From the Plains to the Mountains to the Sea
Starting off in Yorkton, SK on Wednesday morning, I knew I had a loooong few days of driving ahead of me. With only 12 hours of light, stretching out a 12hr driving day is pushing each hour to it's limits. With so much to see along the way, I had to keep my stops brief in order to make it to my desired destination each day. Add a snow storm (or two), keeping a focus and praying for clearer weather helped to get me to where I needed to be.
Day 6 drive - Yorkton, Saskatchewan to Calgary Alberta 950km. 12hrs of driving. I arrived in Medicine Hat, Alberta into a snow storm to find the #1 Highway that cut through it closed due to road conditions. The radio announcer said stay off the roads if possible and that 10cm had already fallen. I checked ahead to Calgary and knew conditions were clear so...I detoured with the help of Google Maps and within 20min was on the other side and on my way to Calgary. The conditions gradually became better and better and as I approached Calgary the sun came shining through-for 10 minutes.
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| Saskatchewan/Alberta border-yup, full on blizzard. Welcome to Alberta! |
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| Without too many pit stops planned, my very healthy (in both ways) stash of road snacks comes in real handy. Thought I'd dig into the chip bag and low and behold... |
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| Arriving into Calgary, the car read my mind. "Yes I DO!!!" Who knew?! LOL. It was actually 977km but I forgot to hit the reset button-remembering in Regina. |
Day 7 drive - Calgary, AB to Vancouver 1025km. 13hrs of driving. This was a stretch, and I knew it. So I left Calgary at 6:30am to head into Banff for a coffee stop. Having driven to Banff (and Jasper) in the past, I knew what to expect so was okay with a little dark driving for the first hour. Watching the sunrise in Banff was incredible (and incredibly cold @ minus 15) and worth getting going earlier to experience. It set me up for an amazing day of driving including a few stops at some key sites and one of the best drives through the mountains I've ever done. Calgary to Banff, up to Lake Louise, towards Golden and through Rogers Pass (AMAZING!!!), with a pitstop in Revelstoke (mountain village), and smooth sailing all the way from Kamloops into Vancouver. Did you know the Coquihalla highway is 120km! I may have gone a little faster... I arrived into Vancouver just as the sun dipped into the ocean and pulled into my sisters in-laws place in West Vancouver just as dark set in. "You've had a long drive! You must need a drink?!" 100% absolutely! Then I had the best night sleep yet:)))
Waking up in Calgary at 6am, I looked forward to the heated seats AND steering wheel and cranked all the heating controls to full blast. Looking forward to warmer conditions in Vancouver and the mountainous drive ahead;)
Banff had a great list of coffee shops and their sunrises aren't too shaby either. And you know what else? When it's minus 15, a face mask comes in handy;)
Next stop: Lake Louise. And I had the whole place to myself! I couldn't believe it but I guess it's the reality of the pandemic. Either way I'll take it! Its was also minus 15 and my fingers stuck to the rock where I set my phone down to take a selfie. Yikes! I ran all the way back to the warm car.
Just after Lake Louise I arrived at the Alberta/BC boarder. Me and another fellow traveller hiked it to the sign after pulling off the highway because the entry/exit was snowed in. Another Ontarian, he was travelling from Ottawa to Whistler to live. After we exchanged phones to take each others photo, I went back to the car and disinfected it. You can never be too careful these days.
I was given a tip back in Thunder Bay by a Calgarian that told me to visit Emerald Lake as it was less popular and just as beautiful as Lake Louise. Two things: 1) there were more people and 2) it was a blizzard so I barely saw anything! However, the Natural Bridge site nearer the base had some spectacular views!
When I saw the sign for Giant Cedars Boardwalk in Mt Revelstoke National Park errrrrrr!!! This tree hugger couldn't resist! The gate was closed so I hopped over it and into the park where I got an out of the car view of the mountains. And their washrooms were left open so hey, good stop.
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| Ahh, Vancouver at last. Just in time see the last light of the day and the moon lighting up the bay. Another totally incredible day of driving. After a full nights rest and a good hike the following day, I'm off to travel to the Yukon tomorrow-cutting my trip short here to beat yet another snow storm coming through BC on Monday. However, I'll be flying back to Vancouver on Tuesday from Whitehorse and will continue my stay for a few more days, heading home on Friday morning. A few more days than expected but hey, what's one more day;) See you in the North! xoHeather Spotify playlist pick from my mountain drive: | |
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