61 Day Alaska Caravan: Day 10

July 21, 2016

Day 10

Our travel day today was 120 miles, we had hoped to stop at Johnson Canyon waterfalls but apparently we stopped at the wrong place. We pulled into Johnson Canyon parking lot and immediately got stuck, the one disadvantage of having a big rig is its lack of maneuverability in tight space. With help of some nice folks and the leaving of one rv we were able to get ourselves out after about 30 minutes. While having a long rig has its disadvantages at times I’ll still take it any day over a smaller rig.

Some of the beautiful scenery as we drove north, the Rocky Mountains are just magnificent. We will be back along this route in September if the weather holds, we’ll check out the waterfalls then as they are near Lake Louise.   

Our first black bear siting of the trip, thankfully he decided to run back into the woods.

 A 45 minute wait for construction also slowed down our day a bit but we finally arrived at the Columbia Icefields about 2 pm. We arrived to a packed rv lot, there is another rv tour group that seems to be on the same route we are, we met them in Calgary and then again in Banf. We couldn’t get down into the rv parking area so we were waiting alongside the road. Perpendicular to us was a flat area long enough to hold the rig, we decided to back in there. The only down side to the site was it was next to the bathrooms but hey it was only for the night. Not only were there no hookups but there is no internet or satellite signal, we were really roughing it. Since it was just overnight we decided to stay hitched up, it was just a little off level with the nose higher than the back end. With limited generator use we were thankful for the extra batteries we installed last winter, we actually never used the genarator and "survived" just fine overnight.

Our group was signed up for a 3:45pm Snow coach Tour, a bus takes you up to the staging area for the snow coaches and then a snow coach takes you up to the Columbia Icefield. While not as extensive as it once was the icefield covers an area the size of Paris. In the icefield the glacial runoff is some of the best water you've ever tasted, a cold drink of nothing. We once had a home with a well that had water almost as good.

The incline on this part of the road up to the icefield was 32 degrees, slow and steady we made it safely up and down this road.

After our walk on the glacier we were taken to the new Skywalk where we could walk out over a glacier.

We ended our day at the Columbia Icefields with dinner at the park restaurant with 8 of our new friends. It was 8:30 by the time we got home, an hour of reading and we called it a day.

Until next time...