Well worth the trip

Thanks to the advice of a local Parks employee, we decided to detour off of the 1 highway and take a more roundabout but scenic drive to Nakusp. The route we took intersected with part of the Columbia River and no bridge to cross, but thankfully there is a free ferry that shuttles vehicles across all day.



The ferry we took




Kiska enjoying the ride

After finishing the beautiful drive we arrived at Nakusp, which is a smaller town in a gorgeous setting. We spent the day walking around Nakusp on the store-front streets as well as the path that lead along the river and to the beaches. Later we treated ourself to a night out at the local woodfire pizza joint and rented Bridesmaids to cuddle up to back in the camper. After a good nights rest we got going early and took a family run on paths around the town, and then were thankful for a shower at the campground. We were fortunate to time it perfectly for the Saturday Famers Market, where we got some great fruits and veggies for our travels. Then it was time to hit the road again.



The riverside path in Nakusp



View from Nakusp

The next stop on our trip was Revelstoke, back on the 1. Since it is so late in the tourist season we have benefited from a lack traffic, as well as end of the season sales at all the shops! While we didn't buy anything, we walked around town checking all the racks and getting a feel for the place. Then we drove up to the Dam for another great view before taking a nice walk on one of the local trails and having dinner by the river. Later, we ended the night at a wine bar with a yummy dessert of chocolate truffles.



The Revelstoke Dam



Dinner on the river

Sunday morning we woke up to a grey sky and drizzle outside, but after a nice breakfast sandwich we were energized and ready to start our drive towards the Canadian Rockies. The first stop we made was at Illecillewaet trailhead in Glacier National Park to hike up Abbot Ridge. It was cloudy and drizzling from the start, but that didn't stop us from heading up. Unfortunately it started pouring when we got out of the trees and near the top, so we turned around and high tailed it back to the car, but not before getting a steep-soaking 5 miles of good hiking in. We also got some beautiful views of the mountains despite the clouds.





Kiska did not enjoy getting wet in the rain, but loved hiking nonetheless

That night we drove to the edge of Yoho National Park to camp for the night. We had quite the array of clothes drying in the camper, and were so thankful that Clyde had given us Mr. Heater so we were able to get warmed up and dry before making amazing burritos for dinner.


Trying to dry out our clothes

We awoke in the morning to clearing skies, which revealed the incredible campsite that we had stumbled upon. It looked down on to Wapta Falls on the Kicking Horse river, and had beautiful snow dusted peaks rising in the background.


Bones and the sun revealing the view


View from the campsite, the wide falls in the lower-middle

We headed up for the first walk of the day to Emerald Lake in Yoho park. The colors of the lake were beautiful in the morning, although the clouds were slowing working their way back over the tops of the peaks.







Nate and Kelsey by Emerald Lake




The lake with foothills in the background, the bare spot is where an avalanche came down into the lake several years ago!

Then it was into Banff National Park, and up to Lake Louise and Lake Morraine. It was strange to finally be getting to Banff, as we had both been really excited about this part of the trip and been talking about being here for a long time! It was a little cold outside and starting to rain again, but we still walked along the lakeshore trails by both of them to round out about 6 miles for the day.


Banff National Park!!


Bundled up at Moraine Lake


Kiska enjoying the fresh glacial water


Enjoying the view at Lake Louise

After the lakes we were anxious to get warm and collect in the nice Worldmark room Debbie and Chuck set up for us just outside the park in Canmore for 3 nights. Kiska wasn't allowed to come in so she spent the last few nights on a solo campout in Bones... However, in return she has gotten to take multiple trips to the local dog park where there were always lots of dogs to play with and tons of space (nothing like the small gated parks in Los Angeles), plus tagging along for the daytime adventures- she probably thinks this would be a great place for us to move!




Nate and Kiska playing Kiska's favorite game in the dog park: chase! We aren't sure Kiska fully appreciates the scenic background.

Allowing our legs a rest and a chance for the clothes and hiking shoes to dry, we decided to spend our second day exploring the city of Banff as well as downtown Canmore. Banff is a very touristy spot, not surprising, with travelers from all over the world and lots of shops and eateries to entice. We didn't end up with any major purchases, but enjoyed walking around and trying stuff on.

Wednesday we woke up to clearing skies and got an early start to get some hiking in, after a morning trip to the dog park for Kis, of course. Then it was up to Johnson canyon and the inkpots, a pretty popular route just north of Banff. The hike wound along a beautiful blue river that had carved the stone canyon walls and dropped down several waterfalls. Then it headed up along a ridge and to the "inkpots," a series of blue green pools that come up from the ground and are colored by springs in the sand below.


On the way up!


Kels at the lower falls


The view from the trail


The blue green waters of the inkpots



We finished the day by doing some laundry and a quick trip to the local brewery to sample some delicious beer and Canada's famous poutine!- french fries with cheese curds and gravy, mmmm. Now we're packing up and getting set to head out for our last few days in Canada before crossing the border into Montana!

Okanagan Country

After leaving Ashcroft, we spent a long day of driving along the Thompson river towards Vernon, Canada, which is at the north end of the Okanagan Valley. We stayed at Kekuli campground, on the shores of Lake Kalamalka, and made a delicious gnocchi dinner with some veggies, and meat for Nathan, that we had gotten at a fantastic little farm along the journey earlier in the day.


Tight spaces in the camper, but we are having so much fun making it all work! (there is of course room to stand up when we have the pop topped on Bones so our backs are holding up... but the super firm mattress pad might be a different story)


View of the lake and from our campsite

We got up the next morning to a bit of a cloudy sky, but not too cold like it had been up in the mountains. Kis and Kels went for a short run around the park, and then we got to take warm showers at the campground before heading farther south down the valley to Kelowna. We went for a mid-morning hike just outside the city of Kelowna which offered a nice view of the city and lake.


Okanagan Lake in the background

This region is known for its wineries, breweries, and distilleries, so we decided to take advantage of the local offerings. Our tasting rooms excursion started with Tree Brewery, which was just down the street from the park where we had hiked, and a couple blocks from downtown. Kels's favorite was the apple cider, which tasted pretty much like just really good apple juice (for adults). The blonde lager was also delicious, and well as their Hop Head IPA and Thirsty Beaver amber, which Nate preferred.


Behind the taps at the Tree Brewery tasting room! One of the great things about the tasting rooms was the opportunity to interact with the people, both those offering the tastings and those there to enjoy them.

The next stop was just down the street at Calona Vineyards, which is the oldest winery in the Okanagan Valley. We tasted all of their wines, and settled on a bottle of the Sandhill Syrah as our favorite to take home.


The next stop was a few blocks away at Urban Distilleries, a tiny one man micro distillery, where we tasted the "Spirit Bear" vodka, gin, rums and single malt whiskey. The gin was quite unique, having a blend of lavender and apple flavors mixed into it. The whiskey, however, was our favorite, and was different than anything we'd had before because instead of aging it in a barrel, he ages it in the bottle and then you get to pick which kind of oak you want to add to the bottle and for how long- a personalized recipe. We got a bottle with medium plus toasted French oak. Apparently the surface area of the oak in the bottle helps to age the Whisky quicker and more efficiently than whiskey in a barrel. After our tasting adventures it wasn't long before we were sleepy and found a place to park in one of the local neighborhoods for the night.

For day two in the Okanagan, we started out the morning with a hike to Myra canyon park, which follows the old rail path around the canyon rim, through tunnels and over amazing high trestle structures. A passenger train ran up until the mid 1960s, and then a wildfire burned down many of the original trestles in the early 2000s, but they have since been rebuilt.


Kels out on a trestle!


In front of the tunnel, Kiska got a little nervous when we were first going through


It was a nice walk down the middle, but watch your step to the side or skinny things might fall a long way down

After getting in our hike for the day, we decided to pick up where we had left off the previous day on our wine tour. We drove little north of Kelowna to a smaller town called Lake Country, where there were three different wineries to taste: Arrowleaf, Ex Nihilo, and Gray Monk. We ended up with a bottle of Pinot Gris from Ex Nihilo and had an appetizer with a glass of wine at the Gray Monk, but all three wineries had great offerings.







Sneaking a grape at Arrowleaf, the vineyard had a beautiful view out on the lake


Ex Nihilo vineyards and tasting room





From the restaurant at Gray Monk

Now it's off to the Canadian Rockies and Banff National Park!

Canada, eh

After our return from the San Juan Islands, we took a couple days to do some planning and get set up for our trip into Canada, since we knew we would have much less ability to just find places as we went a long (ie no phones). We spent one night in Larrabee State Park, just south of Bellingham and a beautiful drive up the coast from Anacortes. It was a bit cold and drizzled a little through the night, but we still made a fabulous salmon cake dinner with quinoa, and got up in the morning for a nice hike up to Fragrance Lake in the park. Then we drove through Bellingham, stopped for some groceries and a map of Canada, and headed up to Birch Bay, the northernmost park along the coast in Washington.



Hike to Fragrance Lake


Kis standing watch outside the van in Birch Bay

We spent the evening planning our route through Canada, and marking some campsites along the way. We found out that the road past Whistler stays open through October, so we decided we would head up that way out of Vancouver rather than straight east. Friday morning we got up and set out to cross the Canadian border, and spend part of the afternoon in Gastown, Vancouver, where we had a bite to eat and walked around for a bit. Then we headed up the hill towards Whistler, quite a long climb for Bones, and set out for Callagan Provincial Park. What we didn't know was that the park was up a very steep, bumpy dirt road, that did not have any signage. After a couple attempts at what may or may not have been wrong turns, we parked by the side of the road, and holed up for the night.


Driving up the highway towards Whistler


Settled in for an evening of cribbage, which has become a nightly event. Kelsey currently leads Nathan 6-0 in games won, so he is hoping to change that soon. Thanks to Chris and Pam for the great cribbage board!

In the morning we went up to Whistler Village to get a hiking book and map of the area, then set off for the Brandywine Falls hike, which wound it's way by several lakes and finally to a 70m falls that was very beautiful. After the hike we decided to treat ourselves to a drink in Whistler Village, before setting out again to find a campsite.


Hiking to the falls


Brandywine Falls


Whistler Village


Yummy squash soup for dinner in Bones- thanks again to the Kopp family for the great cups!! We are getting a good rhythm down for prepping the camper when we stop, preparing meals and our bed, doing dishes and packing up again.

Sunday morning we headed out for the Joffre Lakes hike, a very very beautiful hike pretty much straight up the side of a mountain, ending at an aqua blue glacier lake. Definitely one of our favorite views so far.



Headed up to Joffre Lakes


Joffre Lake- the photo barely captures the amazing glacier blue of the water and the peaks in the background... Truly breathtaking


We continued our drive north towards Lillooet, and found a nice campsite two nights ago by a creek with stunning views of the mountains. We had the last of the salmon from Clyde, made into a great meal with artichoke beurre blanc and rosemary potatoes on the side. We awoke yesterday to find the sun coming out, basically the first time we had seen it for longer than a few moments since Roach Harbor last week, and had a beautiful drive out of the last of the coastal region, and out into "gold country". We spent the day and night in Ashcroft, it's a lot like Sisters actually, tiny little town with just the right amount of everything we need, and the surrounding of a high desert fell- rolling hills and sagebrush. We are stayed the night at a little RV park by the river, and very much enjoyed an evening free of long johns and down jackets. Next it's on to the Okanagan Valley for a few days of hiking and wine tasting.

A little peek at driving through the mountains of Canada!

San Juan Island Adventures

We have spent the last few days in the San Juan Islands, WA. When we arrived at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island we realized that a little more planning ahead might have been a good idea considering that we didn't have a reservation at any of the camp sites. Thankfully, it is after Labor Day so things aren't as busy as usual (we were reminded of this often by locals, and coming from a tourist-summer income town like Sisters we can relate) so after driving around the island and checking out a few options we found space and a good deal at Mitchell Bay Landing, where we spent two nights.






Camp at Mitchell Bay





Delicious halibut taco dinner!

During the day we hiked up Young Hill, near the Old English Camp (which our camp host provided a thorough history lesson), and visited the two main towns/harbors, Roche and Friday Harbor. It was nice to walk around and not worry about crowds or waiting in line for the bathroom. Both towns were nice, and we allowed ourselves a little splurge on ice cream at the 72 flavors in Friday Harbor, and also checked out the local Museum of Art (which was featuring work by Kurt Wenner, the 3D sidewalk artist who apparently lives on the island now).





At the top of Young Hill!

The next day we dropped Kiska off at the Animal Inn to board for the night and went to meet up with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Clyde on their boat at Roche Harbor. This was an incredible treat and we had a wonderful and beautiful evening anchored in Westcott Bay. Mary and Clyde once again spoiled us with great meals and even better conversation as we picked up on the fun right where we had left off this past weekend. It was hard to say goodbye to them in the morning when we got back to the Harbor, have gotten used to them as our adventure buddies, but we are so thankful for the time we had and know that we are both off to further adventures.





Roche Harbor





Mary and Clyde pulling up to the dock with the "Star Geezer"!





Nate and Grandma :)





View out the front of the boat, Clyde as the excellent captain!





Sitting down to a wonderful dinner in the cabin!





Definitely something to celebrate





Clyde cooking a yummy breakfast!

We then drove over to board the ferry and head back to Anacortes, but walking throughout town we realized that we could get off at Lopez Island and stay a night, so we changed plans a little, moved ferry lines and decided to camp at Spencer Spit state park for the night. We took a nice walk by the beach, read for a while, and then made sweet potato fries in the fire to accompany our simple salad and sandwich dinner. Kels got up in the morning and went for a nice run through the park, and then we packed up and did a little more touring of the island, saw the seals at Shark Reef Sanctuary and got a little snack in Lopez Village, now we're headed back to the mainland for real, where we'll spend a night near Bellingham before heading up north across the border. We're looking forward to another great dinner thanks to Clyde's generous gift of Alaskan salmon!