Thu 15 Aug 2013 Barkerville

Thu 15 Aug 2013

At the end of a long road I found  Barkerville.
An old gold town, which is totally alive.
More tomorrow.

Just before Barkerville is Wells.
A small but vibrant community of artist
and people who loves the extreme (winter)
back country adventures.

What a surprise, when in the small local Bear Paw
restaurant this classical trio gave an excellent performance
the whole evening. 
While I was enjoying the The 'hanging judge' Begbie Ale.
(more tomorrow).

Wed 14 Aug 2013 Bergeron Falls.

Wed 14 Aug 2013

Bergeron Falls.

Still in Tunbler ridge, and this was
one of the most beautiful hikes (again).

It so steep, good that there are ropes.
But sometimes, they are running out of ropes,
or lack of trees, to tie the ropes to.
Then. it is more scrambling. But the rewards
are the magnificent views.

A lot of steep up and downs, with nice
views of the river, next to steep cliffs,
and very much rewarding view of the waterfall.

And do you see to white spot in the middle,
right to the waterfall.
Some more closeup view of this:

There are also thousand of mushrooms.

In all form and shapes.

Tue 13 Aug 2013 Dawson creek

Tue 13 Aug 2013
Dawson creek

Mile 0, Alaska Hi Way

What is the plan ?

......

Postpone any decision, and went to the
Tumbler Ridge provincial park.

One of the signs at the Quality creek falls

This trail meanders through a forest that makes up
part of the expansive Boreal White and Black Spruce
bio-eco-climate zone. Characteristics of this zone are
the long cold winters with a short growing season. The
sever climate results in forests that are low in
productivity. Where  this zone is flat it is made up of
extensive spruce bogs with a mix of black spruce.
white spruce and aspen; where it is hilly it contains
lodge pole pine.
A few the animals that dwell in this forest are:
marten, lynx, black bear, grizzly bear, snowshoe hare,
red squirrel, spruce grouse, deer, elk, moose,
mosquito and the almighty black fly.

And the last ones, yes, way more annoying than any bear.

Again, hiked up or down to many falls.

The Kinuseo Falls are impressive

And if there is a trail down

Skip uploading the video, for now.

The landscape is so impressive

So nice, decided just to camp at the borders
of the Murray River.

From here starts the Monkman Pass  memorial trail.
Just 6 days to Hobi's cabin, in the complete wilderness.
I'm not yet ready for this.....

On the other side, very strange area.
Multi use for sure.
A large windmill park, big tree logging
activity, open coal mine operation,
high pressure gas line, many gravel pits,
and of coarse also the extreme
beautiful waterfalls, lakes and hiking
opportunities.

Is it not somewhat bizarre to see this sign
next to the start of the hiking trail
to another waterfall.

Murray River
Danger Hugh Pressure poisonous gas
no smoking, matches or open flames
Personal protective equipment required
no unauthorized entry

Have pictures of all 'man' activity and warning
signs. But probably not needed to prove the point
of exploiting the land.

Mon 12 Aug 2013

Leaving Jasper, Alberta,
Up to British Columbia

One of the so many lakes,
And watch the train at the other side of the lake.
The train is nearly the complete length of the lake.

Got some good pictures of bighorn sheep

There was a whole group of bighorn sheep, in there
natural environment: high on the cliffs.
Even small calf learn to find there balance.

Sun 11 Aug 2013 Jasper

Sun 11 Aug 2013
Jasper

Sunday, planning a resting day and doing laundry.
What a failure.

Started with a hike from Maligne Lake to the
Bald Hills, and 3 summits. 15 km and 800 m steep up,
to get a 360 view of  the lake and the
surrounding mountains.

On the way back, stopped at Maligne canyon.
What a surprise. Got an overdose of waterfalls.

Six bridges (5th was closed, so only did 1st up to 5th).
A canyon, longer than 1 km, at points more than
50 m deep, and most are even underground tubes.

Thousand of years has formed these beautiful canyon

Some nice story
Maligne is French for "evel" or "wicked". Father
Pierre-Jean de Smet, a Belgian Jesuit missionary,
used the word to describe the river after having
trouble crossing it on his horse in 1846.


And along the road, some young bighorn sheep.

Sat 10 Aug 2013
The Edith Cavell mountain and Angel Glacier.

Check out the story Edith Cavell

The angle glacier on the Edith Cavell mountain
When I arrived, just a small waterfall.

Exactly one year and one day, a large piece felt down,
and changed the drastic the view,
Some cracks, falling ice blocks, and thunderstorm
like noise, predicted something to happen.
What a surprise, that I got this on video.

 

My software to rotate has some hick ups.
just turn your screen, or download/upload the video
and I will replace this version with the good one.

And also the local wildlife enjoyed the view

2 km further, 500 m higher

Along the way back

Fri 9 Aug 2013 Going up north, to Jasper.

Fri 9 Aug 2013
Going up north, to Jasper.

Stopped at the Athabasca glacier.
This became a tourist trap. Yes, an easy
accessible glacier, but not much eventful l.

But what a surprise, the road going up north.
driving along the Athabasca River in between
impressive mountain peaks, covered with ice fields.

And then the waterfalls.
Nearly impossible to show, and so hard 
to make a selection of some pictures.

Columbia ice fields, the largest around.
And source of Athabasca glacier, most accessible.
A small piece dropped. See the size of the people
to get a perspective

Just another glacier along the road

And then a series of waterfalls, such as the
Sunwapta falls

And the Athabasca falls

And these are only one picture of the continuous streams of
waterfalls along the river.