Living Forest Campground on Vancouver Island

This is the view from my Living Forest campground site, in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. I came here from Revelstoke, with an overnight in a fairly obscure campground on the Fraser River. I hadn�t intended to stay in Nanaimo, but the write-up on this campground was nice enough that I went to check it out, and liked it so well that I decided to stay and meet Elaine and Laura there. The ship you see in this picture is the ferry from Vancouver; the mountains are on the BC mainland.

Revelstoke street scene.

This is my campsite at Lamplighter Campground in Revelstoke. The ash tree in the center of the picture was quite something -- full of red-orange berries. The picture does not do it justice.

Revelstoke

I'm currently staying at The Lamplighter, a private campground in Revelstoke, BC. I came here because they have Wifi internet, so I could get caught up with you and with my bills, etc.

This is the first time I've stayed more than overnight at a private campground, and I like it better than I thought I would. Although the sites are almost ridiculously small and have no sight privacy, the people are nice, there's a laundromat right in the campground, there are showers, it's rather pretty with some beautiful big trees, and it's within very easy walking distance of the Columbia River and the trail system that the city provides. It also helps that in Canada the public campgrounds are more expensive and the private ones less than in the US, so while I'm paying more than I would in the nearby provincial park, it's only a few dollars more. It's also nice to be in town for a change, and Revelstoke is a lovely little town, set on the river in a bowl of mountains, some of which have glaciers.

Tomorrow I'll head west, aiming to reach Vancouver Island in a couple of days. I'm feeling a little bamboozled by what seems a wealth of choices of places to see on Vancouver Island/the Gulf Islands. If any of you have been there and have suggestions, either positive or negative, I'd be glad to get them.

Wherever I end up, Elaine and Laura will be joining me toward the end of the week for 4-6 days. We may camp, or maybe look for a cabin to stay in.

This is one of the Vermillion Lakes just outside of Banff. I spent just over 24 hours in Banff NP; it rained almost all of that time and was never clear enough for mountain views, but I did like these lakes. This is the kind of place I'd like to camp, but all of the campgrounds I saw in the Canadian Rockies were in heavy forest -- nice for privacy, but not for views.

From Glacier, I went north into Canada. Customs (while Elaine, John and tea waited) took about 45 minutes. First they had the drug dog (a chocolate lab named Hershey) check out the van, then the customs agents searched it -- although not very thoroughly or I never would have made it in time for tea -- and then they sent me inside to talk with immigration who wanted to be convinced that I wasn't planning on staying indefinitely. This didn't take all that long, but I had to wait while they sorted out the woman in front of me -- a naturalized US citizen who had not brought her naturalization papers with her. Elaine, John and I, after tea at the Prince of Wales (see the picture below) then drove to Pincher Creek where we camped in the municipal campground there, the rain having let up. It stayed dry that night and the next day, but then began raining again off and on, as you can suspect from the picture above of Upper Kananaskis Lake.

The Kananaskis is east of Banff NP and is much less crowded, and definitely beautiful. If I had more time and the weather were better, I would have stayed in the area longer and done some hiking. Or maybe not -- they were having frequent grizzly sightings on the trails and even in the campgrounds. While I would have liked to see a grizzly from the safety of my van, I really have no desire to meet one on the trail.

Sportsmobile Sightings

Since I left California in late April, I’ve seen a number of Sportsmobiles. Interestingly, they come in batches – I go for up to a month without seeing any, and then I see three or four within a few days. This round I’ve seen six – two on the road and four in campgrounds. I’ve had a nice time meeting and talking with owners – a couple from Santa Cruz, CA, whom I met at Baker’s Hole campground; a couple from Tennessee who are on the Sportsmobile Owners Yahoo! Forum; a couple from Wisconsin; and a single woman from Virginia whom I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk with much, since John and Elaine were with me by then. The last three were all at Rising Sun campground, though not all at once.

Here are John and Elaine, having tea at the Prince of Wales Hotel at Waterton Lake. As you can see, it was a pretty gloomy day with quite a bit of rain, so we decided to go for tea. I should have taken a picture a little later, after the brought the epergne with the sandwiches, scones, tea cakes, chocolate covered strawberries, and fudge -- very elegant and delicious. Although I am not in the picture, I partook. Those who know me at all well will not be surprised to hear this.

This is one of the spectacular views from the Hidden Lake trail which departs (upward) from the Visitors' Center at Logan Pass -- the highest point on the famous Going to the Sun Highway. The following three pictures are from the same hike.

This Mountain Goat mother and kid were just above the Hidden Lake overlook, and were quite habituated to people; this picture was taken with just a little zoom -- probably about 2 or 3x.

This is another of the 18 or so Mountain Goats I saw on the Hidden Lake trail, in the wildflowers. This picture was taken on the way down the trail; as you can see, the clouds were coming in and obscuring the mountains. This was the beginning of days of rain; John and Elaine arrived two days later and were fortunate to have fairly clear weather for their drive over the mountains on the Going to the Sun highway, but that's about all the sun they saw for the next two days while they were with me in Glacier/Waterton National Park.

Bighorn Rams

These Bighorm rams on a ridge near the Hidden Lake Trail silhouetted against the sky seem iconic -- though of what, I couldn't say.

This is Two Medicine Lake; the picture was taken from near the campground. I stayed here for a couple of days. It's in the southeast corner of the park and is fairly remote from the rest of the park. The campground here is probably the nicest of the larger Glacier Park campgrounds -- well wooded and somewhat hilly, which gives some privacy to the sites. A few of the sites are on the lake shore, but they have no shade. I took the boat across the lake and did a bit of hiking to Twin Falls and Upper Two Medicine Lake -- the hike, like the campground, was mostly through lodgepole pines (I think), which is not my favorite. An OK hike, but nothing spectacular.

Sunset - Madison River at Baker's Hole campground.
This is a lovely National Forest campground right next to the Madison River, about five miles from the West Yellowstone entrance. I walked about 30 feet from my campsite to take this picture. A little earlier in the evening, Jacob swam after a beaver in the river, which fortunately decided to slap its tail and dive - I gather beavers can be quite nasty when they want to.
I�d recommend this campground to anyone wanting to explore the west side of the park.

I'm way behind

I'm way behind in my posts, partly because I've had a hard time connecting, and partly because I've spent more time travelling in the last two or three weeks. I'll try to update soon - in the meantime, just to let you know where I am, I crossed into Canada yesterday with Elaine and John, who stopped to visit me in Glacier National Park on their way to Canada Yearly Meeting (of the Religious Society of Friends [Quakers]). It was great to see them and spend a little time with them, especially my dear friend Elaine.

Sunset in the Lamar Valley. Magic time.

A mother moose with calf at Soda Butte Creek.
This was taken early in the morning - I was the only person there to see them, which made it extra special. Mom has spotted me and is moving away with calf obediently following.

Lamar Valley with a herd of bison in the distance. There�s quite a lot of wildlife in this corner of the park, and would probably be even more earlier in the season - some of the herds have moved up higher in the mountains by July. I did not see or hear the wolves, which I would like to have done, nor did I see a grizzly.

2. Fawns - taken at Pebble Creek campground, early evening. I spent the first night here, and then moved to Slough Creek campground for the next three nights. They are both small campgrounds, and although the sites are pretty close together, they�re a lot nicer than most of the other Yellowstone campgrounds.

I'm really glad I gave Yellowstone another chance. This northeast corner of the park is way less crowded than the part between the south entrance and Mammoth Springs, and it's very beautiful and deeply peaceful. There isn't any way to really show its beauty in a picture - it's not a dramatic beauty, but more subtle. Here's a shot at it, nevertheless.