Here are some photos from a late September trip to the Canadian Rockies, the Rocky Mountain trench in BC and Banff and Kananaskis Country in Alberta.

First some views of a drive on back roads across northern Washington.

- a small forest service camp up the Entiat River valley on the east side of the Cascades

- a back road up Chelan Butte

- views along the Columbia River/Lake Roosevelt near the Inchelium-Gifford ferry crossing.

Then north up the Pend Oreille river valley into British Columbia, east along Hwy 3, the Crowsnest, to Cranbrook and then north to Radium Hot Springs.

- a view of the Element parked at Kootenay Pass (between Salmo and Creston), from a trail above the pass. This is the highest all season highway pass in Canada.

- hot springs along Ram Creek

- cliffs and aspens above rough Ram Creek Road (NE of Premier Lake Prov. Park)

- threatening rain near Radium Hot Springs. Here the Columbia flows north from its headwaters through wetlands.

Photos of this area from last June can be found at http://upload.pbase.com/edit_gallery/paulj3/canadianrockiesjune05

We passed through Kootenay and Banff Nat. Parks and into Kananaskis Country right after a rain/snow storm that left nice white topping on the peaks. The weather was clear and bright, but also cold (down to 26F one morning).


- along the Paint Pots trail in Kootenay Nat Park
- snowy peaks in Kootenay Nat Park
- Bow River valley in Banff
- cliffs above the Bow Valley Parkway near Banff
- on the dam forming Spray Lakes above Canmore, AB
- sunset colors on peaks above Wedge Pond

From Peter Longheed Park we drove south on Hwy 40 over Highwood Pass and then a 100 km on a gravel road to Coleman on the Crowsnest Hwy. From there is was west into British Columbia, through coal mining communities of Sparwood and Fernie and back to Cranbrook. At Creston we drove north along Kootenay Lake, through Nelson and Castlegar and crossed back into the USA near Grand Forks.

- a couple of views near Highwood Pass (highest paved road in Canada, though closed during the winter). The fall colors at this altitude (7000 ft) are in alpine larches, a conifer.

- seemed that every biker in Calgary was touring the mountains this Sunday

- ferry crossing of Kootenay Lake. The Element is hidden behind the rental truck, next to the moving house. Smoke from several fires obscured the views.

- manicured lawn at Conconully State Park, Washington (near the Okanogan Valley). We had the park to ourselves (along with a few grazing deer).

- lunch stop in wild-west theamed town of Winthrop, Washington. I picked up a nail in the left rear tire between Conconully and Winthrop, but apart from an initial pressure loss the tire was air tight. So I topped it off and waited till I got home to get the tire repaired.

Great pictures! :thumbup:

beautiful, beautiful, beautiful pictures...i really can't get over it, I want to visit someplace like that before I die

I know where I'm going on my next trip. Great pictures

Great pics Paul !!! Thanks . . . :)

I want to move to Seattle!! Great pics! beautiful!

Thanks for the gorgeous shots. I'm jealous. Thinking about a cross-coutry/continent tour next year. For now, I'm stuck on the East coast.

I'm jealous..

Wonderful pics as usual Paul, it sure looks like you had a great trip.

The early snow gives me mixed feelings. I hope it means a good winter ahead in the mountains but it really is TOO early!

I took a run to Nelson last week via Nakusp and enjoyed, just as you did, the fall colours and seeing the snow on the tops of the Monashees. That will probably be my last trip (by road) into the area until late winter or early spring when a buddy and I may take a trip in to do some snowboarding. Are you planning to return to the area this winter?

It's funny hearing the Kootenay Pass described as an "all season" pass! All too soon it will be in its frequently treacherous winter condition and will no doubt be shut quite often by the usual avalanches and blizzards!

perty perty,

thanks for sharing the pix!

I follow winter pass driving conditions whether I intend to cross them or not. I am most familiar with conditions over the Washington passes, but have also looked at the winter web pictures for Kootenay Pass. The visitors center at Rogers Pass makes a big deal about the difficulties posed by avalanches.

A winter trip through these mountains would be interesting, but I don't anticipate having a block of time free to travel far this winter.

paulj

...The visitors center at Rogers Pass makes a big deal about the difficulties posed by avalanches...

They have had some bad experiences on Hwy 1 the past few years with snow slides. A few years ago a group of semi trailer trucks got stuck for several days in a snow shed near the Pass when a slide came down just at the Eastern end of the shed. Before they could back out another slide closed the Western end!

Just west of Stevens Pass (US2) over the Cascades there is a trail along an old section of railroad. For a ways the trail goes through a concrete snowshed. Near the entrance of the shed there are exhibits about an avalanche that hit two trains, killing about a hundred.
http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/cpsha/irongoat/history.htm

When we crossed Rogers Pass (transcanda hwy 1) last June we walked a loop trail that follows an old section of track. There is a section of broken down wood snowshed on that trail. The outstanding feature of that trail is the old bridge supports.

While avalanches are the main concern, in September that was a rock fall on I90 westbound toward Seattle that killed 3 people. Work to stabilize the slope has reduced that direction to one lane.
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/I90/Rockslides/

Man, I gotta get out of the office.

Man, I gotta get out of the office.

HAHAHA! My thoughts exactly. I read this thread and started planning my next vacation right then and there! Pics like these make you want to close down powerpoint, lose the tie, throw on the boots and go!

OK..back to powerpoint...

Nice finger.... hehe

Beautiful pictures!!!! Yeah, I officially hate you now. We've got nothing even close to that beautiful in these parts...the Blue Ridge Mountains don't even hold a candle to those locations :-o Wish I could take more trips like that one in my E....someday I shall!

Thanks for the great pics, very enjoyable.

Dave.

The Kootenay Pass web cam is now functioning for the winter season. I'm guessing it points east toward Creston, since it probably is associated with the winter maintenance yard on the south side of the pass.

http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/bchighwaycam/WebCam.aspx?img=5

paulj

As always- great pics, neat places, and good looking E.

I just got back from a Utah trip but alas the new digital camera broke (so much for newer is better- my 20 year old OM-2 has never failed me but two months of being babied was too much for the little digital and it went kaput :-( )so no E pics to share.

Where abouts in Utah did you go? We passed through there a year ago, cutting across the NE corner to Moab, and then across the south to Nevada.

2004 Utah fall colors thread (http://www.hondaelement.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5851&highlight=fall+colors)

paulj

We did Bryce and Zion. Yeah, I know it is the "casual tourist" thing, but they are still pretty neat and besides the wife wanted a lodge, not campsite ;-)

I do have a weekend trip for the just the boys, the E, campong and Big Bend here I come!

I have seen your Utah images before and they are really great. I have been to the Moab area but need to go back into the SE part of the state again. Utah and the slickrock are really cool, too bad it such a long drive for me.

Great pictures Paul! I guess the cat's out of the bag now.

My initial plans for the September trip were to go north from Banff into Jasper, and then back through Mt Robson, Wells Gray and Kamloops. But then I started to look up info on the Kananaskis area, and switched plans. We spent several days in Wells Gray several years ago, and really should revisit it (http://www.pbase.com/paulj3/wells_gray). I also want to explore the mountains west of Lillooet.

paulj

Nice pics! Love B.C., was there in '01 and would like to do a "Road trip" with the E next year and take in Alberta & B.C. Thanks for sharing the great pics! TW

I am glad this thread got re-opened. Those photos are awesome.

I am going to have to go to some place like that.