Kings on the Road

A Day in Los Angeles

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Kings On the Road

We are NOT big city people. For us to enjoy Los Angeles, one of the largest most sprawling cities in the world is most unlikely. Yet we like visiting LA. We have visited 4 times since 2012. Most recently our base has been the Soledad Canyon RV Park in Acton CA. It is in a very rural area about 70 miles northeast of downtown LA in the desert beyond the San Gabriel Mountains. The weather is dry, temps mostly very mild and almost always sunny.

One of the great features of the area is the Metrolink train a few miles from the park. No need to drive LA’s famous freeways and over crowded streets! We hop on the train to Union Station, then take the subway or bus where we want to go. It is a very inexpensive and relaxing way to see the city. Finding LA’s extensive public transit was a huge plus and makes the city enjoyable. Who knew, LA has transit.

Metrolink near Acton CA

Our first “day in LA” found us back in the car. We got free tickets to the taping of a sitcom “A Man with a Plan” starring Matt LeBlanc (Friends) and Kevin Nealon (SNL) at CBS Studios near Hollywood. It was a 5:15PM taping so we could get into town before the worst of rush hour. And we had no idea how long it would take to tape a half hour show. Turns out it was a good choice as we did not get out until 8:30, 3+ hours. It was good fun as there was a standup comic, Ron Pearson, keeping the audience laughing between scenes so we would be ready to laugh at each take of each scene. Some scenes were shot 4 times. The show was pretty funny and a clever script. Ron gave away prizes to good laughers and Dianne won a Starbucks gift card.

Another “day in LA” was a train, subway, bus trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. These are a world famous source for prehistoric ice age fossils which were trapped and preserved in a huge pit of asphaltum (tar). Literally thousands of fossils have been and continue to be pulled from the tar. We could smell the methane gas seeping from the gooey ooze. Giant sloths, mastodons, camels, saber toothed cats and dire wolves are among the skeletons on display at the visitor center. The large park area around the many pits is open free to the public. On our way to the tar pits we had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown near Union Station. We loved the vegan Pho made with mushroom broth. You know its a good place when you are in a sea of restaurants at 11:30AM and there is a line! After the Tar Pits we walked to the LA’s Original Farmers Market. This started during the Great Depression on land owned by the tar pit guy. We brought our farmers market bags, ready for some serious veggie shopping. Alas, it is now more of a shopping/restaurant area but we did find some nice oyster mushrooms. We had to laugh at ourselves. Bus, subway, train and we are home again. A day in LA.

La Brea Tar Pits

Ancient bison ancester fossils recovered from Tar Pits

LA Original Farmers Market

Our next “day in LA” was another train, subway, bus trip to see a taping of the game show “Wheel of Fortune” at Sony Studios in Culver City. It has been on TV for 34 years and we wanted to see Pat and Vanna live. The set is not huge but takes up a large soundstage all year for 34 days of taping! We saw 3 shows taped in 3 hours, they shoot 6 per day. The shows we saw will be aired Dec 22,23 and 28. And yes, Vanna is 59 and size 4! We were soooo glad we took transit when we got out onto the streets of LA at 6:30 and found gridlock!

Our last “day in LA” was a special train trip downtown to Memorial Coliseum to see our Miami Dolphins take on the Los Angeles Rams. Have not seen the Fins in person in many years and the timing and opportunity were irresistible. The train was an hour and a half late but we got there for kickoff. As soon as we got to the train station we saw Miami Dolphin fans dressed for the game. We were so surprised to find Miami fans everywhere. Rams fans were polite but seemed almost outnumbered. It rained the whole game. The Dolphins played poorly for 3 1/2 quarters before exploding for 2 touchdowns to win 14-10. Again the train was an hour late returning. Such are the chances you take with public transport but we had a great day.

Near our RV park is another gem of LA County, Vasquez Rocks Natural Area. We had visited last year and loved it. It is a geologic wonderland of tilted rocks and hiking trails including a bit of the Pacific Crest Trail. We love the hiking and desert scenery. Many many films and TV shows have been shot here including Blazing Saddles and Star Trek.

Vasquez Rocks

Great hiking

Desert landscape

PCT tunnel under hwy 14

More rocks

Beautiful lichen decomposing rock

We visited the area from November 2-22, 2016.

Posted in California, Desert, RV Travel | Tagged CBS Studios, La Brea Tar Pits, LA Chinatown, LA Union Station, Man with a Plan, Memorial Coliseum, Metrolink train, Miami Dolphins, Original Farmers Market, Soledad Canyon RV Park, Sony Studios, Vasquez Rocks, Wheel of Fortune | Comments Off

Pinnacles National Park

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Kings On the Road

Pinnacles is the newest national park in the US. It was created by an act of congress in 2013. It was set aside as a national monument in 1908 by Theodore Roosevelt making it one of the oldest monuments. Reaching national park status has increased its visibility substantially. It is located inland from the central California coast south of Hollister. The area is classic California with hills with scattered oaks golden brown in the Fall. Vineyards and cattle ranchos dot the landscape. This area is very sparsely populated.

Our nation’s newest national park

Classic California hills

Early 20th century rancho

The park itself features rock spires and caves formed by huge boulders tumbled into canyons. The caves are home to bats and the park has deer. People come to the park to hike, picnic, camp and rock climb. With over 30 miles of trails, Pinnacles in the Fall is great for hiking. We visited October 29-31, 2016.

Gorgeous hiking

Boulder formed caves

Flashlight required

Rock climbers love it!

Posted in California, national parks, RV Travel, wildlife | Tagged caves, Hiking | Comments Off

Oregon

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Kings On the Road

We first visited Oregon in the Fall of 2007 and promised we’d be back. With so much of the coast dedicated to public access we knew we wanted to return in better weather. There is a lot to see in OR. We visited again in the Fall of 2015 and again had poor weather. We did find an excellant RV Service company in Harrsburg, Elite RV Repair and Restoration. These guys are the best RV technecions we’re ever used. They diagnosed quickly and accurately and got the repair done promptly. We also found Cummins in Eugene for our routine diesel engine maintenance. One nice thing about Oregon is there is no sales tax. If the price is 9.95, you pay 9.95. In contrast Washington has a sales tax of up to 9.6%!

Spring of 2016 we were back in OR again. This time entering from CA along US395. We stayed at a Thousand Trails near Bend. Bend is in the sunnier part of the state. Seems like a nice mid-size city, we want to keep an eye on Bend.

Update: Returning to OR in mid September, Bend is 30 degrees in the AM, highs in the 70s. Weather is up and down in the Fall. Snow in the Cascades. Then suddenly temps in the 70s. Then gray 50s and drizzle. Not sure its our cup of tea. There is lots of hiking, mountain biking. Supposed to be good mushrooming although we’ve had no luck.

Mt. Bachelor

Green Lake Trail

Astoria Oregon is a very nice small city, the oldest on the West coast of the US. It was founded in 1811. People are very friendly and hail from all over the country. There is a nice sense of community. They say it only rains once a year – from November until June! The nearby state park, Fort Stevens, has a weekly ranger led mushroom hike from late September until November. We attended the first of the season and found boletes, lobsters and learned about Shaggy Parasols (very tasty).

Megler Bridge across the Columbia

Astoria downtown

Now in late October its time to head south. Oregon rains have begun and temps rarely reach 60. Our mobile one bedroom apartment will head to warmer, sunnier climes of California.

Posted in Oregon, RV, RV Travel, State Parks | Tagged Astoria OR, Bend OR, Elite RV, Fort Stevens State Park, mushrooms | 6 Comments

Crater Lake

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Kings On the Road

Crater Lake National Park has been on our bucket list for a long time. Each year when we would consider going there it was either too early in the summer or too late in the fall. You see there is a very short season at Crater Lake. With an average of 44 feet of snow each year, summer starts late (July) and winter starts early (October). This year we planned to leave western Washington early enough to catch the end of season at the park. What a treat! We had a spectacular clear sunny day if a bit on the cool side. There had been snow that week so we had the additional feature of snow on the mountains. We visited on October 8th.

Blue Lake

Crater Lake and Wizard Island

Lake and rim

Crater Lake has been a national park since 1902 making it one of the oldest. It was a far sighted person, William Steel, who wrote over a thousand letters to convince President Cleveland to set aside the area. The place had been first visited by Euro-Americans in 1853. We were fortunate to see a ranger program on the naming of the park. It was a very entertaining story of the quirky way the name was established. A newspaperman from Portland rowed a leaky boat to the cinder cone island in the lake and peered into its central crater. He then declared the name “Crater Lake”. Trivia alert: the name was derived from the crater on Wizard Island, not the huge lake itself.

Ranger talk, great as always

Crater Lake Lodge

An easy hike in the park took us to Plaikni Falls, created by a stream originating at a spring formed by seepage from the caldera.

Plaikni Falls

The lake was created when a super volcano named Mt. Mazama collapsed after a week long eruption 7700 years ago. This is very recent in geologic history and would have been witnessed by Native Americans living in the area at the time. Mt. Mazama is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire which includes volcanoes in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Japan and Indonesia. The eruption of Mazama collapsed the 12000 foot mountain and created a caldera. The caldera was then gradually filled with rain and snowmelt creating the lake we see today. There is no river flowing into or out of Crater Lake. At over 1900 feet deep it is the deepest lake in the USA and holds some of the purest water on earth. The purity provides the spectacular blue color.

Those fortunate enough to see the movie “Wild” will understand the majesty of Crater Lake. The opportunity to see things like Crater Lake is what our lifestyle is all about. Everyday we get up with the chance to enjoy the beauty of our world. Crater Lake is one such beauty.

Posted in national parks, Oregon, RV Travel | Tagged Crater Lake National Park, movie "Wild" | 2 Comments

Fall in the Pacific Northwest

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Kings On the Road

September seems to be everyone’s favorite month in the Pacific Northwest. The 90 degree days are gone, the kids are back in school and the daily rain has not arrived just yet. We start thinking its time to start south when it does rain 3 or 4 days in a row.

Olympic Peninsula shore

Seattle from Port Orchard

The Olympic Peninsula is unique to Washington. It is the northwestern most corner of the 48 states. It is dominated by the Olympic Mountains which are snow capped all year. The eastern side is bounded by the Puget Sound. There are many small towns, huge forests, scenic coastline and its very rural. The sound provides views of Seattle and the volcanos of the Cascades. We visited Port Orchard, well known to readers of Debbie Macomber. We also toured Port Townsend, a historic seaport town with a lot of Victorian buildings. We happened to visit during the Wooden Boat Festival, a well attended event celebrating the maritime heritage.

Historic military post with Mt. Baker in the distance

Port Townsend

Fishing port

Wooden boat fest

Victorian lady

The Pacific coast of Washington is surprisingly quiet in the Fall. There is less fog due to cooler inland temps and the rain is still occasional. Southwest Washington has a long human history with very successful Native Americans enjoying the bounty of the sea before Lewis and Clark arrived in 1804. Immigrants from the young United States established settlements along the coast harvesting seafood and timber. Oysters, clams and salmon join cranberries and tourism in today’s economy. Willapa Bay is one of the largest estuaries on the Pacific coast and a huge migratory bird stop. We had the opportunity to kayak and hike in the Willapa Wildlife Refuge and provide a little help to growers harvesting cranberries for Ocean Spray.

Willapa Wildlife Refuge

Willapa seafood industry

We camped near Seaview WA short walk to the beach. On one beach hike we visited North Head Lighthouse, one of several in the area aiding shipping on the trecherous approach to the Columbia River. On another we found an abundance of bolete mushrooms. These are delicious and easy to ID. We had so many we were able to dry a lot for later use.

North Head lighthouse

Trecherous entrance to Columbia River

Pacific coast at Seaview

Bolete treat near the beach

More boletes “porcini”

Ilwaco Washington has a very nice Pacific Heritage Museum. We were fortunate to visit on a Smithsonian Free Museum Day. There is a nice history of the crossing of the Columbia to Astoria as well as a history of the railroad that served the Long Beach peninsula.

N scale rail display

September may be the nicest month to visit the Pacific coast of Washington. We had many blue sky days, very mild temperatures, no crowds, and wild mushrooms for the picking. Heaven!

Posted in RV Travel, Washington | Tagged cranberries, Ilwaco WA, mushrooms, Olympic Peninsula, oysters, Pacific Heritage Museum, Port Orchard WA, Port Townsend WA, Seaview WA, Willapa Wildlife Refuge, Wooden Boat Festival | 3 Comments

Trains of the Pacific Northwest

Posted on October 7, 2016 by Kings On the Road

The Pacific Northwest has a long history of trains. Several major railroads had transcontinental lines terminating in Washington state including Great Northern, Northern Pacific and The Milwaukee Road. As almost anywhere in the US, growth of the region was spurred by the railroads. Today BNSF and Union Pacific are the only Class 1 lines serving the area. Many other lines are now some of the finest Rails to Trails in the country. Summer is tourist train season and Washington and Oregon have their share. We rode some, chased some, visited historic and contemporary rails sites. We spotted Amtrak, the Cascadian, Sound Transit and countless freights.

Puyallup Washington is just one city in the Puget Sound area that celebrates its rail heritage.

Mural in Puyallup

BNSF still serves the PNW

The Chehalis and Centralia Railway preserves a branch line of the Milwaukee Road south of Tacoma.

Chehalis and Centralia Rwy.

Railfan

Family train spotting

Rural Washington

The Mt. Ranier Scenic Railway and Museum operates on an old logging line near Mt. Rainier. This railroad features a “tank” style locomotive with its water supply wrapped in a tank around the boiler rather than in a tender.

Mt Rainier Scenic Rwy.

Steam!

The Oregon Rail Heritage Center is in downtown Portland. Among its collection is the former Southern Pacific 4449 “Daylight” locomotive arguably the most beautiful steam locomotive ever built. 4449 is operational today and leads excursions periodically. It famously led the 1976 Bicentennial Freedom Train.

ORHC and Northern Pacific passenger car

SP 4449

Nickel Plare Road diesel Alco PA

Contemporary Portland streetcar

Oregon has its own scenic railroads including the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad. Its a short ride from Rockaway Beach to Garibaldi and back. We went on a Sunday and lots of people were enjoying the ride along the Pacific coast. In addition to the ride, there is a collection of historic rail equipment to view. The weather is September was mixed, sunny and warm then cool and foggy or cloudy then sunny again. Again we found steam in the Pacific Northwest.

Kings on the train!

Oregon Coast Scenic RR

Working on the railroad

Real steam

First generation diesel

Southern Pacific passenger car

We found many enjoyable trains in the Pacific Northwest. There are more to be sure. Its a great place to visit during the Summer and early Fall before the rains begin in earnest.

Posted in Oregon, RV Travel, trains, Washington | Tagged Chehalis and Centralia Railway, Mt. Ranier Scenic Railway, Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, Oregon Rail Heritage Center, Puyallup WA, Steam trains | Comments Off

Summer in Western Washington

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Kings On the Road

Other than our month in the Canadian Rockies, we planned on spending our summer in and around the Seattle area. Our son and his family planned on buying a home and we wanted to help. They bought a home in Puyallup, a nice family oriented town about an hour south of Seattle. The town is still reasonably affordable compared to Seattle which some fear could be the next San Francisco in terms of un-affordable real estate. We are happy they’ve left Seattle as the traffic has gone from bad to worse. There is just no day, no time when traffic does not bog down with just too many cars on too few roads. A year ago we heard a panel discussion during which we heard a local transporation official say that in order for I-5 to comfortably handle its current traffic load it would have to be 22 lanes wide in each direction!

Happy homeowners

As in much of our native Florida, the beauty of the area has been overwhelmed and diminished by its popularity. Too bad about the Seattle area but we will continue to seek out new beautiful places without the burden of having to make a living. We hope that gives us an edge.

Leavenworth WA is a cute town which has re-made itself into a German village. The architecture and everything about it is themed. We had first visited one Christmas many years ago in a heavy snow and it was un-forgetable. Summer finds the town very busy with tourists from all over hiking, rafting and enjoying the fruits of the region. We stayed in a 1000 Trails campground a little ways out of town. The local National Forest office told us about a great hike just outside of town. Icicle River Gorge trail was a great loop hike with great views. On the way to the hike we stopped at the Wenatchee Fish Hatchery, one of the largest ever built. It is very historic and still releases 1.1 million salmon each year.

Icicle River

Cascade Mountains

Winthrop WA is a “western” themed town in the north Cascades, a long day trip from Leavenworth. Beautiful drive up the Columbia River Valley through the lovely town of Chelan. Winthrop itself has a great museum and false front buildings and wooden sidewalks in the old west style. While there we saw a Fordson tractor. Personal note: Randy went to Fordson High school in Dearborn MI. Fordson was named after Henry Ford’s tractor the “Fordson”. The H.S. sports teams were called the Tractors!

Winthrop Washington

Old West town

Fordson tractor

Museum of early Washington history

Wenatchee produces an abundance of fruit every year thanks to irrigation from the Columbia River. We had always known about their apples but this year we tasted the best Rainier cherries, Bing cherries, peaches, apricots, pears and plums. This place is a real treat for lovers of fresh fruit.

During our summer in Washington our daughter and her kids came to visit. After a day trip to the city to see the Space Needle, Pike Place Market and the Chittenden Locks we took the Washington State Ferry to Friday Harbor and San Juan Island. This is a beautiful summer trip winding thru the islands to a lovely town. We learned some of the history of the area by touring the English Camp and American Camp where the two countries nearly went to war after a pig was killed. We toured an organic farm with animals, fruits and veggies. A highlight was the Pelindaba Lavendar Farm where we tasted Lavendar ice cream and sampled many lotions, soaps and oils. Another day during the visit included a 7 mile hike high in the Cascades near Stevens Pass on the Iron Goat Trail, an old railroad right of way trail including tunnels and huge concrete structures supporting old snowsheds.

Ferry ride to San Juan Island

Arriving Friday Harbor

English Camp

Pelindaba Lavendar Farm

Lavendar

Sponge Bob’s pineapple on San Juan Island

Original Great Northern RR tunnel

Snowshed foundation

No trip to western Washington is complete without a trip to Mount Rainier. It was established as a National Park in 1899, making it one of the oldest. Rainier is over 14,000 feet tall and dominates the entire Puget Sound region. It can be seen from nearly sea level so the views are astounding. Rainier has more glaciers than all other Cascade volcanoes combined. Due to climate change the glaciers are receding but there will always be glaciers on Rainier due to its elevation. It is currently dormant but has the potential of an eruption similar to Mt. St. Helens in 1980. Puyallup is at low risk from the volcano, but not at no risk. We were lucky to visit on a sunny, clear day when the mountain was not shrouded in clouds.

Mt. Rainier

Retreating glacier on Rainier

Happy hikers

Summer is a great time to enjoy western Washington. Temps are mostly very comfortable with only occasional heat waves. Recreational opportunities abound with lots of water and mountains.

Posted in food, national parks, RV Travel, Washington | Tagged Leavenworth WA, Mt. Rainier NP, Pelindaba Lavendar Farm, Port Orchard WA, Port Townsend WA, Puyallup WA, San Juan Island, Seattle, Wenatchee WA, Winthrop WA | 6 Comments

Seattle Cruise

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Kings On the Road

As former vendors to Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines we have always loved traveling by ship. Going into 2016 we had travel points on RCCL that we had to use or lose. We had enough for a 4 or 5 night cruise so we thought “no problem”. Having frequently cruised out of Florida we thought it would be no trouble finding a cruise to use our points. Wrong! On the west coast there was only ONE cruise, one date available. Fortunately for us the cruise was out of Seattle where we planned on arriving anyway.

Seattle from the ship

The ship was Explorer of the Seas, one of the huge Voyager Class of ships that has become all the rage. With over 3000 passengers and 2000 crew it is a floating city. The central promenade is a Disney like fantasy town with near constant entertainment.

Explorer of the Seas

Ice skating show on Explorer

We visited Victoria BC and Nanaimo BC. We had been to Victoria before and love the walkability of the place. We walked all around including Craigdarrock Castle. Nanaimo has to be the friendliest town we’ve ever visited by cruise ship. Small town atmosphere, very clean with a vibrant waterfront. The promenade was a great venue on this cruise as the temperatures in mid-May in the Straits of Juan de Fuca were too cool for the pool deck.

Craigdarroch Castle
Victoria

Lovely Victoria waterfront

Victoria Chinatown

Nanaimo harbor

Nanaimo bastion

Classic Canadian architecture

Vancouver Island is a gardeners paradise

We had a great time on the cruise but we think we prefer to stay on the smaller ships.

Posted in British Columbia, Canada, Cruises | Tagged Explorer of the Seas, Nanaimo BC, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Victoria BC | 8 Comments

Trains of the Canadian Rockies

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Kings On the Road

While not our prime reason to go north to the Canadian Rockies, trains turned out to be a big part of the story. Canadian National and Canadian Pacific operate transcontinental lines thru the rockies. The Rocky Mountaineer luxury passenger train stops in Banff delivering many of the 3.5 million visitors from all over the world. Banff National Park itself was created after CP workers “discovered” the hot springs there. The raiload built the famous Fairmont Hotels in Banff, Lake Louise and other scenic locations to spur tourist development. Morant’s Curve was made famous by the official photographer of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Canadian Pacific promoted the Rockies

CP westbound at Banff

Rocky Mountaineer

Luxury train

Morant’s Curve

Jasper is served by the Canadian National Railway. Trains run from Edmonton AB to Prince Rupert BC. We tried to ride a special tourist train through the Rockies but they were sold out everyday we were there. When we saw the train we weren’t surprised since they only had 2 or 3 passenger cars. The Via Rail CN passenger train “The Canadian” had 16 or more cars and was well supported.

Via Rail tourist train

1923 4-8-2 Mountain locomotive

Long oil train at Jasper

Yoho National Park is home to the CP’s famous spiral tunnels. When the transcontinental railroad was first built it included a 4.5% grade on the west side of Kicking Horse pass. This was twice the safe grade permitted by the Canadian government and terrified trainmen as well as passengers. Though no loss of life was reported the railroad rebuilt the line using spiral tunnels to lengthen the mileage of the grade and reduce the incline. The two tunnels enter the mountains then spiral back at a higher level so trains literally cross over themselves climbing the pass. It is a big attraction for visitors to the park and a thrill for railfans.

Map of the Spiral Tunnels

Upper Spiral Tunnels

Exiting Lower Spiral Tunnel

Kicking Horse campground trail to discarded engine used in construction

Revelstoke BC features a large Railway Museum with lots of history and rolling stock displays. Nearby Glacier National Park has trails to historic trestle piers of the CP railroad. The park still hosts CP trains crossing Rogers Pass. Many of the loops of the original route have been replaced by tunnels.

Historic CP trestle support piers

Sketch of original piers

Eastbound headed for Connaught Tunnel

Trail follows old rail line

Beautifully restored CP 2-8-2 Mikado

Revelstoke Railway Museum snow plow display

The Canadian Museum of Rail Travel is part of the Cranbrook History Centre in Cranbrook BC. The museum has the largest collection of passenger cars in North America including very special cars for dignitaries such as Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill.

Relocated Edwardian Winnepeg train station

Royal Alexandra Hall from CP’s Winnepeg hotel restored in Cranbrook

Elegant dining

Fascinating guided tour

First generation diesel Alco PA

Train watching and rail history are two of our favorite reasons to visit the Canadian Rockies. We will be back.

Posted in Alberta, British Columbia, Canada, RV Travel, trains | Tagged Banff NP, Canadian Museum of Rail Travel, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, Glacier National Park, Jasper NP, Kicking Horse Pass, Revelstoke Railway Museum, Rogers Pass, Royal Alexandra Hotel, Spiral Tunnels, Yoho NP | 7 Comments

Canadian Rockies Tour – Jasper

Posted on July 26, 2016 by Kings On the Road

Our Canadian Rockies tour continued from Banff up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper National Park. The parkway way was beautiful although our visibility was limited due to low clouds and blowing snow! Yes, in late June we had snow flurries off and on. At the famous Icefield Centre we had 41 degrees F and fierce winds blowing snow. We saw many glaciers but it was too severe for these Florida folks to walk the glacier.

Snowy day on the Icefields Parkway

The weather improved when we arrived at Whistlers campground near Jasper. This is a huge campground with no hookups and nice separation between campers. Our site was a tight fit but we made it work. Even more than Banff, Jasper is surrounded by national park. The visitor center is a historic building in the rustic style that became a symbol of mountain parks. The Friends of Jasper led an evening historic walking tour where we learned of the park, the town and the people.

First Nations Totem Pole

Jasper the bear Mascot

Jasper has as many tourists as Banff but we didn’t see nearly the busses and crowds. A wonderful day trip was to Maligne Canyon and Maligne Lake. Another beautiful narrow canyon carved in the mountains, Maligne Canyon was a good hike down river and back up again. There are amazing springs bursting out of the canyon walls which we learned are drains from nearby Medicine Lake. These drains remove virtually all the water each summer before the lake refills in the spring. Down the valley the road ends at Maligne Lake, a large lake with scenic cruises, fishing, canoes and kayaks. It was there that we encountered a mama black bear with 2 tiny cubs on the paved trail along the lake very close to the visitor center. Before we returned from the lake we had seen 7 black bears, 1 caribou and 1 huge bull elk. See wildlife post for more on that.

Maligne Canyon

Drain spring, Maligne Canyon

Medicine Lake

Maligne Lake

Boathouse

Parks Canada Red Chairs

Valley of the Five Lakes

Another adventure in Jasper was our hike to The Valley of the Five Lakes. This was a well used trail system of about 5 miles around five small to medium sized lakes. It was a vigorous hike highlighted by 2 more of the red chairs and more bears. First we saw a bear approach one lake for a drink, then swim quickly across the lake. Then we saw 2 huge black bears near our trail causing us to chose a different route. We met nice people along the way and hiked together to form a larger group. Later that day we visited Athabasca Falls, a powerful falls on the glacier fed river. The next day we joined a raft trip from the falls down the river through a canyon toward Jasper town. The water was cold (39F) and milky from the glacial flour but perfectly clean to drink. Later in the trip we had cold driving rain in our faces. Good thing we wore wet suits. Summer in the Rockies!

Athabasca Falls

Throughout our Canadian Rockies adventure we scouted places to launch our kayak. We found some nice spots near Banff but the weather just didn’t cooperate. Around Jasper we found many great spots and finally got to launch at Pyramid Lake. Gorgeous views and wilderness surrounded us on our 2 hour tour. No motors on the lake makes for peacefull easy kayaking.

Pyramid Lake kayak trip

Peace and tranquility

Pyramid Mountain reflection

Our last full day in Jasper we went to an abandoned homestead of original Metis settlers in the area. What a beautiful valley they lived in. Establishment of the park forced all residents to leave. The homestead in the only remaining sign of these early pioneers. Later that day we took a soak in the Miette Hot Springs. The warmest in the Rockies, it comes out of the ground at 54C and must be cooled for humans. There is a very hot pool (40C), a hot pool, a cool pool and a cold (10C) pool. We soaked in the 2 warm ones and dipped our feet in the cold. Another interesting feature of the area is the trail to the source of the springs which includes a visit to the old hot springs structure abandoned in the 80s. Imagine an archeological hike to a site from the 80s?

Moberly homestead

Miette Hot Springs

Jasper was the best. We saw more wildlife than we did in Alaska. The crowds we saw in Banff just never materialized in Jasper. We could enjoy spectacular scenery without feeling joustled. We met people from all over the world and hiked in more bear country than we ever imagined. If we plan another Canadian Rockies adventure Jasper will be our first destination.

Posted in Alberta, Canada, RV Travel | Tagged Athabasca Falls, Icefield Parkway, Jasper NP, Miette Hot Springs, Pyramid Lake | 2 Comments