We woke up after a night of rain and disrupted sleep to an overcast day, but one which was ultimately dry - Wooo! Breakfast was bread and peanut butter and eggs - the last of which I wasn't to keen on, but ate anyway seen as though we had little else. Then, of course, a lovely warm shower. I washed the pans, and was about to use the sani-station when a very kind old man pointed out that this was a bad idea, as it's used for the toilets in RVs, oops! Luckily he said it wouldn't do us much harm out here, where the water probably all comes from the same pipe - but out in the Rockies he said I'd have to watch out because they pump it right out of the ground. =S
Then, while we were breaking camp an American woman with an RV came over, asking why the washrooms were locked. Complaining that "we paid for full service, you'd think that'd include the washrooms" moan, moan, moan... seriouly? You have a shower and a toilet in your RV, and besides, you could always ask the office nicely. Jules leant her one of our keys anyway, and she seemed content with that.
By 11am we were fed, watered and ready to go! Chris was riding shotgun today as it made sense that everyone should get a turn - and break up the stress-factor too, lol. We headed out along the beautiful Shuswap Lake, stopping briefly at Salmon Arm for some petrol, before continuing, out through the beautiful Revelstoke area and National Park. I can see why it's such a hot-spot, even on a changeable day it was stunning.
Somewhere around here we passed a waterfall on the Highway with a suspension bridge over it:
Crazy Creek Falls wasn't a free attraction so this picture was actually taken from the Highway - and not by me I hasten to add! We parked in the car-park for the bridge and walked back along the road. Jules and Chris went up onto the bridge to get a few snaps - something I wasn't too keen on doing myself, as there was no hard-shoulder and no pathway on the bridge. All they had was a foots-width brick between them and the huge 10ft lorries - and I'm talking Optimus Prime sized here!
So after this short interlude we continued on until we reached Canyon Hot Springs - which came highly recommended by Lonely Planet:
I enjoyed it. It was, after all, an opportune moment and the first time I'd ever been in one. Plus, at around $8 it was probably cheaper than it would've been in Banff or Jasper. Jules said it was a shame that the mountian-tops were covered in cloud.
Chris said that in New Zealand the Hot Springs aren't usually pools, as in swimming pools, but kept as natural as possible. Oh yeah, and apparently the cold wasn't cold enough? Still, it was clean, well kept, and no-where near busy. So I enjoyed it immensley! There was this tiny winy cutie of a bird which hung around as well, flying impossibly quickly!
Well, after a nice swim we sat out on the park bench near the car-park and had lunch. Jules decided the kiddies swing was irresistable, then we took a few snaps before heading out again.
Having already phoned Budget before we went to the Spring, they knew we were heading into Alberta, so we carried on through Glacier and Yoho National Parks. There was a river in an utterly glorious valley between two mountian ranges, and this huge road going over it, and we stopped on a dirt track the other side of the bridge, hoping to get a better look. No such luck really, we just ended up stretching our legs:
Oh and I redeemed myself with the map-reading. At one point the Highway we wanted diverged from Route 1 or something, and Chris was telling Jules to carry on when I pointed out we probably needed to turn off. And I was right - phew!
So we pretty much carried on right into Banff National Park without stopping - crossing the border into Alberta and - the very first Wildlife I see? - a Black Bear and it's cub on the edge of the forrest about a football pitch or so away from the highway! How cool is that?
As we drove into the village of Lake Louise the weather was looking decidedly dismal, so we decided not to go with the BBQ, and bought some alcohol anyway. The village was tiny, and, I never truly understood what my cousins meant about Alberta until I reached that town. Very different to Vancouverites, for sure.
There were campsites nearby run by the National Park, and the lady at the gate was pretty nice - she let us camp without a park pass so we could just buy it in the morning and save ourselves a little money. At first I was pretty worried by the state of the toilets until I realised there were cleaner ones with the showers around the corner! lol Ironically I was far less worried by the bear-fence around our perimeter. But the campsite was well sheltered from wind and rain - which was quite a concern at this point - and the firewood came free!
So we camp-fired it up, sausages and marshmellows, had a little to drink and went to bed.
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