May 18 Day 9

We awake in the Wapiti campground around 7AM. No bears this year like two years ago. Can’t believe we left the window on the car door open all night.  No wonder the heater kept running!  And luckily no critters got in. It’s sunny and warm.  The campground continued to fill up overnight.  We drive through the town of Jasper.  It is picture perfect.  Little boutique shops and restaurants and the trans Canada train has a depot there.  We drive on up Rt 16 and cross over the Continental Divide, the boundary of BC and Alberta and cross into the next time zone all at the same time.  We are now 3 hours from Seth and 1 hour from Brenna.  We stop off at Mt Robson, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.  It’s very beautiful and has large glaciers running off it. We go to the visitor’s center which is really nice and the little gift shop nearby.  They have hung out a hummingbird feeder and instantly there are at least a dozen feeding.  We move into the temperate rain forest of British Columbia - ferns, huge cedars and pines, mosses and misty clouds hanging on the sides of the mountains.  Lots of green.  We don’t have time to do the Ancient Rainforest hike but would like to someday.  We go through Prince George.  A large town that is busy with commerce.  We descend to a broad valley of the Frazer River goes on for hundreds of miles.  Lots of ranches, cattle horses and some crops.  This landscape is far less dramatic than the high mountains; big rivers and lakes etc.  It’s not the most compelling for sightseeing.  This valley is the space between the Canadian Rockies and the Coastal mountains.  We are following the trans Canada railway the whole time. Lots of Scots have settled here, recognizable names and lot of golf! There are big semis serving the lumber and mining and agricultural interests.  There are signs for moose all along the way and the conditions seem right, but we never see any. We pass through Houston where the Bulkey River runs through.  It is a tremendous amount of water and it runs high.  Two years ago when we came through they had scary flooding.  Not only high but the current is deadly.  We camped at Shady Rest near here on the previous trip.  It is still operating.  Only see two black bears, deer and bald eagle today. We decide to go all the way to Smithers today.  As we near the busy town we are entering the coastal mountains, so there are snow peaks and glaciers once again. This is a big outdoor sporting area.  Downhill and cross country skiing, rafting, helicopter rides etc.  The cute downtown is like an alpine village but it is immediately surrounded by support services and businesses.  We continue to our campsite five miles out of town.  It sits right on RT 16 and we are told it will quiet later.  We are directly across some high mountains with a glacier facing us and the sun is setting behind it.  It has been in the low 60’s today with spots of rain even saw some lightning.  We got into some micro-bursts that really shook the RV while driving.  The wind was a continuous factor.  Rt 16, Yellowhead Highway, is good two lane road but only 2 lanes with local traffic.  The sky is clear over us but there is a black looking storm coming our way.  The wind is rising and the temperature is dropping.  We’ll see what the night brings.  Will make sure the windows are closed tonight.

RV Mileage total today 471

Total RV Mileage 2,394

Total road miles 3,292

Hours traveled today:  11 hours (one hour stop)