After 3 nights in Jasper we were ready to move in. It was 3.5 hours drive to the next main town but 8 hours later we still hadn’t arrived.

On the way we did a couple of short hikes to some waterfalls, which were lovely walks. And then our wipers stopped working again. Mike had only fixed them yesterday.

We stopped in a little town called McBride, where Mike had to take the bonnet off again to fix the wipers. It had been raining on and off so not really a good idea to drive without them.

While I was waiting for him I had a look in a retro kitchen next door for something to eat. It was really weird. You walk in through the kitchen they are cooking in. It was a couple of old ladies running the place and it has such an old vibe. And not a modern retro vibe. It was just proper old. I thought about having some soup there when Mike had finished but we got distracted.

The rubber bit he’d put on the wiper had come off and he was trying to put it on again but couldn’t get the leverage with his tool. A couple pulled up and asked if we needed help. They were Jill and Dave from Manchester and own the local rv park. Jill got a wrench from her tool box, and clicked the wiper bit into place. Sorted.

We chatted to them for ages. Dave is an ex-airforce pilot and owns a couple of planes in a hangar nearby, but hasn’t flown since COVID. As we chatted I noticed both Mike and I had our warm puffer jackets on, while they sat around in t shirts!

They also have a house in San Felipe in Mexico and have invited us to visit when we go down that way (maybe next year).

We finally headed on our way and stopped at the ancient cedar forest, where the trees were over 1000 years old. Not only was it ancient, it was also an inland rainforest.

It was just over an hours walk and it was lovely. in some of the larger trees, bears carve out the base and hibernate in them. Thankfully we didn’t see any bears on our walk. There were a couple of nice waterfalls though.

It was after 6pm by the time we stopped to camp at a provincial park (same as state park).

It was damp and in the trees, no power, but pleasant enough. A few mozzies were flying around but apparently not too bad for this time of year. Even though we had a nice picnic table, we opted to cook inside.

Hope it’s not too cold in the morning!

We had a rest day today. Mike fixed the windscreen wipers, which meant taking Rodger’s bonnet off. I got some editing done.

In the afternoon we looked around the town on Jasper. It’s a cute little ski town surrounded by mounty. It’s smaller than Banff and definitely less touristy. Mike saw some trains so he was happy. We also had another feed of delicious poutine (gravy cheese curd chips).

It’s really warm in Jasper. We had a high of 16 and we were sweating. It’s funny how you acclimate to the cold. Anything above zero is bearable. When we’ve beef having sub zero days, 6 degrees feels warm!

It was good to have a break. Moving on tomorrow. There are still fires burning on the Alaska highway so we’ll have to take the Cassier which is apparently also quite scenic.

No bears today.

Today we drove to the Maligned lake which is about 1 hour from the town of Jasper where we are staying.

On the way we saw a wolf, then around the corner we saw a moose which was super exiting until we used google lens to identify them. Turns out it was a coyote and an elk. Oh well.

Maligne lake was still mostly frozen but starting to thaw. It was beautiful surrounded by mountains. We took a little walk, snapping photos. Then we saw a waffle hut. It was the only place open and we were starving.

We chose the bacon and egg waffle, which was very sweet but very delicious.

We then visited the Maligne canyon. This was an hours walk around the canyon. It was nice, but very busy. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Johnston canyon we saw the other day. then we ran into our friends we keep seeing, a German couple who we met a couple of days ago. They thought this canyon was better.

We found a Starbucks on the way back to town with free parking, so we parked outside while I used their wifi to upload a video.

Then we did some grocery shopping as we’re very low on supplies. Everything is more expensive in Canada!

We’re going to have a rest day tomorrow and Mike needs to fix our windscreen wiper which broke.

The Alaska highway is still closed due to fires, which is a real bummer as i really wanted to drive it. But there is an alternate route which it looks like we’ll have to take.

We’ll find out more on Monday.

Today we saw six bears, but who’s counting!

The day started like any other. Coffee, breakfast, drive. Our first stop was the Yoho national park where we went to see an Emerald lake. This is as the name suggests, emerald coloured water surrounded by mountains. It was very beautiful and also where we saw our first bear, on the other side of the lake. There were people on the other side looking up at it, while the bear was looking down on them.

We went for a walk, and I noticed a familiar accent, Kathmandu clothing, and the only guy in the park wearing shorts and jandals.

‘Kiwis?’ I said. They turned around and said yep. They asked where we were from. I said Hamilton. They said, ‘no way, us too!’

I went on to say we live in Glenview. So did they! They live in Bruce street, just around the corner! So funny!

We got to the other side of the lake, but the bear had gone.

After lunch we drove the icefields parkway, which is a stunning drive surrounded by snow capped mountains, glaciers and stunning lakes. Bow lake was frozen over and it was my first time seeing a frozen lake. It was so cool!

Then we went to see another frozen lake but this one we had to hike through snow to see. I accidentally on purpose tried walking into some deep snow and my legs disappeared. Then my arms disappeared as I tried to get out of it. It was very scary and very cold. Mike got it on the GoPro, screaming and all.

We saw five more black bears close up beside the road and it was so cool. they don’t care about the cars and just go about their business. Stupid people get out of their cars to photograph them though. Almost all of them are Indians for some reason. A tour bus driver kept telling them off. If a bear is within 100 meters you must stay in your car. Some of these bears are within metres!

Lots of beautiful things to see today. Waterfalls, canyons, frozen lakes, thawed lakes, colourful lakes, glaciers. It was all here. Another fantastic day in Canada.

We are staying the night near Jasper. We might spend a few days here.

Today we saw three bears and two moose!

We awoke to a drizzly cold day. We decided we’d stay another night and have a quiet day. But our spot was booked out for tonight. Knowing we’d have to disconnect our power, water and sewer, we decided to move on,

First stop was the Johnston Canyon for a walk to a couple of water falls. When we were almost there we saw our first black bear for the day which looked like a little one. Its mumma was probably nearby. It made me a little bit nervous about my upcoming hike.

My nerves evaporated when we pulled into the carpark. It was chockas! What were all these people doing out on such a miserable day? Where did they all come from?

We rugged up in layers and wet weather gear. We grabbed our backpack with all our emergency stuff in it. Garmin Inreach, sawyer squeeze water filter, air horn, bear bell, bear spray and I think that’s it. The stuff stays in our backpack and we take it on all hikes.

It was a gorgeous walk through the canyon to the first waterfall. It was one time I was thankful for a lot of people on our walk. Safety in numbers I guess.

The walk continued to a second waterfall and a lot of people dropped off, so I enabled our bear bell, which just jingles away as we walk.

It wasn’t such a stunning walk to the second waterfall being mostly in bush. But the setting for the waterfall was amazing with snow packed into the cliff wall.

After our walk we continued on the back roads to lake Louise. A few cars were parked on the side of the road, so of course we had to stop. There were two moose grazing by the side of the road, a mother and her baby! It was so cool, and first time seeing moose.

Mike noticed cars stopped on the side of the road the way we’d just came. He didn’t want to turn around but I talked him into it and thankfully we did.

Up ahead the cars were parked and a whole family were standing on the side of the road. ‘Won’t be a bear,’ I said knowing parents wouldn’t let their young kids out of the car near a bear.

But it was, and it was no ordinary bear. It was a grizzly bear, just casually strolling along. It was massive!

And if that wasn’t enough, we spotted a large black bear grazing on the side of the road. And this is when you see the idiots. A whole lot of cars stopped and the people got out to look at it. The bear looked down at them and sniffed. Then it started walking down the hill towards them, obviously having picked up a scent.

And then do you know what happened? Even more people got out of their cars to photograph it! You are supposed to keep within 100m from a bear. These guys were within 2-3m of it! Insane. I filmed it, you’ll have to wait for the video.

After all our wildlife excitement we headed for lake Louise campground but it was full. We went to lake Louise but they were going to charge $36 to park. It was 4pm by this stage so we headed back to the campground in Banff which was 45 mins back.

Tomorrow we drive the ice fields parkway towards Jasper.

Our two hour drive to Banff turned into a 6 hour drive! Here’s what happened. We saw a BEAR! Our first black bear, up close and personal from the safety our car. But more about that later.

The road to Banff goes through the Kootenay national park, so we had to buy a day pass. The man told us all the campgrounds between Banff and Jasper were still closed for the season, so that’s kinda thrown a spanner in the works. And someone else told us the Alaska highway is closed due to wildfires. We’ll just have to wait and see.

We drove through the Kootenay national park and it was stunning. Jagged mountains and turquoise rivers reminded me of mount cook but on a much larger scale.

And then we saw the bear. A car was stopped with its hazard lights on, a tell tale sign something is worth seeing. And there it was. A giant black bear just casually walking past, conveniently next to a pull in.

I got some good footage and we continued on. There were some hikes to do along the way and we chose the marble canyon walk which was incredible. Steep canyon walls with a waterfall and stream flowing through it.

Back on the road we saw a giant big horned sheep with huge horns.

We finally made it to Banff. we were worried the campground would be full, but thankfully we got a nice spot overlooking a mountain. There are elk casually strolling by, elk poo all over our campsite. There is also a cougar in the park we have to watch out for.

The town of Banff itself was very busy when we drove through and probably going to be too touristy for our liking.

After settling into our campsite, we caught the free shuttle bus into Banff town. We went to the visitor centre to get some info.

Banff is a picturesque little town surrounded by mountains. We were expecting it to be horribly touristy, and for sure, everyone here is a tourist but it had a cool vibe. And as we are off season, it wasn’t too busy.

A queue was formed outside a shop called Beaver tails. I asked a couple of girls what they were and she said it was a Canadian thing. They looked delicious and we thought we’d see if the queue looked smaller after our walk.

As luck would have it, there was another beaver tails shop at the other end of town with no queue, but same chain. So we ordered one.

It’s basically a bread dough deep fried, then topped with your choice of topping. We opted for brownie, which was chocolate spread, crumbled chocolate cookie, and white chocolate chunks. I’m not gonna lie, it’s one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. It’s a pity I had to share it with Mike!

A bit more of a wander through town before catching the bus back. We’d been warned about a cougar in the camp and they come out at dusk. As we walked back to our camp at dusk i kept my eyes peeled. But there were only stacks of elk. And I mean loads of them!

What a great day. And did I mention we saw a bear?

I heard rustling in the van again last night, but this time at the back of the van, possibly inside the cupboards. I wish Rodger would stop collecting pets. He’s almost as bad as me and my chicken addiction.

All our food is in a plastic container so the mouse shouldn’t be getting into that. But as a result I had a terrible sleep and a late start to the day. Today we’re going to Canada! We’re only 2 hours from the border. We’d heard from other YouTubers that you have to dump all your fruit and veg, meat, dairy products etc. There wasn’t much info on the internet, just that you had to declare it. So we ate as much as we could before crossing over. The only signs we saw were that we’d have to declare cannabis.

The security guard asked us about our van, did we buy it, where we were going, and that was it. I asked if we had to declare anything. He asked if we had firearms. We said no, and he sent us through. easy as, not sure why others make it seem so difficult.

Coming back might be a different story. As soon as we got to Canada, everything looked different. It looked like Canada. The mountains were closer. The trees were pinier (if that’s a word).

Not long into Canada we saw a little takeaway diner. I’ve always wanted to try poutine so we ordered some. It was delicious! It’s chips, smothered in gravy and cheese curd. We gobbled it all up. Yum yum. We’ll have that again!

We drove until about 5.30pm and pulled into a campsite with a stream and mountain backdrop. It was lovely. We’re still about 2hours from Banff and we’ll head there tomorrow, hopefully prepared for the onslaught of tourists!

I heard rustling in the van again last night, but this time at the back of the van, possibly inside the cupboards. I wish Rodger would stop collecting pets. He’s almost as bad as me and my chicken addiction.

All our food is in a plastic container so the mouse shouldn’t be getting into that. But as a result I had a terrible sleep and a late start to the day.

Today we’re going to Canada! We’re only 2 hours from the border. We’d heard from other YouTubers that you have to dump all your fruit and veg, meat, dairy products etc.

There wasn’t much info on the internet, just that you had to declare it. So we ate as much as we could before crossing over. The only signs we saw were that we’d have to declare cannabis.

The security guard asked us about our van, did we buy it, where we were going, and that was it.

I asked if we had to declare anything. He asked if we had firearms. We said no, and he sent us through. easy as, not sure why others make it seem so difficult. Coming back might be a different story.

As soon as we got to Canada, everything looked different. It looked like Canada. The mountains were closer. The trees were pinier (if that’s a word).

Not long into Canada we saw a little takeaway diner. I’ve always wanted to try poutine so we ordered some. It was delicious! It’s chips, smothered in gravy and cheese curd. We gobbled it all up. Yum yum. We’ll have that again!

We drove until about 5.30pm and pulled into a campsite with a stream and mountain backdrop. It was lovely. We’re still about 2hours from Banff and we’ll head there tomorrow, hopefully prepared for the onslaught of tourists!

We left lake Como and it was a miserable day. We stopped in the town of Missoula and got our laundry done. it hailed and snowed for a bit. It is so cold here, and will probably be colder in Canada.

We stopped at a Walmart and got some boat shoes, some croc type shoes for Mike, and some chocolate.

We were going to camp at the state park on the edge of Flathead lake, but the sites were a bit crappy and no power to keep us warm. So we backtracked a short distance to a roadside rv place which had power, water, sewer and a SHOWER! First proper shower in weeks! Thankfully it hasn’t been too hot.

Tomorrow I think we go to Canada.

A bear had been in our campground the night before and knocked over a big dumpster. There were paw prints all over it! Thankfully the dumpsters are bear proof and it couldn’t get in. Hopefully it won’t come back because if it does they will relocate it, and in some instances they kill them.

We decided to stay another night in the Bitterroot national forest as it’s really nice and it’s cheap and we have power.

We went for a walk alongside Lake Como which was a stunning lake with the snow capped mountains as a backdrop. It’s named after lake Como in Italy. The cold wind had stopped and it was a beautiful day. A group of guys were training for cliff rescues but they were still setting up.

We drove into the old west town of Darby looking for a late breakfast but I didn’t fancy any of the cafes. So we bought some eggs and fresh rolls and went back to camp and did our own.

Other than that, it was a quiet day editing and cleaning our van.

On our evening walk, Mike thought he saw a bear, but it was just a man dressed in black, fishing.