0558 Banff to Jasper to Mt Robson

7th & 8^th July 2016

Mountains, glaciers, and ice blue rivers

I was still not sure what to do about the car when I woke up this morning – I just didn’t feel that I had all the facts that would enable me to make not just a logical decision, but also the right decision.  I had spent quite a lot of money getting the problems analyzed, but still had no finite answer either as to what the exact problem was, or whether I could continue with the car as it was.  However I decided to go back down the road about 25 kms to Canmore to get some kind of lubricant I had been told might help me.   I had to try something, and a giving the car a bit of a run might help indicate if it would run OK or not.

0557 Still in Banff

6^th July 2016

More work on Troopie, and some great bike rides.

Well, I left you in a coffee shop this morning while Banff Diesel worked on Troopie.  I was hoping for a 100% cure, but have to be satisfied now with about an 80% cure.  But the day was excellent for many other reasons.

After I had finished my coffee and the rain had cleared away, I set off on my bike to find a couple of trails that were well marked on the local map. First, as it was closest to town, was Fenland Trail, just a 2.1 km trail through a wooded area along the side of the Bow River. I passed an area where the Banff Canoe Club hire out canoes for people to paddle up the river (you can’t go down the river – There is a waterfall !), and immediately passed that spot, I saw a movement in the bushes………….It was a big elk with a full rack of antlers, still covered in their velvet !

0556 Calgary to Banff - Problems !!

4-6^th July 2016

Held up by Troopie problems !

Well, Wednesday morning sees Troopie in a garage for the second day, and me sitting in yet another coffee bar, and they are playing ABBA’s Super Trooper on the radio – I hope they are right !!

I left Calgary on Monday morning and planned on just passing through Banff (as I have been here a couple of times before), and Troopie was runnung fine, but just short of Banff, in Canmore, the engine warning light came on so I turned off into the town to investigate.  The light has come on previously due to a dirty fuel filter, but that was easily fixed, but seeing that I had only changed the filter recently, I was a little perplexed.  Time to dig deeper.

0555 Glacier NP to Calgary Alberta

3^rd July 2016

More mountains, and back to Canada

There are several roads into Glacier National Park. One is the one through Polebridge which is much smaller and dirt road. The main one is the “going-to-the-Sun” road which cuts right through the mddle of the park from west to east. And then there are a couple of other smaller entrances, Two Medicine down to the south, and Many Glacier, just slightly north of my campsite last night.  Since I was here, and in no particular hurry, I decided to go into Many Glacier since I already had my Park Pass so it wasn’t going to cost me any extra. And what a pleasant way to start the day – Definitely a Black Wine Gum start, with totally different mountains despite only being about 10 or 15 kms north of the road I was on yesterday.

0554 Glacier National Park

2^nd July 2016

“Going-to-the-Sun” Road.  WOW !!

My alarm went off at 5 am, and after lying there for a few minutes trying to decide whether this early start was a good idea or not, I peered out the window to check and make sure there were no bears sitting outside waiting for their breakfast, and since it was all clear, I got up and had my breakfast and packed up.  By 5.45 am I was heading out of the campsite and down the dirt road back to Glacier Park entrance – And this time since I was the only car the only dust was mine, and I wasn’t eating it !

0553 Polson to Glacier National Park

1^st July 2016

It all starts to get a bit busy !

I made the most of my expensive (but very nice) campsite at Polson – used their bbq, enjoyed their showers, did my laundry, and topped off my water tank in the car. By the time I left I could stay “off the beaten path” for 3 or 4 days, if I had to.  I knew it was going to be busy over the next few days, so I made sure I was in the best position to survive it !  Leaving Polson, I also topped off with fuel, and then headed north up the east side of Flathead Lake.

0552 Sheridan to Polson

30^th June 2016

I go in search of the Sheriff, and find a Lake !

The heavy rain had obviously stopped  quite soon after I went to sleep, so although everything was wet, the ground wasn’t going to be a problem for getting the car back up to the road – Nor had the river risen and burst its banks during the night !  So I got sorted and packed up, and headed out.  Not 100 yards up the road I spied some other campers, and as they waved, I drove up and had a chat.  Colin, a Chilean guy called Enzo, I think, and a girl whose name I didn’t catch.  As usual, they wanted to know all about the trip, and we had a fun time for about half an hour before I eventually set off back down the dirt road, out of the hills and back down to the main road at Sheridan.