The Kootenay run, and hot springs testing.

Back to the Kootenays! Bring on the Hot springs!

As I may have mentioned in my  last post, we first began our hot springs adventures, ( addictions may be a better word for it here... ) at the Fairmont hot springs resort. A very nice place indeed, with the resort hot springs pool , and then a path down to a natural hot springs with a nice view  ( the natural hot springs being our favourite of the two choices, though not as hot as the resorts  hot springs pool .. ) Once we managed to drag ourselves out of there, we were off to Cranbrook for a leaky tire change, and then onward to Garland Bay for a night of camping before descending on Nelson for a week of visitation and fun with friends. ( and more hot springs... did I mention we may have become addicted to this habit?... )

Nelson is a very pretty town, lots of artists and musicians reside in the area , so it has a great culture in  that fashion, as well as some pretty excellent coffee.. ( Sidewinders, and Oso Negro coffee... Yummmmmmmm....)  Our week here has been well spent, catching up with friends, musical jamming, ( Rob, ) reading, ( Me ) , lunch dates, walks and naps, and of course, more hot springs!!

We tried out two different hot springs while we were here, the first being Halcien hot springs, ( nice, quiet, pretty views, ) But our all time favourite hands down, is the hot springs at Ainsworth. They have the two hot springs pools, and the requisite cold plunge, but the thing that stole my heart about this place, is the caves....

I think I see now, where the artistic directors for alien movies get their ideas from. The caves are like a natural sauna, the steam from the water rising, the calcium covered rock walls dripping water, and from that water comes the beautiful carved shapes in the white , grey and rust colored stones. In here, you can just lounge and relax in the semi dark, sitting on a stone carved bench in the water, I didn't want to leave..

All in all, our week in Nelson has been relaxing and fun, thanks to Nelson, for as always opening his home to us, to Brenda, for amazing dinner, to Robbie and Beth, for fantastic dinner and drinks, and to everyone, for your brilliant company, conversations and hugs.

Off again and nearing home....

 Until the next blog, C, R, and Sir Vanagon.

Jasper and the ice fields highway, and back to beautiful B.C.!

Getting closer to home... and currently tucked into the wilds of the Jasper ice field highway. Its gorgeous here... epic , really. Driving down a winding highway with a glacier beside you is really something worth seeing.

 We didn't spend a long time in Jasper, just one night at Whistles campsite, where we had our first wolf sighting on this trip, and had a mellow morning wandering around the town of Jasper itself, coffee's in hand. We did spend one  more night of camping , at Wilcox creek campsite, and had a pretty awsome view of the mountains and their glacier caps that night, along with about 10, 000 ,000 stars.... cold nights, but pretty perfect for watching the universe pass by.

Once past the ice fields, we are on our merry way back to beautiful B.C. ...  with a stop in at Yoho national park for two days of relaxation, hiking up to Takakawa falls, ( Some of the largest falls in Canada reside here. ) , rock slide watching, ( a small one across the river from our campsite, but the noise it made was still quite impressive! ) , and general sun soaking. From there its down to the Fairmont hot springs, where we spent an evening in the resorts hot springs, before trying out the natural hot springs down a trail from the resort. Rather nice to have the spot all to ourselves there, and though not as warm as the resorts springs themselves, they definately had a nicer view.

Off to the Kootneys next, another hotspring dip at Ainsworth hot springs, camping at Garland recreation site, facing fabulous Garland bay, and off to Nelson B.C. for visiting friends, and catching the last summer rays before the frost...

Until the next post...

               C & R.

North West Territories!! The wild and the wooly...

We have arrived! Sticker achievement!! ( High fives!!! ) The Northwest territories are as beautiful as they are remote... seems a long way to go for a sticker, but very well worth it.

 Our first passing into NWT, was the 60th parallel!! :)  A brief stop in at the visitors center to get our bearings, and then its off to Hay river for a couple nights of camping and aurora borealis scouting.... not much luck there unfortunately, we arrived during its "quiet" time, but we still did manage to glimpse the pale greens streaking across the sky like ghosts. Not a bad place for star watching though, and had some pretty epic moon through the clouds looking too. Hay river is a nice town, bigger than we had imagined, and kind of odd as well, they have one lonely highrise sprouting up amongst the smaller buildings in the town.

From there, we made our way to Yellowknife, home to many highrises and a small city with a population of about 20,000 people. We treated ourselves to lunch, and then we were off to Prelude lake for a couple nights of relaxation and entertainment. ( Bruce, a local who runs the campsite during the summer, gave us a good rundown on the nightlife, scenery, and the aurora borealis. ) We lounged, built grand campfires, and even had an evening visit with a rather surprised fox.  The lake itself is quite nice, with a pretty excellent hiking trail with odd meandering steps and tilted walkways that lead up the rocks to an overlook of the lake. Pretty, and cold.... the nights are definately getting chilly up here.....

Back down from Yellowknife we go, to Twin Falls, for  one more night of camping before we trek back down this bison filled highway... Twin falls is  pretty stunning in itself, you can follow a few trails to lookout points and pathways to various falls that traverse their way down the river gorge. Its neat too, how you can see where the treeline and the cliff meet so perfectly on  the opposite side of the river. We got some pretty good photos, some of which I will post to this blog to share.

All in all, NWT was well worth the trek, we saw a tonne of bison and their calves running along the side of the highway, plenty of eagles, our lone fox, and more squirrels than you could shake a stick at. The aurora borealis may have been elusive, but we'll catch it in its full glory one of these days!

 Jasper and the ice fields bound! Until the next trip,

                                   C & R.

A pictoral post of Saskatchewan and Alberta...

We are burning our way across these provinces quickly in an effort to make it up to the Northwest territories sooner than later... so there is not much to report here, with the exception of two lovely campsites we quite like, and I think they deserve a little attention.

 The first campsite, is Buffalo pound provincial park. A very pleasant surprise in the praries,  I had gotten so used to the flat landscape here, that this park came as a complete surprise! Travelling across the flat wheat filled lands, only to suddenly be driving down a hill into a gorge, where the river twists and turns beside hills and trees....

The second campsite to mention here, is Elk Island national park. Be on the lookout for bison here, they are plentiful, and don't shy away from walking alongside or across the road at any given time. It also has a beautiful  lake and day area, and some of the most amazing sunsets we've seen on this trip so far.

Onward north!!!!

                     C & R.

Ottawa, our nations capital!!

Back to Ontario we go!! And this time around, we head first for Ottawa. ...

It's a beautiful city here, as it should be, being the nations capital and all!! Seriously, we arrived here on a very sunny day, which was perfect for setting off the beauty of this city. We made our way to the Parliment buildings to kick off our tour, and they did not dissapoint. Huge, gothic, highly impressive, with large spreading grounds, the architecture of the buildings is lovely.( Makes me think of Scotland...) From there, we meandered our way around the Byward market, perusing the spread of various fruits, vegetables, and handmade jewlery and clothing goods before grabbing a bite of lunch and making our way over to the space and science museum. If you have kids, or are like a kid  yourself, this is a great museum to visit. Lots of interactive displays, and its free after 4pm! :)

 Later in the evening, we found our way to friends of Robs, Colin and Julie, for dinner, samplings of their delicious ( and should be famous , we think! ) home brewed beer, and the amusing antics of their two little girls. Rob even gave an impromptu guitar lesson to the older of the two, much to her delight. Thanks again guys, for great company and conversation!!!

Leaving Ottawa, we head North! ( We are trying not to drive the same roads or ways twice if we can help it on this trip, gives us a good view of each province as a whole. ) So, its off to the Kettle Lakes for an evening of camping and hiking up to the falls there, before making our way to Timmons, ( home of Shania Twain...) , Moonbeam, ( yes, they have a small alien spacecraft at their visitors center, how could you not stop there???) , and off into the wild logging back roads for a couple nights of free camping. ( Blissfully mosquito free this time!!! ) Crown land camping comes in handy when one is travelling through Ontario, we have discovered, as the campsites can be quite expensive. ...

 Off we go again, just a quick trip through Ontario this time, ( quick being a relative term... Ontario is HUGE!!!!! ) as we gradually make our way back towards Manitoba and  Saskatchewan... we are headed towards the Northwest Territories next.... ( Gotta get that sticker!!!! )

Until the next post..... C & R.