- Canada Holiday Blog 6 - 11th to 17th September 2018
Day 44 - 11th
September 2018 Calgary Zoo
Hoping for fine weather today so we can go to the zoo and we
were very lucky. Woke to partly cloudy skies but soon cleared and at 9:05
headed off on foot to the zoo. Calgary Zoo is smaller than Taronga but is on flat ground so
easy to get around. They have very good enclosures most being fairly large and
well landscaped, etc. The signs showing the animals also explain how much they
are at risk and why, etc. They have heated buildings for the animals from
tropical and warmer areas.
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| Cougar |
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| Where has my head gone??? |
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| Lazy lion |
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| Even lazier lemur.... |
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| Panda |
Morning tea at a café and later lunch at another
café in the zoo. Left about 2:00 and headed to the “Galleria” to have a look at
some Canadian Arts and Crafts. Bought a metal hummingbird hanging sculpture and
a rusty metal bear (to remind us of our bear encounter). Back to accommodation
at 3:15 with dark storm clouds overhead.
Day 45 - 12th
September 2018 Calgary - Elbow Falls
and Bar U Ranch
Weather not so kind today and started off with grey overcast
morning as we headed out at 8:25. Got caught in Calgary rush hour, and with
more roadworks it was quite stressful. Some of the roads we were to take have
moved, etc.
Arrived at Beaver Flat and did the Beaver Lodge walk where
you pass many beaver dams. They are very impressive structures and the beavers
are very resourceful. Some of the dams are holding back water that is 1 metre
higher than below the dam. At the last dam we saw the recent evidence of the
beaver felling trees for the dam. Wonder how long it takes for the beaver to
fell a tree? (apparently 5 minutes for an 8-foot tree!). Had to dodge cows
along the track.
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| Beaver dam |
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| Autumn colours coming |
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| Evidence a beaver was here recently |
Elbow Falls for morning tea in the car and the short (0.4 km
round trip) walk to the falls.
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| Elbow Falls |
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| What we call a cattle grid.... |
Heading out we saw 3 white tailed deer crossing
the road. Also saw more deer in Turner Valley just on the edge of town.
Next stop was Bar U Ranch which is an historic ranch now run
by Parks Canada. Sundance Kid of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid fame used to work at this ranch. Just after we
started to walk around the drizzle started, but we toughed it out. At one of
the displays (buildings etc spread across the ranch) we got talking to a lady
who works/volunteers there and she gave us some history while Joy drank coffee
made over an open fire. It was better than some of the other coffee she has had
in Canada! The smoke kept following Les (smoke follows beauty?) so Joy sent him
across the other side of the fire.
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| Bar U Ranch Coffee Shop! |
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| Threatening weather at Bar U Ranch |
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| Bar U Ranch Polo team named in honour of Banjo Paterson's poem |
The rain was setting in, so we decided
enough was enough as it was also bitterly cold so headed back to the car and
back to the accommodation through rain, sun, mist and more peak hour traffic. We
had been planning to stop at the Okotoks Erratic, but because of the weather,
and the fact that it really is just a big rock in a paddock, we went straight
home. So far these holidays these are about the only things we have not done
due to the weather. Not bad for 40 days in Canada! Temperature now down to 6
degrees after maximum of 9 degrees (less wind chill factor). Home smelling of
smoke from the campfire at Bar U Ranch. Tomorrow into Calgary City in the
afternoon but forecast is for max. 4 degrees and rain showers and/or snow flurries
so we will see.
Day 46 - 13th
September 2018 Calgary
Joy has hairdresser’s appointment at 10:00 am we are having
quiet morning. After the haircut we headed into town on foot at about 11:30 am.
It was zero degrees but we are tough (or silly, or both). Walked along the
river part of the way and then through the streets of Calgary. For a city of
1.25 million the downtown section we were in was VERY quiet.
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| Downtown Calgary |
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| What oranges do you get in Canada? |
Took a 1991 recreation
photo and wandered around a bit before heading home. Total walking distance
about 6 km and made it home at about 1:00. Toasted rolls for lunch and quiet
afternoon packing and relaxing.
While Joy cooked tea Les kept an eye on the weather and it
started SNOWING!! Yes we got some snow and more than just flurries.
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| Snowing in Calgary |
Day 47 - 14th
September 2018 Calgary to Pincher
Creek
Woke this morning to sub zero temperatures and still snow on
the cars and roofs. No snow on the
ground as the ground was warm enough that it melted straight away. Les was
happy about this as he did not want to be driving on snow or ice. We checked
and there was no ice on the roads or carpark! Before we left we went up onto
the roof of the loft apartment to have a look at the snow. They have some fake
grass on the roof and there was still a layer of snow on it.
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| Still snow on the roof the next morning |
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| Snow on the cars. |
Headed off at 8:10 and still minus 1 degree. Had to scrape
the snow off the car but had to wait until the demister in the car melted the
ice on the windscreen! And to think it was only a few days ago we were hot and
getting sunburnt! As we had missed the Okotoks Erratic (large rocks in a
paddock deposited by glaciers thousands of years ago) a few days ago we thought
we would go via them today hoping for snow on them. Arrived and not much snow
(not as much as Calgary) and now minus 2!
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| Snow on the hay bales |
Picked up treats from the Black
Diamond Bakery and on to Nanton where we had morning tea in the car as it was
ZERO degrees and we decided the picnic tables were not the go. The toilets at the
park were heated!! Spent an hour or so at the Museum of Miniatures which covers
many things but includes part of the history of Canada. As a piece of trivia,
all the grass in the dioramas is human hair!! Joy also bought some cross-stich
magazines – the woman who was on the front desk does cross-stitch and had some
old ones she no longer wanted (50c each or 3 for $1 – plus tax of course!). The
ladies at Rankin Cottage Craft will be impressed with her!
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| Museum of Miniatures |
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| Museum of Miniatures. Each stalk has been individually glued into a hole individually drilled. Approx 12,000 of them. |
Next stop is “Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump” where we had
lunch at the café. Temperature only 2 degrees but luckily most of the display
is inside.
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| Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump |
Afternoon tea at Oldman River Provincial Park just outside Fort
MacLeod and it is now 8 degrees and we sat at the picnic tables by the river.
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| Just a few wind turbines.... |
Arrived at Pincher Creek for the night at 4:25 and had a
rest for a few hours before heading to “Boston Pizza” for tea. They are a restaurant
chain and serve more than just pizza. Saw some deer along the street in the
town on the way to the restaurant. When we arrived the restaurant was very busy and
taking names for tables. The food was good but restaurant was noisy. We shared an apple crumble for dessert.
No way could we fit a dessert each! Got home and now 5 degrees.
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| Apple crumble dessert |
Day 48 - 15th
September 2018 Pincher Creek to
Cranbrook
Had a reasonably early start today as we have a few things
to do. Left at 8:30 and temperature was only 3 degrees but beautiful and sunny.
Well it was until 1 km outside Pincher Creek when we drove into a fog bank. At
times the visibility was down to 50 metres.
Arrived at Lundbreck Falls at 8:53. Yes, Les needed a
waterfall fix and it looked eerie in the fog. The temperature had also dropped
to 2 degrees.
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| Lundbreck Falls in the mist |
Left at 9:20 and arrived at Frank Slide and the fog has started
to clear and beautiful blue sky has arrived again. This is an amazing place
showing the force of nature – check it out at https://frankslide.ca/. Essentially in
1903 the side of a mountain slid for about 2 ½ km down the mountain crossing
the railway and highway and part of the town of Frank killing about 90 people. As
the centre does not open until 10:00 and it was 9:45 we did the walk through
the boulders and got back to the car for morning tea. We then looked through
the interpretive centre and watched a video on the area although not
specifically on the Slide. They have 2 videos and we missed the 1st
one on the slide and would have had to wait to see it but needed to move on.
Has now warmed up to 8 degrees.
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| Frank Slide from highway |
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| Frank Slide. The stuff that made it across the highway. |
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| Mist spilling in near Frank Slide |
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| Frank Slide side on. Highway passes through just left of centre |
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| Near Crowsnest Pass. Loved the smoking effect. |
Had lunch at Mt Fernie Provincial Park and now up to 13
degrees. Next was Fort Steele and we arrived at 2:45 and they close at 4:00 so
did not get to see everything but also not all the buildings were open. The
Hotel and Ice Cream parlours were not open along with several others.
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| Fort Steele |
Arrived at Cranbrook and checked in to accommodation at 4:00
and had afternoon tea. The motel is really very nice, with lots of wooden
things – tables and chairs made out of interestingly shaped bits of wood – and
flowers in window boxes. Headed into town for some shopping for tea and lunch,
etc for tomorrow. Up to 19 degrees!
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| Cranbrook Motel |
Got back and after unpacking groceries went for a walk along
the lake behind the motel. Spotted bird of prey, small snake (only about 6
inches long and a thick as a drinking straw) and 2 deer.
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| Les made a friend on the walk near the motel. |
Across the road from the motel was a big sign advertising
sea cans for sale – huh? Looked it up and they are selling freight containers.
Day 49 - 16th
September 2018 Cranbrook to Castlegar
Have a fair bit of time today as we have to change our
clocks back 1 hour just down the road. Thought we could play a game of mini
golf (putt putt golf as we call it, and there was a course at the motel in
Cranbrook) but the weather was against us. It was partly sunny on one side and
raining on the other and the rain won out, so headed out of town at 9:15. Today
is also a day of ups and downs. We start at an elevation of 928 metres at Cranbrook. Morning
tea was at Creston (612
metres) in the Millennium Gardens on the only seat under shelter although it is
not actually raining at this stage but very overcast.
Next stop is Stagleap Provincial Park and Kootenays Summit
which is 1,774 metres and is
the highest all-weather pass in British Columbia. We did a nice walk around
Bridal Lake which is at the summit before heading down the other side.
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| Bridal Lake, Kootenays Summit |
Arriving
at Trail (that is the name of the town) for lunch at 12:20. They had just
finished the “Terry Fox Run” which is a non-competitive run in honour of Terry
Fox, a cancer research activist who died in 1981. The run is held world wide
but there are 9,000 communities in Canada that are involved. We were talking to
a couple involved and they had lived in Bronte for 6 months back in 1965 but
“could not handle the bugs” so moved back to Canada! Lunch was in the park by
the river opposite the sulphuric acid plant! We have also dropped to an
elevation of 423 metres. The
couple also told us about an acid leak from a truck (have found out there were
2 leaks within 6 weeks and over 1,000 insurance claims!)
After lunch drove to the River Skywalk which is a concrete
suspension foot bridge in town. If we hadn’t chatted to the couple involved in
the Terry Fox Run we wouldn’t have known there even WAS a suspension bridge. Even
though it is concrete it still sways slightly and has a distinct slope on it.
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| River Skywalk, Trail |
Photo stop at Rossland and then climbed up over the Nancy Greene Summit at 1,575 metres. (For those that do
not know Les’ family was Ross (father) so we stopped at Rossland, Dorothy
(mother) so we stopped at Dorothy, Patricia (sister) so we stopped at Patricia
and Les, so we stopped at Leslieville!)
The weather is closing in again, so we headed to Tim Hortons
(chain of coffee shops in Canada) in Castlegar to try their bagels as a friend
of Joy’s has highly recommend them, and Joy thinks their coffee isn’t bad, even
if they don’t provide chocolate for the cappuccinos. The bagels are very nice
with creamed cheese on them.
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| Bagel with cream cheese at Castlegar |
Castlegar (elevation of 441
metres) has a SculptureWalk and we
wanted to see the sculptures, but again the weather is against us. We arrived
at our B&B at about 4:00 after having driven through driving rain. Had to
use the fast setting on the windscreen wipers for the first time this holiday.
Headed to the Lions Head Pub just down the road as it was recommended and got a
good write up on Tripadvisor. While having dinner there was a
crowd of people outside in the cold (smokers) but they all suddenly started
looking at something and getting their phones out. A bear had walked through
the paddock next to the pub. Joy was too slow getting outside to see it.
Mentioned it to our B&B host when we got back and apparently the bear is a
regular!
Day 50 - 17th
September 2018 Castlegar to Nakusp
Since we are staying in a true B&B we get breakfast
served to us this morning. Orange juice, fruit and yoghurt, and scrambled eggs
with toast and potatoes cooked with capsicum, and coffee for Joy.
Headed off at 8:55 and into town to view the sculptures and
then on to the Brilliant Suspension bridge which used to be the main bridge
into town and the good thing was it does not move!!! Les made it over and back
no worries.
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| Sculpture at Castlegar |
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| Sculpture at Castlegar |
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| Brilliant Suspension Bridge, Castlegar |
The sun has come out and there is nice blue sky. We could not find
a bakery in Castlegar (in the part we were in) so on to Nelson and to Kootenay
Bakery Café where we bought some treats and some bread roll things (more on
this later). We had been trying to find somewhere for morning tea and so we
stopped at Kokanee Creek Provincial Park with a great view up the lake to the
snow topped mountains.
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| Kokanee Provincial Park |
Morning tea was from 11:40 to 12:05. Yes, a bit late
today but Joy had had a coffee with breakfast, so she was OK.
We had an unscheduled stop because we saw a nice-looking
waterfall on the side of the road and there was a large area where we could
park. Les shouldn’t be too traumatised about the deviation from the day’s plan
since it was a stop for a waterfall!
A little bit further on we had our scheduled stop at
Fletcher Falls at 1:05 and headed down a short but steep track to the base of
the falls and took some photos. Joy has even started using Les’ tripod to take
waterfall photos! Great waterfall and being in a dark gully hopefully some good
shots.
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| Fletcher Falls |
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| Joy using Les' tripod... |
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| ...and the great result! |
Back to the car at 1:50 and stopped in the park at Kaslo at 2:00 for
lunch. We ate the bread roll things for lunch which were bread rolls with
cheese tops and garlic and pesto and an unknown ingredient which was probably
either chilli or jalapeno pepper. Too hot for Les.
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| Lunchtime view from Kaslo |
We had been going to look through the SS Moyie, but we were
now a bit pushed for time to get to Nakusp at a decent hour, so gave it a miss.
Stopped at Summit Lake for afternoon tea and the cloud has
rolled in on the higher peaks.
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| Summit Lake |
On to Nakusp where we did the groceries and
headed out to accommodation. The accommodation is well off the highway and down
dirt roads but is on the lake and very quiet. Great place to rest for a day. Today
we had climbed from 440 metres
to almost 1,100 metres and
back down to 488 metres and
seeing snow capped peaks almost all the way.
