BC and Alberta - Simply Gorgeous (NF)

[hutch4113]

So as some of you already know from my Fraser River post, I recently got to spend my 15th anniversary out in BC/Alberta. It was an awesome 16 days, spent with my best friend/wife. We put almost 3000KM's on the Rental Car driving from:

 

Vancouver to Whistler

Whistler to Kelowna (northern route)

Kelowna to Armstrong and back to visit friends (must stop on the way Kalamalka Lake - talk about Blue)

Kelowna to Hells Gate - up to Cache Creek - and over to Salmon Arm.

Salmon Arm to Jasper, via Revelstoke and Golden BC.

Jasper to Calgary (and we missed the snow).

 

Thought I would share some of the Pictures I took along the way. Took them with either a Canon T1i.

 

On the way to Vancouver - Actually to Hope from Kelowna. We were heading down the highway and had to pull over to take this shot, but it was just an impressive looking chunk of rock.

 

 

On the highway from Hope to Lillolet you come across Hells Gate, on the Fraser River. Nice Gondola ride down. Could see the Salmon stacking up, for the run up the river (sorry - not in the pictures..lol). If ever out there it is worth a stop.

 

 

I took this picture in Lillolet - this is where the Fraser and the Thompson Rivers meet. Pretty impressive site, seeing the Dirty Waters of the Fraser, and the Glacial Blue waters of the Thompson Intersect.

 

 

If you are doing a drive from Kamloops to Jasper - there are two ways you can go. We opted for the Revelstoke/Golden/Banff route. You will see things like this on the way:

 

 

To put it into persepective:

 

 

So Calgary got a little snow (ya right!!!) which made me a little worried. Fortunately the snow was only a light dusting from Banff, north - which gave us pictures like this (I took all of these with my Phone if you can believe it):

 

 

 

 

 

Never got tired of looking at the scenery. We were on a bit of a time crunch, but made some time to stop and look at some side trips. All along Highway 93 through the park are lookouts, points of interest, hiking to points of interest, etc. We stopped a quite a few, but here are some highlights:

 

 

 

One disappointment was the lack of wildlife on the drive up. We were expecting to see more - but it was not until we got to Civilization that the animals came out - guess they might have been waiting for a train.

 

 

Spent a little bit extra - ok ok - more than a little bit extra to stay at Jasper Park Lodge. But we think it was worth it.

 

 

Anyway - great time. If you have a chance - Go. That is all I can say. The driving - even though it was a lot of KM's, felt like a breeze. You literally did not know where to look next.

 

 

[blaque]

The majesty of BC..........i can only hope to get there someday. Your pics are awesome.........i couldnt even imagine what it actually looked like standing there in person

[Terry]

great photos

[Sinker]

Yup, its a beautiful part of our country. So much to see. I agree about the drive too, its worth it, and the miles fly by. We did 4700km, and could have kept on going, no problem.

 

We saw lots of wildlife on out trip. You name it and we saw it somewhere along the way.

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

S.

[Joeytier]

Amazing photos...all along the highway to boot! Thanks for sharing

[Ralph Field]

Makes me want to return there. Nice report !

[Skud]

Dude, those are some sick pics! Thanks for sharing.