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Took the MJ for a (real) road trip


DirtyComanche
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We started off in Prince George.  The first leg was to Valemount, only 290km, but some time was spent at one stop of interest, being Ancient Forest.  Ancient Forest is a small collection of old growth red cedar that have been spared from fire, windstorm, drought, and most recently the fallers' saws (some of the trees have paint marks from timbercruisers and sample blocks cut from them even).  Many of these trees are pushing 1000 years of age as they have flourished in this small section of interior rainforest.  This spot was basically unknown when I moved here, but now has a large boardwalk trail, parking lot, signs, and is noted in tourism books and on Google Maps, likewise the number of visitors has skyrocketed.  Unfortunately I was fighting user error and didn't get any good pictures of the really large trees, but I did get one of the small waterfall at the top of the park.

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Just before Valemount, if you know where to turn, you can take the old road.  The bridge is much more interesting than the concrete monstrosity of the actual highway, and the Fraser river is a very nice colour at this point as it is entirely glacial fed.

 

After having dinner in Valemount, we tried to climb Canoe Mountain.  I have done this trip before, and the view is incredible as you wind up on a cliff face well above tree line.  Alas the Comanche was not interested, too hot of a day, too much grade, and I didn't want to risk hurting the engine.  Only a few more switchbacks and we would have been to the treeline, but I put tail between legs and let her cool down and turned around.

 

Somewhere I have pictures of my previous trip there...  I should try to find them.

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The next day it was off to Jasper, and Maligne Lake.  I'd never actually been to Maligne Lake, but it was a good little side trip. Unfortunately the day was hazy, so it was not the best for photos.

 

On the way we stopped at Mt Robson Park.  Mt Robson is the highest point of the Canadian Rockies.  We just went to the trailhead to get some pictures.  And we stopped at Moose Lake for some pictures.

 

 

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The next morning we took the gondola up Marmot (or whatever it technically is) to get a view.   Weather was not optimal, but it was still an interesting sight.

 

From there we headed south, and stopped at Athabasca Falls.  It's right by the road and well worth a look.

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I forgot to mention, we stayed at the Sawridge in Jasper.  I'm suspecting some people were questioning why I was driving a truck that appeared to be worth less than the room cost for the night.

 

There's also a cool old steam engine in the middle of town.

 

And we stopped in at Gogmorgo's place and I bought a steering column off him. :waving:

 

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Of course we stopped at Lake Louise, as it is probably one of the most iconic places in the Canadian Rockies.

 

We also did an side trip to Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park, this is about 40km out of the way, bringing the total for the day to about 400km.  It's well worth the trip, as it's a spectacular waterfall and not too busy as it is a long winding road to get there.

 

Unfortunately apparently I'm allowed 97mb~ of images total, so just blew that out of the water...  Imgur hosted from here.

 

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From there it was a quick 300km to Vernon.

 

Dinner at The Island Restaurant in Golden:

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Somewhere along Hwy 1:

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Had brunch in Revelstoke.  It's pretty hippy there.

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I took no pictures of Vernon because it's Vernon.  Sorry for people that like Vernon.

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Then it was a short trip to the ferry terminal and over to Victoria.

 

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Hit up the Inner Harbour.  The Provincial Capital Building in the background.

 

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Popped over to Butchart Gardens as it is an impressive sight.

 

Sunken Garden, this used to be a completely barren limestone quarry.

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Parts of the Japanese Garden

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The next day was another big travel day, although it's under 300km on the odometer...   Which broke back at Valemount actually, so I really had no idea how many km I logged on the trip.

 

Up the Malahat Highway:

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First stop was the Forestry Discovery Center in Duncan.  When I was a kid they would run the Shay around, I didn't find anyone that knew but I'm guessing the boiler needs to be redone on it and they don't have the money.  The Climax (right) looks complete, but I'm guessing needs a lot of work.

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View from the lookout tower.  They were using the little diesel that day, but they have a little tank engine they run on the weekends now.

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Found an old Austin-Western grader.  These were well ahead of their time with all hydraulic controls when most things were linkages and wheels.

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LeTourneau loaders and stuff

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If you're ever near Duncan, do stop in here, lots of neat stuff and admission is fairly cheap.

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Forgot to put the map in the last one...

 

Then it was off to Cathedral Grove.  There's some more old trees here.  Unfortunately the sheer number of visitors is starting to show on some of them.

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And back to Nanaimo to grab the ferry to Horseshoe Bay

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And here we are staying at a decent place in Squamish...  They had an underground parking garage so I could be assured the MJ would not go missing in the night even.

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Next day was minimal driving.  I'd actually planned to drive to Cache Creek after spending time at Whistler, but is was easier to stay.

 

First stop was Brandywine Falls.  It's a very short hike from the highway and does not disappoint.

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From there it was to Whistler, and the Gondola to the top.

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Quite the view from up there

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Last day was a cannonball run back home.  632km of winding roads and scorching heat.  I didn't take many pictures because I mostly just drove.

 

Leaving the Tantalus

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One of the few lookouts on Hwy 99/Duffy Lake Road, it's too narrow in most places for there to be anywhere to pull out.

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Last stop for gas and snacks in Quesnel

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Beautiful British Columbia. 

 

Over the years, this has been one of my very favorite destinations. 

 

Found the stupidest cop in the world near Revelstoke,  Cop on foot in middle of long 4 lane highway down grade trying to enforce a 90 kmph speed limit with a radar gun. Caused a 2 car fender bender and a 3rd car went to the left of the fender bender right towards the officer.  Officer ran right to the other side of the highway into on coming traffic.  Nobody was hurt, but that officer nearly got killed because of his own stupidity.  I stopped at the RCMP station in Revelstoke to file a report.  No idea what happened.

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4 hours ago, Jeep Driver said:

Wow, great pics. 

 

Beautiful country, I'd like to get up there some day. 

 

I recommend it if you have some time.  I decided not to go to Banff, since it was farther south than I wanted to go, but if you're coming up it's a great place to go too.

 

2 hours ago, HOrnbrod said:

Thanks Dirty - great pics.  Good to see the MJ hung in there too.   :beerchug:

 

It more or less did.  I need to find a fan shroud and AUX fan because I'm disappointed that I couldn't do the Canoe Mountain trail.  The dead speedo is annoying, I think the cable snapped internally but I'll pull it apart to see at some point.  There's some other things that were on the list of stuff to fix before that might have moved up in priority now...

 

1 hour ago, Ωhm said:

Looks like a great trip, great pictures. Luckily you didn't need the services of Jamie Davis (Highway Thru Hell) reality TV.

 

The funny thing is that stretch of highway really isn't a big deal compared with lots of highway in BC, certainly not in the summer.  I didn't take any pictures there because I've driven it so many times.

 

30 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Great trip. I really like the early photos, in the Rockies. Spectacular scenery. I need to scare up the $$$ for another road trip.

 

Do it while you can!

 

14 minutes ago, johnj92131 said:

Beautiful British Columbia. 

 

Over the years, this has been one of my very favorite destinations. 

 

Found the stupidest cop in the world near Revelstoke,  Cop on foot in middle of long 4 lane highway down grade trying to enforce a 90 kmph speed limit with a radar gun. Caused a 2 car fender bender and a 3rd car went to the left of the fender bender right towards the officer.  Officer ran right to the other side of the highway into on coming traffic.  Nobody was hurt, but that officer nearly got killed because of his own stupidity.  I stopped at the RCMP station in Revelstoke to file a report.  No idea what happened.

 

There was one slightly boneheaded cop maneuver on highway 5.  They had a speed trap on the bottom end of the snowshed.  I thought there might be and was going pretty slow, but basically as you got out of the snowshed and faced the blinding sun they were there, so lots of slamming on the brakes and likelihood of fender benders.

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I loved the photos of the Canadian Rockies.  Really nothing like them, even the U.S. Rockies, which are still pretty fabulous.  Want to take my MJ and cruise up there.  Maybe visit some long lost relatives.  My mother didn't realize she wasn't an American citizen until she tried to get a US passport later in life.  My grandfather was a tree topper on Vancouver island during the depression where the younger half of her family was born.  Thanks :beerchug:

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