Oh, Canada!

Coming into Canada the second time I was asked a lot more questions. Was I headed home? Was I going to be staying down there for a while? Whatcha got in the back of the vehicle? I almost felt I was going to be given a limited hall pass: "This guy has five (5) days to get down to the States or else we will find him and ship him south ourselves." But, after all of the questions, I was allowed in with a cheerful, "enjoy your trip." Chevy Truck

I like Canada. Every time I have visited I have enjoyed the places and the people. I even like gravy on my fries. There is a measured pace and a type of sanity that has been evaporating out of the U.S. over the past 5 decades. Perhaps it is a population density thing. In 2016 Canada has an estimated million fewer people than the state of California. One comment was made to me regarding the US population... "You have over 300-million people down there and you could only find those two to run for president, eh?" I had to admit to the sad truth. Hand Built Church

Canada is huge... Bigger than the US. It is easy to forget about this when "planning" a trip. I had no specific figure in mind when I started the drive back down from Alaska, but after a few days I did some figuring and realized that the quickest route down the Alaska/Canadian highway was 3000 miles! ...And you are still on the West Coast. But there is little traffic and more route options. The roads are in pretty darn good condition the scenery is fantastic. Slow down & enjoy the ride.

Tin Madonna

I am unsure if this Madonna and Child is locally crafted on that church above or was shipped in, but it is a nice bit of tin work.

Passing now into the Rockies and British Columbia, bits of the the North American plate begin poking up into the air.

This is one big bison and he is letting the vehicles past one by one. When he was in front of my car it was clear he easily outweighed it and towered above the hood. I had other things on my mind and didn't grab the camera. He moved aside & let me pass. When this semi truck came up, Mister Bison stood in front of it far longer just so that the truck driver knew who was boss of this bit of road.

Ferris Wheel

This would be fun for the kiddies if there were anyone around to run it. How it ended up by this shut down truck stop is anyone's guess.

OK time for a bit of geological fun. Ancient ocean bed, hundreds of millions of years old. The section of the Liard river where they are poking up is called the Whirlpool rapids. Beautiful water, Very cool strata to walk over.

This Island in the middle of the river is a place where the layers of ancient ocean floor were bent from the pressure of tectonic plates colliding. Note how on one side they are slopin up from the water and on the other they are sloping down. The strata I was standing on when taking the picture was sloping on a different angle up toward the island.

Rock Pattern

So what do you do when you are standing on rocks hundreds of millions of years old? Well, shucks... look down! I won't bore you with lots of pictures of rocks. Here are a couple of interesting ones. I found. The white marks quite intriguing.

Rock Pattern

Here is another with curious white bits, as well as a little embossed man.

Interesting Striations

This rock has some interesting striations. It appears there was a thin layer of quartz half of which has been broken away.

As you get deeper into this part of the Rockies the strata become bendier.

Folded Mountains

And then you come to this mountain that looks like it was cut out of a wadded piece of puff-pastry.

This outcropping has a zig, a zag and then another zig. For scale, those little bumps on the top are 60-foot trees. This is big stuff!

Mountain Sheep

Where there are Mountains in British Columbia there are to be found mountain sheep.. Here is a youngster.... Ba-a-a-a-a.

Mountain Sheep

And here is a mountain sheep that's a bit older... whatcha lookin' at?

Clouds

There were some pretty nifty stratified clouds later on that day.

Here is a sheaf of strata bent up into a curve. These huge mountains and are showing the top side of the strata... I am about 100 feet above the level of the road which you can see a bit of in the foreground.

Layer Cake with Nuggents

Look at those layers! Thin, dense layers. Thick, porous layers, with chunks of obsidian embedded. What a story! This rock is about two feet up and down and three feet wide.... About 500 lbs and way up on the side of a hill... it is still there.

Close up of Layer Cake Rock

Here is a closer view of that big ol' layered rock. Pretty nifty stuff!

Ribbons of Color

On the same hillside there was a rock with this pattern. Black and mustard rippling accross.


A Drive About
Alaska? Alaska!
Jul 29, 2016
So Where was I? Oh yeah, I was getting on a ferry to Alaska. That was three weeks and a few thousands miles ago. Ah, the romance of the high seas... "Just give me a tall ship and a star to sail her by"...
Alaska & Out
Jul 30, 2016
OK, so you took a ferry to Alaska, spent a few days around Haines and drove up through the Yukon to the big part of the state. What now? Well... sha... drive around, find backroads, what else?
  Oh, Canada!
Canadian Rockies
Aug 02, 2016
I am driving through the stunning landscapes of the Canadian Rockies. They are huge! Not just in stature, but in the volume of the area, If you are looking for an "Endless Summer" experience try driving all of the roads up here. You will discover that there will be a lot of roads yet to cover by the time the Aspen & Birch trees begin to turn.
Wyoming
Aug 13, 2016
Wyoming?" You ask... "Weren't you just in Canada?" Well, um, yes... but you see... There was something I needed to get done in Wyoming,so.... "What about Montana?" You coninue, "What happened to Montana?" Montana? I love Montana, but I needed to get to Wyoming so I drove through it.
The Windmills of Colorado
Aug 17, 2016
"The Windmills of Colorado" sounds poetic doesn't it? There are a whole lot more windmills in the Midwest since the last time I wandered through the area, Two of these pictures were taken from the ground... the rest from the air.
A Colorado Crawl
Aug 27, 2016
From Limon, Colorado I headed west. Back across the plains, through the forests of Ponderosa Pine. There was a bit of business to conduct in Castle Rock and then onward to the West. A dirt road "short cut" surpriosed me with this formation... Upended strata , almiost free standing!
Deeper Into the Rockies
Sep 02, 2016
A dirt road is not the interstate. You can't pretend you are on the autobahn with the countryside flashing past at 150kph. You've left the fast lane, speed is an impossability. Relax, take your shoes off, roll down the windows and sniff the perfumes offered by the crisp, country air.
A Layover Day in Buena Vista
Sep 03, 2016
Sometimes it's good to stop. All of those places you've been driving through... Well. People live there... Yes, they spend weeks at a time in one place... Years even, I hear tell. So if you want to feel like a real local, you have to spend at least a day in one place. I decided to settle down in Buena Vista it seemed like a nice place to call home.
Up a Winding Road and Crossing the Divide
Sep 03, 2016
I crossed the Continental Divide just to the northwest of Fitzpatrick Peak on a little dirt track called forest road 267 that runs between St. Elmo & Tincup, Colorado.
Out of Gunnerson, CO
Sep 04, 2016
After leaving Gunnerson, Colorado I took a detour through the San Juan National Forest.
Monticello, Utah
Sep 05, 2016
I headed west into Manti-La Sal National Forest, there was a long, twisty route that was just about what I was looking for. Manti-La Sal National Forest, is a well-kept secret and the locals want to keep it that way. It offeres a wide variety of terrain from jush forests to arid canyon lands. One ot the swell bits is the Dark Canyon Wilderness, still a largely unexplored area.
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Keywords in This Article

British Columbia
Canada
Buffalo
Geology
Rockies
Mountains
Sheep
Yukon
Backroad

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