D21 - 05/19/24 SCRAMBLE TO DEPART

 

Today we thought we would have a nice casual departure. It was calling for light snow. Well the snow began and before you know it we were getting huge fluffy flakes. Then a lot more huge fluffy flakes of snow. 

Now we knew we needed to get going as soon as possible. The nice young gentleman, Chris, a local who was camping next door to us came over to tell Tim this was not good weather to drive in. Be careful and these are the largest snow flakes he has ever seen. 

By the time we left our site there was probably 5-6 inches of snowfall. The temperature had dropped to 33* and no one was outside. Not even the tent dwellers who are hardcore up here by the way. Jett was not happy about being in it. Especially having to wear her coat. I put it on her to keep her dry. She thinks it makes her butt look big! But once in truck she didn’t want it off. LOL

Tim took the wheel the first twenty-six miles until we fueled and got out of the snowy/slushy conditions. Then I took over driving for the rest of the day. Drove through high winds, rain, sleet, snow and possibly hail. We have landed at Banff in Alberta Canada. And are staying here in Banff National Park at the Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court Campground. Beautimous! Love our site. Held our weekly Family Zoom from here at basecamp. Tim helped out a fellow Airstream’r here. They are so wonderful and kind and even brought us dinner. It was delicious!! Thank you!! 

Tomorrow morning we anticipate some snowfall. We will see if it happens and how much. Canada is celebrating their Victoria Day this weekend. So it will be very busy in town. Our goal is to navigate the bus system into town from our basecamp. Re-familiarize ourselves with Banff and see what’s happening! 

Currently:

2,814 miles from home!

4,780’ elevation! 

D20 - 05/18/24 SQUIRREL!

 

Say what ya want I tell Tim. This is what he says every time I wear this hat …  ‘There’s a squirrel on your head!’. Jealous I say!! 😉 It’s not my hair. It’s not real fur. It’s not a squirrel. It’s a cute puffy fake fur pom pom. Say what you want my head is toasty warm! I won’t let him wear it!! LOL

On my early outing at 5:30am with Jett it was 37*F and it was a spectacular sunrise with high pink cumulus clouds as a backdrop to the beautiful majestic mountains. Thank you Jett. I knew there was a really good reason to get me up early so that I could witness what Mother Nature had in store for us for the day. 

Once back in the Airstream and after much needed hot coffee and breakfast our decision was to take a few hikes. Our choice was to drive back to where the Akamina Parkway was shut down. Then hike the closed road out to Cameron Lake. Afterwords we would make the short hike to Akamina Lake. 

As you know for us things hardly ever work as planned. Tim and I drove out to where the road was closed and … it was now OPENED! So much for a hike. Once at the Cameron Lake parking lot we could not believe what we saw. The lake was so beautiful and frozen!! 

Looking at the temperature on the truck it was now 37*F there and gorgeous. As soon as we got out of the truck it began to snow on us! So beautiful in this setting! We explored pieces of the trail along the lake in both directions. Just a winter wonderland in May! And since there are still some old standing pines there that did not get burned … it smelled like Christmas!

Next up was a short hike out to Akamina Lake. We hiked through a beautiful pine forest, over flowing snow melt. The trail also took us across a few short foot bridges and through frosty snow patches to get to the lake. This lake was smaller and not frozen. 

On our return to basecamp we got the Jett out and readied to take her hiking on the shore of Upper Waterton Lake. Rain started right after we departed. Turned back. Watched the Preakness Stakes when we got back to the Airstream. My horse won! Took off again towards the lake with Jett and got a good hike in for her. 

Tomorrow is a travel day for us. We will finalize our drivers meeting later this evening and be on the road in the morning. The Epic Adventure takes us four hours slightly northwest of here! 🏔️

Oh yeah and I love my puffy skirt! And I’m not letting Tim wear that either!! LOL

D19 - 05/17/24 ‘A HAZY SHADE OF WINTER’

Today was laundry day! There’s no laundromat in Waterton Park anymore. Our only option here was the Bayshore Inn & Spa. (thank you social media) To fit in we dressed like tourists to blend in with the guests. While our clothes were washing and drying we lounged about across the street at Trappers Mountain. Had some brews and … Sweet Potato Poutine. (sweet potato fries covered in homemade gravy and fresh cheese curds). Delicious!! 

Our next stop was The Prince of Wales Hotel. We had just missed afternoon tea on our arrival and it was beginning to snow! Big flakes but not accumulating. The hotel is beautiful and darn near destroyed in 2017 in a massive fire that burned 80% of this National Park. 

The hotel is picturesquely situated on a buff overlooking Upper Waterton Lake. Designed in a Swiss- chalet style. Built in 1864 it has 110 rooms and is the parks most recognized landmark. The interior is just as majestic. 

With the snow beginning to get heavier we needed to get back to basecamp. Jett had her first romp in the snow. She loves it!! We even took her on a hike over to Cameron Falls in it. We are guessing by nightfall we had almost two inches of accumulated snow here. I think I need to get her a rain coat now! 

We anticipated snow at some point during this Epic Adventure but never this much in one day. So beautiful! Let’s see what tomorrow brings now!