Provincial Park

We were eager to get away from the mobs of people and headed north. We stopped for gas and some locals recommended Castle Provincial Park. What a treat. It had miles and miles of rough roads into beautiful country. We headed way into the mountains for some of the best camping of the trip. Video time!

https://vimeo.com/215284177

 

[yabanja]

Forestry Trunk Road

Sakshi had a college friend visiting Calgary who she hadn't seen for nearly 20 years so the map was consulted for the best route in that direction. The forestry trunk road is a dirt highway along the east slope of the Canadian rockies that headed in the right direction. I put on my driving gloves and practiced my Colin Mcrae high speed drifts for the next few miles. The Canadian rockies are stunning, and the views on this road didn't disappoint.







We found a nice campsite by the river for another perfect evening.



The next morning....Civilization. It was a hit and run with a quick lunch with Jyoti followed by a hasty retreat back into the mountains.

 

[yabanja]

Ghost River

Ultimately Banff and the Icefields parkway were our next destination, but my Mom and John were going to meet up with us for the duration of the trip, and they were a few days out. There was some time to kill so we consulted the trusty map again. Ghost river recreation area looked promising and wasn't far. About twenty miles into the dirt we found a nice spot with an outstanding view up on the ridgeline overlooking the Ghost river.



Before we went to bed the mother of all storms came through. It poured rain and the wind howled. The sky turned ominous pink and green colors much like it looked when I saw the only tornado I have ever seen. It calmed around bedtime which made for a good nights sleep.

The next morning we headed further down the road into the river valley. The drive was pretty fun and put a smile on my face. Here is the proof:

https://vimeo.com/215358145

There was a trail from there to Banff along Lake Minnewanka that I thought might be a nice Bike ride. When we finally found the trailhead were big red signs saying no bicycles and hiking only in close knit parties of four with bear spray. Since we were just the two of us that put a wrench in the works. We went for a short ride in the river valley and admired the views prior to camping for the night.

 

[yabanja]

To Banff

We were heading into Banff today so we had to backtrack to the highway. As we neared the lovely overlook camp spot that we had stayed at two nights prior there was police tape at the entrance to every side road for a quarter mile in each direction. Hmm.....bad sign. We continued to drive and a couple miles past the police tape there was a downed tree on an easy up that hadn't been there on our way in. Clearly some craziness had ensued in the area over the last couple of days!



It was only after we had gotten to town that we found out there had been a Bear Mauling right by our camp spot. Apparently a couple had been napping on the ground when a cub stumbled upon them. By the time mama bear was done dragging them around there was one broken arm and many lacerations between the two of them but thankfully no fatalities. Completely unprovoked. Scary!

On the way into town we stopped at a nice picnic spot by Lac Des Arcs on the Bow River for lunch.



We wandered around for the afternoon searching for off the grid camping. There was nothing to be found. They have locked down the whole area to funnel people into pay campgrounds which are often full. This means that you have to get up early and rush to the next campground in hopes that you can find a spot before the thousand or more spots are full. This was a theme that would stick with us for the next week all the way to Jasper. Camping with a thousand other people is something we hadn't done since the Overland Expo and is an experience we can frankly live without. Oh, and of course, paying for the privilege to do so is always a bonus. It was nice to see the ice fields parkway but we really felt rushed due to having to find camp early each day. Next time we are going to go up the east side of the range all alone on dirt roads, over the top near Jasper, and back down on the west side.

In the meantime we found a spot in the trees at the base of Lake Minnewanka. The area did have some redeeming qualities!