Headed South – not West!

 

Usually, when I leave home this time of year, I watch the forecasts and road reports till conditions appear favorable, then head directly to the west coast, where I know that the weather will rarely include any frost, and roads will be good for the one day it takes to get there.

 

This time around, however the weather has been remarkably warm and sunny, with temps into the teens (C), east of the mountains.

So I took the opportunity to do a little visiting before getting serious about putting on the miles.

Here, pulling out onto the Trans Canada highway from my overnight spot.

I headed down Highway 22 along the foothills through ranching country, with a brief stop at Chain Lakes Provincial Park to stretch the legs and let Hailey out for a stroll.  All the campground loops were still open.  (Are you listening, Parks Canada?)

I spent a couple days visiting friends in the Pincher Creek area, and visited the Remington Carriage Museum, and a

Provincial Historic Site.  The historic site appeared to be in limbo – all fenced off and abandoned.  It looked as if it had had interpretive plaques at one time, but none were left and there was no public access.  What’s up, Alberta?

Weather was still holding out, but as I headed on west over the Crowsnest Pass, there were dark looking clouds in the distance.

This route goes through the famous Frank Slide area, which sweeps across the highway and railroad.

Getting into BC, the rain started, and my once clean and shiny rig was soon covered with dirt from the highway and a couple of construction zones.

Made a stop in Cranbrook for some supplies, and found that some local wildlife had walked on the sidewalk when the concrete was still wet!

I then visited my friends on the St Mary’s River, just west of Cranbrook.

They run the St Mary’s River B&B, located in a beautiful spot right on the bank of the river, adjacent to the newly restored rail line hiking/biking trail going all the way from Cranbrook to Kimberley.

These shots are from the old railroad bridge that carries the trail across the St. Mary’s River.  You might see a familiar looking 5th wheel in the background of the first two pics.

That’s where we are right now, but tomorrow it is really time to cross the border and starting heading seriously south before the weather plays it’s trump card of snow and more cold.

I’ll have to go some to catch up to Wandering Willy, who is in mid Texas and the Bayfield Bunch who are making fast tracks for the south west!