Icefields Parkway to Grand Prairie
From the mountains to the prairies - and everything in between. We are actually well past the prairie 
but there is still some evidence of grazing land with plenty of mountains and streams throughout. We are on what is known as the Bighorn Route - Alberta Highway 40 - and it connects with the Yellowhead Highway and Highway 43 which is where we will be heading. It seems to be a fairly good road with moderate grades and curves and good mountain views. We thought we had seen beautiful country in the lower 48 states, but nothing so far compares to the Canadian Rockies. They are breathtaking.
but there is still some evidence of grazing land with plenty of mountains and streams throughout. We are on what is known as the Bighorn Route - Alberta Highway 40 - and it connects with the Yellowhead Highway and Highway 43 which is where we will be heading. It seems to be a fairly good road with moderate grades and curves and good mountain views. We thought we had seen beautiful country in the lower 48 states, but nothing so far compares to the Canadian Rockies. They are breathtaking. First stop will be Grande Cache. This location was used as a staging area for fur trappers and Nativ
es prior to their departure to trap lines in the valleys and mountain ranges. Upon their return, they stored large caches of furs while waiting for transportation to trading posts. A "cache" is basically a cabin on stilts. Translated from French, it is pronounced "cash" and means large storage place. There is a labyrinth - also called a maze - at the south end of town and a curling rink. Other than that nothing notable.
es prior to their departure to trap lines in the valleys and mountain ranges. Upon their return, they stored large caches of furs while waiting for transportation to trading posts. A "cache" is basically a cabin on stilts. Translated from French, it is pronounced "cash" and means large storage place. There is a labyrinth - also called a maze - at the south end of town and a curling rink. Other than that nothing notable.While traveling today we saw 2 Mule Deer crossing the road, 1 Kingfisher at the Kakwa River, a 3 foot diameter ant hill, 2 Beaver dams across Steep Creek, 1 dead elk and 1 Black Bear.
Stopped early today when we got to Grande Prairie - necessary stop at the Laundramat - been a long while since the last one. After doing the laundry we went next door to the Tokyo Ichiban for dinner. Their special today was California Roll - Sushi. We both ordered that, plus Hot and Sour Soup (that is Ken's favorite and although he doesn't really like Sushi, he ate it and I think he enjoyed it this time).
John and Fran beat us to the Saskatoon Provincial Park and they were extremely full. John tagged a site for us but put the wrong date on it, so someone took the tag off and took the site. The parks in Canada have this strange system. If the site is marked reservable, you can't occupy it because someone might have reserved it over the phone or computer. They don't tag them so you know if someone is coming in or not and people are allowed to bring their rigs in, set them up and leave, go home, and come back on the weekend. Well - needless to say we weren't real happy with the system and because most of the sites had unoccupied rigs on them, we chose to take one that didn't and prayed that there wasn't going to be anyone coming in during the night. We were lucky that didn't happen and we spent a restful night there.
Ken and I walked down to the lake to see if we could see the Trumpeter Swans that were said to frequent the area, but no luck. It was a nice walk and it gave us our first opportunity to enjoy daylight at 10:30 at night. Strange!
Tomorrow I am sure we will get to Dawson Creek. Sure seems a long time getting there!
Pictures of the day!
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