Rocky Mountain Road Tripping

G’day all,

Our second leg of our trip was a camping trip through the Canadian and American Rocky Mountains. The same day we disembarked our Alaskan cruise we picked up a car, supplies and headed off. During this leg of the trip we got to see waterfalls, mountains, plains, glaciers, geysers, lakes and canyons, as well as some wildlife. Our plan when we left was to head east to Kelowna and then onto Banff before making our way down the Rockies. Our plans slightly changed as we went but overall we still got to see a lot of what we wanted to see.

First stop: Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

About 5 hours of amazing scenery after we left Vancouver we arrived at Bear Creek Provincial Park Campgrounds, just outside of Kelowna, where we were to spend the next 2 days. Our campsite was right on the lake and gave a fantastic view of the lake and surrounding mountains.

Okanagan Lake from the Campground

On the Thursday morning, after a surprisingly late sleep in (8am), we got up and had breakfast before heading into the Kelowna visitors centre to find out about some hikes nearby and then, after picking up some food, we headed out to Okanagan Mountain for some hiking. We decided to do a series of trails that let to Goode's Basin and this ended up being a 15km round trip that took us 4.5 hours to complete. It was very different terrain than what we were used to in Vancouver, very rocky and a lot of undergrowth, although it did give some very good views of Okanagan Lake and the surrounds.

Okanagan Lake from Mount Okanagan

To reward our efforts we went to try a few beers at a local brewery, Tree Brewing Company, with some to take back to the campsite with us. When we returned to the campsite we decided it was warm enough to attempt a dip in the lake (the lake didn’t comply and was rather cold) before sorting our dinner and a fire.

Tree Brewery Tasters

Friday morning we packed up and headed off to our next destination, Banff.

Second stop: Banff, Alberta, Canada

Six and a half hours later, after a break in Revelstoke for lunch, we arrived at Johnston Canyon Campground. The drive through Glacier National Park and Yoho National Park, before arriving in Banff National Park, was spectacular. We set up our tent and went into Banff to get some supplies but due to a few stops unplanned stops, when we saw Elk, Deer and a Coyote on the roadside, this took a bit longer than planned.

Yoho National Park

A bull Elk on the road outside Banff

Coyote having a wander around

That Friday night was very cold and we were both very glad we bought our thermals with us. The next morning we had planned to do a hike at Johnston Canyon, just down the road from the campsite. The Johnston Canyon hike was a path and catwalk along the inside of the canyon that went to first the lower falls and then the upper falls. This gave some amazing views of Johnston creek and the two falls. This hike was about 5.5 km and took us 1hr 15mins.



Johnston Canyon Lower Falls

This was planned as our morning hike so late morning we jumped back into the car and went to check out the famous Lake Louise. At Lake Louise we did a hike called the Plain of Six Glaciers. This hike took us around the lake and then into the valley behind it. At the end of the lake were the ice fields and glaciers that feed Lake Louise. At the top there was a tea house and if you went further it went to a view point 1km from the glaciers. We had to hike over a lot of snow, it felt like winter again. This hike was 14km round trip and took us 3hrs 45mins. It was tough at times but the views were incredible.

Lake Louise

The Valley and the Glaciers

This wore us out and we headed back to the campground. The next morning we again packed up and headed off to our next destination in Montana.

Third Stop: Lincoln, Montana, USA

When we left Banff we didn’t exactly know where we were going, just somewhere in the mountains in the Montana area. So we headed off in that general direction and after doing some research we ended up heading to a small town called Lincoln. Lincoln was in the Rockies in Montana, not far from Missoula and Helena.

Montana Plains

Therefore after a nine and a half hour drive we arrived in the town of Lincoln. It has heaps of motels, saloons/bars and 2 casinos. We headed towards the RV Park where we got a campsite on a small creek. After setting up the tent and having dinner we started a fire and sat around toasting marshmallows and having a few beers.

Campsite by Creek

The Monday morning, after a visit to the Rangers Station to get hiking information, we headed to a trailhead for a hike to Heart Lake. Heart Lake was in the Scapegoat Wilderness behind Helena National Forest. It was a 16km round trip and took us 4 hours. It was a fairly easy hike with rolling hills but the actual lake was spectacular, very blue.

Heart Lake

Tuesday morning again saw us getting up and packing the tent for our next drive, this time the destination was Yellowstone National Park.

 Fourth Stop: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

After a full day of driving we arrived at Bridge Bay Campsite about 7pm. This was slightly delayed once we had entered the National Park because we would be stopping every kilometre to take photos of animals. Between entering the National Park and the campgrounds we saw Elk, Bison (Buffalo), Coyote and Deer.

Bison in Yellowstone

On the Wednesday we weren't sure what we were going to do so we headed to the visitors centre in Fishing Bridge after breakfast. Due to forecast predicting thunderstorms we decided to do a drive around Yellowstone National Park. This drive was about 250km and, including stops, took us 10 hours. It gave awesome views of lakes, mountains, valleys, geysers, hot springs, a canyon and waterfalls.  We visited the famous Old Faithful Geyser, which erupts every 90mins and sends water 100ft into the air. We also had a look at some of the smaller geysers. During our drive we were also wildlife spotting. We again saw Bison, Elk and Deer and we may have seen two spots that were supposedly bears (we didn't have binoculars, but we were told they were by the people with telescopes).

Old Faithful Geyser

Thursday was our hiking day in Yellowstone. We had decided to do Observation Peak, which is in the Canyon area of the Park. This hike was a 16km round trip with the second 4km of the 8km out being a 425m climb to the peak. We completed this hike in 3hrs 45mins, a bit shorter than the estimated 7hrs. The first 4km went to Cascade Lake and then the second 4km was a climb up to Observation Peak and is the highest altitude we have ever been, getting up to 2864m. We had lunch at the peak which had 270 degree views of the Yellowstone wilderness.

Yellowstone Wilderness from Observation Point

After we finished this hike it was early afternoon so we decided we had time for another short hike. This time we were keen to see some wildlife so we headed to a hike called Storm Point, near Fishing Village. This was grizzly bear area but we didn't see any grizzlies. We did see some yellow-bellied marmots at storm point. Storm point gave some really good view of Yellowstone Lake and surrounding mountains.

Yellowstone Lake from Stormy Point

On this night, as we were getting ready for bed, the campsite host came around to tell everyone that they were expecting 60 mph winds and to put the fire out and do everything to keep the tent down. We got in it. Although after that we had a very wet, cold and windy night.

When we woke up on the Friday morning we were very wet and cold so we packed up quickly and headed off early to our next destination which turned out to be Idaho.

Fifth Stop: Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA

When we left Yellowstone we were planning on going to the Sawtooth National Park which is in southern Idaho. After a weather check of this we discovered that it was going to get down to -7C overnight. We decided this was not going to happen so we instead made a beeline for Coeur d’Alene which is northern Idaho. This turned out to be a long drive but it would mean we would have more days in Coeur d’Alene which turned out to be worth it. We therefore reached the campground about 7pm, after taking into account the change in time zone.

Around the campsite

 

Saturday we had decided to do a hike so we went into town to get information. When we got into Coeur d'Alene we discovered there was a car show on and the Main Street was shut. We found the visitors centre and ended up deciding on a hike near Beauty Creek. The hike was supposedly to the top of Coeur d'Alene Mountain, although turned out to be not quite the top. It was 16km round trip, had a climb of about 600m and took us about 3 hrs 45 mins.

Lake Coeur d'Alene from Coeur d'Alene Mountain

After this we found a brewery back in Coeur d'Alene and tried their taster set, it had summer, blonde, amber, brown, IPA and extra Pale ale. It was called Tricksters and they had good summer and amber beers. When we got back to the campsite we had the best campfire meal so far, fish cooked on the fire with chips (from scratch, shallow fried) and salad, it was awesome. We then had some toasted marshmallows and fruit before bed.

Sunday we had another day in Coeur d'Alene and decided to spend it playing by the lake. We went for a walk along the lake and found a place that rented kayaks so we grabbed one and off we went. After a while of kayaking we found a little beach where we stopped for lunch before heading back to the rental place to return to the kayak. We followed this up with some swimming and lying on the beach and then some ice-cream before returning to the campsite.

Lake Coeur d'Alene

As we had a short drive to our last stop, Leavenworth, Marty repeated our hike as a trail run in the morning before heading off.

Sixth Stop: Leavenworth, Washington, USA

About four and a half hours later we arrived in Leavenworth. Leavenworth is set up as a Bavarian village with all the buildings built in the Bavarian style. This is the same town Erin went to last year with friends for Oktoberfest. After finding a place to stay we had a look around and then went to do some tasters at Icicle brewing company.

Festival Hall in Leavenworth
 

Tuesday we had a day in Leavenworth and Marty decided to mix it up and go for a Mountain Bike in the morning. While he was riding Erin went for a walk around town some more. After Marty came back to the site we had lunch and then headed out for a short hike around the winter Nordic ski trails. We didn't have any maps so we wandered for a while before heading back to camp.

Marty before Mountain Biking

Wednesday was the last day of the trip and the day we were heading back to Vancouver. We woke up early and cleaned and packed everything up.

Overall we had a fantastic trip, seeing many things we had never seen before. We still haven’t managed to see a Moose and the bears keep running away from Erin, but all in all we had a great time.

The next part of the trip is travelling the east coast, through Toronto, New York and Boston.

Cheers, Erin and Marty

North to Alaska

G'day all,

After cleaning up and moving out of the house we headed off to Canada place in Vancouver to board our cruise liner. After getting settled in our stateroom we set out to explore the ship. With 4 stateroom levels and 5 and a half entertainment levels we quickly learnt where we would be spending most of our time. The main areas we were interested in was the pool and bar Lido deck and the deck with the library and a couple of other bars.

After participating in the obligatory evacuation drill at 4pm we headed up to the Lido deck where there was a embarkation BBQ. After some awesome food and some Alaskan beers we headed for an early night after a big day.

MS Volendam

Embarkation BBQ on the Lido Deck

Thursday morning, after a sleep in, as it was our first day full day on holiday's, we headed up to the Lido deck for our buffet breakfast. Following breakfast we found the Explorer's lounge and started to think about what we were going to when we arrived in port. Because it was a full day of sailing we decided we needed to be active so we visited the gym for an hour and then had some lunch.

After lunch we had booked in for a Beer tasting for the Alaskan brewing company. We tried 4 different types of beers: white ale, summer ale, American pale ale (APA) and an amber ale. It was entertaining and we managed a few top-ups from other guests who were not finding the beer as tasty as we were. Erin's favourite was the summer and Marty's was the amber ale.

Selection of Alaskan Beers

On this night the dress code for the ship was formal so we were supposed to dress up. Turns out this was only for the dining room but we got dressed up anyway (in our smart casual) as we weren't sure. After dinner we played a game in the library and then headed to the theatre to watch Skyfall.

The service was so good on the ship that our house keeper would make our rooms twice. Once in the morning to make the bed, and again in the evening to turn down the bed and leave us towels folded as some type of Alaskan animal, as shown below. We got a seal, crab, bear, whale, eagle and turtle.

It's a Bear

After the beauty of getting an extra hours sleep due to a change in time zone we headed to breakfast on the Friday morning. Following breakfast we went for a swim in the pool on the lido deck and had a time relaxing by the pool until lunchtime.

Day 3 bought about our first port of call at Juneau. When we were allowed off the ship at about 1.30 we went to get the bus to go to the Mendenhall Glacier. The Mendenhall glacier is the only glacier of the Juneau Ice-fields that can be accessed by vehicle. The rest is only accessible by plane or helicopter. At the Mendenhall glacier we did a short hike (3km) around to Nugget Falls in order to get a better view of both the falls and the glacier. As it was raining we were very soaked by the end of this so we went to dry off in the visitors centre and learn about the retreating glacier.

Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls, Juneau

Juneau is the capital of Alaska and has about 30,000 people living there. The only way you can get into Juneau is by plane or boat as there is no roads heading in or out. There are roads in Juneau but they don't go anywhere out side of Juneau.

After this we got the bus back into downtown Juneau. We had a look around the shops and had a drink and dinner at the Red Dog Saloon. This was a stereotypical American pub with moose heads on the wall and a country singer playing the guitar. After this we were still very wet and cold so we headed back to the ship. After showering and getting changed we decided we would head to the library to play some trivial pursuit and relax quietly.

A Saloon with real Saloon Style Swingin' Doors.

Day 4, Saturday, of the cruise was a stop in port at Skagway, Alaska. The ship arrived at 7am and after breakfast we headed into Skagway by 8. Our first stop was the National Park Service Visitors centre to grab a trail map. We then headed on a 3.5km hike to Yakatania Point and Smugglers Cove. This was a fairly light hike but gave good views of the inlet and mountains around Skagway. This hike took us about an hour. When we got back it was still early so we had a look around town for a while. We did a bit of souvenir shopping and Erin started her holiday charm bracelet that is going to have a charm symbol from every place we visit. From here we headed back to the ship for lunch.



Mountains surrounding Skagway from Yakatania Point

Following lunch we headed back out for another hike, this time on the Dewey lakes trail system. This hike involved a 500ft climb over 0.5mile up to Lower Dewey Lake. We then hiked around Lower Dewey lake before heading further onto Icy Lake. Icy Lake was the strangest colour green, it looked amazing. Further on from Icy lake was Upper Reid falls but as we tried to find it the path got a bit confusing and we could not find our way. After a while we turned around when we were worried we were going to get lost and backtracked our way to Lower Dewey Lake and back down to Skagway.

Lower Dewey Lake, Skagway

Old White Pass - Yukon Train

When we got back into Skagway we headed to Skagway Brewing company and had a taster of a pale ale, IPA, brown, porter and a blonde. After this we were very tired so we headed back to the ship for a soak in the hot tub before dinner. After dinner at 7pm there was an event in the crows nest bar for all Aussies and Kiwis where we got discount drinks. We headed to that and as we were having our drinks we saw a seal frolicking in the water next to the ship.

at 8pm we went to check out the ship comedian, Kevin Jordan. He was very good but a lot more focused on the general older crowd on the ship. There was another show after him in the piano bar which was a guy playing a mix of Billy Joel and Elton John. We had another drink here before heading back to the Crows Nest for the classic rock section with a band playing. We had a few more beers here while watching night come in. The sun set at 10pm but we could still see the surrounding mountains until midnight.


On the Sunday we cruised Glacier Bay. This was a entire day on the ship. But by the time we had breakfast the ship was almost at the end of Glacier Bay and by 11am it had anchored near two Glaciers, Marjorie Glacier and Grand Pacific Glacier. On the way it also passed the Reid Glacier and the Lamplugh Glacier.

Marjorie Glacier was 21 miles long coming from the fairweather mountains and 1 mile wide where it reached glacier bay. It moves at 7ft a day and is therefore a expanding Glacier. As we watched we saw parts of the glacier continually fall off into the water. The sound that went with it was like a thunderclap. As it was an expanding glacier there was many different shades of blue through the ice.

Margerie Glacier, Glacier Bay

Erin and Marty at the Margerie Glacier

Near the Marjorie Glacier was the Grand Pacific Glacier which was black because of it building over boulders and the rock face. It went 33 miles back from where it met Glacier Bay, over the border and into BC, Canada. The Glacier mouth at Glacier Bay was 2 miles wide.

We were anchored at these Glaciers for a while and when a passenger saw a bear on the opposite side the captain swung the ship about to try and see the bear. We didn't see it.

After doing some stuff on the computer for a bit and having lunch we headed out to the back of the ship to watch the scenery go by as the ship sailed out of glacier bay. On the way we passed some good animal viewing points and we saw some humpback whales, some sealions on an island and some otters playing around the boat.

Sunset over Glacier Bay

It was the formal night on the ship and as it was not practical for us to bring formal clothing we decided to have an easy night. So we had a few beers before dinner and then played cards on the Lido deck for a while. Also due to it being the formal night they had a dessert extravaganza with lots of different cakes and pastries and many chocolate sculptures. This was open to everyone and was at 10.30pm. After we had enough sugar we decided to head to bed.

Port of call for the Monday was Ketchikan. The boat docked at 10am so after we got up at 9am and had some breakfast it was time to get off the ship. First we headed to the visitors centre to get an idea of what to do. We picked up a walking map of the town and we did the downtown walk, which focused on the river where salmon return to spawn in the fall and the older part next to the river, which was once the prostitution district now called Creek Street. Near the end of the walking tour we were back near the ship so we went back on board for some lunch.

Creek Street, Ketchikan

After lunch we headed back onto shore and headed toward the west end of Ketchikan. From the map we had we saw there was a hike up to some good viewpoints behind Ketchikan. This was the rainbird trail and gave some really good views of the bay and surrounding islands and mountains. After this we walked back along the waterfront and returned to the ship.

After a rest in our stateroom we got ready for our fancy dinner in the Rotterdam dining room and headed to the Ocean bar for some pre-dinner drinks. After our fancy dinner in the dinning room we headed to the piano bar for a night cap and to listen to the piano man once again. He was playing songs from New Orleans which was enjoyable.

Marty and Erin with view from Rainbird trail, Ketchikan

Tuesday was our last full day for the cruise which was a day of sailing the inside passage back to Vancouver. After losing an hour sleep as we changed time zones again we woke up late and headed to breakfast. After breakfast Marty went to a disembarkation info session and then we relaxed for a while in the explorations lounge.

We again played on the computer for a while, then we headed to lunch on the lido deck. We spent most of the day playing tabletennis, going to the gym and watching the scenery go past as the ship made it's way back to Vancouver. We spent the afternoon doing washing and uploading our photos onto the computer. After dinner we packed everything up and then went to watch the movie for the day, Silver Linings Playbook.

After this we had an American style late night snack and then went to bed as we had an early start the next day, disembarking the ship at 7.15am.

We had an awesome time on the ship and in Alaska but we were ready for the next leg of our trip, 2 weeks camping through the Canadian and American Rocky Mountains.


Cheers, Erin and Marty

View from Lookout on Rainbird trail, Ketchikan.