Canadian Rockies - Jasper, AB

The town of Jasper is located in Jasper National Park, at the north end of the Icefields Parkway. Since we planned to be in the area for a week we bought the seasonal Canadian National Parks Pass for a whopping $116.00. This pass allows us to drive the Parkway from Jasper to Banff (approx. 150 miles).

Jasper was named for Jasper Hawes, who was an employee of the Northwest Company. He operated a fur trading post in the eastern part of the park. By the time the post was abandoned, the name Jasper was used to describe the whole area. The area is surrounded by mountains and teeming with wildlife.

Entering Jasper Townsite

Mt. Edith Cavelle, Seen From Downtown Jasper

We stayed for 2 nights at Whistler’s Campground and enjoyed dry (no services) camping.
We decided to have a campfire and were a bit surprised to find that you must pay an environmental tax of $8.80 per day for the privilege of burning wood. We paid the tax and enjoyed two wonderful campfires. Signs were everywhere warning of bears and other wildlife. The only evidence we saw was this bear trap.

Bear Trap Located at the Entrance to Whistler Campground

Since we only had one day to tour Jasper we decided to head downtown. Keith remembered Jasper as a stop on a year 2000 cross-country train trip, with a pretty good Chinese restaurant acrss the street from the station. We had lunch at this restaurant, and it was pretty good (3COWS).

A Good Chinese Restaurant Located
Opposite the Train Station in Jasper

Main Street Jasper is filled many interesting stores. Kathy shopped and shopped some more, while Keith explored the train yard and did some people watching.

Jasper Retail Therapy District

Antique Steam Locomotive at Jasper Train Station

Heavy Freight Rolling Through Jasper

After two nights in Jasper, we departed south on the Icefields Parkway, headed for Lake Louise and Banff. Stay tuned.

Reunion Journey, Days 13-17 Stewart BC to Jasper AB

Departing Stewart, we drove back up through a canyon, then turned right back onto the Cassier Highway. We continued to see spectacular mountain views on southern portion of Cassier, until we turned left onto Yellowhead Highway, which travels east-west from Prince Rupert, on the Pacific Ocean, to Edmonton, AB and points east.

Typical Mountain Scenery at the
Southern End of the Cassier Highway

Part of Trans-Canada system, the Yellowhead is an excellent two-lane highway. Immediately on leaving the Cassier, the scenery changed from rugged mountain views to much more pastoral scenes. It felt like rolling through western Pennsylvania, with broad, tilled valleys set between low, rounded mountains.

Rolling East on the Yellowhead Highway

The evening of our arrival in Prince George we celebrated our “official” post caravan farewell dinner at Earls, a somewhat eclectic restaurant on the outskirts of town. It came highly recommended by our campground owner,who gets a small kickback from each customer he sends their way. It really was very good. The menu was varied, with a few Asian dishes, as well as numerous western entrees. Keith had a Thai green curry (3COWs), while Kathy enjoyed a Caesar salad with chicken (also 3 COWS). Kathy couldn’t help remarking on the stylish dress of all the young female wait staff; Keith was to busy looking to comment.

The next night, our last night together as a group, we shared a picnic in the rain under Norm and Hal’s awning. It was an enjoyable meal, but it was sad to realize that our time together was almost over.

Our Post-Caravan Farewell Picnic. Left to Right are

Kathy, Rick, Carol, Mary Ann, Joe, John, Julie, Hal, and Norma

The next day we said good-by to John & Julie, Rick & Carol, and Hal & Norma, all of whom headed south toward Vancouver. We then did a few errands (groceries, Kathy hairdresser, etc.,) after which we enjoyed a pleasant lunch with Joe and Mary Ann at the Camelot restaurant (2-1/2 COWs).

The next morning we departed for Jasper, traveling with Joe and Mary Ann. This part of Yellowhead travels through the Frasier River Valley, southeast to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. We continued to see pastoral scenes, interspersed with views of Rocky Mountains to northeast. It rained most of our trip through the valley. Looking up, it was clear that the precipitation was falling as snow at higher elevations.

Following the Yellowhead Highway Through the
Fraiser River Valley, East of Prince George

More Agriculture Allong the Yellowhead

New Snow in the Rocky Mountains

A Comfort Break in the Shadow of the Misty Mountains

We enjoyed a late breakfast in McBride, with Joe & Mary Ann. Past McBride, the road begins an easy ascent up to the Yellowhead Pass, where we entered Jasper National Park and the Province of Alberta, crossed the continental divide, and set our watches ahead an hour as we passed into the Mountain time zone.

Yellowhead Lake

Climbing East Toward Yellowhead Pass

There are numerous impressive mountain views as road climbs and descends from the pass.

Typical Mountain Scenery In Jasper National Park

Descending Into Jasper Town

On arriving in Jasper, we drove into town for gas, while Joe and Mary Ann registered at campground. On our way into campground, we spotted this interesting pair. Note the passenger on the back of the Wapiti.

Wapiti and Friend

For dinner, Kathy prepared meat loaf, which we shared with Joe and Mary Ann, as they prepared to depart for points south. Tomorrow we will tour Jasper, while they drive south to Calgary, on their way to meet their children in Yellowstone NP. We shall miss them, and all our other old and new WIT friends, from past and present caravans.

Kathy, Joe, and Mary Ann Enjoy Meatloaf, Corn,

and Baked Potato, Served Under the Awning

Reunion Journey, Days 10-12 Cassier Highway

The Cassier highway travels about 500 miles south from Watson Lake, YT to the Yellowhead Highway in central BC. Along the way are many breathtaking mountain views, punctuated with animal sightings, if you are lucky. The northern end of the Cassier is narrow and winding, but further south the road improves. Almost the entire length is now paved, with a few exceptions, mostly in the northern half.

Cassier Highway, Part of the British Columbia Great Northern Circle Route

The Northern End of the Cassier has Several Unpaved Stretches

A construction Detour on the Cassier

At the entrance t the Cassier near Watson Lake is a sign showing the Circle Route. In traveling the Cassier and the Yellowhead from Watson Lake to Prince George, we completed the circle, which we began almost two months ago on our northbound journey from Prince George, through Watson Lake to Alaska.

Roadside Map Showing the

British Columbia Great Circle Route

Our first day on the Cassier we saw a couple of mountain sheep, and several varieties of wildflowers along the side of the road. Kathy loves taking pictures of both, as shown below.

Mountain Sheep

Pretty Yellow Flowers

Pretty Pink Flowers

Pretty Blue Flowers

Our first night on the Cassier we camped at Mountain Shadow Campground in Iskut, about 200 miles south of Watson Lake. This is an exquisitely beautiful site, nestled in a lush valley at the foot of the mountains.

Mountain Shadow Campground

Our second day on the Cassier the road continued to improve, and the mountain scenery became even more spectacular. The critter gods were smiling, and we spotted several bears, including a mother and cubs, which we were not able to photograph. We did, however, snap this fellow, ambling across the road ahead of us.

Cassier Highway Rolling South From Iskut

Bruin Takes His Time Crossing the Cassier Highway

About 130 miles south of Iskut we turned off on Rt. 37A, for a short trip to Stewart BC / Hyder AK. Along this road we saw a cub browsing among the flowers on the shoulder. Judging from number of nearby vehicles and photographers, we think the mother was out of sight over bank. Cub seemed fully acclimatized to vehicles; browsing unconcerned and totally ignoring the ignoring paparazzi. Just past the bear jam, we passed the appropriately named Bear Glacier.

Bear Cub Munches Flowers,
Totally Unconcerned By Surrounding Paparazzi

Bear Glacier

Stewart and Hyder are twin towns astride Alaska/BC border, at head of Portland Canal. The Alaska State Ferry System used to serve Hyder, but no more. The primary attractions in Hyder are Fish Creek, where bears congregate to eat spawning salmon, and the nearby Salmon Glacier.

The salmon have been few and far between this year. This is being attributed to unusually cool, rainy weather throughout southern Alaska. No salmon, no bears. We made two separate visits to fish creek, evening and morning, with no luck. Our friends Rick and Carol had more patience than we, so got some good bear photos; see their photos at:

http://rick-carol-journey.blogspot.com

Rick and Carol at Fish Creek

We saw Salmon Glacier 3 years ago on our 2005 Alaska caravan, so chose not to drive our own vehicle up the steep mountain road this year. This may have been a mistake. Our travel companions drove up to see the glacier, and reported the road much improved this year. For what it’s worth, we attach herewith a couple of our 2005 photos.

Salmon Glacier

Mountain Goddess Spotted at Salmon Glacier

We did find a bear in Stewart, in front of King Edward Hotel. We attach a photograph to prove it.

Bear Spotted in Front of the King Edward Hotel

Our group enjoyed a good dinner at in the hotel dining room; Kathy had prawns, and Keith halibut & chips (3COWS).

Speaking of finding bears in town, the locals are complaining that the poor salmon run this year is driving the bears to seek food in town. Several bear attacks have recently been reported in BC.

Tomorrow we depart Stewart for Prince George, with an overnight stop in Smithers. In Prince George we disband our informal post-caravan caravan, and go our separate ways. Keith & Kathy will be headed for Canadian Rockies, with stops at Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff, & Calgary. Tune into our next exciting episode, same time, and same station.

Reunion Journey, Days 6-9 Dawson City to Watson Lake

The first leg of our journey took us from Dawson City to Whitehorse along the Klondike Highway. The weather since Fairbanks has been warm and sunny, a major improvement over the past month in Alaska. We were given an article from the Anchorage newspaper which noted that this is a La Nina year, which supposedly accounts for the markedly colder and wetter Alaskan weather this summer.

A Sunny Day Southbound on the Klondike Highway

So what’s a La Nina, you may ask? It is a periodic, transient 2 to 4 degree cooling of the southern Pacific waters off the coast of Peru. La Nina is the opposite end of the El Nino cycle, which is a periodic, transient warming of the same waters. The El Nino brings wet and stormy weather to southern California, while it’s La Nina counterpart brings nice weather to the southwest and @%^#$% weather to Alaska.

Meteorological explanations notwithstanding, the weather has finally turned nice, at least for a few days, and we are reveling in the dry, sunny skies as we travel south on the Klondike Highway.

The Klondike Highway is a paved road that is narrow and winding, particularly the northern half. Shortly after leaving Dawson Creek we had a serious construction detour onto a dirt road. Fortunately, the detour was only a few miles. We suspect that it followed an earlier generation of the current highway.

Back on the paved road, we passed huge and endless piles of brush cutting and burnings. They are cutting the trees back about 50 feet from the pavement. We are not sure why this is done. One major benefit is that it removes the cover for large animals, so they cannot lurk unseen at the edge of the pavement, ready to dart out when spooked by an approaching vehicle.

Brush Piles Waiting to be Burned

We stopped at Carmacks Hotel and RV Park for the night. We were treated to a pretty good meal at the Gold Panner Restaurant (3COWS). Kathy had pierogi; not as good as moms, but pretty good for the outback. Keith had a decent burger and fries.

Early the next morning we continued on to Whitehorse. The road improved as we drove south toward civilization. It became less winding, with fewer construction breaks. Shortly after setting out, one companion coaches experienced a serious flat tire on his tow vehicle. We saw them pull over and called on the CB, but receiving no response, we assumed they were off for a comfort break and drove on by. We felt chagrined, and apologize profoundly.

South of Carmacks the Road Improves

We stopped at Brae burn Lodge and purchased two of their world famous cinnamon rolls (2.5COWS) with a hefty price tag of $17.00. We met former caravaners, Bob and Marilyn, who were finishing their breakfast there.

Home of the $8.50 Cinnamon Roll

On the way into Whitehorse we passed Lake Labarge in the distance. Unfortunately it was too far away to take a good photograph. This body of water figures prominently in the Robert Service poetry about Dan McGrew, who is “cremated on the marge of Lake Labarge”.

We spent 2 days in Whitehorse at the Hi Country RV Park. It was a pleasant interlude and most of our group would have liked another day there. Whitehorse was an R & R stop for us. We shopped, did laundry and had a couple of good meals.

Keith was craving Asian cuisine so we lunched at the Asia Restaurant. The lunch buffet was small but tasty (2.5 COWS). As we were eating Keith remembered this was the same restaurant he had dined at with his sister on a previous trip in 1998.

We also dined with a group of 9 at the Klondike Salmon and BBQ Restaurant. I will give this restaurant 4COWS. It was a bit pricey but the food was excellent and the menu selections diverse. Kathy had Musk Ox Stroganoff. The meat was sweet and the sauce a rich sour cream and brandy concoction poured over garlic mashed potatoes. Keith had seafood fettuccini. A generous portion of seafood in a buttery sauce. The menu also offered bison, caribou and Canadian Alberta prime rib, as well as Alaska Crab and Char.

It was here in Whitehorse we said farewell to a former caravaner, Mary Ellen and er faithful companion Henri. While not one the original 5 coaches which left Fairbanks together, she joined us intermittently on our trek from Dawson City to Whitehorse. We were always glad to see her. Unfortunately, she got a flat tire on the way to Carmacks and was not able to purchase a replacement tire in Whitehorse for her Rialta. She was compelled to wait in Whitehorse for a replacement tire, which could take up to two weeks. We are wishing her the best of luck in remedying her plight.

In Whitehorse we did meet up with former Wagon master Carol, who is traveling with her mother and her niece Nicole. She will be traveling with our group to Prince George

After leaving Whitehorse, we retraced our northbound route through the Cassier Mountains along the Alaska Highway to Watson Lake. The southbound trip was a totally different drive, as the sun shone brightly and there was no fog , rain or mud.

Approaching the Cassier Mountains

on the Alcan South of Whitehorse

Along the Alcan south of Whitehorse, we passed a couple of visually striking bridges on our way to Watson Lake. Keith is fascinated with the structural aspects of bridges. There are a multitude of ways to span and carry loads across an obstacle such as a river. Keith likes to look at bridge structures, and try to figure out how the design engineer configured it to most efficiently fulfill it’s design intent.

The simplest bridge, emerging from antiquity, is a tree trunk laid over a creek. The log functions as a simple beam. It supports the load in bending, with compression (pushing) force in it’s upper fibers, tensilon (stretching) force in it’s lower fibers, and shear in the center of the log. These forces distribute the load from the middle of the log to the creek banks.

Recent improvements to the simple beam bridge include replacing wood with much stronger steel, and changing the form of the beam to place most of the structural material at the upper and lower surfaces, where the compression and tensile loads are greatest. These upper and lower flanges are joined by a relatively thin web, which ties the upper and lower load carrying members together. This form is sometimes known as an “I” beam, or a girder. The steel beam, or girder bridge is the simplest and most widely seen of all bridge forms.

A more sophisticated elaboration of the simple beam is the truss bridge, where the upper and lower load carrying members are more widely separated, and are joined together with a filigree of connecting struts that tie the primary upper and lower load bearing members together. The truss structure may be located either above or below the roadway; in either case, the truss functions structurally as a simple, but highly efficient beam. Being more structurally efficient, trusses can span substantially greater distances than a simple “I” beam, without collapsing under their own weight.

A beautiful example of a multiple-span truss bridge crosses Nisutlin Bay at MP 776 on the Alcan. The forces experienced by the primary upper and lower structural members are illustrated in the accompanying photograph. In this form of truss bridge, the roadbed is supported by the lower truss members, which are loaded in tension. The Nisutlin Bay bridge is the longest water span on the Alaska Highway at 1917 ft. The multiple trusses span this distance much more efficiently than would simple “I” beams, which would be shorter and require many more pilings in the riverbed.

Multiple Span Truss Bridge Crossing Nisutlin Bay

at MP 776 on the Alaska Highway

Scenic View of Teslin Lake

South of the Teslin River Bridge

Another very striking bridge crosses the Teslin River north of Nisutlin Bay at MP 808.6. This bridge is a hybrid of two bridge forms. The center span is a steel arch assembly. The arch form was used extensively by the Romans. It functions primarily in compression, so is amenable to construction from brittle materials which do not gracefully carry tensile loads, such as stone. When fabricated from steel, the arch bridge is strong enough to span greater distances than the beam or truss, and is used where it is undesirable to place a bridge pier in the main channel. The photo below illustrates the compressive forces in the primary arch structure, and shows how they are reacted at the base of the arch.

The bridge segments which join the arch to the riverbank are trusses, similar in principle to those in the Nistulin Bay bridge, except that they are located below rather than above the roadbed. These truss segments serve two functions. First, they carry the primary load in their respective sections of the bridge. Second, they react the horizontal thrust component of the force from the central arch, and transmit this force to the bridge abutments. In this respect, they function similarly to the flying buttresses found on many medieval cathedrals.

Combination Underdeck Truss and Steel Arch Bridge

Spans the Teslin River at MP 806.6 on the Alaska Highway

Interestingly, the I35 bridge, which collapsed last year in Minneapolis, was very similar to the Teslin River bridge. The central arch form was used to avoid a mid-steam pier, which would have interfered with navigation on the Mississippi. Where structural forms such as the arch are fabricated of multiple structural elements, rather than being a monolithic structure, it is essential that the elements be rigidly tied together to function as a unit. In the case of the I35 bridge, the gussets which tied together the elements of the arch were undersize, and eventually distorted, causing the bridge to collapse.

"And the Road Goes Ever On and On

Down From the Door Where it Began"

In Watson Lake we stayed overnight at the Baby Nugget Campground. After our arrival Kathy started preparations for a large pot of her world famous spaghetti sauce. She made enough that we were able to host supper for 10, with enough left over for a couple of meals. Keith gives Kathy’s sauce 4COWS, an she does not argue.

Spagetti Fest at Watson Lake

Hand Carved Door on Gift Shop

at Baby Nugget Campground in Watson Lake

Our next couple of days will be a drive southward along the Cassier Highway to the twin towns of Stewart BC and Hyder, AK, where bears may sometimes be seen fishing in Fish Creek. Stay tuned!