Camp with Chin: 2017 Summer Camping Trip

Actual Route driven

Our annual summer camping trip is here. Our travel date is from June 30th till July 16. I have campground reservation at Banff National Park for 5 days and Jasper National Park for 5 days. My initial planning is to take 4 days to drive west and 4 days to drive east. As always, my plan will change last min before or during the trip.

Itinerary

Day 1

After the first 200 miles, the trailer lost a trailer bearing protector + cover and exposed the wheel bearing. I also lost a battery cover. Spend 2 hrs looking for spare parts + repair. I got a battery box, grease gun & grease from Walmart. Then, I try to find hub cap. Walmart and Home Depot got nothing. Finally, I found AutoZone and got my replacement hub cap. I replaced the battery box and tied down strap at the Walmart Parking lot. I installed the missing hub cap and squeeze more grease into the hub at the AutoZone Parking Lot. Marine grade grease is highly recommended. I got minimal contamination. Grease repeal water. So wheel bearing remain clean. After all the repair, we continue our journey for another 400 miles.

Missing parts. Autozone save my day

Missing battery cover. Walmart save my day

First rain.

Sunset on I-80

Our Toyota Hotel. 3 kids lay flat while 2 adult on the front seat

Drool. CA car

Nice Jeep. From NH.

I was paying attention to the weather. I saw a severe storm moving toward in front of us, about 60 miles away. I stopped at next reststop. It's been some stressful day on the road. I decided to stay and rest. It was around 11pm. My plan is to prep the vehicle so all 3 kids can lay flat to sleep. I shuffled some luggage around and the kids can comfortable sleep. Since it's raining, there is no bugs around. I open some windows for fresh air circulation. It's time to rest up and prepare for tomorrow journey. Total miles today about 600 miles in 12 hrs span.

Day 1

Day 2

We sleep overnight at the I-80 westbound reststop. It was a good call as I witness a severe storm passing through. There is some rain passing through overnight, but it is not as severe. I saw a really good lightning show before I sleep. I wake up around 5:30am and it's still drizzling. I start to wake up the family around 6:30am as rain slowdown. After a refresh & light breakfast, we continue our journey to our first stop, National Museum of USAF in Dayton OH. I miss judge the distance thinking we are about 1 1/2 hrs from the stop, but we are actually 3 1/2 hr before our stop. On the way to Dayton OH, I pass through many a few interest spot. Since we are in a hurry, I didn't manage to stop. I do wished to stop by Summit Racing store. We arrived at the Museum around 12:30pm. We setup lunch at the parking lot as our trailer need to be parked at the far end of the parking lot. Get a few folding chair and it's lunch time. After lunch, we start to move toward the entrance of the Museum.

This a great museum to visit. I was expecting a smaller museum than the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in DC/VA, but I was so wrong. There is 4 hangars of displays. They got more air planes on display, almost double the size of Smithsonian. Best of all, they have Decommision Air Force One on display.

Air Force One

We stay at the museum until 4pm before head out. We are trying to catch up with lost time. Due to late departure and also extra time spend at the Air Force Museum in OH, we are several hours behind our schedule. Our next stop is Badland National Park in South Dakota.

Napping on top of the camper

Budget dinning. We cooked at a reststop in OH

Another beautiful Sunset

Late night driving

Late driving - Need bright headlight. LED Fog light help a lot.

Car & trailer performed well yesterday. 1500+ miles into our 2+ week journey.

Day 2

Day 3

I pulled an all-niter driving from OH. We crossed IN, IL and IA to get to SD. I got a little nap at a rest stop in IA. The extra travel time help to catch up our schedule.

A shadow keep chasing us

SD Sign

SD Reststop

We made it to South Dakota

Our first stop is Mitchell SD after our gas stop at Sioux Falls SD. We lured to this small town because of the roadside ad, Corn Palace. A brief stop, we continue to our destination.

Corn Palace

Mitchell SD

Corn Palace

We have planned to stop at Badland National Park & Minutemen Missile National Historic Site. We also convince to visit Wall SD by all the roadside ads starting at Sioux Fall SD.

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site Visitor Center

I completed the Ranger Jr Program

Long Range Missile

Wall Drug

Wall Drug Store sign

5c coffee. It's real deal.

Bunny?

T-Rex

Kids having some fun time

Duck face

Badland National Park Entrance Sign

Badland National Park

We got blessed with 2 extra hours. Within 24 hours, we crossed into 2 time zones, CST & MST.

Again, we spend extra times being tourist and I need to play catch up again.

Dinner at SD Reststop

Another sunset in SD

Day 3

Day 4

I finally crush and burn. Sweaty, heat + no shower finally is not working for us. We settled at Hilton Hampton Inn @ Gillette WY. My tired body also complaining. We get a well deserved refreshed at the hotel and some hearty breakfast.

Since we lack of time management and overdone tourist activities, I will need to catch up on time again. We had to miss one attraction, Devils Tower, for our next visit.

Today, I also found a new love for my truck. This truck was able to outperform many other vehicles on the highway. The battle of the Rockies mountain range started in WY. It's mostly uphill and the truck is not even sweat. FYI, WY & MT speed limit is 80mph. Truck also pulling a 3000+ lbs trailer. The truck has no problem keeping up with the speed limit. I love this truck a lot more !!!!

Rockies in Wyoming

For today activities, we planned to visit some friends in MT. This is our last day in US before crossing to Canada and also July 4th. We preferred to celebrate our independent day with closed friends. We drove across WY in a quickest way. We head up to Roundup MT to meet with our friend's ranch. Then drove across MT on RT12 to Helena MT. We spend our evening enjoying some firework celebration.

Traffic Jam in Montana

Finally meet with the famous Eugene the Goat

Storm brewing from a distance

Sunset in Helena MT

A collection of fireworks

Fireworks in action

Thanks for our MT friends, our kids have so many fun activities in one day.

Day 4

Day 5

We are leaving Helena MT. The kids having tough time to say goodbye to their friends. They have a great time sleepover with friends.

Huckleberry Syrup, my fav

Breakfast at Hampton Inn

Bathing the truck

Carfie with our fav Hampton Inn

Yeti, my travel tumbler

Message of the day on Fresh Banana (today is the 4th)

We left Helena around 1pm and start heading north towards the US/Canada border. Sweetwater is where we cross into Alberta. Traffic at the border crossing is very light. Total time at the border is less than 5 mins. Since we don't have anything to declare, it's just a few formal questionnaires. Off we go and we are in Alberta. We stopped at a visitor center for a short break. I gathered some info about an alternate route to Banff. Instead of taking AB2, we decide to take a scenic route. We choose to take AB22 up north. Then we switch to Kananaskis trail AB40 to reach outskirts of Canmore AB.

Border (canadian side)

T-Rex found me

Criminal in make

Poking T-rex

My driven route

AB40

Junction of AB40 and Transcanada Hwy 1

In route to Banff

Tunnel Mountain II Campground

My camp site, same as our 2015 trip

B4, our 2015 camp spot

Setup for first night of camping

AB22 is a road running parallel to the mountain range. This is the scenic route. You get the view of the rockies on your left while driving through the plain. Green mountain, pastures plain, creeks, green trees & minimal traffic.

AB40 is a summer only route. This road is closed during winter. The road go up/over some rockies mountain range. You can find multiples Alberta provincial parks on this route. Due to limited time, we just drove through the route without stopping. I did stop for wildlifes. There are abandon of deer sighting.

We reach our campground in Banff National Park around 10pm. The sunlight is still bright which help me setup our basecamp without any issues. We had a late night snack before call it a night.

Day 5

Day 6

First night #camping for 2017. We take it easy today after a long travel day. We do some tasks to setup the camper. I setup the camper awning and also an instant screen canopy. We cook breakfast and pack up lunch. There are no planning for today. We plan as we see the time fit.

Our scenery for next 5 days

Morning fire to warm up

Chair setup around camp fire

Our scenery for next 5 days

The weather in Banff is very nice. It's 50 & chill in the morning, but will warm up to 90 during the day. The weather forecast for our stay look awesome.

After breakfast and prep lunch, we head out. Since we misses out Johnston Canyon in our last visit, I decide to head to Johnston Canyon. We luck out as we found a parking spot. We decided to hike the canyon and explore the area. We hiked the trail to see the lower fall and upper fall. We also carry our food and have a quick picnic along the trail.

This is a crowded tourist spot. But the view of the upper & lower fall worth to spend time here. One thing is bad about this area is washroom. There are only 2 @ 1 stall washroom. The line to take a break is up to 30+ minutes wait. Ladies, you been warned. There is a line outside the washroom. I took a picture and sent it to Park Canada.

Bow Valley Parkway

Wildlife

Johnston Canyon Trail (in Standard, not metric)

Johnston Canyon

Chin's Selfie

After the hike, we head back to town. It's 5pm local time and we need to get a Wi-Fi spot. We visited park Canada visitor center in the town of Banff. Spend about 1 hr at the visitor center before we head up to Banff Gondola.

Banff Gondola is an experience, but with hefty price. It costs us C $200 for family of five to ride up to top of sulphur mountain. I intentionally skip this on our last visit. But since it's an experience, we decide to explore it. The thrill ride up the mountain is exciting, but a bit scary for me. It takes about 15 mins to ride up/down. At the top of the mountain, there are observation deck & restaurant. There is also a short broadwalk hike to observatory. We spend about 1 1/2 hrs.

Scary ride

Inside gondola

Going up

Banff view from Gondola

Tunnel Mountain

Almost there

The Gondola

Banff view on Sulphur Mountain

Canadian Rockies

Unesco

On top of Sulphur Mountain

The red chair

Going down

Selfie

She said it

Canada 150 Frappacino

Special Frap on this starbuck

After a long day of hiking, we opt to relax at the Banff hotspring. This is a must visit spot as you can dip into a pool of hot springs water. The pool is constantly around 39 C. 1 1/2 hrs on hot pool, we are all relax and call it a day. We have a busy day tomorrow as we are heading to Lake O'hara at Yoho National Park.

Day 6

Day 7

We wake up early and prep for today activities. We need to catch a bus ride to our destination. We have reservation to visit Lake O'hara in Yoho National Park. After a quick breakfast & packed lunch, we head out of our campsite. As usual, we are late and we try to catch up time. Yoho National Park is about 1 hr from Banff. If anyone seen a SUV driving like a Bostonian on TC1, I'm plead the 5th.

We arrived the parking lot with just enough time to spare. Check-in with the park ranger and we board a yellow school bus.

Some info about Lake O'hara. The lake located at Yoho National Park, British Columbia. There is no direct access to the Lake except hiking or riding a transportation. It's about 11km from the base parking area. Reservation transportation is very limited on daily basis, 8:30am & 10:30am. I have seen many people's taking the hike on the way. Once you're in, it's more flexible to catch a ride out for a fee. There is a lodge with cabin accommodation and a campground inside this area. Since it's so remote and secluded, we really enjoy the visit. Once boarded, we received a token/chip for our return trip. The returned transportation are the following, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30 & 6:30.

In route to Yoho National Park

Construction in the area. Almost miss this road sign.

Turn into the dirt road and more visible road sign

Lake O'Hara info

Checkin bus stop

Group photos from help the warden (aka park ranger)

Yellow School bus transportation

Our bus token for returning trip

We hiked a trail to Lake Oesa. This is one of the easy trail recommended by the store clerk. We took 3 1/2 hrs to hike up and 1 1/2 hrs to hike down. We have to climb Rocky cliff, walk through avalanche area, snowpacked trail and crossed creek. The hike so awesome that I can't put the experience in word. This will be my top list of area to visit in the future.

Lake O'Hara

Start hiking

Lake O'Hara

Hiking through snowpack from an avalanche

On Lake O'Hara trail

Lake O'Hara

Rocky Ledge

A short rest

Lake O'Hara

Panorama of Lake O'Hara

More snow pack from avalanche

First lake on the trail

Gaia GPS

Resting at the waterfall

Second Lake on the trail

Powerful avalanche bend the trail sign

Second Lake on the trail (Hiking along the ridge)

Second Lake on the trail looking back

Panorama

Third Lake on the trail

Lake Oesa Panorama

Lake Oesa

We did it !!!

Resting at Lake Oesa

Victory Stance

Groupie with Lake Oesa

Lake O'Hara (hiking back)

Lake O'Hara (lodge cabin)

Lake O'Hara

Lake O'Hara (Lodge Cabin)

Trail info

Where is our green token????

We catch the last ride out. We are all exhausted. We want to relax and dip into a hot spring. Since Banff hot spring is too crowded, I drove to Radium Hot spring. Radium Hot spring is located in Kooterney National Park. It's about 70 miles from Banff. This is the largest Hot spring inside Park Canada. This is one of the best hot spring. Driving in between Banff National Park and Kooterney National Park, we pass through the continental divide. Stop for some picture.

Continental Divide

I'm sitting between 2 continent

We spend about 2 hrs at Radium Hot Spring. As previous mention, this is the largest hot spring. They have 1 huge hot spring pool and 1 olympic size swimming pool. The site also going through renovation with restaurant offering (future) and onsite SPA. After a relax time, it's just too hard to drive 70 miles back to Banff. But we made it around 1am.

Day 7

Day 8

Our journey continue. We actually did not have much activities for the day. We had to do some chores and cooking breakfast/lunch at the base camp. We hung out at a local laundromat to refresh some clean clothes. We finally got out of the camp after 3pm. We are all exhausted from yesterday so this will be an easy day. We head down to Canmore and grocery shopping. Found a Safeway market and restock some essentials.

From doing some research, I found a gravel road with beautiful scenary. So we decide to explore and test our truck. The Smith Dorian Trail is a hidden jewel. This is a paved gravel road with 3-4 Alberta provincial park. While driving through the trail, we passed through a car accident. This remind me that gravel road is dangerous since if you going steep climb or descend. The vehicle travel faster speed going sharp corner + steep descend is a recipe for disaster.

Accident

Smith Dorrian Trail

Smith Dorrian Trail (Reservoir)

Kit Kat Ice Cream for dessert

Smith Dorrian Trail

Dust

Smith Dorrian Trail

Junction between Smith Dorrain Trail & Kananaskis Trail

On the trail, we stop by a reservoir and have some treats. Ice cream from the market. We got a kit Kat ice cream. We finished it in just a split minute.

We got back to camp around 9pm. Calm down and enjoyed the rest of the day.

Day 8

Day 9

A slow day for the Chin's. After breakfast and prep lunch, we head out. As usual, I have no specific plan for today. I wished to visit a few missing attraction in Banff.

Parks Canada Visitor Center in Banff

Canada 150

Parks Canada Visitor Center in Banff

Banff in 8am

Parks Canada Visitor Center in Banff

Chin's @ Banff

Once we are on the road, we head north to icefield parkway. Our first stop is icefield parkway Hector lake. This is just a roadside stop to take some pics. More north, we stop at the crowfoot glacier. Next stop is bow lake. Next to Bow lake, there is a lodge, Num-ti-jah. We stop at the lodge and have a picnic lunch. Kids having fun with the cold water of bow lakes. After lunch, we head to Bow summit to see Peyto lake. Peyto lake is a wolf shape lake feed by glacier water. The color of the water is blueish green, turquoise. A short hike from the parking lot to the observation platform. This is a typical tourist spot as you can see buses of tourist being drop off.

Peyto Lake

Peyto Lake - Does it shape like a wolf?

We stay away from the crowded platform and hike to a different viewing point. From map, there are a few viewing point on a trail. The trail do offer great viewing point of Peyto Lake.

Glacier

Turquoise Lake

Num-Ti-Jah Lodge

Peyto Lake

After Peyton lake visit, we head south and take TC1 to Yoho National Park. Since we visited the attraction in Yoho National Park, I opt to drive further west. We reach Golden, BC. We gained 1 hr as we are now in PST. We reached Glacier National Park around 6:30pm PST. Visited Roger Pass visitor center. Cherie is collecting badges from various national park visit, so she is doing the xplorer program to earn badges. She finished her task in 20 mins before the visitor center close.

Driving toward Glacier National Park

Roger Pass Visitor Center

This is the Cofounder of CampWithChin. He is one crazy dude.

It's 7:30pm PST or 8:30pm MST, we decide to head back to Lake Louise. We want to beat the light and reach Moraine Lake. That's another Bostonian driving skill.

We reached Moraine Lake around 10:20pm MST. Lighting still good and we are able to reach up the Rocky ledge. Took some great photos of Moraine Lake reflection. The photos from this lake is another reason why we love the Canadian rockies.

We are back to campsite around midnight. The sky has a full moon which is a bright as sun. It blindsight my driving view. Also sadly, I won't be able to capture any dark sky photos. I do missed the milky way sky.

Day 9

Day 10

pack up day. Banff visit is completed. The next #camping site is located at Jasper, AB. We have 5 nights reservation.

The Chin's need to pack up by 11am. We made it. Since this is our first #camping trip, it will be a challenge to get kids wake up and packed up. The Chin's successfully packed and get the trailer ready by 11am. We pulled out the camp ground at 11am. We head north to Jasper over the famous icefield parkway. Before we head out, we drove through Tunnel Mountain and took a few pics of the Fairmont Banff Resort.

We didn't stop until reaching Saskatchewan river crossing. We stop because we see parks Canada booth. This is the last stop for fuel before you drive the rest of the icefield parkway. The next fuel stop will be Jasper which is about 160 km away. We have a short break before heading to Columbia Icefield center. I highly recommend every visitor on icefield parkway to fuel up either in Jasper (if you head south of icefields parkway or at Lake Louise. The gas price in Saskatchewan river crossing cost 50-60% more. The grocery in Saskatchewan store is 100%+ more. So get your grocery & gas before you drive Icefields Parkway.

Icefields Parkway

view along Icefields Parkway

gift shop at saskatchewan river crossing

Double parking at Saskatchewan River Crossing (parking area is full)

Some display inside the gift shop.

I love Canadian Crap

Our next stop is Columbia icefield center. Before we reach the destination, we saw an accident where a motorcycle hit headon with a vehicle. From observation, the motorcycle travelling downhill and the vehicle is going uphill. A pothole on the road cause the bike with trailer swirl to the oncoming traffic. The bike is on the opposite lane. This is just happening right before a switch back turn. We stopped at the pull out area and have a few photos before continue to the icefield center. We parked and have lunch at the icefield center. It was a bit chill but we are prepared. We visit the icefield center hoping to check on the glacier tour. We decide to against it since it would cost $400 for family of 5.

Pullout view of Icefields Parkway

Waterfall view at the pullout

Selfie

Accident at the hairpin turn

Athabasca Glacier

Lunch

Group Pic

kid being kid

sign

kid being kid

sign

kid having fun

big kid

It was a hot day. Sunbathing.

Athabasca Glacier

Glass Bridge

We move on to our campground. We have a mellow night building campfire and have Smores and marshmallow with our new neighbor. We have 5 days reservation at Wapiti Campground in Jasper National Park.

Wapati Campground

Campground activity

Day 10

Day 11

We are in Jasper for day 1. This morning, I wake up early in the morning. I went to Jasper downtown area and will attempt to get a permit to visit Mt Edith cavell. Due to construction, there is a restriction to drive up to Mt. Permit is issued on daily basis with limited availability and First come first serve from 8am till 9am. I'm 5th person in line at 7:30am. The line start to build up to about 20+ persons in line at 8am. Once I got my permit, I stay around the visitor center for Wi-Fi access. The line is even longer after 8:15am.

My permit is 11am slot. There are 4 time slot available. 9am,11am,2pm & 5pm. Time to head back to camp and prep some breakfast while waiting for 11am.

smoky day due to wild fire in BC

Jasper sign before entering the town

smoky day due to wild fire in BC

Mt Edith access permit at Visitor Center

I got 11am access permit

Visitor line up early to obtain access pass

Icefields Parkway Sign

Campground permit for 5 days

After breakfast and get the kids ready, we head out of the campsite around 10:30am. The drive from campsite to the entrance road is about 10 mins. Took a longer detour to reach the entrance. We are in line at 10:59am and 3rd car waiting. Once our permit validated by the park ranger (warden), we are directed to the entrance. The drive up to Mt Edith Cavell is a narrow 2 way paved road. There are many hairpin turn going uphill. 11km is the distance from the entrance to the parking lot. Due to heavy bear activities in the area, many trails closed. In additional, guest will not be able to get close to the Lake. There is a viewing area, about 1/2 km from the lake. My expectation is high, but due to trail closure, we are limited to a walking trail. Kind of disappointed, but the view of the tall mountain, 2 glaciers, waterfall and glacier feed lake worth the visit.

There is outhouse in this pic

on the way up to Mt. Edith Cavell

Groupie

Mt. Edith Cavell

Canada 150

Capture slomotion video

Slowmo Video

Hiking path down to parking lot

We stay until 3pm. At around 2pm, most visitor left. I took my new drone and walk up again. I plead my 5th again. Nothing happen but I got some footage. We left around 3pm and head down the mountain. Next stop, I was planning to check out the athabasca fall. Before reaching the destination, I found a turnout toward Moab lake. The road looks like a dirt road. My off-road adventure begin as I shift.the destination toward Moab Lake. This is a 7km dirt road. While driving along the dirt road, I discovered a parking area near the river. I will try to stop there later. We travelled to the end of the road and turn back. On the way back, I pull into the parking spot next to the river. I discovered beach area next to river. What a hidden spot. The kids got down and play along the beach area. The beach is covered with fine pebble gravel. Kids picking shiny pebbles and dip at the river. Water is turquoise in color and chill. I plead my 5th again as I end up with some aerial photos and video. It was a great day after all.

Dirt road fun

Found a secluded area along the river

Pickup Pebbles

Greenish lake on Rt93a

There are many forest fire nearby in British Columbia. It turns the sky hazy and covered with smoke. We can smell the burning around Jasper AB. The view of the mountain is all covered with smoke.

On our way back to campsite, there is a huge group of elks in the area. They are slowing glazing through the campground area. We got out and enjoy watching the elks.

At nighttime, we shop at the local grocery store. Ice cream, steaks and hot dogs is on the dining menu. We went back to campsite and cook dinner. We enjoyed the relaxed day.

Elks roaming inside the campground

Damn human

Elk Selfie

Campfire

Wieners & Steaks

Campfire

Wildfire in AB

Day 11

Day 12

This is an easy day for us. Before the kids wake up, I went out for a drive/photo session. After driving through downtown Jasper, I head to pyramid lake.

Hazy mountain view

Pyramid Lake

View of Pyramid Lake

Pyramid Lake

We hang out at the campground till noon and head to town for some shopping and refreshed our clothes. At the town of Jasper, there is a good laundromat. They have very new stainless steel and heavy duty equipment. At the same store, they also have internet cafe. Having a good latte while waiting for laundry cycle to complete. I give Cherie & Christopher a Walkie talkie and they go shopping. While the youngest hangout with adult at the cafe/laundromat. Finally, I got some quiet time to edit some video footage. I finished one editing but the Wi-Fi is too slow to post. Things will need to wait. After getting our fresh clothes, we hung out at the town. While shopping, I found a good Wi-Fi spot. I managed to post some photos and video using the Wi-Fi. We have prepared lunch before head out of campsite. But hanging around town lost the time. Instead, I got some donuts from Tim Hortons and ice cream from the local store. We have donuts and ice cream for lunch.

Latte at the Laundromat

Kit Kat Ice Cream

Laundromat

Brewery in Jasper

After shopping, we head back to campground. We have a quick dinner before we head out. We decide to head to hot springs. The weather today has been mild and It's perfect temp to dip into hot springs. We visited Miette Hot Spring, located about 40 miles from Jasper. We always love this hot spring as It's a bit remote and should be less crowd. Water temp was perfect and crowd was manageable. We stay till 10pm, then head back to camp for a quiet evening.

Miette Hot Spring

Day 12

Day 13

Another easy & relax day. Hung out at the campsite during morning. Helping our neighbor to pack up. She is heading back to Edmonton and extra hands will help. After brunch, we head out to the town again. Catching up some photo session. Next we head to pyramid lake, a lake about 3 miles from Jasper town. We rent a row boat and kayak. Spend an hour at the lake. After Kayak, we found a picnic area and have some late lunch. Again, I plead my 5th again. There is a no drone sign. After late lunch, we head back to town for some snack. We got a tub of kit Kat ice cream from a local market. This ice cream favor become our top list on this journey. We went back to campsite after shopping.

Our neighbor pet, suki

Kayak at Pyramid Lake

Row, Row, Row your boat

Kayak at Pyramid Lake

Downtown Jasper

Jasper Railroad station

Elk encounter

Pyramid Lake

Patricia Lake, Jasper

I expecting to meet up with a forum member from Expo. We meet with Emile & Tiffany from Texas. Sorry Emile, no steak tips as promised, but share some Kit Kat ice cream.

Emile's ride, ExPo forum member from Texas

After a brief chat, we head out to Miette Hot Spring again. Relax at Hot Spring till 10:30pm before heading back to campground.

Tomorrow, we have a horseback riding session booked. After that, we will start our journey back east.

Day 14

We are planning to head out early. This is due to the work requirement. We need to be back in MA area before Monday. Leaving Thursday make sense as I would not able to do 3 long driving days. We start our day with horseback riding. We booked horseback riding at Jasper Park Riding Stables.

We head out to the stables at 10am.

Testing helmet

Coffee filter hat

Nice Horsey

Groupie with horsey

Nice Horsey

First time riding a horse

First time riding a horse

First time riding a horse

First time riding a horse

First time riding a horse

I'm not a noob

First time riding a horse

Let's ride

Let's ride

Me with my horse

scenic ride

scenic ride

Yeehaw !!

Scenic route

Scenic route

After the horse riding session, we return back to the campground and start packing for our journey back home. We prepped lunch and eat at the campsite. Since I have reservation for the night, I'm not in a hurry leave the campsite. We are finally packed and ready around 3pm. We pull out of wapiti campground and use TC16 eastbound.

While on TC16 heading to Edmonton, we run into a severe weather. My cell phone getting weather alert. Tornado watch is issued for the area we are travelling east. My original plan to stop at Edmonton is change. I felt it will be safer to continue to drive east and try to avoid the severe weather. Without slowing down, we just drive through the area. I try to stop at Elk Islands National Park, but the visitor center is close. We arrived Elk Islands National Park around 8pm. Since the weather still bad (rain and windy), we decide to continue our journey east. I drove overnight to reach Saskatchewan.

p.s. I did get confirmation from searching google. There is a confirmation tornado touchdown EF1 during the time we drove through the area.

Driving into severe storm area

Escape from the severe storm area

Stop for Gas. Yellow field background is canola plant.

Our dinner table

Sunset off TC16

Sunset

Night driving through Saskatchewan

Day 14

Day 15

Around 12am, I'm still travelling east on TC16. I'm in Battleford area driving toward Saskatoon. Driving through Saskatchewan is boring. The road is flat and no elevation. The view is mostly field of canola. Since we skip out a few stop yesterday, we try to make it up today. I found out we will be nearby another Park Canada, Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba. I decide to take a detour from TC16 and visit this national park.

I stop at a rest stop/weight station about 16 miles from Saskatoon. At about 2:30am, we stop and sleep at the weight station. I wake up at around 4:30am and hope to continue the drive eastbound. Since it's still early to reach saskatoon, I rest for another hour.

Weight Station on TC16

Sunrise on TC16

At 5:30am, I start my journey toward Saskatoon. I need to fill up gas at Costco (cheaper gas) but the gas station is not open till 7am. We hung out at Tim Hortons while I got my breakfast and fresh brew coffee. After fuel up at Costco, we continue our eastbound journey toward Riding Mountain National Park.

Field of Canola plant

Storage

Driver view

Riding Mountain National Park

We drove for the whole morning and arrived Riding Mountain National Park around 2:30pm. We entered the National Park from North Entrance. The plain & flat prairie begin to disappear and we now see some elevated land, aka small hill. I hate to say the drive through the Alberta/Saskatchewan/Manitoba prairie was boring, but I was happy to see my truck with trailer got about 16mpg.

We stopped at Moon Lake and have a short lunch break at the lake. After lunch, we head to the Visitor Center. The visitor center is located at the town of Wasagaming. We hung out at the visitor center while the kids completing Xplorers program. Wasagaming has many offering. The lake offer lots of water activities, while the protected National Park vicinity offer many activities like hiking and camping. There is an enclosed area where buffalo roam wildly. It was a dirt road off the main pave road. I want to see some wild buffalo hence we journey down the dirt road. It was about 17km drive to the conservation area. We saw a herd of buffalo from distance. The dirt road is bumpy and not trailer friendly. There is no easy way to turnaround, hence I just continue until the end of the road. There is a trail parking lot which help me turnaround more easy.

Riding Mountain National Park

We hang out at inside the National Park until 6pm. It's time to continue our journey east. We left the national park and within 5 km, we stop at a rest area. We cook our dinner at the rest area. Capture some photo and let the kids relax a bit. We then continue our trip into Ontario. I drove through the night and reach Ontario. I reach Winnepeg around 10pm. Instead detour around the city, I drove through the city. It was a quiet city since it's late at night. I found the cheapest fuel in the city. I filled up within the city area. I can say I've been to Winnepeg.

Elk

Dinner at Rest Area

Sunset at Rest Area

Day 15

Day 16

We are in Ontario. Somewhere between Kenora ON. At around 1am, I'm getting tired and try to pull over. I found an exit which has no service and not much resident/traffic. I stop at the roadside and take a quick nap. I nap till 4am. We are getting mosquito bites because I left some gap on the driver window for fresh airflow. I'll bet we all smell bad so the mosquito find the gap and have a feast. We donated some blood in this area and I had enough bug bites. It's time to continue our journey. I'm hoping today we can add some activities as I'm planning to visit a waterfall and also another National Park. As I'm driving closer to the lake region, the TC highway aka ON17, the scenery along the highway is beautiful. Lots of lake view along the route. I found a picnic area near a lake. I attempt to stop and hope to cook breakfast, but the bugs in the area is winning. We had to leave the awesome lake view and continue our drive.

Around 9am EST, we stop at rest area. This rest area is where we entering the Eastern Time Zone. Opps, we lost 1 more hour. We didn't stop for long. Just snap some pics and restroom break. The area is infested with mosquito too. Not so friendly.

Driving toward sunrise

Awesome picnic area along a lake

Back to EST

Trans-Canada Route info

We arrived kakabeka falls provincial park around 10am. We had some late breakfast at the park. I had some cereal. We spend about 1hrs here (that's what I paid for) before heading out and continue our eastbound journey to Pukaskwa National Park.

Kakabeka Fall

After 4 hrs of driving, we arriving Pukaskwa National Park. The drive along the Lake Superior is awesome. I would plan to come back to this area. Along the shore of Lake Superior, there are many offering. Fishing, boating, swimming. The rock cliff near the shore provide a good hiking area. There are many camping spot and resort. The drive is zig/zag with up/down (not good for gas consumption). Not easy with trailer, but it's certainly a challenge.

Riding a moose

Riding a wolf

View from Visitor Center

Kiddos doing Xplorers activities

The hidden cove looking toward Lake Superior

Very laid back environment with awesome view

Pukaskwa National Park

Lake Superior

Panoramic

Pukaskwa National Park

Rated high for this national park

Only selfie with moose

We hang out at the National Park until 6pm (Park office close during weekend schedule). The kids completing the Xplorer program and also do extra activities. They earned their prized and we just hang out inside the visitor center (with AC). The weather outside is a bit muggy. We left the National Park and continue our journey toward Toronto. I drove another 1 hrs before I'm exhausted. My wife, Jackie, took over the driving task and she continue the drive toward Saute Ste. Marie while I'm taking a quick nap.

Day 16

Day 17

We are around Saute Ste. Marie area around midnight. After fuel up, we drove toward Toronto. I'm still exhausted, so Jackie keep her task and drive overnight. Our next destination is Markham for breakfast/brunch. We arrived Markham ON around 9:30am. Most restaurant still close but we want to try out a restaurant is open. I parked our trailer at the strip mall. The restaurant is

Yin Ji Chang Fen
7010 Warden Avenue

Unit 17-18
Markham, ON L3R 5Y3
Canada

Early morning with empty parking lot

Yin Ji Chang Fen Menu

Authentic Hong Kong Style Milk Tea

Authentic Chang Fen

Foodie

Congee & Curry Fish Ball

We enjoyed our breakfast. Order way too much food, but it's good. As we left the restaurant, we found a Asian Grocery store. We visited the grocery store to buy some lunch for our journey back home. I fall in love with this grocery store. It has lots of offering.

Cart. Need a toonies before you can use it

Kit Kat

Tonic Soda

Bento

Fresh Vietnamese Roll

Fresh Bao

Buffet style food

Bakery

Fancy Bakery

My fav, Egg Tard

All the Pocky/Pretz

We purchased our lunch at the grocery store (I got some sushi) and we start the last leg of travel. It was on our way, so I try to sneak another visit to Thousand Island National Park. We arrived at Thousand Island National Park visitor Center at Mallorytown Landing around 3pm. Kids is doing Xplorers activities and we had lunch at the picnic area.

Park Canada

Selfie

Lunch Menu

Lunch

Sushi

More lunch selection

After lunch, we crossed the border into US and drive the remaining 5 hrs back home.

Border Crossing

Total miles driven & MPG

Day 17

Summary of the Camping Trip

We explored many attractions over our 17 days journey. I hope as you read our journey, it will help you plan for your next trip. Go out and explore. The road is open. Thanks for reading our journey. If you like what we do, please subscribe and get email notification on our new adventure. We can also reachable via Facebook, Instagram (@campwithchin) and twitter (@campwithchin).

The touristy highlight of our trip include
1. National Museum of USAF in Dayton OH
2. Corn Palace, Mitchell SD
3. Wall Drug, Drug SD
4. Minutemen Missile National Historic Site, SD
5. Badland National Park, SD
6. Banff National Park
7. Kooteney National Park
8. Yoho National Park
9. Glacier National Park
10. Jasper National Park
11. Riding Mountain National Park
12. Pukaskwa National Park
13. Thousand Islands National Park

If you need a check up on our current status and update, please check our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/campwithchin

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2017 Summer Camping Trip

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Summary of the Camping Trip

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