Back to the USA

I’m not going to lie: the decision to end the Canada portion of our journey was more than just disappointing. I was crushed. I’d waited years to come see the Canadian Rockies. And what I had seen so far was a strange combination of awe-inspiring and frustrating. I mean, I’ve now been all over the west in the lower 48. I have simply never seen mountains like this. But for the most part I felt like I was only getting glimpse because of all the smoke from nearby wildfires.

We headed south along Highway 93 towards the actual town of Banff. We pulled off a few times to take roadside pictures as well as for bathroom breaks. Every pullout had some kind of trash receptacle, which was awesome. The edges of very pullout were also littered with toilet paper, which was gross.

We did stop at a place called Bow Point, and hiked the ten minutes or so up to the lookout for Bow Lake.

Totally worth it. But can you imagine this place on a clear day?

Going to Banff itself was a little out of our way, but so close by that we couldn’t think of a reason not to check it out. It’s a mountain town, though, and in some ways they all look alike. This one reminded me of Telluride.

Our destination for that night was a free campsite outside the town of Radium Hot Springs. As we drove in to town we saw that Radium Hot Springs does, in fact, have a hot spring. Well, it’s part of Kootenay National Park. We pulled in, Michael made us a quick dinner of chicken tacos (it was Taco Tuesday, after all) and we went for a soak.

Radium Hot Springs was a little on the sparse side, although it’s inexpensive ($15 Canadian for both of us), their showers were clean, and the pool water was good and hot. There is a cool pool with diving boards and everything, but we stuck to the hot side.

The Hot Springs asks for patrons to not wear shoes near the pools – and that sign was posted outside the locker room. I found a nice, orderly row of shoes along the wall opposite the locker room entrance.

I love Canadians.

When we were all done soaking I waited in the lobby for Michael and I ended up watching this little film about wildlife overpasses. I’ve been reading articles about this for years and we got to see several of these overpasses along Highway 93.

The Trans-Canada Highway pioneered the use of wildlife overpasses and tunnels. Over the past 15 years, studies of these overpasses and tunnels have shown that large ungulates (elk, deer, moose) and grizzly bears prefer the overpasses; mountain lions prefer the tunnels. Together, these mitigations have reduced wildlife collisions by a stunning 80% along the Trans-Canada Highway.

Way to go, Canada!

Our campsite that evening was unremarkable. Quiet, at least. And the next day, our last in Canada, we found yet another hot springs. Two for two? Why not?

Fairmont Hot Springs and Resort is a lot more developed than Radium Hot Springs. As in, there was a hotel attached to the springs. It was also a bit more expensive ($12 each) but there also a lot more: A hot pool, a cool pool, and a deep end with two diving boards; a big grassy area with loungers; and a little snack bar where Michael found the one thing he really wanted in Canada: poutine.

For those of you who have no idea what that is, poutine is a dish of french fries smothered in gravy and covered in cheese. Apparently it’s a Canadian thing. I thought it sounded kinda gross, and between the gravy and the cheese I couldn’t eat it anyway. Michael enjoyed every bite.

So now we were clean and refreshed, and ready to go back to the USA. It was my day to drive. But I was also driving when we went through Canadian customs. Michael said he wanted his turn. We stopped at the duty-free shop right on the border and switched seats.

Getting back into the US was a breeze. When our border agent asked us what part of Colorado we were from, Michael said well, you may not have heard of it, but we’re from Longmont.

This guy smiled and said that before he started working for US Customs, he was a cop for 20 years… in Loveland (the two towns are about a 20 minute drive apart). So, yeah, he’d heard of Longmont.

Small world!

Back in the States, we made contact with some old friends. See, we passed through Montana before. Almost a year ago, in fact. We spent the week leading up to Labor Day at a cabin on Flathead Lake. Michael got in touch and we got the green light.

Kyle was still there, living in his Airstream on the property. (He’s a web developer and has been living and traveling in that beautiful trailer for the last seven years.) We talked shop and compared camping notes. And Kyle did something amazing for me: he helped me fix the blog.

Now, the blog wasn’t exactly broken, but it wasn’t doing quite what I wanted. I wanted the blog page to have multiple entries, each with a thumbnail picture and a little excerpt of the post.

First, Kyle convinced me to update to the latest theme. Actually, he convinced me to update everything. The theme, all of my plugins and widgets. Once I was up to speed he helped me look up the code I’d need to make WordPress do what I wanted.

And it worked.

I never would have figured that out on my own, so I owe Kyle big time. So I’ll thank him the best way I can – by adding a link to his website, whereiskylenow.com. Because Kyle is also an amateur photographer and his blog is just one place where he showcases his awesome images. Enjoy!