Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Day 16 Summer 2010 Park to Park Road Trip

This morning we left Golden BC and headed for Glacier National Park in British Columbia. It is slightly confusing because just a few days ago we visited Glacier National Park in Montana, these are not the same parks.

0463 Glacier National Park BC0467 Glacier National Park BC0471 Glacier National Park BC

The scenery is always breathtaking in the high mountains, of course the camera cannot capture fully the views and vistas that we see, but it gives a good approximation.

I have heard of snowsheds before, but I have never seen one. These snowsheds protect the road and the vehicles on the road from snow slides or avalanches. We drove through 6 of these as we drove along the Trans Canada Highway through GNP.

0474 Snowsheds Glacier National Park BC0476 Snowsheds Glacier National Park BC

We stopped at the Rogers Pass Visitor Centre, I thought the grass roof on the building was very unique.

0485 Rogers Pass Glacier National Park BC0486 Rogers Pass Glacier National Park BC0487 Rogers Pass Glacier National Park BC

We watched as the Columbia Ground Squirrels played.

0493 Columbia Ground Squirrel Rogers Pass Glacier National Park BC 0503 Columbia Ground Squirrel Rogers Pass Glacier National Park BC

There is a monument to commemorate the achievements and accomplishments of the men who pushed through and cleared the way over Rogers Pass so that the Railway could connect Canada from West to East.

0513 Rogers Pass Glacier National Park BC0528 Rogers Pass Glacier National Park BC

While we were taking photos of the monument, a couple on their bicycle built for two also pulled in. We see a lot of people riding their bikes as we travel and often wonder how they manage with all of the traffic and hills, but we had seen this couple several times in the last few days, their bike is very unique so you know it is the same bikers.

0525 Rogers Pass Glacier National Park BC

I told them that we had seen them along the road at various locations and I was curious where they had come from and where they were going. I was surprised to learn that they started in Anchorage Alaska and are biking to the Southern tip of South America. Karen and I would not be able to pedal around the block, and never in our wildest imaginations would we consider this as our mode of transportation. Some day, maybe we could drive from Anchorage to the tip of South America, in a nice comfortable motor home.

They posed for a photo and then they were off again, coasting all the way to the bottom of Rogers Pass.

0526 Rogers Pass Glacier National Park BC

We passed them part way down the pass and snapped these photos, although they turned out blurry.

0549 Rock Garden Glacier National Park BC0550 Rock Garden Glacier National Park BC

We drove through some more snowsheds, these ones were painted yellow, Karen’s favourite colour.

0559 Snowshed TC 1 Albert Canyon BC0560 Snowshed TC 1 Albert Canyon BC0561 Snowshed TC 1 Albert Canyon BC

After leaving Glacier National Park, we drove a short distance along the Trans Canada Highway and then entered Mount Revelstoke National Park.

0568 Mount Revelstoke National Park BC

We turned off the highway and drove along the Meadows in the Sky Parkway. This is a 28 KM winding, twisting road to the top of Mount Revelstoke.

0581 Meadows in the Sky Parkway RNP BC0583 Meadows in the Sky Parkway RNP BC

At the peak is Balsam Lake and a parking area. 0594 Balsam Lake Meadows in the Sky Parkway RNP BC

0600 Balsam Lake Meadows in the Sky Parkway RNP BC Stitch

From there you can take a Parks Canada Shuttle Van to the Meadows in the Sky Trail.

0623 Balsam Lake Meadows in the Sky Parkway RNP BC

We walked around the trail and enjoyed the views and the flowers that were blooming.

0626 Balsam Lake Meadows in the Sky Parkway RNP BC0627 Balsam Lake Meadows in the Sky Parkway RNP BC0638 Balsam Lake Meadows in the Sky Parkway RNP BC

Even found a little bit of snow tucked in a shaded spot among the rocks.

0632 Balsam Lake Meadows in the Sky Parkway RNP BC0636 Balsam Lake Meadows in the Sky Parkway RNP BC0652 Balsam Lake Meadows in the Sky Parkway RNP BC

We are spending the evening in Sicamous BC and will be on the road in the morning heading Southward through BC and the Okanagan Valley.

To see all of our photos from today, please visit my FLICKR site.

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