OH, CANADA...AGAIN!!!

As we traveled back through the Yukon, we marveled at all of the sights we had also enjoyed during Spring, i.e., bison, caribou, bear and beautiful vistas.

However, now we had added detours to deal with. Several roads and bridges had been washed out due to summer rains, and one bridge had been damaged from an out of control truck.

A bridge and 2 lanes of the Alcan Highway had been washed out. A detour had to be built stretching a few miles into the woods and around the damage.

This bridge was almost taken out by an out of control truck, and a massive fire erupted in the surrounding woods.

When we visited Muncho Lake in May, they were still ice fishing...

Now, the lake was a beautiful blue green and crystal clear. We definitely enjoyed seeing this province, in all it's glory, during 2 different seasons. Beauty is abundant here, no matter what time of year.

As explained earlier in this blog, we didn't want to leave the north until we had experienced the sights of the Northern Lights. We decided to stay in Ft Nelson for a few days, since the forecast showed a high probability for the lights to occur. Normally, these don't show up until late in the evening or early AM, but we were treated to a show around 9:00pm.

Watching this phenomenon is indescribable! We felt as if we had been transported to another world. At first, the lights began on the horizon in different shapes and colors. This we were able to capture somewhat in the pictures below. Then the lights moved toward us and enveloped the entire sky. We were not able to capture this on film. It was truly magical as the lights flickered above us for several minutes, and then disappeared into the horizon as quickly as they had arrived. Once in a lifetime experience, that's for sure!!

We decided to take a side trip north to the Northwest Territories, since we probably will never be close enough to that province in the future. On our way down the highway, we encountered a herd of bison who were also moving north. They would not move off the highway for anything. We didn't want to scare them or make any quick movements and end up having the Jeep gored!! We just slowly followed them until they decided to part ways. At one point, we were completely surrounded by them 😳. Luckily, they were grazing on the roadside on our return home.

We sped right through parts of British Columbia, so we needed to slow down and relax for awhile. We found a few provincial parks to accomplish this and enjoyed kite flying, peaceful walks, bike rides and feeding the birds!!

Swan Lake

Pierre Grey's Lakes

Our next planned stop was Jasper National Park, however a forest fire had developed near the town of Jasper. All campgrounds had been closed, as well as all services (e.g. gas, food etc). The rangers actually asked, as we entered the park, if we had enough gas and food to get us straight through. We were in good shape and drove up the Icefields Parkway to the Columbia Icefields.

This route included some of the most beautiful scenery we had seen so far. The air was smoky, but these mountains were gorgeous!

We stayed 2 nights at the Columbia Icefields Visitor Center and enjoyed waking each morning to the sight of the blue glaciers.

Moving down the highway, heading towards Banff National Park, we encountered countless glaciers, blue green rivers and a weeping wall of granite.

The lakes in this area of Canada are an amazing blue green color. They are all fed by the glaciers, and the water doesn't even look real.

Peyto Lake

Moraine Lake

Lake Louise

Along the highways, they have actually built overpasses for animals to cross the road. The entire perimeter is fenced and then opens only onto the overpass. Very cool idea!!

The town of Banff is a wonderful resort town with restaurants, breweries, shops or anything else you might want to do (including winter skiing). We spent a few hours there and would love to go back to explore further.

For some strange reason, Scott likes to mix it up with the animals along the way..Hmmm 🤔

Leaving the mountains behind, we began to cross the prairies of the north. There seems to be nothing but grasslands, stretching from Alberta through Manitoba. As a result, this is the one and only picture of the grasslands we took! 😜

And then, in the middle of nowhere, up pops Horseshoe Canyon. We decided, after much consideration, to hike to the bottom and explore. It is much deeper than the pictures suggest, but all in all a good hike.

We visited the town of Drumheller, known for having the largest dinosaur statue, as well as a nice brewery. Who would have guessed?

Having seen billboards advertising The Last Chance Saloon, we decided "Why Not?". We had to cross 11 narrow bridges and pulled into the drive without realizing there was no turnaround. This was, and has been, the only time this year we have had to disconnect the Jeep in order to turn around. Sorry, no pics to show of this fiasco!

The Hoo Doos Trail is also just outside of Drumheller. We enjoyed a walk around these odd formations.

Following the Hoo Doos, it was back to grasslands for hundreds of miles through Saskatchewan. We did stop in Saskatoon for a few days and enjoyed a leisurely riverfront bike ride and brunch.

As you know, we want to visit all of the extreme points of the contiguous US and have already visited the westernmost point back in Washington. On our way through Manitoba, we realized that the northernmost point lies in N. Minnesota, however you can only reach it by going through Canada. Luckily, we were right in that area at Falcon Lake. We took a day and drove to Angle Inlet, having to call US Customs when we arrived, and then Canadian Customs as we left. Believe it or not, there was a line waiting to call customs. The weather was nasty, the roads dirt, we found a few interesting sights, and we were glad to check this off our bucket list!

Throughout the next few days, our drive afforded us views of all the Great Lakes, except Michigan. As you can tell, the weather was not our friend, but the sun popped out and we were able to dip our toes in Lake Superior.

Here's a bit of trivia! Never knew this, but Winnie The Pooh's origins can be traced back to White River, Ontario. A Canadian soldier purchased a bear cub in that area and named him Winnie, after Winnipeg Manitoba. The bear then traveled to England with the soldier and was eventually donated to the London Zoo. It was there that A.A. Milne's son had seen the bear and named his stuffed bear, "Winnie".

We also stopped in Parry Sound, Ontario and stayed at a Harvest Host, Trestle Brewing Co. It overlooks a railroad trestle bridge and harbor town below. We took a nice walk and snapped pictures along the way. It wasn't until later that I realized a seagull had been following us! Look closely at the last 2 shots.

Red adirondack chairs are a hot topic in Canada. These are placed throughout hiking areas so that you can just sit down and admire the view. You are considered lucky if you come across them empty. These were found along the walkway, overlooking the harbor. They probably don't belong in the same category, but who cares!!

It was quite fitting that we drove through Toronto on the QEW, Queen Elizabeth Way, on the day of her funeral 👑.

Our last night in Canada was spent at Palatine Hills Estate Winery, in Niagara-On-the-Lake. It was harvest time, and we enjoyed watching the process.

Scott cooked dinner for my birthday, and we spent the evening watching a gorgeous sunset over the vines.

Our last views of Canada were overlooking Niagara Falls, and then a long line at customs!! The line moved quickly though, and we held our breath for the last pass through the official interrogation. Very few questions were asked, and we were back in the USA!!!

So long for now....

NEXT UP: FALL IN THE NORTHEAST AND WE ENTER CANADA AGAIN - WHAT??