June 2014: ALBERTA, BC, ROBSON PARK, JASPER and BANFF NATIONAL PARK: On the Road Again

We recently returned from a 6 day whirlwind trip spanning Portland, Seattle, Valemount BC, Edmondon Alberta, Idaho, Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, and back home. Tim wanted to visit some old friends in Edmonton, and we decided to make a road trip out of it, it was the most beautiful drive I have ever been on. The Rocky Mountains are so breathtaking up North, they seem to reach forever in to the sky, and the wildlife is quite a treat as well. We got to see a grizzly bear and her two babies! I'll see a moose next time, that was on the "never have" list.  If you ever happen to be making a similar trip north, or are headed to Jasper National Park, I highly recommend staying at Robson Shadows Campground (http://www.mountrobsonlodge.com/), the pull in spots are right on the river and very quiet and private considering how close you are to the next campsite. There is one liquor and beer store in Valemount BC, the last town before camp, so make sure and pull over here to grab provisions and maybe gas up. It's a special place with special people, where a 6 pack of corona costs $25 Canadian Dollars. Yikes! 

We had an excellent time in Edmonton visiting Tim's old friend Ollie and his lovely girlfriend Michelle. We walked around the city, went to the "Leg", visited the largest mall in North America (after business hours which was pretty cool), and ate some amazing veggie meals. Hopefully they will be coming to visit us soon so we can take them on a tour of Portland!

We headed south and cut west just before Calgary on the "1",  through Banff National Park, and stopped by Lake Louise or "Lake of the Little Fishes", an awesome glacial lake just before crossing back in to British Columbia and seeing tons of bears and traveling the hot springs highway.

We used Tim's campground finder app to help us find a place in Idaho, somwhere north of Sandpoint so we could be "outside the city". We ended up in Smith Lake Campground in Bonners Ferry, ID.  It is free to camp, great fire pits and clean restrooms, plus we met a magical owl. He is my favorite. And he kept an eye on us all night long (we slept in the Kia for the first time, it was so cozy and warm) tent schment!!!

We finished off the trip by driving through Enterprise, Joseph, Wallowa, and staying in Union, Oregon at the http://thehistoricunionhotel.com/, dog friendly, very neat old hotel, its not the fanciest, but if you like the laid back, rusty nail kind of place, this is your spot.  Tim's favorite golf course (http://www.buffalopeakgolf.com/) and favorite bagel shop in Oregon are here, plus my new favorite rummage sale out of the old local church!

 Mt. Robson, view from the Robson Shadows Campground in Valemount, BC

There were about 700 hummingbirds outside the main office, they each were different shades of bright pastels.

The fur pigs settling in to camp. It was their first drive in camping trip, and our first one in a very long time! So much easier than the backback route :) Plus I could pack way more clothes!

Furmily.

We finally got to try out our new tent that I ordered from Sierra Trading Post. The 3-person, all season, Alps Mountaineering, Zenith tent. We love it, soooo much more room than the last one! Lots of head room. http://www.sierratradingpost.com/alps-mountaineering-zenith-3-al-tent-3-person-3-season~p~1480c/?filterString=s~alps-tent%2F&colorFamily=03

The double doors and vestibules work great for 2 dogs and wet gear, easy to move in/out of the tent w/out stepping on everything and everyone!

Good Morning British Columbia!



Horny Moose, sounds like an adult beverage. For the record, I didn't see a moose. With or without horns. 

One of the first little friends we made.

Big horned sheep in Jasper National Park.

Black Bear makes a go for it.

Lake Louise, Alberta

Lake Louise, Alberta, still mostly frozen.

One of several black bear families we saw near the road in Banff National Park.

 Mama and Baby Grizzlies in Banff, so amazing to see these gorgeous creatures up close. (Disclaimer: it is not a good idea to pull over and take pictures of grizzlies. It is not a good idea to get anywhere near grizzlies, especilly a Mother with babies, Tim and I are setting a horrible example here, if we had stayed a second longer, Mom probably would have charged our vehicle to protect her cubs.  But aren't they sooooo beautiful!!!!?)

so much of our drive was through this kind of country. It was quite a breathtaking trip.

Wallowa Lake

Trout in Wallowa Lake, this water is so clear!

Tim saw some kind of large bird land a few hundred feet from our campsite at Smith Lake, in Idaho. And we walked out to find this handsom devil, I believe he or she is a great horned owl. But his "great horns" are hiding somewhere!

A lovely spot by the little creek outside of Terminal Gravity Brewing in Enterprise, Oregon. http://www.terminalgravitybrewing.com/

Lunch Snuggles.

The road warriors. Maggie Mae and Chloe Breaulty

Happy Campers

Golf Camp!

Virginia sat out a few adventures that I (Tim) took either solo or with others, so the next few posts will be Virginia-less and dogless (Chloe the Basset is limited, so if the hike is difficult/long, she has to stay home, where she can lounge and bark and fart to her heart's content.)

My east coast buddy and I took a week long golf/camp trip across Oregon. We didn't get a whole lot of hiking in, but got to see a lot of this  beautiful state...such as:

Swimming in the Mckenzie River! This was the first week of August and it was absolutely freezing. We camped up The Aufderheide, and made our way to Terwilliger Hot Springs in the AM.

 

 

Golfing in rad places! This is my favorite course in Oregon. It's called Buffalo Peak and is located in Union, OR. I would highly recommend the Union Bagel Shop on E. Electric St. Best bagels I've had on the west coast. If ya don't know, now ya know.

 

 

 

Painted Hills! This might sound dumb, but I've driven through Mitchell, OR about a half dozen times and couldn't find the painted hills. But, I succeeded this time.

 

 



More golf! This is from the South Fork Golf Course which you need to go to to truly appreciate it. It has an honor box out front, a weird layout, and it's a hidden gem. If you want a manicured, cater-to-your-every-need golf course, don't stop here. If you want to drink a Bud and get to know the owner who built his own golf course in the vein of Field of Dreams, this is your spot. Par 3, by the way.

 

 

One of the hikes that we did do was Strawberry Lake from Strawberry Campground. It's a short 2.6 mile there and back that is totally worth your while if you happen to be staying at the campground. Even better, park at Strawberry Campground and hike up and set up shop right on the lake. The lake sits at about 6,200 ft, so it can get a bit chilly at night, and fires are generally prohibited in the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness all dry season, so bundle up. Also, the FS 6001 road is pretty slow going, but it passed the 2007 Ford Focus test.

 

 

 

I definitely will be back to this area to do some exploring. Golf Camp 2013 was rad, and I hope it will become a tradition.