After quite a few trips to the Canadian Rockies were planned, then aborted, over the years, the stars seemed to be finally aligning. Our plan this time included a week in the Canadian Rockies, followed by a week in Glacier National Park in Montana. The only possible snag was the heavy wildfire smoke. In the weeks prior to our departure date, as the fires worsened, we closely watched the smoke models with a sense of resignation that this, too, would be another canceled trip. Or equally bad ... not cancelled, but enough smoke to make it way less than ideal. In the last few days, a possible window seemed to appear where the smoke was pushing to the south of our initial intended destination! So, we headed out from Seattle with high hopes, and a mantra of "one day at a time". Driving up through British Columbia, the smoke was thick in places, and some routes were closed due to fire activity. But, as we pulled into the town of Revelstoke, the smoke was indeed starting to clear!
After a restful night, we awoke to bluebird skies (well, ok, a few puffy clouds)! We excitedly drove up the mountain in Mt Revelstoke National Park, and proceeded on a dayhike out towards a few lakes. And what a gorgeous hike it was! A mostly wooded descent, with occasional meadows, followed by a pretty steep climb through alpine meadows seriously bursting with wildflowers, and a tumbling stream. Just when we thought that we'd never seen more flowers, we'd turn a corner and it'd be even more intense. Just popped the old brain! And some big views from the pass where we had our lunch. Quite the hike!
After returning to our car, we headed down the road for a couple hours to Golden for the night. The route travels through Rogers Pass, which had some serious peaks! Unfortunately, we had no time to stop to look and/or hike. Maybe next time.
 |
| View from our hotel room (Mt Begbie) |
 |
| Subalpine Meadow |
 |
| Miller Lake |
 |
| Western Anemone Seedhead |
 |
| Trailside Flowers |
 |
| Upper Jade Lake |
 |
| Indian Paintbrushes |
Details
- Upper Summit Trail > Miller Lake Trail > Jade Lake Trail
Random Scenes
- After spending the entire day in the car, we went for a walk in a riverfront park. Everything was fine on the first leg, but on the way back we followed a small trail along the river's edge. Big mistake. After getting into it a ways, we were attacked by thick swarms of mosquitoes! No bug spray, too late to retreat. Just walked as fast as we could. What a way to start a trip ... and on a pretty meaningless walk, no less. Amazingly, the itching stopped after only a couple of hours!
Excellent pics
ReplyDelete