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| Leaving Calgary for Banff |
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We were just getting used to traveling through relative nothingness along Alberta 2, where towering grain silos rule the landscape, when we rolled into Calgary. Skyscrapers, freeway overpasses, housing subdivisions and traffic were a bit of a shock, but soon enough we emerged on the western side of the city and were back in the mountains. Ahhhh. Our route would be Canada 2 to Banff then on up Alberta 93 to Jasper. Almost as soon as we left Calgary we saw a Bald Eagle fly over the highway!
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| Entering Banff National Park |
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Lake Louise was still beautiful on a cloudy day, but we decided we'd have to come back home this way to try to see it under blue skies. We strolled around the lake and Chateau Lake Louise before heading on to Maligne Lake where it became drizzly, then on up to Jasper in the snow. The northern Rockies are so striking and we loved the lines of snow perched on the glacial striations. We saw our first roadside bear and mountain goats along this stretch.
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| Lake Louise |
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The beautiful Sawridge Inn in Jasper made us a super early season deal the we couldn't refuse and we were ready to call it a day after logging 388 miles.
Monday's route took us out of the Rockies along Canada 16, then north again along zig-zagging Alberta 40 to Grande Cache. These were some of the most remote, least-trafficked roads we'd ever driven. Turning west again at Grande Prairie onto Alberta 43, Susan drove our last leg before the start of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek. This would be her only driving in 7 weeks, except for local errands in Fairbanks.
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| Mountain goats |
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Dawson Creek was a huge photo op stop, and we were happy to oblige. We also sent off some postcards from famous "Mile 0." But we didn't stop long enough to do much more before anxiously heading north again, where we soon saw our first moose. Our day ended at a very clean chain motel in Fort Nelson, with another 680 miles behind us. We thought we had traveled through uninhabited areas, but we were just getting a taste of what lay ahead.
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| June snow in Jasper National Park |
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| Starting the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek |
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Our route so far, covering about 1,939 miles:
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