Ed
Day 17, as it is happening, Seeley Lake
Ed
Day 16, Friday, August 30, Bannf's Johnson Canyon Camp to Pruden Lake Provincial Park in British Columbia, 4000 miles
10:00 a.m. Left Banff and drove to Jasper, though some of the most magnificent scenery on this great continent. Because of my focus on getting to Alaska, there was no time to stop o photograph the scenes, so I I'd my best to photograph them on the fly. I never ceased to stand in awe of those majestic mountains the whole ride.
2:00 Arrived in Jasper jut in time for our break and spent 90 minutes there. War a pleasant town it is. Leben and Erde were he talk of the town while we were there. I hated to brush off people. But I had to get back on the road to make it to Prince George no later than 7:30. I did not want to repeat my experience at Poplar Grove and end up with another wound.
3;30 left Jasper to head to Prince George. The 240-mile drive up the notorious Highway 16 was spectacular. It's a two-lane road, so it was frustrating getting behind the slow moving vehicles. Half way there, I hear this loud twap, twap from under the right side of the Defender, the side of the repaired mud lap and then saw in the rear view mirror back flat rectangular object behind me. There goes my repaired mud flap, I thought. I stopped and check but the mud flap was still there. It had to be something from me because I saw nothing from the vehicle directly ahead of me. I checked the "door mat" and step stool that sit on the platform secured to my hitch, but they were secured and still there. (I failed to properly secure the step stool two years ago in Northern Ontario and it flew off the Defender somewhere along a 300 mile stretch of road that day.)
5:00 I gas up and then calculate that I can make it to Pruden Lake Provincial Park by 7:30, my estimate for when I will still have some daylight to avoid the Poplar Grove disaster. I caLL them. They have only 4 sites left, and they cannot reserve. I am determined to not stay in a RV camp if I can help it, so I push on.
6:30. I have driven over 100 miles but the fuel gauge says FULL when I know I used almost a half tank. It is broken. No big deal as I get gas based on the mile driven and at the first opportunity after 150 miles because ther fuel stops around here are very wide apart.
7:30 We pull into camp in a wonderful setting overlooking a lake just off the highway. The campground is full. The camp staff, Emily, Pedra and another young woman whose name I did not get, were extraordinarily helpful in finding a spot for me, site 56, for which the people who had reserved it never showed up. That woman at Killarney Provincial Park needs to take a lesson from these young woman. In fact, it wouldn't hurt if they informed all staff in all the parks I visitied that there is a solution for every problem.
Got set up in record time and was settling in for a good nights sleep at 9:30 when the wedding reception started next door. I assume it was a wedding reception because I can think of no other plausible explanation. The loud noise went on until 4:am. My guess is that since I hear several male voices and one female voice, the bride and groom brought along the bride's ex-boyfriends, or maybe just boyfriends. The bottom photo is of their camp site. Why bother camping if this is how you do it? The photo before it is of our site next door.
Tomorrow we try for Kitawanga BC and Seely Lake camp where Sonntag and I stayed in 2000 on our way home.
ED
Below. The 220-mile ride through Banff and Jasper National Parks was an endless stream of scenes like the below. If I stopped to take photos of all the great scenes, i would never mke jt to Alaska.
Day 16, As it is happening, Jasper Alberta
Just arrived in lovely downtown Jasper for a long break, including some ice cream for Leben and Erde. Just finished wonderful 4 hour drive through Banff/Jasper park. Off to British Columbia in a bit, driving the notorious Highway of Tears, highway 16.# On day 16, we are only 4 hours behind schedule, which I will make up by not eating dinner for the next three days.
Photo is of Leben and Erde in town square, across from ice cream store, but they don't know it yet.
Ed
# link to Highway of Tears
Day 15, Thursday, august 30th, Johnson Canyon Camp in Banff National Park, Alberta
It rained like heck last night, but my new tent kept everything and its occupants bone dry. (More on the tent, below.) I'm in the tent now listening to the distant thunder and a light rain adding additional instruments to Rachmoninov's piano concerto #2, sipping my bottle of Merlot (187 ml), writing this blog posting, and wondering where I will bed down for the night since Leben and Erde are out solid diagonally across the middle of this small tent. I have no idea why they are so tired, unless having a good time (all at my expense) qualifies as tiring, hard work.
I was thrilled I decided to stay put for an extra day here at Johnson Canyon camp in Banff. I was able to take my time at Lake Louise with the dogs instead being rushed to move on. It's our only stop along the way where we did not spend just one day. The dogs were the hit of the crowd at Lake Louise, both of them. (Lightning and thunder overhead now.). They are now on at least 200 cameras, man from China. What a wonderful place Lake Louise is. You have all seen the photos and you would recognize the place. I have to stop here every time I drive through. This was my third time, and I am sure I will be back. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth as far asi am concerned. You almost get the sense that even nature could not have designed this.
Spent some time in Lake Louise Village restocking food supplies for the final two legs to Alaska. For the first time, my gas tab was over $100. More than $6.00 a gallon here. Ouch.
Returned to camp and in the process of backing up the Defender, I drove over a stump and ripped off the left front mud-flap, needed for the dirt roads I have to drive. I spent 30 minutes with the tools and things I had to repair it, at least I hope. Other chores for the night included repairing my air compressor, jerry-rigging a new wick in my citronella candle, organizing my food supplies, and refilling the pill boxes (mine is critical because that's how I know what day it is, except on the first day after refilling), in addition to the multitudinous daily tasks on the road with two big dogs.
This new tent is quite remarkable. Smaller than the other one, but that will be better for the cold weather we are about to hit. It has vestibules on both sides, which can be deployed as if they were in the tent itself, and then sealed off a night. It is a little difficult getting Leben inside, but we manage. I will not describe how I do it for fear someone will turn me in to the BSPCA, Banff Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Leben tolerates it since be knows there will be a treat at the end of all of these treatable offenses.
Tomorrow I have to make up for the extra day we spent here to stay on schedule. We will drive 3 hours to Jasper, walk around the town a bit for our break, then head northwest to beyond Prince George in British Columbia, five hours away. Our problem is going to be finding a campsite. This is a big camping weekend for Canadians. I'll figure out where we will stay once I get two hours away from when I want to call it quits for the day. Right now, I am going to call it quits for today. Unfortunately, I had no time to read, and so I am still on page 11 of the first book. The number of pages read is a good measure of the free time I have had on this trip.
Below photos:
The three of us at Lake Louise. (If it does not like like me in he photo, it's because I have lost 20 pounds preparing or and taking this trip, with four weeks to go.)
The damage to the mud flap
The repair job to the mud flap.
The dogs in the tent just now, check to jowl, lying diagonally across the mattresses leaving no room for me.
Lake Louise and Leben and Erde
Day 14, Wednesday, august 29, Poplar Grove Camp to Banff, 3800 miles
Humbling. Humbling is the only word I can think of. As I drove into Banff National Park today, I felt humbled in the presence of the awe inspiring spires of the Canadian Rockies. The 2000 mile trek across the wide open, scene-less plains was worth it for the one hour drive to our camp. At first we traded the modest churches of the little towns in Ontario for the tall cathedrals of grain elevators of the plains. Now we have traded the latter for the soaring spires of the Rockies. I feel reinvigorated already, and I didn't think I needed to. And the best is yet to come, 2000 miles away.
We arrived at Lake Louise only to find the camp full. But that was the good news. I was directed to this remote camp 50 miles away where we spent a quiet evening in a great camp site. Erde had lots of room to chase the ball and Leben had an orchestra seat on all the goings on in the neighborhood. As we drove into the camp, Leben shot up and put his head out the window, a sign that this is something special. Erde, on the other hand, started barking for me to throw the ball for her as I was trying to set up camp, so she was relegated to the jail until the camp was set up.
When are arrived at camp, I noticed that I only had gas for another 8 miles when the closest gas station is 50 miles away, so I had to dip into my 5 gallon supply from my roof rack. Another one of those No Big Deals.
Instead of packing up and moving on to Jasper tomorrow, I decided to stay put here for another day and restock supplies, put in the windows in the Defender, and give the dogs and the Defender a break. Maybe I'll even have time to read a page or two of my book. We stay on schedule we will have a long drive Friday, but the tradeoff will be worth it.
I put away the 3-season tent and started to use the new Northface Tent as it is better equipped for the cold we are about to enter. It is a little but cramped, but cozy. I have to figure out a way to get Leben in and out as the doors are not very high. The tent is beginning to acquire tat distinctive dog-smell, but the dogs are probably thinking the same, but about me.
Tomorrow we will visit Lake Louise, where Leben and Erde had visited as pups. One thing I noticed when I stopped by the information desk on the way in was the number of Chinese visitors. In 2001, when we were last here, there were none. Now they seem to be the majority. I understand they are buying up homes in Vancouver Island, and so this is probably their preferred vacation spot.
Some photos...
Entering Banff, Erde in jail while I set up the camp, the dogs relaxing at their Banff campsite.
The trip so far: Day 14, Wednesday, August 27, BANFF!
Bottom photo, courtesy of Internet.great photo.
Day 13, Tuesday, august 27, 3524 miles, Buffalo Pound Provincial Park SK to Poplar Grove Camp near Calgary
Left Buffalo Pound Provincial Park, a wonderful little oasis in the long, hot, flat, almost-treeless road across the plains with the hope of making it close to Calgary by 7:30.
When I last traveled the Trans-Canada highway in 2000 and 2001, it was a pleasant, two-lane drive that ambled though the towns along the way. No more. Two lanes in each direction separated by a wide medium strip. Too bad. I enjoyed stopping at every little town before. Now it is a big deal.
I chose Popular Grove as my camping spot for the night because it was right at the 7:30 point, 1 km off the highway, with nearby laundry facilities.
When i arrived, I was immediately distracted by the dogs barking for reasons that should be obvious in the top photo below. The barking went on for two hours since the two resident cats were not intimidated, now were they ready to move on. Erde finally made peace with them but that was problem her cunning instead of her surrender.
Forgot to take my cell phone out from my hidden pants pocket when I washed it and so now I am without a cell phone. I will pick one up tomorrow on my way to Banff. I really don't need one for me, but I need it for the dogs' special needs.
One of my rules on these trips is to walk slowly around the new sites to be cautious about hidden things that could trip me. At night, I wear a headlamp with the red light on o keeps the bugs away. From now on, I will turn on the bright light and point my head down to the ground instead if straight head. The reason is that last night as I walked to the Defender, I tripped over the nearly hidden fire pit (see bottom photo). As i fell to the ground, I nearly smashed my head against the white pole nearby.. Fortunately, I fell properly and did not break an arm or leg. But my leg was soaked with blood from a two-inch gash in my shin. My first-aid kit handled everything and I did not need the surgical suturing kit I have in it. I will spare my readers the photo of the wound because it is not pretty. I have camped in almost 250 campsites during my road trips, and this is the first time anything like this happened. But it could have been worse, much worse, and so I need to replace my cell phone. The satellite phone I have with me is good only if I have it on me and am within view if the satellite.
Time to get back on he road. Today was pass 4000 miles and at Banff we finish leg 2 of 4 to get to Alaska.
Day 12' Monday, august 26, Riding Mountain National Park to Buffalo Pound Provincial Park, Saskatchewan.
Not a lot of time to write this. Writing this during a rest break in a nice park in Swift Current, SK.
Hated to leave Riding Mountain's Lake Audy park, but the road beckoned. Fortunately, the bears did not get us or Erde wake up when they walked by our tent last night in search of berries.
Got the gas tank problem solved and got on our way. I decided to make time on the road and cut one day off this trip across the plains. Highway 1 is easy to make time on, but it is a long, hot highway.
At 5:30, at a rest stop, I decided that we had enough sun and then usuable daylight at the speed we were going and the distance to make Buffalo Pound Provincial Park near Moose Jaw. What a good decision. We pulled into this oasis of a park at 8:30, with just enough usuable daylight for me to find my site. Had to use the Defender's headlights to set up camp, but we got settled in an an hour.
Tomorrow we have a long day, as we try to make in near to Calgary. We will have to stay in an RV camp as there are no Provincial Parks nearby. Then, on Thursday, we have about 100 miles to Banff when we will start to hit the cold weather and maybe snow. That will complete leg 2 of this journey, outward bound that is.
Ed Mulrenin
202-747-4704 (mobile)
Day 12, problem solved, temporarily, I hope
Problem with fuel line flap spring resolved by bending back spring. Hope this doesn't cause engine performance issues. We'll see. Now 3:30. Have to make up time lost.
Many thanks to staff at Kelleher Ford in Brandon, MB.
Ed
Many thanks to staff at Kelleher Ford in Brandon, MB.
Ed
Day 12, Disaster strikes the Defender. (Well, maybe not a disaster, but a problem nonetheless.)
No one here has ever seen anything like this before. Why do these things happen to me? Poor me.
day 11, Sunday, August 25, Birds Hill Park, Winnipeg, to Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, 2758 miles, Darns: 10, Pages: 11
6:10 Reveille. Erde had a terrible heavy-breathing incident last night. She has had this since she developed pancreatic insufficiency back in 2003 but last night's was especially heavy. There was nothing i could do but hold her. Afetr 30 minutes she recovered and slept like a log, or a dog, as thr case may be.
We missed the storm last night. I was prepared for it, but I am gklad it paased. Looks like another beautiful day today.
10:35 Ready to move on. After showering in the best shower facilities so far, I was driving out of the park when i realized I did not have my wallet. I waste 20 minutes trying to find it. as it turns out, it had fallen from the tray on the dashboard for stuff I need on the road onto the hidden perch behind my steering wheel, which I did not know existed until now. A perfect illustration of making sure things have one place. My wallet's place is in my pants pocket, and that's where it shall remain. Fortunately, i have only essential things in there and copies of everything and extra credit cards, cash, etc. in my sfae deposit box, if I can only remember where I out that.
12:30 Gas up in Winnipeg. Temperature already 32c, or 90f. sun is pounding down on us. I have to move quickly to stay ahead of the sun, which is hard to since since the sun travel 1500 km an hour and I can only do 105. When the sun hits the dog in the front seat, I have to drive with my right had on some kind of shield over his/her face despite the powerful AC cooling their faces.
another terrible drive. straight roads, desolate landscape, hot, occasional sandstorms. three more days of this till we get past Calgary.
A rare thought. I have been on the road for 11 days, longer than the Appollo 11 moon astronauts, who had more room than we do in the Defender and tent. and when they went outside for a break, they had a lot more space to walk around in.
1:25. Three-hour break. Nice little oasis compared to the road. Had to keep Erde on a leash near the water, a fast moving portage. She has a terrible habit of running right away for the water. If she did this time before I leashed her, that surely would have solved her tumor problem, but no more Erde.
3:15 Stopped for daily ice cream for the dogs at a MacDonald's. It did nit sit well with Erde. You get the picture. No more MacDonalds for us. In fact, if you eat at MacDonalds, just imagine what you are doing to your own health if Erde cannot stomach their ice cream.
3:35. Problem with the Defender. I cannot get it over 65mph (97kph) even on a straight road no matter how far down I push the gas pedal. As it turns out, the landscape is so straight and deceptive, I did not realize that we were actually going up a steep hill. Problem solved.
3:50 Heading north to Riding Mountain Park. Landscape changes dramatically, green, hills, turns in road, lakes. What a respite.
4:30 Enter park. Wow. What an oasis. Given three choices to camp. I chose Lake Audy, the most remote site on a lake.
5:25. Going down the long dirt road to Audy, we had to stop for a black bear. Cute little guy. Looked like he was having fun eating everything in sight next to the road, berries, grass. But not people or dogs.
5:40 First a bear crossing (they cross wherever they wish), now a bison crossing. Darn bison have no respect for my time. Leben and Erde bolted right up and looked with amazement at these strange creatures. I did too as I had never seen a bison either. Big guys. I sure would not want to run into them at night.
5:50 arrive campsite. Wow, what an idyllic setting, on a quiet lake, no services (drinkable water, either...no big deal, I carry 4 gallons in a jerry can on my roof rack). Only two or three other campers. I took site 11. best site in the place for me. Erde hit the water as soon as she found an opening in the grass and opportunity of my being distracted.
Jeff Braun took a rare photo of the three of us, but when he went to tahe the second shot, the battery died. No bid deal, I carry an extra camera for just this case, and rechargers, batteries, etc. His lovely 5-year old daughter picked a beautiful pink flower and gave it to me, for what I was doing for Leben and Erde. she should have given it to them.
Hosts came by and warned us about bears in the ares, especially two sows with cubs. (Erde loves bears; Leben is is indifferent.) Also, lynx (they can be very mean), and wolves, who like the nearby bison. Fun night ahead. I will sleep with my whistle, metal cups, bear spray, and hatchet, just in case.
took the dogs swimming again. and once again, Leben got stuck in his wheelchair and had to be winched out of the water.
9:30 In tent.
10:00 Taps. Dogs already sleeping soundly. Maybe their snoring will keep the bears away.
Tomorrow we head towards Regina as far and fast as we can get. I will stay at KOAs or other RV sites near the highway to make time. Sometime tomorrow we will pass the half way point to Alaska, 300 miles.
ed
Reare photo of the three of us. Photo by Jeff Braun
bear rest stop on road to lake audy.
bison crossing on road to lake audy
What the hell is that? Leben and Erde watching their first bison.
Via Inmarsat:
GPS fix
Lat: N 50 45' 22''
Long: W 100 14' 8''
Time: 12:46:48 UTC
Date: 26-08-2013
Altitude: 567 m
Velocity: 1 km/h
Accuracy
Horiz: +/- 24 m
Vert: +/- 64 m
Please note your reply is limited to 160 Latin characters or approximately 135 for non-Latin characters.
Sent via Inmarsat. The mobile satellite company
Lat: N 50 45' 22''
Long: W 100 14' 8''
Time: 12:46:48 UTC
Date: 26-08-2013
Altitude: 567 m
Velocity: 1 km/h
Accuracy
Horiz: +/- 24 m
Vert: +/- 64 m
Please note your reply is limited to 160 Latin characters or approximately 135 for non-Latin characters.
Sent via Inmarsat. The mobile satellite company
Day 10, Saturday, august 24, 2525 miles. Aaron Provincial Park Ontario to Birds Hill Provincial Park Winnipeg Manitoba.
6:11 reveille. Looking out from my tent door it looked like another nice day was in store. But then I heard distant thunder from behind the tent. I look in that direction and saw nothing but a threatening dark sky. It looks like a storm is coming, I said out loud, and made haste to break camp, which I did in a record one hour. But I should have done it in 55 minutes because the lightning, thunder and heavy rain struck down on us with only five more minutes to go.
At least now I know what I can break camp in when push comes to shove.
After writing yesterday's blog, I headed for the showers, but stopped first in the men's room, or so I thought. Halfway though my shave, two charming and equally pretty young women wandered in. I politely told them they had the men's room, but thy corrected me, told me to continue my business, and they went about theirs. In DC, if that happened, I'd now be in jail on one charge or another. Here, I got to finish my shave and the ladies from Marathon have a good story to tell.
As we were getting ready to finally leave, I noted that it took eight days to cross it. That's one half the trip in days. Really big place.
9:50 on the road to Winnipeg, some 235 miles distant. Rain stopped, but sky still threatening.
11:30...stopped for our only rest break of the day, near water, which Erde immediately took advantage of. I have given up hope for a dry vehicle because of her aquatic interests.
1:40 stopped for gas just before Manitoba border. As I emerged from the Defender, a woman approached me and proposed marriage, just for my jeep. I corrected her and told her it was a land rover,not a jeep, although the license plate says JEEP. I declined her kind offer and got on my way.
1:52. Entered Manitoba and probably one of the worst rides anyone could imagine. I fear that the next 1200 miles will be like this. 100 miles of a bumpy, straight road, through flat, desolate plains, accompanied by oppressive sun and heat, occasional sand storms and a gray, ominous sky that suggested tornadoes, but none came. The line of trees that framed the road were planted to distract drivers from the boredom. When they ran out of trees, they planted electrical towers just feet apart. There was no road kill in sight because animals abandoned the area long go. I filled my gas tank before I started this stretch because when I sat drove the road in 2001 with Leben and Erde, I ran out if gas one mile before the road ended at Winnipeg at the first gas station for one hundred miles. (No big deal as I carry five extra gallons.). It was also on this road that Leben and Erde took refuge under my Defender during a rest top, the only shaded area they could find.
4:05. We made it to Birds Hill provincial park right on schedule. It was here in 2000 that Sonntag and I got caught in one if the most harrowing experiences of my life, an electrical storm that hovered directly over our heads in our tent for one hour. There was no lag between the lightning and thunder, which struck seconds apart. I could tell when the next bolt was going to strike because the tent poles crackled and Sonntag's hair stood up. I threw all metal out of the tent and huddled with Sonntag to reduce our foot print for the lightning reflecting upwards after missing the trees behind our tent. When we entered the camp tonight, the word was that we were supposed to have a repeat performance of that night.
5:30 I finished the evening's non-discretionary chores in a record one hour to beat the foul weather that was coming. As it turned out, it never came. The sky cleared up and the night turned out to be nice. At least now i know I can set up camp in an hour. Good practice.
6:35 lifted a hot pot off the stove not realizing how hot the handle was. I forget how you treat second degree burns. Maybe the Army Field Medical Manual i brought along will tell me. I also have a First Aid app on my iPad.
8:13 In tent. Repaired tent where the tent fabric over the door is separating from the zipper to the door. I cannot believe it took me almost one hour to put in the equivalent of 20 stitches. I did not have a thimble and so had to make one of duct tape. That worked well until it didn't .
6:35 lifted a hot pot off the stove not realizing how hot the handle was. I forget how you treat second degree burns. Maybe the Army Field Medical Manual i brought along will tell me. I also have a First Aid app on my iPad.
8:13 In tent. Repaired tent where the tent fabric over the door is separating from the zipper to the door. I cannot believe it took me almost one hour to put in the equivalent of 20 stitches. I did not have a thimble and so had to make one of duct tape. That worked well until it didn't .
Tomorrow we head about 200 miles up the road to Riding Mountain National Park where you have to drive through a area where bison have the right of way. i will be very interested in my fellow travelers'' reaction.
After tomorrow, we head to Calgary, a trip I dread. If there is one reason to not make this trip, this is it. But you get the same in the states, too. No way around it. I probably will not be blogging much, if at all, so I can get on the road early to avoid the heat of the late afternoon. But after Calgary, the cold, and with it snow, will hit us in the Canadian Rockies
10:30 taps.
Below. Erde in the rear bed sleeping to avoid the heat and boredom. She usually searches for the coolest spot. Leben and Erde switch places every rest stop.
Below. Leben sleeping in the front bed to avoid the heat and boredom. Notice how his nose is right beneath the AC vent. Thank God I installed a new, more powerful one just two months ago.
Day 9, Friday, August 23, Sleeping Giant to Aaron Provincial Park, neared Dryden, Ontario, 2275 miles into journey
6:05 reveille, 58 degrees, looks like another beautiful day. This make 9 in a row. In DC, our record is 2 days in a row, and that's when Congress is not in session.
9:50..ready to move on. To save time, my routine from here on is to shower on way out of camp and to do laundry on way in. Routine is critical on these trips to save time.
10:45. Stopped for coffee and a store on the way to he highway, the only store on that 30 mile drive. As I removed my Beet headphones from their perch on my rear view mirror, the mirror broke off. No big deal. I just pulled out my rear view mirror repair kit and was on the road again in 15 minutes. I learned my lesson in Labrador in 2002 when Leben and Erde broke off the mirror three times. To avoid this, I lowered their bed in what used to be my passenger seat so their heads would not hit the mirror and bring along several repair kits. Driving 15,000 without a rear view mirror is not a smart idea. In the past, until I could repair it, I held the mirror with my hand. Not a good idea.
11:15 Discovered that the charger for my LG cell phone keeps falling out and I cannot get my cell phone to recharger. No big deal. I take with me five different recharging cables and one worked well with the cell phone. I can actually recharge six things at the same time using the two cigarette lighters in the Defender. I had an extra one installed in the console.
1:30 Time for our three-hour rest stop. I always seem to stop at exactly the same spots I stopped in on my earlier trips this way. Must have had the same rules. This time it was the Eastern Time Zone line. No water for he dogs to jump into to. In 2000, on the trip home with Sonntag, I chatted with some guy here for about 30 minutes. After a while, I asked him why his female passenger sitting in his car did not come out of the car. He told me he feels lonely on these trips so he brings along a mannequin to talk with, or to. I can't blame the guy because I am no saner talking with the dogs.
Saw 4 hitchhikers along the route today, two with dogs lying beside them on the road shoulder in the heat with no water bowls in sight. Why do people do that? I suspect they have the dogs to get a ride faster. On December 31, 1989, late at night, as I was driving back from Canada with Sonntag, my Jeep broke own 5 miles north of Lennox, Pennsylvania. The road was virtually empty of vehicles. This was before God created cell phones, so I started hiking the five miles to Lenox to call my motor club. I started to hitch a ride as soon as the first car came along, and as good luck would have it, the guy stopped and gave us both a lift to Lennox. I would have done the same for those two guys with dogs but there is not room in the Defender for an extra apple, let alone a man and his dog, or two of both.
5:05 Arrived at Aaron Provincial Park where Sonntag and thanks to the most pleasant and equally pretty hostess, Michaela, I was able to get the absolutely great camp site I stayed in here in 2000 with Sonntag. As good luck would have it, the nearby town was having its annual summer fair and so the camp was empty and got my favorite site (#35), a tree-shaded spot on the top of a hill on a small peninsula overlooking the lake. Not a good site to have during an electrical storm, though, but none was threatening.
Finished all the camp chores in record time and had time for Leben and Erde to take a swim in the lake and give Leben a shower for his skin allergy, which still seems to affect him. As for Erde's tumor, I noticed that it is starting to grow back, which I expected. I know what I have to do when I get home.
The nature of the trip changes dramatically from here. The next 1500 miles will be across the hot, flat, open Canadian plains, the worst part if the trip. I remember at one rest stop in 2001 with four-month old Leben and Erde, they took refuge under the Defender for shade. I hope to do 400 miles a day to get it over quickly, and will stay at camps not too far from the highway, even some KOAs. One problem is that this stretch of the country has been plagued recently wit torrential rains, so who knows what I can expect? After that, we hit the Canadian Rockies and snow. Once we hit the Yukon and Alaska, who knows what we will have as I have never been there this late in the season?. The good part about that is that all the mosquitoes and RVs will be gone.
8:30. I was able to complete everything and retreat to my tent without using any flashlights. One of the joys of the road is to be able to do that. The dogs, of course, would not understand that.
Ed Mulrenin
202-747-4704 (mobile)
Day 9, the trip so far
Ed
Day 8, Thursday, August 22, Pukaskwa to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, on Lake Superior near Thunder Bay , Ontario, 2003 miles
6:30...up after a good night's sleep at last. Leben had an accident at1:00, but it took one minute to deal with and I was back to sleep in a flash after a prayer to St. Ambien.
Fortunately, the bear Erde started to track last year in the snow here never showed up this year. Either that or Erde slept through his visit.
Took the dogs for a brief walk to the beach. Later took the dogs for a stroll around the camp. Checked out site 148, which is situated in an isolated spot down a steep hill, on a small peninsula of fir trees jutting out onto the bay. Great spot for merits, which is why I would have taken it if it had been available.
Since I had a short drive of less than 200 miles, I took my time breaking camp. Met a gentleman from Winnipeg who had just hiked the coastal trail to scatter his dog's ashes where they had hiked together before. I can relate to that.
Got on the road at 10:30 to the sounds of Pete Seeger s This Land is Your Land, with which I start each day's drive. I sing along, but change the geographical references to Canadian. Did I tell you that when I grew up along the Hudson River in New York I could see Seeger's property across the river from my bedroom window?
1:30. Time for out 3-hour pit stop for the dogs. I was getting ready to pull into the same parking lot with a picnic table in a small town that I stopped in before, but then decided to treat the lit stops as I do camp sites, if it is not good enough for the dogs, I move on till I find one. Just about the road I came to Aquasablon Falls, a great spot. Had to hike down a long, twisting, elevated wooded path to get to the overlook and Leben took it quite well. I had to winch him back up, though.
4:30 Time for the dogs' Frosty Paws stop, or whatever passes for a Frosty Paws treat on the road, usually ice cream. I may be vegan, but the dogs are not.
5:15. Pulled into Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. the circumstances were a lot better than last year. Got assigned one of two last sites, site 160, on the water, just down the way from my previous sites in 2000, 2001, 2011. We ended our trip here in 2011 when Leben's skin infection was getting out of control. So this also is the starting point for this journey. If the rest of this trip goes as well as the last 8 days, what a journey it will be.
5:30 arrived at camp site after dropping off laundry to save time. Had to make two visits back, but instead of taking 2 hours to do the Landry, it took 20 minutes. This will be my new routine.
Took the dogs for a walk a short distance to the boat launching site where they swan as 4-month old pups 12 years ago. I think they remembered. Both launched themselves into the water immediately, with the Sleeping Giant resting peacefully in the distance.
Leben's sprites skyrocketed today as I have finally learned to manage him without overdoing it. He likes the sites near people so he can watch the comings and goings.
We had two encounters with wildlife here this evening. As Erde sat quietly minding her own business (a rarity), a chipmunk walked up behind her and started to poke her. She turned around abruptly and was so startled, she did not know what to do. The chipmunk took advantage of those precious seconds and made haste to exit.
Later, as I was ready to take the dogs for their final walk, a skunk wandered into he campsite. I quickly changed plans and beat it into the tent with the dogs and closed up or the night. A similar thing happened here in 2000 when Sonntag was in the tent with the door open. It was i that night who got sprayed. Not wanting a paralyzed, skunk soaked dog on my hands, I quickly grabbed the pepper spray and walked around the tent creating a skunk-free zone. But when finished the circuit, I walked head first into the pepper still lingering where I sprayed it. That skunk had the last laugh as I tried several measures to rid my eyes and nose of the spray, pepper spray, not skunk.
On the lake, I can hear the lone loon with his plaintiff cry in the distance. I think it may be the same one from Labrador, following us. Better a loon than the pack of lynx that was here two years ago.
I made up 2 days by staying only and day each here and Brent Camp. I also saved a day by foregoing one day side trips to Fushimi Provincial Park way up north and Lake Bukemiga, also way up north. I was hoping to revisit those splendid places, but decided that my focus has to be on getting to Alsska.
10:30 p.m. Time for taps. I have no idea where we will end up tomorrow night, but I might want to put some miles on the road, and just may have to stay at a roadside private camp since all the parks are full on weekends this time of year.
Still no profound thoughts to report. On the road all day, working in the camp in the morning and evening, and living amidst such natural splendor are enough to clear one's brain of any serious thoughts
Ed.
Below...Leben and Erde enjoying the view at the Aquasablon Gorge rest stop.
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