On to Edmonton
From Liard I drove through Fort Nelson and down to Fort St. John, where I looked up Deet and David Rattray, friends from UBC whom we'd last seen in 1976, just after Chloe was born. From there I went on to Taylor, where I spent the night, then in the morning drove into Alberta and up to the Lesser Slave Lake for a little break. The following afternoon it was on to Edmonton where I was to meet Chloe, who was to arrive the next day from Montreal. Chloe is moving to Edmonton to teach Philosophy at the University of Alberta.
All photos link to large versions
I saw a lot of moose on my trip, but I think this is the only caribou. Right on the road!
Mountain goats.
Well before I left BC the terrain changed from mountains to this.
I was a day early for meeting Chloe, so I took a detour north in Alberta to camp at the Lesser Slave Lake.
The water was pretty chilly. I whoosed out.
Chloe's cats seemed to like their new house.
James flew out with Chloe to help her get settled. He barbequed veggie-burgers for us for dinner on Chloe's new barbeque.
I hope to see Chloe again in Olympia this August when Gabriel's and Cynthia's baby is born.
I left Edmonton in the early afternoon of July 3 and drove straight south through Red Deer, Calgary, and Cardston, crossing back into Montana. Immediately I was into mountainous roads, and I meandered across the fantastic Glacier National Park to Whitefish, then down through Kalispel and along the Flathead Lake to spend the night in Polson. In the morning I continued south to I-90, west through Missoula to I-15, then south on that into Idaho, through Pocatello to McCammon, where I got off the freeway onto highway 30 and drove through Montpellier into Wyoming, far south of where I'd been 18 days before in Yellowstone. I cut diagonlly southeast on small roads across the high plains, where there were still pockets of snow here and there, around Flaming Gorge, and sneaked through the corner of Utah into the northwest bit of Colorado at a place called Dinasaur. I was intent on getting home, so I kept on cruising down to Grand Junction, on through Delta, and finally stopped for the night in Montrose. It was the fourth of July, so I sat out on the sidewalk and had a few beer with some locals and watched the fireworks. The next morning it was through Ouray and over the Red Mountain Pass to Durango - perhaps the most beautiful part of the whole trip - then across southern Colorado, through Pagosa Springs, into New Mexico and home.
This is at the US border - crossing into Montana. I think the mountain is called The Cheif.
This is the Flaming Gorge, an incredible lake and park that is mostly in Wyoming with a bit in Utah. You can see the road up from the lake.
Looking back from near the top of Red Mountain Pass, between Ouray and Durango.
South from Red Mountain Pass.
East from Red Mountain Pass. There are hundreds of campers down there.
Dropping down to Durango.
I got home just after noon on Sunday, July 5. It was very good to see Cydney again!