Alberta – Kline Road Trips

Friday. An 11.5 hour driving day with a time change to Pacific Time. No issues at all with the truck or camper, only a few crazy passing vehicles. But it was the scariest, most exhilarating, and breathtaking drive ever. Super twisty especially the last couple hours. We clung to the sides of mountains with sheer drop offs and no road shoulder. The photos can’t show the craziness of it or quite capture the beauty. Jeff was an amazing driver, pulling the camper and keeping us on the road the whole time. Whew! Later we found out that Hwy 99 has a name, the Sun-to-Sky Highway and it’s one of the most scenic highways in Canada. Yes, yes it is.

The view from our campground as we were leaving. If I would have taken a photo out the back window, another snow capped mountain would be in view.
British Columbia, here we come!
Always trains everywhere out here.
Suddenly it wasn’t alpine plants anymore. Suddenly it looked like Southwest USA!
The land went from green to tan.
And the roads got scarier. There hasn’t been much construction but this segment of it made things especially precarious. Jeff’s knuckles were white at this point.
Not many places to get gas and snacks in this rural area so when we do stop, we make sure to check out the store. And these were very yummy!
One lane bridges with no warning and sometimes a blind curve right before it. They need more signage in these parts!
Later in the day, the road began to take on a more coastal feel. Still tons of pine trees But I think more dense.
13% grade? Jeff put the truck in a lower gear to keep us going slow enough so he didn’t have to brake as much. Despite that, we were smelling hot brakes by the end of this stretch, which went on forever cuz we would go down, and then up again and then down again and so on.
Most of the time there weren’t cages to keep falling rocks close to the cliffs, just a watch for rocks sign every few miles. We never saw any rocks fall though.
Runaway truck paths. We didn’t need it, thankfully.
We finally got to Whistler and the driveway included a couple switchbacks with mirrors to see the other side.
The view at check-in at the campground.

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Jasper National Park

August 3, 2019June 30, 2022 Amy Kline

Thursday. We drove about 90 minutes north to Jasper to explore this awesome quaint little tourist town. We first ate delicious pizzas at the Jasper Pizza Place where we sat at their rooftop tables to enjoy the view. Next, we went to the historic train station and then boys relaxed and watched trains while I did a little shopping. So nice! We got some cinnamon rolls from the Bear Paw Bakery for the next morning, and each boy got a souvenir ring from the rock and gem store. On the way back to the campsite, we stopped at Athabasca Falls to see the continuation of the glacier that we saw yesterday. The power of water is amazing!

Once we were back, Carson and Jeff made pasta and then we packed up for an early start the next day.

I ate this entire pizza by myself! So good!
Carson trying to make his own duck lips as he mocks a certain rubber ducky.
Of course, The boys made Jeff pose with it too.
A steam train in Jasper. Jeff can post all the details for anyone interested.
We went to an awesome Rock and Gem Store. Here are some Jasper (not sure if these rocks are actually found locally though).
Jasper. Touristy shops but no where near the crowds as Banff.
It was actually quite a walk to look at all the places around the Falls.
Water carved all of that! Amazing!
Part of the abandoned channel at Athabasca Falls
The water still has a lot of rock particles in it from the glaciers so it runs kind of white and blue as the light refracts off the dust.
Athabasca Falls
Jeff taught Carson how to tell when the noodles are done. Al dente!
A totem pole. This one tells a story from top downward.
Steps downward in a side channel that the falls no longer goes through. So stairs were built so we could see the bottom of the Falls.
The layout of the Wilcox Campground. It is basically on the sides of a mountain so each row is about 10 feet above the row below it. We were on site 41.
We put the hammock up here and I sat and read for an hour or so until the mosquitos began to eat me alive.
View from the hammock.

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Columbia Icefield and very remote campground

July 31, 2019June 30, 2022 Amy Kline

Wednesday morning we packed up and left the campsite to head north. The campgrounds we were hoping for were first-come, first serve so we wanted to get there early to get a site.

We stopped at Lake Louise for gas, but since we had the camper with us, we didn’t try to get to the lake because just the town was swarming with vehicles and people and parking would be impossible. So we added it to the future bucket list and kept going.

We scored a great site at the first campground we looked at, Wilcox Campground and got set up by 1pm. Then we headed a few more kilometers north to the Athabaska Glacier and Glacier Discovery Center. Amazing! We walked very near the toe of the glacier. In the Glacier Discovery Center, we learned that the Columbia Icefield feeds glaciers whose waters eventually run into the Pacific, Arctic and the Hudson Bay. Wow!

While we were there, we had a delicious meal and connected to WiFi for a couple minutes. Carson dropped his retainer, but realized it as we were browsing the gift shop and luckily it was on the floor by the table we had eaten at. Whew! No need to dig through the garbage!

Gratuitous train picture. The Railroad basically built up the western half of this continent, so the roads were built right next to the trains. Jeff loves it of course.
There were huge mountain ranges, many snow capped peaks on either side of the highway. Mountains as far as the eye can see.
The blue tint is the glacial lakes are the light catching on the silt in the water.
The trail to the edge of the glacier. All the land we are walking on was dropped by the glacier as it recedes.
Hardy little flowers growing up through the rocks.
Family photo by Athabasca Glacier
The glacier has receded quite a bit since 2006.
Cool rock.
Another cool rock.
The scraping on this rock was done by the water and rocks inside the glacier.
Strange flowers.
Cairn. Anytime you see rocks in a park, people build cairns.
The Colombian Icefield provides water for three watersheds.
The campsite was so remote. Not one bit of cell signal in the whole area. Very steep also, as each campground road was basically a switchback on the side of the mountain.