USA & Canada ( 16th to 30th of July 2005 )

This is about the trip to the USA and Canada. on the 16th of July 2005 we arrived in Seattle and took a sightseeing trip on our own in Seattle and took some fabulous pictures. And you could read below our / my experiences.
pictures: http://picasaweb.google.nl/fred.dejonge/SeattleCanadianRockies2005

Day 1 | Seattle – Kamloops
At 9.30 am we got picked up by a track leader of Suntrek at the hostel int. His name was Ivan. He told us what we would do that day. But first we drove to another hotel, were we picked up the rest of the group. At that point we got the information about how the day would look like. We didn’t stay in Seattle for a site seeing tour. Instead we drove directly to Kamloops, BC, Canada so we would be faster in the Canadian Rockies. Before the border we stopped at a Wall‐Mart for cheap shopping. After we past the boarders we drove to a town where we bought our food for the first 2 days. And really our shopping was chaotic. Near Kamloops we stayed on the Knut ford camping ground where we got at 6pm. During the tent setup learning program, we were terrorized by the mosquito’s.

Day 2 | Kamloops - Yoho National Park
On this day we made a trip of 400 km to the Canadian Rockies. We drove through the hilly mountains and made some hikes during the trip to a waterfall. The hike was 2.7 km so not really far. But at that moment we didn’t know that this was one of the shortest trips. The drive was to the Takkakaw Falls (Yoho National Park). The campground was on 2000 meters above sea level. Near a waterfall of 254 meters high. It sounded beautiful in the night when you laid in your sleeping bag.

Day 3 | Takkakaw Falls / Rafting
We went on this day to Golden for rafting. Not everyone went rafting because they did it one already. So they went hiking. On the trip to Golden we stopped at some nice places. Like the Emerald Lake and the Nature bridge. The Emerald lake was clearly light blue. It was amazing to see that. The rafting was super fun. With 10 persons in a rubber boat on a rough river. The rafting was 60 Canadian dollar. ( At the time we did this event. )

Day 4 | Takkakaw Falls – Banff
It was a drive of 200 km through the valley of Yoho NP. During this drive we stopped a few times to see the Trans Canadian railroad train and for a hike in Lake Louise where we hiked for the first time a mountain. Some members of the group where fast on the top and some did hours over it to get on the top ( first tea house ). After Lake Louise we drove to Banff where we bought some food. We stayed on the Tunnel Mountain Camping Ground were we stayed for 3 days.

Day 5 | Banff
We woke up early for a hike on Sulphur Mountain. Everyone started the hike except 2 members of the group Arjan and Fred. They walked 1/3 of it and did not walk the other 2/3. In stead they went back to the Gondola. The rest walked trough the top. During the Gondola trip Fred and Arjan saw a Grizzly bear with 3 cups. The only 2 members of the group who had the grizzly on photo. On the top of the Sulphur mountain we had breakfast and a nice view over the surroundings of Banff. In the evening we made a barbeque.

Day 6 | Banff
In the morning some of us went to do their laundry and others went for a hike. Later that afternoon some went for biking and others for relaxing on the camp ground. The bikers made a trip of 2.15 hr in an area where the grizzly of the day before walked around. In the afternoon we went into Banff for shopping for our own. Later that day we went for a diner in Magpie & Stump and Cantina. Some went back to the camp ground and some went into the night life of Banff.

Day 7 | Banff – Jasper
We left the tunnel mountain campground for the trip to Jasper. A different town in a different National Park. During this trip we made some stops at typical tourist places and places where less tourists are coming. On this day we saw a lot of ice. We went to the Athabasca Glacier. And we walked on it. When we were in Jasper we went to the Whistlers camp ground. ( 3 km from Jasper ) where we stayed for 3 days.

Day 10 | Jasper ( Maligne Lake )
This was the sporty day. First we made a hike on a side of a canyon river. Down and Up. After that we went to the Maligne Lake were we had the option for staying at the lake or a hike somewhere else. The most of us stayed at the lake. Some of them went on the water. That was a big happening. For some a good choice to do and for others definitely not. When we came back on the campground we changed and went to the Pizzeria of Jaspers. After dinner some of us went into the city to go out. Others went back to the campground.

Day 11 | Jasper ( Mount Edith Cavell )
On this day we went to a 3 km high mountain called Edith Cavell. We went to see a glacier in the avalanche area. We had to walk seriously because one wrong step can cause real pain. There were a lot of stones and the risk of falling stones, ice etc. We hiked here also and after this we went back to the camp where we had the choice to go to the city or stay on the campground.

Day 12 | Jasper – Wells Grey Provincial Park
On this day we went to Wells Grey in the province British Columbia. We stayed on a Horse Ranch 23 km from Clearwater. First we went to a buffalo ranch. But not everyone of us could sleep in a cottage so we decided to go to the horse ranch. First we checked in at the ranch. Later we went to a large waterfall not the highest but high enough. The waterfall was 141 m high. In the winter the ice is 50 m high. (that’s the height of Niagara Falls). Some of the group went horse riding and some didn’t. After the horse riding we had a burger on the Horse ranch which tasted good. Two guys of the group were picked out for a joke thing. They had to change into woman clothing and a wig. It was very funny to see and everyone laughed at them.

Day 13 | Wells Grey Provincial Park – Vancouver ( Surrey )
This was a long drive. The drive was approx. 650 km long and it was from the horse range 23 km above Clearwater to Surrey. The brochure said that we stayed at Whistlers, but at the break by Mount Robson we decided to change the plan and drive further directly to Vancouver and didn’t do Whistler’s. At 100 Mile House we decided to change the route again. But this was a physical thing because of the long drive and the terrible route to Whistlers. We decided to drive to Hope and go further on the highway 1 & 5. This day was very warm 40 Celsius Degrees. At 19.00u we arrived in Surrey. Just in time to check in. It wasn’t a very nice campground because it looked terrible and the toilets / douches were not really clean. At first sight you could see that people lived on that campground all through the year. Of all the campgrounds we had been this was the worse one. But we were content with the things we had.

Day 14 | Vancouver
We left at 10.00u on this day to visit Vancouver. The whole day for sightseeing, shopping etc. We went to Stanley park and made some photo’s of the Totem poles. From the park you had a good view over downtown Vancouver. Later on we dropt in the city / downtown of Vancouver to explore Vancouver on our own. Everyone went his or her own way and some decided to go for dinner in Vancouver. Round 18.00u some of us agreed to eat at Moose’s down under, an Australian Restaurant in Vancouver. They joint a trivia game and lost. They called them ‘Ivan’s Angels’ chosen after the name of our trek leader.

Day 15 | Vancouver – Seattle
A 3 hour drive to Seattle. With a boarder crossing of course. We drove to a Gas Factory Park in Seattle where we had a good view on downtown Seattle. Later that day we dropped at downtown Seattle. Two members of the group went to the museum of Boeing and the rest explored downtown Seattle. Round 17.30 hr we went to the campground some 45 minutes from Seattle Airport. We made a barbeque on the campground. That evening we said goodbye to some of the group members because some left early in the morning.

Day 16 | Seattle - Amsterdam
The persons who left early went to the airport at 5.40u in the morning. At the airport they said goodbye to each other and to Ivan and thanked him for the 2 weeks. Me and my brother arrived at a rainy day in Amsterdam at 8 am in the morning.