7/21/1991 - Sunday

John:  After we woke up and had breakfast etc, we drove into the town of Banff.  We did our laundry (bummer) and found a place to park to have lunch.  We went to a free museum in town.  Right in town Kari spotted a giant bull elk.  It had a rack with over a six foot spread!  I was able to get pretty close to take pictures of it.  Guess it’s pretty common to see elk right in the town like that.  We also went on the Sulfur Mountain Gondola... very neat ride which provided super scenery of the town of Banff surrounded by very majestic mountains and rivers.  At the top of the mountain were lots of big horn sheep... some with little lambs.  After all this, it was getting to be late in the afternoon, so we decided to hit the road... just outside of town we decided to check how much Canadian money we had left and found we had about $29.00 left... so I whipped the truck around and headed back into Banff.  We found a money exchange place that does not charge a fee and stayed open till 10pm... (open today also which is Sunday).  So I cashed another travelers check and down the road we went.  We took a dirt road out of Canmore that eventually comes out on Rt. 40.  On this road we saw a mother moose with a baby, some white tail deer, and a coyote.  At the end of the dirt road (about 60-70 miles), we got to a blacktop road (which we thought was Rt. 40)... and took a right turn and found a nice campground called “Elkwood” in Alberta Recreation Area of Kananaskis.  It was a beautiful spot.  Turns out you needed the exact amount of money to put in the self registration envelope... and we didn’t have the exact amount.  The camp host was gone... After supper I flagged a park ranger down and figured he’d have change... but he didn’t.  He said if no one comes around before you leave in the morning not to worry about it.  So being a guy that doesn’t worry about too much, went to bed.  We drove 100 miles today.  

ODOM:  30446

Sulphur Mountain Gondola

View from the top of the gondola

Babies

Just chillin'

Giant Bull Elk right in town!

Giant Bull Elk right in town!

Momma Moose

Deer

7/15/1991 - Monday

John:  It rained all night last night and most of the day today.  It stopped around 4:00pm.  We decided to hit the road because of the rain.  We drove 373 miles today.  The road was pretty... started out a little bumpy, had some construction also which was muddy.  The truck is pretty dirty.  I went to a bank in Fort Nelson to convert 500 to 567.95.  (Wish we could do that back in the states).  During our drive today, we spotted a single caribou.  We were able to pull into the area and take its picture.  A while later we saw another caribou with a baby.  They split before we got our cameras out.  Later we found a large moose standing in a clearing on the right.  So we stopped and it started running along side the road... then crossed the road in front of us.  It then grazed on the left side of the road.  We took some more pictures of her... the moose started flailing her head around and kicking around... she did this several times.  When she got closer to us, we decided to go.  When we started on down the road, that moose ran along the side of the road after us!  So I kicked in the 454 and we left that mad moose in the dust... it was pretty exciting!!  We are about an hour away from Dawson Creek (the end of the Alaskan Highway... actually the beginning).  We are camped in a pull out along the Alaskan Highway.  We also saw a coyote.

ODOM:  29531

Moose on the loose!

Crazy Moose!

7/10/1991 - Wednesday

John:  We drove from Dawson City to Carmacks, Yukon Territory.  The views were great along the Yukon River.  Total miles driven were 219.  We talked with Peter & Betty this morning.  Peter’s sister & brother-in-law are traveling with them, and are at this campground also.  Peter & Betty stayed at Dawson Betty was not feeling good - they will catch up in Whitehorse.  We are at a great camp spot run by the Yukon Government called Carmacks Yukon Campground.  It is right next to the Yukon River.  Very nice spot... and the price is right! (zero $).  Killed another 17 million bugs and one bird.  We went to a bank and converted $750 and received $851... and some change.  (Not a bad deal).  When we filled the truck with gas, it cost us $79.00... and we weren't even empty... still had about a 1/3 tank.

ODOM: 28577

Susan, Kari & John on the banks of the Yukon River.

6/21/1991 - Friday

John:  We drove 380 miles in the rain all day.  We crossed into Canada and went through customs with no problems.  Saw a lot of big waterfalls along the way.  We followed Fraser River Canyon a long way.  Very nice scenery.  They do a lot of loggin' here.  We camped at the Blue Lake Holiday Campground.  The owners, Gerry & Evelyn gave us a tour of their house that had a grand view of the lake right in front of their home.  Saw two Loons in the lake (No, the kids were not swimming).  This campground was very remote... they had their own generators, pumped their water right out of the lake and had a car battery operated radio deal for their telephone.  (which cost them $85/mo plus every call cost them).  It rained early the next morning for about an hour then cleared.

ODOM:  25916

NOTE:  Gas in Canada has been 48-55 cents per liter, we exchanged $500 USD and got $562+ Canadian...

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Blue Lake Holiday Campground
Box 74
Blue Lake, British Columbia
Canada, V0L 1P0
(250) 297-6505