National Treasure
- Kurt Bonhamer
- Apr 30, 2017
- 3 min read
The last two days I have had the amazing opportunity to drive through Banff and Jasper National Parks. Much like our parks in the United States, these Canadian parks are simply stunning gems to go through, and truly national treasures. From outside of Calgary until Lake Louise, I traveled through Banff National Park, on Friday. It’s full of snow covered mountains surrounded lakes fed by the snow melts. Yesterday I traveled north of Lake Louise to Jasper, the mountains were even more impressive, classically pointed mountains that you pass right by, and yet them seem to extend out and up forever. I know the pictures to not do it justice. The weather changed throughout the day, sometimes every five minutes- clear to cloudy and sunny to driving snow; temperatures fluctuated between 50 to 28F (10 to -2 C for the international crowd). In addition to a ground squirrel coming in and out of his home, I was fortunate enough to see big horn sheep next to the road, mountain goats in the road, and a coyote run out in front of me. By the time, I was able to stop and get the video started, I could only catch it in a few frames, scurrying away.
One pleasant part about doing tourist things, like stopping every 5 minutes to capture the next breathtaking view is, realizing everyone else who has is there is there for the same reason. Today, me, a French Canadian, Chinese, and Brazilians all took turns helping each other climb over the snow drift to capture a photo. It was so amazing to watch and participate, knowing what each what was trying to do; no one minded helping anyone up, or taking a photo - overcoming the language barrier. It was pleasant to watch people around the world be decent to each other. It was a scene repeated throughout the day. I love this part of travel! Oh my gosh, I'm becoming a hippy....
I did truly impress one Chinese couple. Knowing how to say “hi”, “1, 2, 3”, “thank you” and “you’re welcome” in Mandarin impressed them so much that they took my picture (maybe for their blog :-) ) and when I threw a peace sign during the photo they went crazy. I wish I would have thought to get a picture of them!
I’ve truly enjoyed the drive, but these sights were a joy to relax to. I’ve done so little driving that I completed two days of driving on less than a half tank of gas. I have been averaging two tanks of gas a day. Today, I will head up to Dawson Creek (yes, it’s actually called that) the official start of the Alaska-Canada (Alcan) Highway. From there my route will follow the Alcan into Tok, Alaska, over the next few days. After arriving at Tok, if all goes well, I will need to decide whether to go north – the long way around – through Fairbanks and up into the Arctic Circle, then to Anchorage, and then to my home at the Matanuska Glacier; or go south – passing by my summer home to go into Anchorage and then south into the Kenai Peninsula for a day or so.
3,271 miles (5,264 km) driven; 1,708 miles (2,749 km) to go directly to the glacier.
Pictures and time lapse below
Leach Lake Time Lapse
Sorry for the poor quality, I had to upload it this way because I entered the wrong password, locking my YouTube account until I get to Alaska and can access my phone (without international roaming fees).
National Treasure (2004) – Stars: Nicholas Cage and Diane Kruger. Plot: A historian races to find the legendary Templar Treasure before a team of mercenaries.