SATURDAY 23RD – ALMOST AT THE ROCKIES

The photo above is the photo of the day taken at Three Valley. Apart from the reflections on the lake, it is notable because the highway is at the bottom of the hill on the left and the railway is at the bottom of the hill on the right – a typical scene in this part of the world.

Tonight we are tucked away in the forest at Loop Brook Campground deep in the Glacier National Park. We are so deep in fact that we have no phone signal so tonight’s blog won’t get uploaded until tomorrow. The fact that you are reading this means that it did get eventually get posted. The campground is so named because, in 1880, a loop in the railway was constructed which was supported on stone towers, all but one of which still stand today. The railway is still nearby but now follows a different route.

After stocking up at the Piccadilly Mall at Salmon Arm this morning, we headed east to Revelstoke where we were able to drive to the top of Mt. Revelstoke on what they call Meadows in the Sky Parkway. The photo is of the towering mountains much higher than the 6000 feet altitude to which we were able to drive.

 We then checked out the Revelstoke Dam and the associated hydro electric power station. The dam is constructed on the Columbia River and the lake held back by the dam stretches 139 klms up the river valley. Canada has a very ecologically sustainable hydro electric power generation system but still has to rely on the US to provide 15% of its power needs. We have not seen a single solar panel since we arrived but I guess they don’t get a sufficient number of sunny days per year to justify them.

We are now heading into the country where they have a requirement for group of four hiking as a bear precautionary measure. Trish and I are therefore a little nervous about heading off on the attractive trails on our own but we are keen to see a bear in the wild. We will need to find some hiking buddies.

Tonight we celebrate having been here for a week. One down, five to go. Hopefully they can all be as interesting and enjoyable as this week has been.

A mystery photo. Can you work out what it is?