A Two-day Rockies Road Trip
October 23, 2022
Another Rockies Road trip is required for our return drive to Vancouver. Â So far we’ve had our 4-day Rockies road trip to Canmore, 4 full days exploring The Canadian Rockies from Canmore and a day driving to Jasper along the Icefields Parkway. 9 days in total and now a final 2-day Rockies Road Trip to get us back to Vancouver. Â Of course, there will be stops and photos along the way. Â What joys did we discover on this section of our trip?:
Wells Gray Provincial Park
Just off Highway 5 on the road to Kamloops is the Wells Grey Provincial Park. Â It was worth a stop in the parks info centre to get a map and stopping recommendations. Â The road going into the park, Clearwater Valley Road, is 68km long, and the lovely thing about it is there are a lot of amazing sights located just a short stroll from the road. Â Stopaholic heaven…
Spahats Falls
Spahats is a 200 foot drop into a very deep and vertiginous gorge. Â There wasn’t a torrent of water on the day we visited, but still a great waterfall. Â It was only a 10 minute easy stroll to the waterfall and then we continued another 1km to get to The Shaden view, below. Â Bonus; there’s a lovely guy in the car-park selling hot-dogs and burgers etc, who seems to speak the language of anyone who turns up. Â We heard Dutch, Spanish a bit of French. Â Great hot-dog too.
The Shaden Viewpoint
Dawson Falls
At 100 meters wide, we thought this wide, curved waterfall created a sort of mini Niagara Falls effect (a hair larger at 670 meters wide). Â It’s also possible to walk to the top of the waterfall where you are standing right next to the force of the river as it tumbles down the rocks. Â Amazing, and loud!
Helmcken Falls
Definitely the highlight of a visit to Wells Grey Provincial Park. Â This waterfall free-falls 141 metres at such a force, we were even feeling the spray from where we stood way above. Â According to the World Waterfall Database (yes, there really is such a thing) Helmcken Falls is one of the most powerful on Earth and number 11 in their World’s Top 100 ‘Highest-Rated’ Waterfalls. Â That’s quite a statement (Takkakkaw Falls from our 4-day Rockies road trip is number 12, also stunning)
Bailey's Chute
One of the reasons we came to Canada in September was to see the salmon run. Â This is where the salmon return to their birth-place to spawn, swimming upstream and jumping up waterfalls to get to their destination. Â I was expecting hundreds, but even to see just a few attempting this feat was amazing. Â That’s what you call determination.
One night in Kamloops
The obvious half-way point between the Rockies and Vancouver is Kamloops. Â This is even where the Rocky Mountaineer stops. Â Unfortunately, one night is not enough to see anything of the town, which has river walks, Kamloops lake, galleries, museums and plenty of cafes and restaurants. Â No surprise here that we found the local craft brewery, The Noble Pig Brewhouse. Â Great beers and a really varied menu of food that all seemed extremely well made. Â Burgers, Pad-thais and Jambalayas were all enjoyed.
The final leg on our 2-day Rockies Road Trip
While in Canada there were a lot of forest fires, which are devastating. Â But I don’t think you can realise just how big they are until you see one. Â We passed a huge forest fire just outside the town of Hope that was raging up the side of a mountain, with helicopters constantly going back and forth with water. Â The smoke from this fire spread all the way to the coast and we could still see smoke 3 or 4 days later when we were some 250km away.
Harrison Mills
While perusing the map, I spotted an Eagle and Salmon viewing platform at Harrison Mills. Â The platform is in Sandpiper Golf Resort and is about a 15 minute walk through woods to the edge of the Harrison River. Â We did not see salmon or Eagles but the opportunity to stretch our legs and take in the view out to the river and mountains made it a worthy stop. Â Option to dine in the Clubhouse on the rivers edge is also a great option.
Vancouver, a different kind of beautiful...
