Alaska... here we come!

Banff's BC sister

A few hours west of Banff we stumbled upon a gem: Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park.

Neither of us had even heard of Yoho National Park (essentially the continuation of Banff National Park in BC rather than Alberta) before it was recommended to us by Carissa's step-dad Mel, who described it as even more beautiful than Banff. We had to go.

We drove up the Yoho River valley at twilight in search of a campsite to sleep at before hiking the Iceline trail the next morning, . We had been told there was a hike-in campgound near a waterfall at the end of the road, but were utterly unprepared for how massive Takakkaw Falls turned out to be. Absolutely stunning - a must see for anyone traveling to this area.

The next morning, August 26th, we set off to follow a route suggested to us by a store owner in Banff: the Iceline trail to the Celeste Lake Trail to Laughing Falls and back to our campground. It was another beautiful bluebird day and the hike was simply marvelous. We romped past glaciers and icefields, crossing several streams making their way from the glaciers to the valley over 2000 feet below us; descended through evergreen forests past many small glacial-green lakes. By the time we got to Laughing Falls we were feeling pooped and were glad to arrive at our campsite soon thereafter.

These pictures don't do it justice:

Takakkaw Falls from across the valley as we ascend the Iceline Trail.

Emerald Glacier.

The next day we stopped by Morraine Lake (another excellent recommendation from Mel) on our way towards Jasper National Park. Here are a couple pics:

One year and still happily hikin'

The one firm plan we had made before leaving Madison en route to Alaska was to stay at Brewster's Shadow Lake Lodge (outside of the town of Banff) for our 1-year wedding anniversary celebration.

On Saturday August 22nd we hiked to this historic lodge which is about 13 km (or about 9 miles) from the Redearth Creek trailhead in Banff National Park. Although some reviews claimed the hike in was boring, to our mid-western acclimated eyes the trees and mountains were invigorating.

One of our favorite things about Shadow Lake Lodge is the afternoon tea - freshly baked scones, delicious cheeses, and all you can drink tea served from 3-5pm. Perfect to recover from all the calories burned during a day of hiking.


We spent our anniversary on a beautiful 8 mile hike from the lodge over Gibbon Pass to Twin Lakes and back. Splendid.









That evening we set our alarm for 12am to see the stars which were amazing (sorry, no pictures). On the 24th we got up extra early to check out sunrise above the mountains surrounding Shadow Lake. The ground was frosty and there was beautiful mist rising off the lake as the mountains turned shades of scarlet.

After 2 glorious nights we reluctantly hiked back down to Banff for the evening, but not before we were given a proper farewell by a moose grazing in the river near our cabins as we were packing our bags. Back in Banff we took a stroll to Bow Falls and soaked in the hot springs before driving to Yoho National Park.

Perhaps we're starting to get a hang of this 'vacation' thing.

Crazy creatures and wee beasties

Since Rich is a veterinarian we are very attuned to the animals we encounter on this journey. Here are some photos of the creatures we have encountered thus far:

Mortimer (our Badger traveling companion from our friends in Madison) in the mouth of a Canada Goose just across the border in Minnesota. Luckily we saved him before the goose got too far away.


Wall Drug (Wall, South Dakota). A break from driving through the plains.

Montana's version of a zoo.

A herd of big-horned sheep at Logan Pass (Glacier National Park, MT).

Mountain goat and her baby eying us while wondering why we wouldn't move off her favorite path along the mountain (known to us humans as a hiking trail).

Mortimer en route to summit a mountain in Glacier National Park. He's tough.

Dogs beware: there are vicious deer at Waterton National Park, Canada (the Canadian side of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park). See how vicious they look below.

The deer behind Rich in this picture was on her way over to steal some of our dinner. She was so tame we had to actually shoo her away (not enough vegis in peanut sauce to share).

Can anyone help us with this one?

Bear-anoia

Bearanoia (substitute 'bear' for 'par' in paranoia; noun): A condition afflicting those who have unexpectedly come across a bear while romping in the wilderness. People with bearanoia often mistake the sounds other forest creatures and the wind for an approaching attacking bear. Signs of severe bearanoia include talking and singing loudly while hiking, excessive hand-clapping, accelerated heart rate, and general jumpiness.


Driving from Butte towards Glacier National Park the sky stretches out in front of you the same way it does in the midwest, but the mountains framing its edges somehow change the curvature. Beware of the following cliche, but it really is Big Sky country- the vast blue sky just feels bigger.

We entered the west side of the Glacier, Tuesday, Aug. 18 and began driving towards the glaciers on the other side of the park via the Going to the Sun road that winds up the valley and along steep cliffs before reaching Logan Pass and plunging down to the east-side of the park.

On our way up the valley, we got a campsite on the shores of Lake McDonald and went for a short hike on the Cedar forest nature trail.

Wednesday morning we woke early to ascend the Loop trail (4 miles and 2200 feet elevation gain) to reach the Highline trail near Granite Chalet (a backcountry hike-in lodge for overnight guests) and traverse its 8 miles to Logan Pass. The sun had barely come up into the valley so we were hiking in cool shadows. The views were largely unobstructed as a 1967 fire had left just a skeleton of a forest all around us and some waist high brush.

Glacier National Park has bears: both Grizzly and Black. When hiking in Bear Country it is advisable to make lots of noise so as to never surprise a bear. Bear bells are insufficient so talking, occasionally shouting, and clapping hands were our strategies. At first we felt silly, but soon enough we didn't care that other hikers heard us as long as the bears did too.

Within 1/2 a mile of the start we spotted brush moving about 50-yards off the trail up-slope from us. Indeed it was a Grizzly. We were suddenly much more awake, our pulses racing knowing that we were less than half the advisable distance from this enormous furry animal. We clapped, shouted, and attempted to remain calm as we backed up the trail and fearfully watched to see what the bear would do. Though we're sure it must have spotted us long before we saw it, we were apparently not the least bit interesting to it. It was alone and focused on engulfing whole branches of ripe huckleberries with its huge mouth.

Maybe we should have retreated to the trailhead and found something else to do with our day, but we decided to quickly move past him. As we hustled past the bear seemed to grow bigger but continued placidly devouring huckleberries.

After this encounter, our bearanoia was in full effect. Large rocks became suspect. Squirrels rustling in bushes snapped our heads around. A report from some other hikers of a sow and two cubs "up ahead somewhere" did not help and we clapped with increasing frequency employing rocks to bang together--more sound and less sting than smacking your palms together.

We did not see any other bears that day, but there was a minor show-down with a Mountain goat momma and her kid (see "Crazy creatures and wee beasties" post).

The views were gorgeous. Here are a couple more pics:

It seems Ruby doesn't want to go to Alaska

When we last posted, we were stuck in Bozeman, Montana. That Road Block saga ended amiably - we spent a lovely sunny afternoon in a nice little mountain town, the front right axle was fixed, and got on our way within a few hours.

45 minutes down the road, we received a phone call from the mechanic. He hesitantly asked, "So, how are things running. Makin' good progress?" Small talk? We wondered what he was up to. He got to the point quickly: the dipstick for the transmission fluid was sitting on his mechanic's workbench (instead of in our car, as it should be). He assured us we could drive safely without the dipstick - fortunate, since we were already 70 miles west of Bozeman - but told us we'd want to get it back in as soon as possible.

Flashbacks of our first attempt to leave Madison popped into our heads. Turning around wasn't an option - we were supposed to have already been setting into our campsite at Glacier National Park by that time! The mechanic began calling around to various waypoints ahead of us to get us a replacement dipstick as soon as possible. Butte, Montana became our new destination.

We pulled into another Subaru dealership just before closing. The service manager ran out into the lot, popped open the hood of a new Subaru WRX and began pillaging its parts on our behalf. He soon had us on our way. The moral of the story: be wary of purchasing a new Subaru in Montana as we may have its parts.

We still had enough daylight after Butte to make it to Flathead Lake just south of Glacier Nat'l Park.



Wetlands south of Flathead lake, MT.

All the mechanical issues weren't really Ruby's (the car's) fault; however, she has made another effort at knocking us off course. Once over the border into Canada, as we were leaving Waterton Lakes National Park on the morning of Aug. 21, Rich (unsuccessfully) attempted to kill a mosquito against the inside of the windshield.

As cracks shot out in 3 directions from where he hit the glass, all both of us could say was, "Are you kidding me?" The cracks were small at first, but they're creeping further outward daily. Next thing we know we'll have to buy motorcycle goggles.

Road Block: Bozeman, Montana

One of our guilty pleasures is watching the show The Amazing Race. If you've ever watched that show, you know that a Road Block requires contestants to complete a task before moving on to their next destination. For us, this task is to successfully find a Subaru service center that will replace/repair our right axle for us before sundown on Monday, August 17th before we can make our way to Glacier National Park (where we'd planned to camp this evening).

To clarify, there was no incident resulting in a broken axle just some apparently shoddy looking-over of Ruby (our car) at our local Subaru dealership before we hit the road (according to the nice folks in Bozeman, MT the axle has been in bad shape for more than the ~1200 miles we've driven in the last few days).

The good news: this Road Block has afforded us a chance to access the internet and we expect to be back on our way towards Glacier this afternon. The bad news: the camera is in the car (which is in the service garage) so no pictures as of now!

Brief recap of the last few days: we spent Saturday night in scenic Chamberlain, SD after driving through a crazy lightening storm. Yesterday we stopped at Wall Drug before driving past Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse National Monuments, a bit of northeastern Wyoming, and then finally into Montana. We spent the night in the town of Livingston, MT - gateway to the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park - and had breakfast this morning at a restaurant we ate at 4 years ago when moving to Wisconsin (although neither of us had remembered being in Livingston before entering the restaurant).

Just when you think you're out, they pull you back in

Actually getting on the road took a bit longer than planned. A few things we learned:


1. Do not underestimate the enormous amount of time it takes to paint the exterior of a house. Especially when you're about to embark on a World Tour and have not packed any of your belongings in your house.

Fortunately, we have awesome friends and family who helped us get our s**t together and get on the road on Friday August 14, 2009 as planned.





2. People and pets deal with packing and moving differently. As you can see from these pictures, neither Basil or Phinneas were of much help: Basil hid among the packed goods in the basement while Phinney lounged on his favorite stair.






3. Just when you think you're out, they pull you back in. Forgetting things at home is inevitable, and if you choose to return to get them you may find you have driven 120 miles and are still in your driveway in Madison. Fortunately the Comfort Inn in DeForest, WI will likely have a room available at 10pm on a Friday for a reasonable price. (Note: this picture is us leaving Madison the first time.)

Miles traveled: 137 miles
Miles from home: 17
Next stop: South Dakota?

Simlieb World Tour 2009

We're off - in the next 9 months we'll be traveling around the world!

We'll begin by driving west from our beloved home in Madison through the Rockies on our way to Alaska. After we hike about for a while we'll take a ferry to Vancouver Island, BC and briefly visit in Seattle and the Big O before we head to the Big Island, Hawaii in early October. Rich will then take a side trip to scenic Tulsa, OK to be a veterinarian at a conference for a week before the world touring truly begins.

Detailed plans are still in the works, but as of now we're planning to visit southern Africa from about Nov - Jan, southeast Asia from Feb - March, with a grande finale in Australia and New Zealand before returning home in May.

We'll post as often as we can (and are inspired) and hope you'll enjoy hearing about our travels.