Falls into spring: day four

Monday, May 1

Today was to be a day of driving with our next overnight in Canmore, AB. Our route would take us over Kelowna's William R. Bennett Bridge. Opening in 2008 it replaced an older, smaller bridge across the lake providing more traffic lanes and 18m (almost 60ft) of clearance under its navigation span.

Approaching the William R. Bennett Bridge from West Kelowna.

Once we passed through Kelowna we made our way north on Highway 97 along the shores of Wood Lake and Kalamalka Lake.

Passing through Vernon, Armstrong (famous for its cheese), Enderby, then Grindrod; along the eastern shore of Mara Lake to Sicamous where we stopped to top up the gas tank. But before stopping for gas we made one slight detour to one of places we've been meaning to see for a long time. A short 400m (1/4 mile) drive off the main highway to the trailhead and a strenuous 67m (220ft) hike brought us to Sicamous Creek Falls.

Trailhead sign for the Sicamous Creek Falls Trail

 

Sharon at Sicamous Creek Falls

Turn around 180º and this is the view!

In the traihead parking lot

This little hike is well worth the stop. There are couple of picnic tables and washrooms so it would make a really nice lunch stop.

From Sicamous we headed east through Three Valley Gap and on to Revelstoke where we stopped to pick up a snack.

Through Three Valley Gap

In downtown Revelstoke.

First of the eight snow sheds through Rogers Pass

Made it through Rogers Pass without incident, on to Golden, past Field, over the Kicking House Pass into Alberta, past Banff ending the day's travels in Canmore.

Out of Golden and up Ten Mile Hill and over the Park Bridge

Not much construction to deal with but there was some....

Picturesque Field BC

Always like it when numbers line up.

Past Banff and Rundle Mountain

We spent a relaxing evening in Canmore to end the day's adventure. Tomorrow we head home, but not after a couple of stops in town.... stay tuned.

Falls into spring: day one.

Sharon and I have just returned from a road trip in the Festiva and we had no breakdowns!!! Here's an account of our venture into the springtime Okanagan Valley.

Friday, April 28

We got started a little later than first planned but get started we did. Our route would take us west from Calgary along the Trans-Canada Highway through Canmore, past Banff and Lake Louise then over the Kicking Horse Pass (highest spot on the Trans-Canada at 1643m / 5390ft.) int British Columbia. These are familiar roads as we follow this same route at least once each year heading to our favorite summer vacation spot at Mabel Lake Resort.

Snowy mountains between Banff and Lake Louise.

After a brief stop at the information center at Field BC we continued on our way westward through Golden, over the Rogers Pass and on to Revelstoke. We experienced a couple of delays due to construction but that was to be expected considering the time of year. There is still a lot of snow up high and evidence of avalanches could still be seen, especially in Rogers' Pass.

Through the "twisty bits" into Golden BC

Westward from Golden. Snow on the peaks in the distance.

Remnants of an avalanche in the Rogers Pass

Along the shores of Mara Lake

After a coffee stop in Revelstoke we returned to the highway to our destination for the night, Vernon BC. Drove past Three Valley Gap, past the Enchanted Forest, through Sicamous, down the shores of Mara Lake (more twisty bits!), through Enderby (the turnoff spot for Mabel Lake) then to our hotel for the night. The closer we got to Vernon the greener the surroundings became, something we were looking forward to after leaving a cool, overcast and brown Calgary.

Party cloudy skies and green grass greet us as we approach Vernon.

One of the things we like to do when traveling is visit local thrift stores. You never know what kind of treasures are there to be discovered. Went directly to the Salvation Army Store, one of Sharon's favorites, once we arrived in Vernon then checked into the hotel. Went for a walk to another thrift store, picked up some groceries for our supper after that then returned to the hotel were we spent a lovely evening relaxing, reading and watching a show or two.