Driving

These guys seemed less than pleased with their drive

Driving, driving, driving. That’s really what our next few days were all about.

We left Prince Rupert and drove east through British Columbia as we started making our way home. We left the rugged mountains of the coast – and they are so rugged that, in order to drive south to Vancouver, you have to go all the way to Prince George before you can start to make your way down. That’s northeast to go south. 

 

It's wild country with few roads

We entered the interior plain that is more gentle with lots of farms and rolling hills and some huge mountains sprinkled about.

British Columbia is beautiful

The trip was reasonably uneventful with some beautiful scenery including the Seven Sisters near Hazelton:

At least seven of them!

A glacier in Smithers:

Despite global warming, some glaciers still remain (for now)

Our lovely campground ... 

A nice spot to rest

... at Beaufort Lake:

This wasn't a planned stop; we just found it along the way

Tadpoles along the shore – millions of them!!!

I have never seen this many in one place

Now that it was getting dark at night, some sunsets:

The sun sets on Beaufort Lake

Rearguard falls (as far inland as Chinook salmon make it in Canada – they hadn’t arrived yet):

Look at that clear, clear water

Mount Robson Provincial Park

Then, we started closing the loop, returning to Robson Provincial Park, the site of Mount Robson, the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies and the second highest peak entirely in British Columbia, behind Mount Waddington in the Coast Range.  

Mount Robson boasts great vertical relief over the local terrain. From Kinney Lake, the southwest side of the mountain rises 9,760 feet to the summit. The north face is heavily glaciated; 2,600 feet of ice extends from the summit to the Berg Glacier.

And, then on to Jasper National Park. 

Quintessential Canadian Rockies peaks 

It was quite warm and much of the snow we saw last time was gone.

The glaciers still hold some snow

Plus, after seeing so many Bears in June, we were completely shutout this time. Scott was getting unhappy as his Bear fix craving raged!!! 

No Bears here

Still, we always enjoy a stop in Jasper National Park. This time, we explored the town of Jasper a bit more, too ... 

Idyllic

... and found it delightful ...

We should have stayed to canoe (we never did on this trip)

So, we pressed on to Waterton Lakes National Park. We had intended to stop there on the way up, but altered our route because we were camping on the west side of Glacier National Park and Going to the Sun road was closed. So, we decided we needed to go there.

After all those gravel roads, it was time for a bath

On the way, we saw gorgeous fields of rapeseed (it’s what canola oil is made out of).

A common, but spectacular sight in southern Alberta

Nothing is more beautiful when a dark stormy sky is in the background.

So dramatic

So, on we drove ...

Was Waterton Lakes going to be stormy (like every other time we'd been there)?

Trip date: June 3-July 20, 2013