On our way home from Canada, we decided to swing over to Mt. Rainier National Park and squeeze in a couple of days exploring the south side of the park. We were arriving late so we found a wild campsite outside of the park boundary and then claimed an available campground site in the park the next day.
We got up to the trailhead at Paradise fairly early and hiked the full Skyline Trail loop. There happened to be a black bear and her two cubs near the lodge and we saw yet another black bear while on the trail as well as a mountain goat and a bunch of very tame marmots. We could also see Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens in the distance.
A three-minute video of our visit to Mt. Rainier
The following day I did an out-and-back hike alone to Comet Falls on the Van Trump Trail because Darlene wasn’t feeling up for more hiking. We also visited a bunch of roadside points like the Longmire Museum, Christine Falls, Narada Falls, Box Canyon and Silver Falls. We couldn’t easily check out the east or north side of the park due to road closures so after two days, we headed out and home south.
On July 26th, Darlene and I set out in the camper van for a two-month journey across western Canada with the possibility of going all the way to Alaska. The goal was to visit a bunch of their national parks like Banff and Jasper without any particular time constraints. We didn’t have any camping reservations because we didn’t want to have to decide in advance how long we would want to spend in any given area. Of course we expected that would be a bit of a challenge in the more popular parks where the campgrounds tend to fill up and you can’t just camp anywhere in the wild, but somehow we’d manage!
We ended up getting as far as the southwest corner of the Yukon territory before we had to make our way back by the end of September. Two months and 7,658 miles! It was a great trip and we saw a lot of gorgeous scenery and we didn’t get mauled by a grizzly even once!
I’ve broken up the trip into separate posts and galleries for each of the national parks and other major travel sections but I created one video montage of the whole trip:
Out of Jasper, we could have chosen to go north to join the Alaska Highway (ALCON) out of Dawson Creek but we decided to go west first to get to Stewart on the coast in time to possibly see grizzlies feasting on the salmon run before then turning north on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway for the Yukon.
Along the way, we overnighted in Prince George and, after our detour to Fort St. James for the chicken races, we camped overnight near the town of Smithers and put in an afternoon ride on some of their mountain bike trails. The next day we made another detour to go south on the Cassiar Highway to visit Terrace which also had some nice biking trails. After our ride we tried to find a campsite at this little lakeside park on the shore of Kitsumkalum Lake but it was overrun with weekend revelers. Giving up the lake shore we found a crazy sweet and secluded fishing spot along the river downstream.
Eventually though we made it to Stewart, BC and then just across the border and through Hyder, Alaska to a camping area near the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site after dark. The recommended viewing times are at dusk and dawn but we showed up late the following morning and missed out on a sighting, not realizing that Hyder was an hour ahead of British Columbia time. However, we spent the day following the dirt road north to admire the massive Salmon Glacier and do some hiking.
In view of the Salmon Glacier
That night we did luck out and get to see a grizzly bear make her away along the creek apparently looking for just the right salmon to feast on. The next morning, well before sunrise, we were among the first to arrive and once again got to watch the same bear. After these two successful sessions, we decided to move on and follow the Stewart-Cassiar Highway on north to the Yukon.
Grizzly (brown bear) at Fish Creek near Hyder, Alaska
The northern part of British Columbia is seriously remote and there are few opportunities for sightseeing, at least not by any roads. We did make another multi-day detour down a very long stretch of unpaved road to see and bike along the accessible part of the “Grand Canyon of the Stikine”.
Stikine River Canyon
Continuing north along the Cassiar Highway, we eventually joined the Alaska Highway (or ALCAN) to head further west towards the Yukon and Alaska. Then we took a detour south again into British Columbia to visit Atlin Lake and found a really nice wild camping spot alongside an unnamed lake on Fourth of July Creek near the McDonald Lake Recreation Site. We stayed two nights, did a little hike towards the nearby mountains but didn’t go very far and had a nice little auroral display one night.
Returning to the Alaska Highway, we decided to make an extended side trip down to Skagway. After that we eventually reached Whitehorse where we stayed in a hotel for a couple of nights, checked out some local museums and exhibits (particularly on the Klondike Gold Rush), ventured out on some local mountain biking trails (there’s tons around Whitehorse) and went to see Miles Canyon.
Miles Canyon outside Whitehorse
After Whitehorse, we continued west on the Alaska Highway towards Kluane National Park.
Continuing north along the Icefields Parkway in mid-August, we eventually came up the Sunwapta Pass into Jasper National Park in sight of the Athabasca Glacier pouring over from the massive unseen Columbia Icefield. We ate at the Glacier View Lodge and viewed the exhibits but passed on the bus tours to the glacier. Instead we stayed a couple of nights at the Wilcox Creek campground near the boundary between Jasper and Banff National Parks.
Saskatchewan Glacier Valley
We had a great hike from the campsite up the Wilcox Pass Trail for more views of the Athabasca Glacier and surrounding mountains and we came across a herd of bighorn sheep. Later that day, we explored a bit more over the boundary into Banff NP and happened upon the very cool Panther Falls where the water is so thick with glacial silt (or rock flour) that it’s plastering all the rocks and trees white below the falls and along the creek. Another great hike was up to Parker Ridge (also technically in Banff National Park) and the stupendous view of the Saskatchewan Glacier Valley.
Athabasca Falls
We then continued north stopping at Sunwapta Falls and the quite fantastic Athabasca Falls before reaching the town of Jasper. We could see the remnants of the wildfire that burned down a third of the town and some 96,000 surrounding acres last year. We had meals in Jasper but stayed in a campsite to the east of town in a little ways. We tried to visit the popular Maligne Canyon but the fire had also burned through that area and it was still closed to visitors due to hazards.
From Jasper we decided to continue on our way by traveling west through Prince George to get to Fish Creek near Stewart where there is a viewing platform to potentially see grizzly bears feasting on the salmon run at this time of year. We stopped for lunch and to see the visitor center exhibits (and a very interesting video about dealing with grizzlies) in Mount Robson Provisional Park.
Banff National Park is huge and full of incredible scenery. There is so much to see and explore even just via short day hikes. Unfortunately, it’s also very busy in the summer months and there are always crowds of people at the more popular sites, much like many US national parks. Some locations are so popular that special planning is required. For example, Moraine Lake Road is closed to personal vehicles year-round and the parking lots at Lake Louise fill up at sunrise in the summer months. It’s even difficult to secure time slots on the required shuttle buses a day or two in advance because they sell out so quickly.
Mountains towering over Lake Louise
We ended up spending two five-day stretches in the park over two weeks (visiting Yoho National Park in between) before continuing north on the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. Wild or dispersed camping isn’t allowed in any of the national parks and we didn’t have any advance reservations so we just had to grab spots here and there as they showed up online. We managed to snatch up a few consecutive nights at one of the large campgrounds near the town of Banff, another few nights near Lake Louise and then some first-come, first-serve sites further north at Waterfowl Lakes. We also stayed in a hotel in Banff when we couldn’t get a campground site (like Friday and Saturday nights) to avoid having to drive all the way out of the park. It was probably even more difficult than usual this summer because the Canadian government had granted free access to all the national parks along with discounted camping fees.
View of Banff from top of gondola
We explored the town of Banff by bike and on foot, visiting the Cascade of Time Gardens, the Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum, the river walk and Bow Falls, hiking up the Sulphur Mountain Trail and riding the Banff gondola back down. We also rode the Lake Louise gondola up to the ski area for lunch and to go hiking and enjoy the ultra wide views of Lake Louise and the surrounding mountains. It was kind of freaky to pass through the big gates of the electrified fence that protects the top of the gondola visitors area from grizzly bears.
Peyto Lake viewpoint
A major highlight was visiting Moraine Lake for sunrise and hiking from there up towards Wenkchemna Pass on the Eiffel Lake Trail. Afterward we briefly visited Lake Louise itself but never ended up doing any of the classic hikes up from the lake. Another favorite was the gorgeous Peyto Lake viewpoint and hiking up the valley from there. We enjoyed hiking through Johnston Canyon despite the crowds and the insane lines for photo ops at the waterfalls. It is impressive but admittedly still cooler to see the canyon iced over in the winter (without crowds of people) as we’ve done in the past.
Hector Lake and the Pulpit Peaks
We enjoyed still more hiking from Bow Lake up towards Bow Glacier Falls on a cold wet morning, a late afternoon hike from our campsite to Chephren Lake and a short hike to more stupendous views at the edge of Hector Lake.
Darlene and I joined her sister Shel and Diane, Regina, Rochelle, Lori, Brianna and Rachel on a trip to New Zealand this past month. Darlene and I had both visited New Zealand before but individually, before we met. Rachel, Darlene and I flew out to meet the others in the South Island, in Christchurch and Rachel got her first experience on electric scooters. From there we drove to Akaroa for a boat cruise looking for dolphins and other wildlife. We continued down the Otago coast hitting up the very cool Elephant Rocks near Oamaru and the Moeraki Boulders on our way to Dunedin. We stayed several nights in Dunedin, visiting sights like Tunnel Beach, Larnach Castle and Toitu Otago Settlers Museum. We also did a bit of hiking, saw the glowworms at Nicols Creek, visited the Royal Albatross Centre and got to spy on both the Yellow Eyed and little Blue penguins in the wild.
We continued on to Queenstown, where we enjoyed a steamship cruise to Walter Peak sheep farm for a BBQ dinner and sheep shearing demo. We took in the views via the gondola to Bob’s Peak and had a blast riding the wheeled toboggans down the Queenstown Luge. We visited an ice bar (and lots of shops) in town, I spent a day biking around Lake Wakatipu while everyone else went zip-lining in Glenorchy.
At this point, we split up with some of the group heading home and others continuing on to the west coast. Darlene and I stayed a couple more days in Queenstown doing some hiking before heading south to Te Anau. Some late winter weather closed the road to Milford Sound for a day or two but luckily the weather cleared up again and we were able to make a day trip from Te Anau with lots of stops to enjoy all the waterfalls and snow-covered mountain views both along the road as well as in Milford Sound on an afternoon boat cruise. The day was only marred by an attack of Kea birds damaging our rental car while we waited our turn to pass through the tunnel.
After Te Anau, we continued our road trip to the south coast and the Catlins region, stopping off at Gemstone Beach (we came away empty-handed) and lost the afternoon in Invercargill dealing with a damaged tire (unrelated to the Kea birds) and swapping out our car rental. As a result, we arrived after sunset at our somewhat remote accommodation (Mohua Park, lots of dirt roads to get there but oh so worth it) and we were still blown away by the gorgeous setting in the hills, surrounded by a sheep farm. As nice as the location was though, we spent our two days there out exploring and hiking along the Catlins coast.
From there we headed back north, all the way to Aoraki and Mt. Cook Village where we spent a couple of days enjoying fantastic hikes both below and partway up the surrounding mountains. We also managed to book a helicopter sightseeing tour when we saw the weather was likely going to clear – it was a spectacular flight on a gorgeous day, soaring among the peaks of the “Southern Alps” and landing on one of the glaciers.
After a long drive back to Christchurch, we took an evening flight to reach Auckland on the North Island. From Auckland, we set out for the Hobbiton Movie Set near Matamata, stopping off at a surprisingly creative and captivating botanical garden, the Hamilton Gardens. The Hobbiton afternoon tour, dinner banquet and night walk was all really great and we were incredibly impressed by everything they’ve done and how well it’s maintained and presented.
We filled the following day with a couple of cave tours in Waitomo to see cool cave formations and more of the famous New Zealand “glow worms” as well as a visit to a bird sanctuary where we could see nocturnal kiwis among other native New Zealand birds, albeit in captivity. With our last day and a half in Auckland, we enjoyed the Weta Workshop tour, went up the Sky Tower, rode scooters out to Mount Eden for the city view, tried our hand at a couple of escape rooms and explored an amusing “sensory maze” experience. But then it was time to fly home again… until next time!
Darlene and I joined a small group trip in Northern India in late January, booked through Explore!. The tour began in Delhi and traveled across much of the Rajasthan region of northern India before finishing off in Agra and returning to Delhi after two weeks. We then took a little extra three day excursion to Rathambore National Park in search of tigers to cap off our visit to India.
We had a fun group of the nine of us (everyone from the UK but us), plus our wonderful Indian tour leader Inder Singh (“Indu”). We also had an additional local guide at many of the historical sites we visited. India proved to be quite the experience – from the crazy anything-goes, honk-to-be-heard traffic of every form and size to the innumerable historic sites and temples to the massive crowds of super-friendly Indian people everywhere. Oh and of course so many curries and other Indian dishes to try!
A 10-minute video montage of our trip. (Smaller/lower quality version here)
Starting in busy Delhi, we visited a number of temples, tombs and a mosque over two days before traveling by train into Rajasthan. In Ajmer, we visited one of the oldest mosques in India and, not being a place visited by foreign tourists, we were approached by lots of folks wanting to take selfies with us. That evening we stayed at a rural Maharaja’s palace now converted into a heritage hotel where we were treated to an ox cart ride into the neighboring village.
We visited the massive Chittorgarh Fort the next day on our way to Udaipur in the south. In Udaipur, we saw a performance of Dharohar folk dancing and toured the City Palace before Darlene and I succumbed to a tiring cold and missed out on the boat tour across Lake Pichola as well as a demonstration of miniature detail painting. We were feeling better the next day as we continued on to Jojowar, stopping off at a beautiful Jain temple.
Our next stop was to see a demonstration of handcrafted Dhurrie rugs by Roopraj Prajapat – and have the whole group tempted into buying some rugs! We then continued on to visit the Mehrangarh Fort and Palace as well as visit another busy street market in Jodhpur.
Then we were on to a long drive and our deepest point into the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, to Bikaner. Along the way, we visited the Karni Mata “Temple of Rats” where tens of thousands of rats make a home and are cared for, worshipped and given offerings. (While Darlene waited in the bus. ;-) In Bikaner, we were given a tour of the Junagarh fort and palace, saw some havelis (traditional highly decorated mansions) while exploring a street market, visited another miniature painting artist and the girls got painted in henna while the boys played foosball.
On the way to Jaipur, we took a driving break to see some more havelis in Fatehpur. With two days in Jaipur, we toured the Amber Fort and Palace, visited the astronomical observatory park of Jantar Mantar and the City Palace but also were treated to more Indian handcraft demonstrations – few came away from there empty-handed!
And yet on we continued to Agra for the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort of Agra and the Baby Taj mausoleum, with a stopover at another red sandstone fort at Fatehpur Sikri.
On our return to Delhi, the rest of our group headed home to England while Darlene and I boarded a train for Rathambore in hopes of seeing Bengal tigers in the wild. Unfortunately, none were to be found on our three excursions into the park over two days. Hey, but Darlene bought some more Indian handicrafts!
It was a great trip overall but I admit to being put off by the constant street crowds, the noise and air pollution and the garbage strewn everywhere – lining the streets and filling the river beds. However, we’re both still happy to have had the opportunity to visit India and we very much enjoyed our group and Indu’s enthusiastic guiding.
Continuing south on SR95 from Tonopah and Goldfield, we came through Beatty and reached the Goldwell Open Air Museum a little before sunset:
We spent the next two nights in a spot in the hills outside Beatty and ventured out on our bikes to explore and visit the remains of the mining town, Rhyolite. We also encounter some wild burros both out in the desert and in the middle of the town of Beatty.
