NORTH TO ALASKA 2025 - DAY 85 - THRU JASPER, BANFF & THOMPSON CREEK

Yessssss --- after 2 days of rain at Mount Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia, it was time to hit the road. Look at the gorgeous day we were going to have! The skies were clearing up and the sun was shining.

Directly ahead, in perfect view from our campsite, is Mount Robson. This is the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.

We drove out of the park, and avoided the congestion over at the visitor center. We were going to dump our holding tanks there but decided to pass. The parking lot was completely full and to get over to the dump area it was not going to be very convenient for us. Instead, we hit the road and started heading east towards Jasper National Park, crossing from British Columbia into Alberta on the way.

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, the sun was flickering in and out of the heavy dark clouds. A few times we had sprinkles. But then other times it opened up to beautiful sunshine. With all of the high mountains, I think it's kind of hard to predict what kind of weather would be coming each time you went another 10 miles, it would change.

We stopped a few times to enjoy the scenery and to take a break. It was just breathtaking as we wound our way through this section of the Canadian Rockies.

Again, I took 16 bajillion pictures and had a hard time choosing which ones to post on here. The sweeping valleys and the high ridges, combined with the tall pine trees was just so awe-inspiring.

These lakes were absolutely vivid turquoise blue. It's not reflecting the sky up above, as you can tell it's cloudy. This blue water is just so amazingly bright to the eyes and it has to do with the reflection off the silt and the minerals. These are glacial fed lakes and rivers that have this color. I know it looks fake, but this is exactly snapped out of the window with no photoshopping. You can even see the reflection of myself in the glass as we zoomed on past.

The clouds were building up a bit as we got closer to Jasper. We had originally thought about stopping in the town of Jasper but so much of it has been burned and not rebuilt yet. Many of the businesses are still temporarily closed. This is the area that had a huge fire in July of 2024. The park is not charging any entrance fee at this time. They are also giving a discount for camping. 

It was so so sad to turn the corner and enter the park and see the devastation and the destruction of the wildfire of last year. This went on for miles and miles and miles and miles.

We rolled down the window to speak with the attendant at the entrance point. I could smell a funny smell even then. Everything smelled like old burned-up campfire, decay, and acrid stinky ashes. 

It reminded me, as a child, of the ash pile we had out in our back garden from emptying our wood burning stove. In the spring, Dad would spread it with a shovel over the whole garden before he would roto-till it into the dirt. It was that same smell. 

There are strict limitations on what you can do in the park right now. Because of all the burned trees that are now falling over, even in the slightest breeze. You are not allowed on any of the hiking trails. You can be in the parking areas or sections of the parks that have been already cleared of standing dead trees.

Also, they have sections along the road marked with cones to not enter the woods in that area at all. It's called a rehabilitation zone. It's for the wildlife that have congregated there to be safe and to have parts of the park grow enough foliage for protection and food for the animals.

The campgrounds have been cleared of any dangerous rotten burnt standing timber. So now they are just flat open fields of parking spots among the fallen trees and remaining stumps.  We can see some people taking them up on their discounted camping rates.  But we drove on through the park, as we had another portion in mind for camping in the un-burnt areas.  

The sun was peeking out and we were having more blue sky. We wished it had been a better scenery or terrain to look at. It just reminds us of how fragile is the balance between vibrant blooming nature and total destruction. 

I know it will green up and it will take time to recover. New little bits of grass were here and there poking through. But the devastation is so strong, and everything looks sad and desolate.

We decided to try and hit one or two of the highlights of the park. One of the things that we wanted to see Athabasca Falls.   We made our way to the falls, located about in the middle of the park. Ohhhhh myyyyy everyone else must have had the same idea! It was soooo crowded!!!  Traffic jammed up just on the road leading INTO the parking area.  Cars were parked 10 deep on the road, just waiting to turn into the parkinglot.  There wasn't a spot to be had to park a car, much less a 25 ft motorhome. 

We drove on past down the road a ways and turned around to make our way back out to the highway. Steve slowed down over the bridge, and I was able to lean out the window and snap a few pictures of the waterfalls from the bridge. There is no way we could get into the parking lot or through those crowds of people.

It appeared to be a beautiful waterfall, and we would have enjoyed going to stand on the deck nearby to watch it. But there is just no way we could make it through all those people even if we did find a spot to park. It was very crowded.

We did drive further down into the park.

It was getting crazier and crazier with vehicles all over and a lot of inexperienced drivers in rental RVs. People were backing up without looking, walking in front of you while looking at their cell phone, and sometimes it was five or six vehicles driving in the middle of parking areas with no set direction indicated. So it was basically "survival of the fittest" who could get to the entry or the exit of the lot without smashing into anybody else. It was really like a demolition derby where we were trying to avoid each other. It definitely was not comfortable! 

This guy here pulled right out in front of us without looking... as we were traveling at the speed limit on the main highway through the park. We slammed on the brakes, as he thoughtlessly rolled along at a snail's pace. 

We had to be on alert every minute. 

Steve did find a little pull off parking lot that was actually a staging area we think was for the tubing companies for the rafters buses. We pulled in there and there was nobody else around! We had time to cook up a nice lunch and relax and look around a little bit. Yes, things were still burned and charred, but at least we had a spot to stop and make some lunch. 

I tried to find some beauty in the damaged landscape. It's good to see some of the green popping up around the edges. 

As we worked our way further south, there were less and less burned patches. But there were also more and more people.

The natural landscape was stunning. The clouds were rolling up and away to reveal the tops of the mountains as we descended deeper down into the park.

Jasper Park is over a hundred miles long. Each mile was more beautiful than the last.

Some areas we traveled were flat in the valleys, and other ones were winding along through the mountains. 

We could see some people who were leaving their vehicles at designated spots and taking tour buses throughout the park. I really feel sorry for those tour bus drivers! We were finding navigating in the congested areas nerve-racking and tense. 

But then things would open up and we would see this beautiful scenery. The clouds were splattering a few raindrops here and there. 

This is called the Ice Fields Parkway. Sometimes in the winter it gets closed down, but they try to keep it open year-round.

We came through one area that was just astounding with scenery. I had clicked and taken this photo of a glacier in between the two dark mountains. The clouds above it were just parting, allowing the sun to illuminate the glacier.

To me, this next picture is just amazing how the icy glacier caught the light from above through the clouds.  And that is exactly what it looked like as we were going through that particular valley.

As we drove further south, winding our way along through the hundred mile stretch of Jasper Park, things were getting a little brighter and lighter in the sky.  We were seeing a lot more greenery and it felt a little bit better than the utter desolation and sadness of the sections to the north.

We were coming around one curve of the road that was right alongside of the water. I saw this little outcropping and it looked so pretty sticking out in the water. The wind had kicked up and there were waves on the surface. It looked so picturesque and rugged and rocky and wild.

Now we came to a highly congested tourist area again. This is the popular Glacier Skywalk. And boy were people ever maneuvering and cutting across traffic and trying to get into the parking lot. We had to hit the brakes twice for RVs cutting right in front of us trying to make the entrance because they weren't paying attention. Both of them happened to be rental RVs. You can tell by all the crazy banners and lettering stuck on the outside.

Steve maneuvered our way around and I snapped one photo from this direction of the people out on the skywalk.

Then before we almost collided with three or four other cars, we got to the other end of the tourist area and I was able to snap this photo from my side window.

We looked it up, it is $35 a person to go and walk on this thing. I definitely do not like heights, so I wouldn't want to go on it anyhow. But we saved $70 by driving past. The scenery we were seeing was absolutely beautiful and we didn't need to spend $70 to see a little bit more.

This photo is from their website:

No thank you.

We did drive along into other sections of the mountains, following the main route through the park. Most of the parking lots were packed solid or had people waiting to turn in or pull out.  It was a very tense situation trying to maneuver every time around entrances or exits. I think people would lose patience and just pull out and figure you weren't going to hit them??

In other areas, the traffic stretched out where it wasn't quite as busy and we could relax and enjoy the scenery.

The one campground in Jasper Park that we were hoping to get a "first come first serve" site was fully occupied. There was really nowhere else to go other than south further through the park--- or backtrack a hundred miles to the campgrounds at the beginning in Jasper. 

By this time, we had reached the southern area of Jasper Park. Believe me, a hundred miles worth of "Tourist Infested Park Driving" was enough.  Instead of continuing on another 145 miles through Banff Park, We decided to take a left on Route 11 called the David Thompson Highway and get out of the park completely. We needed to find a quiet peaceful campground someplace out of the park boundaries.

But first...

We were low on fuel. So that meant we need to fuel up before we went traveling off into parts unknown. Right within Jasper Park at the Saskatchewan River Crossing, is where we needed to turn. They also had a place called The Crossing Station and a hotel. So we thought we would get fuel there. Sounds good right? 

Well.... It was so intense I didn't even have a chance to pick up my camera and take a picture. 

First, we had to maneuver our way in amongst people walking around right in the parking lot in front of the fuel pumps. People were just walking all over willy-nilly, staring at their phones and walking right in front of oncoming vehicles. 

Second, all types of vehicles were pulling in and jockeying for positions either to get fuel, or to get into the store, or loop around the building to get to the hotel. It was like nobody knew where the other person was going and people were criss-crossing in front of each other with their vehicles. Plus the added pedestrians in between. It was NUTS!!!!

Third, we pulled up to where the waiting attendants jump up out of their line of chairs and will pump your fuel as you line up at various pumps. You do not get out of your vehicle. He was very nice and friendly. We gave him a little tip. Then you pull your vehicle forward with a little number and you drive up to a center single kiosk where you pay for your fuel. I guess it moves people through faster and eliminates the problem of people leaving their vehicles at the pump to go inside and shop in the convenience store and the gift shop.

After we converted the Canadian rate over to US, this was the most expensive fuel we filled up on our entire trip!! It was $6.05 a US gallon after the conversions and the exchange rate. Wow.

Finally forth, now we had to try to get out of this place. It's like they on purpose face you to the back after you get your fuel, so now you are forced to drive past the gift shops and through the parking areas for the hotel. The only way to get back out to the highway is to wind your way through all of these walking pedestrians. Plus add in all of the other vehicles trying to figure out their way to get back out to the highway after getting their fuel. There are no defined routes or lanes and no lines so you're just kind of driving across open parking lot with no lines. But there are people coming from all directions and trying to go cross cross in all directions. It was really crazy!!

I had to carefully watch for things from every angle on my side while Steve was watching from every angle on his side... Driving slowly thru people and vehicles and rental RVs that were everywhere!

I am relieved to say we made it out unscathed. We did not get bumped or hit and we didn't run over anyone!

But that was enough for us, we needed to get out of the park and find a peaceful place to rest for the night...

We turned east on Route 11 on the David Thompson Highway and managed to get our way out of the park. We had found two campgrounds on the map that were beyond the park boundaries as well as a lot of boondocking spots along the shores of Abraham Lake. So we knew we would get a spot somewhere to sleep for the night. But it was getting dark. Ugh.

A mere 6 miles out of the park, we found this beautiful campground.  Their first two loops were reservable, about 40 sites, and their large back loop of 20 sites were all "first come first serve" sites! There were only five or six other people in there and we had our choice of many of the sites.

It was called Thompson Creek Campground. 

 

https://www.albertaparks.ca/parks/central/thompson-creek-pra/

I took this photo the next day in better light, but this was the bridge we had to cross over the creek to get to the "first come first serve" sites. How cute is that?

We got nestled into our campsite and cuddled up and relaxed. It had been quite a day.

Although we had only traveled 159 miles, it felt like a lot, lot more. I think it was the rainy weather on and off, combined with all the crazy traffic that made it difficult. Also, driving through all that devastation of the wildfires was very disheartening and sobering. 

After a late meal, we did get out and take a walk around. The temps were dropping and I was able to put on my new jacket that I bought in Alaska. 

It was good to relax and walk amongst the tall trees. Things were peaceful and quiet. We were doing our "honeymoon thing" while Nick looked off in the opposite direction, embarrassed by our public display of affection.

We strolled along, taking in the beauty of the woods. We were smelling the fresh wildflowers as we walked along, appreciating their natural beauty.

I think these are the rose hips from the wild roses we had enjoyed over the last 2 months. I think some people use them to make tea. I am not sure. But we continued our walk along through the woods and down towards the creek.

This was such a beautiful location! This low flowing creek over the gravely rocks was just perfect place for a family to take their children. They could wade and splash around among the rocks, without danger of toddling off into deeper water. 

We could see where some enterprising children were trying to build little dams by rearranging larger rocks into sections to change the flow of the river. Or maybe to trap some crayfish or minnows. After all of that rain, I was surprised that it's nice and low.  What a great place to cool off on a hot day. 

Each side of the high banks were spaced with picnic tables and comfortable areas to relax and watch the water trickle on over the rocks. 

If you looked up at the end of the river there was a huge mountain on one side, and if you looked up at the beginning of the river on the other side of the bridge there was a huge mountain there too. So we may not have been camping on a mountainside lake, but we were camping near a two mountainside river! 

This was exactly what we needed, what a place to relax and recoup and plan our next section of our travels. We are now in Alberta, Canada, and heading towards Calgary and south down towards Montana. We have decided to not continue down through Banff, nor go the route over to Washington State. We will save that for another trip.

Here's the video that goes along with today's blog: 

159 VERY LONG miles traveled today 

7,588 miles traveled so far