From dinosaurs to Emerald Lake Oct 10 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-09: Canada”.

24 September

My wife Annika and I are in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. The weather is nice. There is a Pachyrhinosaurus with two youngsters standing in front of us. They do not notice us at all. Perhaps that’s because they are made of plastic. They stand in front of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, and so do we.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology

The Royal Tyrrell Museum holds Canada’s largest fossil collection and is famous for its dinosaur fossils. I am the first to get in when it opens. I just run through the museum to take some photographs before other people get in the there. After that, Annika and I go through the museum, taking our time. This museum is awesome! If I lived here, I would definitely have an annual pass to visit it from time to time.

After the museum, we take the car to Horseshoe Canyon. We go for a longer walk here on the countless small paths that lead through this badlands canyon. Be sure to have water with you and make sure you can find your way back, because the many hills make the place a maze.

In the late afternoon, we have another destination, the Last Chance Saloon, Alberta’s oldest operating saloon. They are about to close, but we get in and can sit in this extraordinarily cosy saloon and enjoy the delicious food. I order a “Badlands Brisket Taco Bowl” and am surprised to discover that the bowl does not contain any taco, it is made out of taco. And the smoked brisket – wow!

If you are in Drumheller, your day may start with a dinosaur and it may end with one, too. This is Tyra, the World’s Largest Dinosaur, a roadside attraction that we have passed several times over the last few days.

25 September

Today we head to Radium Hot Springs, which lies on the other side of the Rockies. It is a longer drive of about 400 km. First, we follow the grid-like roads through the prairies, then follow the Bow River until Castle Junction.

There we leave Alberta Highway 1 first and then Alberta altogether. We are back in British Columbia, where our journey began almost three weeks ago. Something interesting is happening. It starts to rain. We have had dry weather for weeks; now there is rain with everything from “I’ll drench you with a drizzle, even if it takes half the day.” to “Buy yourself an ark.” In Radium Hot Springs, we check in at the motel and take a nap. When I wake up, I see animals looking like goats on the property. I take a photo of a mother with two lambs. These are, of course, a bit cautious but not shy at all. It is only now, while blogging, that I learn that these are bighorn sheep, which are quite famous in Canada.

After dinner (goulash soup at the Old Salzburg restaurant) we take a walk before heading home.

26 September

Today we head northeast to Golden, where we’ll have an apartment for three days. It is the only place we booked well ahead, because we want to visit the Rockies and accommodation there is ridiculously expensive. It is still cloudy, but the rain has mostly stopped. To be honest, I am glad about yesterday’s rain. With the drop in temperature, it might have snowed in the mountains. Hopefully it did.

The road follows the Columbia River, which is not a single river so much as a system of river branches, islets, oxbow lakes, and swamps. Sometimes we take the main road; sometimes we take the small gravel roads on the other side of the river.

When the clouds lift, we get a glimpse of the mountains. There is fresh snow on the mountaintops.

We pass Golden to visit Emerald Lake, which lies between Golden and the Rocky Mountains. We take a hike around the lake, slightly distracted by a chipmunk running back and forth on the trail not far from the car park.

Then we start our trail. Although the first half of the trail is very easy to walk, it takes a long time. I’m to blame because I wait for the sun to shine on a certain part of the mountains on the other side of the lake. Halfway along the trail, it becomes a normal forest path with small bridges, slippery tree roots and some mud puddles. I have bear spray within reach; Annika carries a bear bell. So far, we haven’t seen a single bear, and I’m happy about that. Of course, it would be cool to see one from a safe spot, but I don’t want to meet one in its forest.

Tomorrow we will visit one of Western Canada’s most scenic routes, the Icefields Parkway, which crosses the Canadian Rocky Mountains in a north-south direction. Hopefully the weather will be as fine as predicted, and hopefully it won’t be too crowded.

Drumheller I – badlands and hoodoos Oct 8 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-09: Canada”.

September 23

After a night in the ~~village~~ ~~town~~ city of Red Deer my wife Annika and I continued our journey southeastwards. We are in the prairies now, which are dominated by farmland and large grain fields. While the terrain is slightly hilly, most streets are dead-straight. They go either north—south or west—east, making the map look like squared paper.

The fields can be huge from a Central European perspective. Sometimes there is an old barn, sometimes a grain silo and sometimes there is a pumpjack, because in Alberta oil is still being extracted. But mostly it is grain fields, some already harvested, some not yet.

Harvesters collect the grain, and lorries transport it, leaving a long track of dust behind. At one place we see a GrainsConnect plant with large silos for interim storage and a train to dispatch the grain further, most probably to the Pacific Ocean to be shipped overseas.

Of course I love the spectacular mountain views, the incredible rain forests with their old and mighty trees and the turquoise alpine lakes. But I also love the monotonous rhythms of these prairies. They are part of the Great Plains east of the Rocky Mountains, which stretch from Alberta and Saskatchewan through the USA into Mexico. (We didn’t drive that far that day ….)

You get into this rhythm of the squared patchwork, then you start to wonder what these fractal-like disruptions on the navigation map are, and all of a sudden you are in a completely different type of landscape – the badlands.

The plains are gone and now you are amidst these eroded mountains. Let’s hear, how Copilot AI describes the next image:

“Overall, I’d describe this as a well-exposed stratified badlands butte showing millions of years of sedimentary deposition and subsequent erosion.”

The area has sparse, desert-like vegetation on the sandy ground, including cacti like these plains pricklypears.

Then you drive further, a bit uphill and Bam! – you are in the plains again as if the badlands had just been a dream.

Now we are not far away from Drumheller, our destination for today, but first we have to check out the Bleriot Ferry, a cable ferry crossing the Red Deer River. The ferry operator tells us that we can (and should) use the ferry, that the road to Drumheller on the other side is closed, that we should drive there anyhow to the viewpoint, and that we could come back here thereafter. Sounds like a plan. We take the ferry – it is free, ignore the “road closed” sign and park on the small car park by the Orkney Viewpoint. And that’s an incredible viewpoint over the dusty Badlands – 72 million years old, the Red Deer River with its green, mellow banks and, in the distance the prairies. A perfect place to have a light lunch with bread, dips, and cookies.

We head back the very same way and take the ferry again. From there it is only twenty minutes to Drumheller where we’ll stay in a motel for two days. The town looks a bit like a dinosaur theme park – dinos everywhere! – because numerous dinosaur fossils have been discovered in the area, making it one of the most important paleontological regions in the world. The town is also home to the famous Royal Tyrrell Museum that we plan to visit the next day.

In the late afternoon, we take the car to Willow Creek, which is well-known for its hoodoos – geological rock formations created by erosion. Annika and I take a walk and gaze at nature’s art exhibition.

Before we drive back to the motel I want to take some better photos of the hoodoos, now that most other tourists have left. I take a first photo …

… and then slowly but surely the evening sun that hid behind a layer of clouds comes out and all of a sudden the hoodoos start to glow in the warmest sunset colours imaginable, as if they were glowing from within. I’m truly happy that I can experience that moment and that I have my Nikon at hand. This moment teaches me that if you want a good photo, look for a good subject; but if you want a better photo, wait for the light.

Red Deer, Alberta Oct 7 2026

22 September

Sometimes it is not really my wife Annika and I who choose the exact place to go next, sometimes it is just the availability (and prices!) of accommodation. We want to go to Drumheller, but while searching for an additional stopover, we have found a hotel in Red Deer. Another town, locality, or village I have never heard of. They have several places to stay and there is even a small jazz festival going on with a concert today at 16:30. Perhaps some traditional jazz played by the locals? We will try to make it in time, and we’ll see.

After breakfast with fried eggs and fried potatoes, we pack our things in the car and leave the cosy Shunda Creek Wilderness Hostel – my all-time favourite hostel. First, we visit Nordegg including the Farmhouse Local Foods store, then we head east. We drive through large, golden barley fields with one stop in mind: Markerville, a village (or a hamlet for the picky ones) that has an interesting history connected with Iceland. I love the idea that such a small settlement had a library more than 130 years ago. You can read more on the website www.historicmarkerville.com/history.html.

From here it is less than an hour to the village of Red Deer, but …

At first, I think that Alberta Highway 2 that connects Alberta’s two largest towns Edmonton and Calgary is the only major road here. But then there are multi-lane highways everywhere, and highway junctions, and slip roads, and confusing roundabouts, and six-lane traffic lights, and everything that stresses me fiercely when I drive a car. I prefer a snowstorm to that. So it turns out that Red Deer is anything but a small town. It is Alberta’s third-largest city, with about 100,000 inhabitants and we didn’t know that. Well, that came as a surprise.

My image of Red Deer while driving a car there

(The map to the left shows my image of Red Deer I had in mind before going there. The map to the right shows my panicked impression of driving a car there. Both images have been created by the Copilot AI.)

I manage to get to the centre and we find a parking bay directly at the location of the jazz festival. A guitar player is sitting lonely outside, playing and singing the blues. We listen for a while, then go to visit some second-hand shops and decide to drive to the hotel to check in. I am very grateful that now Annika is driving the car. This town is too big for me and she is by far the better driver in cities.

Matt Blais on the jazz festival in Red Deer

Now that we are in “civilisation mode”, we do something else I wanted to do since we started travelling through Canada: eating at Tim Hortons, Canada’s largest quick-service restaurant chain, with about 4000 restaurants in Canada. I have to admit that I liked my bowl. The chicken was tasty and crispy, and there was a lot of salad and it is always nice to get some non-burger food.

After our meal, we head to the hotel, which has a swimming pool and a hot tub. Of course, we have to try it out.

Tomorrow, we will continue our journey to Drumheller, where we will stay for two nights.

Nordegg, Alberta Oct 6 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-09: Canada”.

20 September

Nordegg, Alberta, Canada – another settlement I never heard of before (which doesn’t mean too much). This will be Annika’s and my next stop; we will stay in a hostel for two nights. After a brief breakfast, we leave Hinton, fill up the car, buy food for the next few days and take the direct road east. This road is mostly unpaved and leads through autumnal forests and across rivers on old bridges. It is a perfect road to take it nice and slow, especially on such a sunny day when the destination is less than 200 km away.

Using these roads in a dry period means a lot of dust when another car approaches or passes.

However, we are mostly alone and enjoy the views of the yellow aspen trees and the turquoise rivers.

Just as our car has been filled up with petrol, we are filling ourselves up with colours, just like in the children’s book about the mouse Frederick.

We arrive at the Nordegg Shunda Creek Wilderness Hostel already at a quarter to three; way too early to check in. Anyhow, we may use the facilities and besides, it is so warm and sunny outside that we just sit on the terrace until we get our room.

Shunda Creek Wilderness Hostel – inside I

Shunda Creek Wilderness Hostel – inside III

Shunda Creek Wilderness Hostel – inside II

Later we realise that this hostel is not only extraordinarily cosy but also extremely well-conceived. The kitchen is perfectly equipped and apart from the cups, everything is within easy reach. There is a lot of space and even when the hostel is fully booked it never feels crowded. There are even free goodies in a drawer that I open more than once over the next two days.

Before lunch, we take a short drive to Goldeye Lake to take a swim. The lakebed is muddy and rocky at the same time, but the water is wonderfully refreshing.

21 September

While Nordegg may not be the most popular place in Alberta, it is located near a prominent river: the North Saskatchewan River, which originates in the Rocky Mountains, flows eastwards, widens into Abraham Lake before continuing for another 1000 km, eventually joining the South Saskatchewan River.

What luck we have! The morning is pretty chilly, but the sky is blue and promises to deliver another beautiful, sunny day. After a leisurely breakfast we take the car to Abraham Lake. When we see it for the first time from the car, its bright, intense turquoise colour looks almost ridiculous, like someone had played around with Photoshop, setting the hue to its maximum. The lake is so calm that I wish I had a kayak to paddle on this beauty of a lake.

While we are driving to the next stop, strong gusts appear out of nowhere and start shaking our car. Standing outside in these strong gusts makes my dream of kayaking on the lake vanish instantly.

Another stop and most of the wind is gone – where did it come from? The water level of Abraham Lake is quite high. Many trees at the shore stand in the water.

More stops, more photos. Of course, I do not know what screen you use, but let me assure you: the colours were as bright as the photos show. Another thing that fascinates me: while driving more and more mountains appear around us until we are surrounded by them. It is as if these mountains were living beings that actively move around.

We have passed the whole lake and now follow the river again. If we continued another 30 km west, we would end up at the locality of Saskatchewan River Crossing, which lies on the famous Icefields Parkway. We can already spot glacier-covered mountains ahead, such as Mount Wilson (3260 m), as shown in the next photo. But the Icefields Parkway is not our route today; we will drive it the following week – hopefully with equally brilliant weather.

So we turn the car and drive the same way back. We pass Abraham Lake again and, while driving along, the mountains seem to scurry back to their secret places and we are in the hilly lands of Nordegg again, where we first take a nap and then eat a delicious dinner that Annika cooked with small potatoes, eggs, carrots, Parmesan cheese and two dips. And I still have a bottle of my favourite Canadian drink: Canada Dry Ginger Ale.

22 September

This morning I finally take a picture of the wetlands by the hostel. Then we will head off to Red Deer, where a surprise await us.

The Canadian Rockies and an unexpected interruption Oct 4 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-09: Canada”.

18 September

Only reluctantly do we leave the Summit River Lodge in Valemount. It is a wonderful place. We fill all our bottles with the delicious well water, pet Cookie, the cat, and say goodbye to our hosts. Today we will continue to Jasper where we booked two ridiculously expensive bunk beds in a shared hostel room. But hey, it’s Jasper, one of the places that every single tourist seems to visit and we are lucky we found accommodation for less than a thousand dollars a night.

We take Highway 5 and then Highway 16 east, which leads to Jasper. After a turn we see a huge, striped mountain with a snowy top ahead. It is Mount Robson, with 3954 m, the highest summit of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. On the way there, I find a nice spot by the Robson River to take photos.

We stop at the Mount Robson Welcome Centre where people take pictures of this massive mountain too.

About 60 kilometres further east we cross two borders. The first is the provincial border between British Columbia and Alberta, the other is the time zone border. I will not try to explain the Canadian time zones here. They are independent of the provinces and several changes have been made this year. Pretty confusing. Let’s keep it simple: We set the clocks forward by one hour.

We pass Jasper and take a side road to Medicine Lake and Maligne Lake. Medicine Lake is special because it is not a normal lake, but rather part of the Maligne River that disappears underground. The water level varies greatly over the year. This time of year it has a pretty low water level. At the southern tip the lake is mostly empty and reveals large sandbanks, interrupted by small but fast-flowing streams.

The next lake – Maligne Lake is one of the iconic lakes in the Rockies. I guess the main season is over because we can always find a parking space, even here we have to wait just a few minutes.

We stroll along the shore to find a good bathing place but maybe the best one is near the tourist centre. There we change into our swimming clothes and walk into the lake. And we walk and walk. The lake is so shallow that I finally just lie down in the water to get wet. When we come back to dry ourselves a moose is approaches. We already heard about two local moose in this area and the signs indicate that we should not approach wildlife. But what do you do when the wildlife is approaching you? We grab our things and move back on the way to keep our distance. When the moose turns I take some pictures. The moose makes calling sounds. Is it looking for its mum?

At the restaurant – already closed we meet a couple from France that has been travelling around Canada for almost two years. Like the Canadians we met in Likely they also recommend visiting Drumheller. We are shown some photos of an impressive landscape. Maybe we manage to visit it later.

While we are driving back to Jasper the VW Tiguan displays a warning: “Check the coolant level.” That doesn’t look good. We stop the car for a few minutes but the same warning pops up again. We open the car’s hood and, sure enough, there is hardly any coolant left. The French couple passes and stops to help us. We realise, that there is a leak in the hoses. As usual, we don’t have any mobile coverage at all. All passing people are helpful, but no one has coolant or distilled water. It is the French couple who stop a camper van from Virginia. The camper van has Starlink. In the end , they are the ones that help us. Slowly we continue our drive back to Jasper with the camper van following us as a backup. We are lucky, we make it as far as the crossing near town and gratefully wave goodbye to our helpers. To all of you who helped us or tried to help us: you are great people.

In the hostel it takes some effort to communicate with the Avis customer service, who provided our rental car. They cannot understand the situation that we have a breakdown but do not need any roadside assistance. But finally, we learn one thing: Avis has an office in Jasper.

19 September

Did I sleep well? No. It was very noisy both inside (the metal separations between the bunk beds droned loudly every time someone was touching them) and outside (a lot of drunk people were shouting and quarrelling until night). But that’s not important. What is important is to get a replacement for our rental car. To make a long story short: none of the numbers provided got us any help, but the one employee in Jasper did.

First we have to wait in the queue for quite a while but before lunchtime we have a new car, a Kia Sportage. Will it be a good replacement for our VW Tiguan? We’ll see. Annika has already filled out the extensive paper form. We move all our stuff from one car to the other, return the old car key and here we are – having our mobility back. We were extremely lucky that the car broke down near Jasper, that we made it back and that Avis has an office there. So we don’t have to change any plans and are ready to leave Jasper just a few hours later than planned.

Today we will head east for a few days but our next overnight stop, Hinton, is near, so we want to drive a bit of the Icefields Parkway first. This part of the Alberta Highway 93 is most famous for its view of glaciers, mountains, and lakes and a “must-see” for many tourists. Today we want to drive to Athabasca Falls – not on the main road but on the older road 93A on the other side of the Athabasca River. Here we are almost completely alone. We stop at one of the pullouts and have our lunch by the river.

The river is beautiful but the trees clearly show that there have been forest fires in this area as well. Many trees have black, burnt bark and I am not sure whether any of them will survive. Nevertheless new saplings with fresh leaves are growing between the black trunks.

We stop at another pullout and walk to the Athabasca River near the waterfall. Even here we are almost alone. We can see the tourists on the official trail on the other side. We go to the shore – on our side, this is possible – and look at the turquoise water of the river and the steep rocky cliff on the other side.

Less than 200 metres further on is the official car park. Even here we get a parking space almost immediately. Together with other tourists we follow the trail. Sometimes I have to wait a minute until all selfies have been taken, then I get the good spots to take my own pictures.

This was our preview of the Icefields Parkway. Now it is time to turn and leave the Canadian Rocky Mountains for a while. We take Highway 93 and turn east onto Alberta Highway 16. There we pass a slope behind a lake with a lot of quaking aspen trees. The leaves turn bright yellow in autumn, a bit like the birch trees at home.

As we leave the Rockies behind, something strange happens: it gets cloudy. We haven’t seen clouds for days and almost had taken the blue sky, the sun and the fact that our rain gear stayed untouched for granted.

When we arrive in Hinton it reminds me of a western town from the movies. Yes, the streets are paved, the horses were replaced by pickup trucks long ago and the houses are not of wood anymore, but the rows of houses and the spacious roads and the overall layout of the town evoked this image. We check in into our hotel and walk to the Filipino restaurant Pinoy Kusina where we eat Tapsilog, a dish under the label “All day breakfast”. On our walk back we can see the Rockies in the west and even the sun peeps through the clouds.

Williams Lake—Valemount – From desert to mountains Oct 4 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-09: Canada”.

16 September

After two overnight stays in Williams Lake it is time for Annika and me to move on. Flexibility is more important to us than ticking off a list of must-see attractions. Since affordable hotels, motels, hostels and B&Bs are quite limited this flexibility sometimes leads us to places off the tourist trails. Did you, for example, ever hear of Little Fort? We didn’t either, but this is our next stay.

But first we go south to explore Farwell Canyon. On the way there we drive through hilly landscapes and grassy meadows. The cattle stand on the meadows, by the lakes, in the mud beside the road and on the road itself, too.

When you drive through Lapland you may see the sorting corrals for the reindeer. Here I see a fenced area that looks very similar, however this corral is for cattle.

While we are approaching Farwell Canyon the landscape changes. It becomes drier and you can see the eroded hills.

The road to the canyon provides impressive views of the canyon and the Chilcotin River.

We want to cross that river but first we turn back to a parking place to explore the “Farwell Canyon Sand Dune Trail” which leads to sand dunes with desert-like conditions. However, we only walk part of it because it is warm and we have forgotten to take water with us.

Time to turn again, drive down the hairpin bends to the bridge over the river and up the other side. Here the road becomes smaller and smaller and also rougher. We could follow this road to meet the highway 97 in the southeast.

The problem is that we had to cross Fraser River on the Gang Ranch Suspension Bridge and we cannot find any information whether we can cross it by car or not. Since the dirt road is narrow and rough and the drive would be long and bumpy I suggest turning again.

So we see it all again, the hairpin bends downwards, the canyon, the river, the bridge, the hairpin bends upwards, the car park for the trail and even the Toosey Band Gas Station that we passed hours ago. It had been opening by the Tl’esqox First Nation three months ago. We fill up the car and buy bannock for lunch. Normally I do not like hot dogs, but the smoked sausage in that type of bread is delicious.

Soon we are back on British Columbia Highway 20 where we cross Fraser River on a more boring but somehow also more reliable bridge.

After passing Williams Lake again we take the 97 southeast. The names of the villages: 150 Mile House, 151 Mile House, 108 Mile Ranch, 105 Mile House … . The names originate from the distances to the town of Lillooet on the Cariboo Wagon Road during the Cariboo Gold Rush of the 1860s.

In the Rusty Iron Coffee Co. we get a coffee and a bun just before closing. Lucky us! My espresso is outstanding and the café is very cosy. Anyhow we sit outside enjoying the warm and sunny weather. Then we explore the 108 Heritage Site nearby with its old buildings such as a school and a church before we continue on to Little Fort, where we arrive at half past six.

17 September

Where is the North Thompson River? It was there the day before. Now it is hidden by fog that covers the whole valley. Only a slightly brighter spot reveals the position of the sun.

But it is only a matter of time until the sun wins and evaporates the fog.

Today we will head to Valemount, where our next overnight stop is located. We have only to follow Highway 5 for 200 km, then we are there. It will be a short day. Hahaha! Hihi! We already have learnt that every day of travelling in Canada is a full day because there is so much to discover, with or without detours.

Today we take a detour. We leave Highway 5 in Clearwater to visit the Wells Gray Provincial Park which is famous for its many waterfalls. The first motif however is not water falling down but a North American red squirrel. It is very busy, not very shy and I can take some photos.

Then the waterfalls: we do not visit them all, some need a hike to get there and some do not sound so interesting. So I’ll show two of them. First, Dawson falls, not very deep but broad. You can access the shore of the Murtle River and watch it from there while listening to its constant droning.

Then Helmcken Falls, where the same river falls 141 metres into a canyon. Equally impressive, but from the viewing platform you are pretty far away.

We take the dirt road to the Green Mountain Trail. We were not alone at the waterfalls – here we are. It’s only we two and a lot of butterflies – probably from the genus Polygonia – fluttering around the viewing tower.

On our way back we spot an ice cream sign by the road. That’s always a reason to stop. The ice lady is kind and funny, the ice cream is delicious and the scoops enormous. And I like the sign which says: “It’s never too cold for ice cream.” So true.

Just another stop to the picture of the ranch entrance …

… and we are back on the highway. Or we could be, if the weather weren’t so nice and Clearwater didn’t have this bathing lake, Dutch lake. Time for a stop, time for a dip. We bathe and swim in the fresh, clear, but not really cold water. Many recreational sites are community-driven. Bampton is one of them and does not only have a wonderful swimming jetty but also provides life jackets for kids.

Bampton Recreational Area – bathing jetty

Now it is 6 o’clock in the afternoon and we still have 174 km to go. The sun is setting while we drive and the higher mountains that we are seeing for the first time on our trip lie in the shade.

When we arrive at the Summit River Lodge, our accommodation for this night, it is already dark. A pity, since this lodge is so beautiful, both outside and inside! And the drinking water is great, it is taken from a well and doesn’t taste of chlorine as the ordinary Canadian tap water.

Before going to sleep, I go out and take a photo of the mountain as seen from the house. It has a glacier on it and its name is Mount Albreda (3029 m). That’s higher than any mountain in any country I have lived in: Germany, Sweden, Norway.

The next day we will see more mountains, because we head to Jasper which lies in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

That’s Likely Sep 30 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-09: Canada”.

15 September

Today, my wife Annika and I plan a day trip to Likely. We start in Williams Lake. We do not take the main road, but instead take a side road via Horsefly. According to the British Columbia paper map, there is a way to get there, according to Google Maps, there is no connection between Horsefly and Likely. So we are not sure whether this will work, but we have a full tank and we can turn around anytime.

The road to Horsefly is paved. We make a short stop to buy some provisions in the little shop and to use the toilet, then we continue to Likely.

After a few hundred metres the road turns into an unpaved one. Soon it gets a bit rough and pretty small. Still, it is good to drive on if you take it slowly. The issue is more the navigation. One thing is that Google Maps does not know the way but the main issue is that mobile internet access in British Columbia’s rural areas is more or less non-existent. So, offline maps are your friends, even with some missing routes. We miss a turnoff and land in an active mining area, but we find back and get onto the right road.

Finally, we arrive in Likely and it is a great place. The village is located on the Quesnel River and has an extremely cosy pub. We decide to eat there and sit outside to enjoy the warm late summer weather. We are not the only ones. Three Canadians join our table. We immediately start chatting about this and that and in the end, we get a lot of tips about which places we “must” visit. The man even offers to show us around in Edmonton, where he currently lives, although in his opinion it’s not worth a detour :-D. At the same time I eat a delicious burger with poutine, a very Canadian dish consisting of French fries topped with gravy. Unfortunately, the wasps enjoy the warmth, too and especially anything with sugar in it.

The Canadians tell us about salmon jumping up the Quesnel River and while we cannot see them jumping up the small rapid, we see them idling in the water from the bridge. On the other side of the bridge – there is a pair of common loons.

Near Likely at the confluence of the Cariboo River and the Quesnel River is Quesnel Forks, a preserved ghost town from the Cariboo Gold Rush founded in 1860. In the 1870s most of the residents had left, but the town was still inhabited until the 1950s. Here we spend some time looking at the old buildings as well as the place where the rivers meet. A place with an interesting history and a beautiful landscape. We even met an old lady looking for gold. She tells us that you can still find a bit of gold, but you won’t get rich.

On our way back we took the main road to Williams Lake. It is easy to drive on, easy to navigate, but also a bit more boring than the way via Horsefly.

From the island into the desert Sep 24 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-09: Canada”.

13 September

My wife Annika and I stand on board of the ferry Queen of Cowichan. After several days on Vancouver Island we are heading back to the Canadian mainland, this time to Tsawwassen, which is south of Vancouver. To get there we have to cross international borders twice, first into the USA and then back into Canada. These borders are invisible because they are on sea. Back on the mainland, we see signs to the USA border at several places as well.

We make a stop in the village of tucckʷiowhum which is part of the Nlaka’pamux Nation. British Columbia is home to many distinct First Nations, each with its own culture, history, territory, and language. Often the languages are visible on the bilingual signs. The following stop signs show two different languages. According to the AI I used for research, “ƛ̓éyi” is Nłeʔkepmxcín which is spoken in the Fraser Canyon and Nicola regions. “T̄ÁLLEC” is St̓át̓imcets which is spoken in and around Lillooet, the town we are heading for today.

But we are not in Lillooet yet, we are in tucckʷiowhum. This is the first place where we can see the devastation caused by this year’s forest fires. Some hills are covered with black trunks. Even some of the buildings have burnt down. We know that forest fires are part of nature (or can be) but it makes me sad to see the black trees, some standing, some fallen.

We continue our trip north. The landscape changes slowly. The forests are less dense, the soil looks drier and is often vegetated with brown grass.

At half past seven we cross the Fraser river and arrive in Lillooet, a small town with a population of about 2300. The sun starts to set, but the mountains in the east still have sunlight.

View at the Fraser river and the Fountain Ridge

We check in at our first motel ever. We get a giant room with two double beds, a fridge, a coffee machine and a microwave. Since there is no proper kitchen available we walk into the centre where we eat salad and pizza at Manny’s Corner. The delicious Tandoori Chicken Pizza is massive and although I ordered only “medium size” I only manage to eat half of it. The leftovers will serve as tomorrow’s breakfast. On the other side of the street: The Roman Catholic church and a fast food chain.

In the streets: some pedestrians, especially younger ones and cars – mostly pickup trucks. The latter are very common in the area, the bigger the better. No wonder that our rented VW Tiguan, not a small car either, was rated as an “undersized vehicle” by the ferry company :-D .

14 September

Yesterday it had cleared up and when I wake up, the sky is blue. I go outside, just to the road where I see a flock of mule deer grazing on the dry meadows.

Our first action this morning is to visit Seton Lake. Sam, the manager of the motel said, it was a good place to take a swim and it is. There are some other people around but it is only us actually swimming in the lake.

Back in town we are looking around. I already knew that the landscape around Lillooet is desert-like, but I never expected cacti to grow here. This species seems to be the Brittle pricklypear.

You meet the Brittle pricklypear in person when you are stupid enough to wear sandals. But it is the yellow-blooming Rubber rabbitbrush that shapes this landscape. You can see them everywhere.

Nearby lies the Lillooet Suspension Bridge, built in 1913 and in active use to cross the Fraser river until the modern “Bridge of the Twenty-Three Camels” was built in 1981.

Our way leads north along the Fraser River canyon. We stop several times, mostly to enjoy the views and once at the Fountain Flats Trading Post, a convenience store where we buy snacks and something to drink.

Another stop we make is at the second-hand shop in Clinton where Annika buys a Thermos flask with an interesting feature: it does not insulate for a minute. In a corner of one of the rooms: Two pairs of large snowshoes.

Near Chasm we leave Highway 97 and drive north on unpaved roads. Beside the road are several alkaline lakes, most of them dried out. On the surface there is a thin layer of soda crust, underneath it is black mud. I never saw anything like this before. My rubber boots get muddy and it takes ages to wash the soft-soap-like mud away.

Alkali lakes between Chasm and Williams Lake I

Alkali lakes between Chasm and Williams Lake II

Alkali lakes between Chasm and Williams Lake III

At half past eight we arrive at our motel, the Stampeder Inn in Williams Lake where we’ll stay for two nights.

Again I remember my wondering before our journey: Will Canada be different from Scandinavia apart from its size. And again I get the answer: Some parts are very, very different!

Vancouver Island Sep 21 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-09: Canada”.

Oh my, it is already 20 September. My wife Annika and I are still travelling around in western Canada, have seen many things and today I finally find the time to write another blog article, this time about Vancouver Island, that we visited from 9 to 13 September. It feels like ages ago.

9 September

The alarm clock rings at 5:45. We want to catch the early ferry from Horseshoe Bay on the mainland to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. The ferry crossing takes about two hours.

With 2200 km², Hinnøya is the largest Norwegian island near the mainland. Vancouver Island is more than 14 times as large and is ranked 11 on the list of Canadian islands. Sometimes Canada may resemble Scandinavia but everything seems to be much bigger.

We take the road north and make a stop at the public beach in Parksville on the east side of the island.

Then we make a stop at Cathedral Grove. It was a recommendation of a local from Vancouver that we met a couple of days ago. And this place is amazing. This is not just some forest, it is an ancient rain forest with gigantic trees, both tall and thick so that you may need a whole group of people to embrace it. I never ever saw a forest and trees like that and my concerns that Canada could be too similar to Scandinavia are immediately washed away.

From there it is not far away to our accommodation near Port Alberni, a beautiful blockhouse that we have booked for a night but immediately extend to three nights. It has a large living room including a piano and everything you need. Later Ryan, the friendly and helpful owner will tell us about the house’s story, but now we just fall into the king-size bed and are soon fast asleep.

10 September

Today we have planned a day trip to Tofino including visits in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Our first stop is an unplanned one – many more will follow, a pull-off by Kennedy River¹, that has created a gorge in the rough rocks. A good way to start the day.

We buy a pass for the Canadian national parks and start with a short hike on the Shorepine Bog Trail. Well, I have visited countless bogs in Sweden, where the landscape is mostly sparse. Here a boardwalk leads over the bog, which is wet as well but overgrown with large pines with intense green needles.

And then there it is – a Pacific beach, the open ocean. Both the waves and the many warning signs prevent us from taking a bath, but the impression of standing at the shore of the largest ocean of the world is thrilling. Next land to the west? More than 6000 km away!

Before we arrive in Tofino, we walk both parts of the Rainforest Trail, which is as amazing as Cathedral Grove. Especially “Loop B” is outstanding, because it not only features giant trees but also leads into a deep-cut valley so overgrown that you cannot see any ground or soil. Even if you head to Tofino for the beaches – as I did – do make this hike. It does not take long but it’s absolutely worth it!

We spend the time in Tofino mostly replenishing our supplies, refuelling the car and having a meal by the harbour, where as many seaplanes than boats were arriving or leaving. I also found an animal on a rock under a layer of sand. It is the sea anemone Anthopleura elegantissima (thank you, Ulrich, for the specification).

The view from our oudoor dinner place in Tofino

On the way back we stop at the northern tip of Long Beach, the largest beach, where we watch the surfers, take a stroll by the beach and collect some shells.

And here I finally manage to take a photo of a Steller’s jay. I’ve seen many, but they flew away as soon as I appeared with my telephoto lens.

11 September

Our first day off. Taking it easy, feeding the sheep, playing the piano, taking a bath in Sproat Lake, taking a nap and another bath in Sproat Lake. It’s important to let the many impressions sink in.

We will stay another day on Vancouver Island, then we will head back to British Columbia’s mainland.

_____
¹Kennedy River may be the wrong name.

Skoganvarre—Tromsø – the last stage of our car trip Jun 29 2026

This article is part of the series “2026-06: Obbola—Finland—Tromsø”.

Part four of the journey from Obbola to Tromsø

It is Saturday morning. My wife Annika and I are having breakfast in the kitchen of the campsite Skoganvarre Villmark. It is raining and people passing outside are wearing pyjamas and carrying umbrellas or wearing raincoats and crocs. Campsite fashion. Skuvvanvárri (Northern Sámi) or Skoganvarre (Norwegian) is located in Norway, but most of the guests here are Finnish, and it seems to me that more or less all of them are here for fishing.

The grey weather follows us to Lakselv where we meet the sea again in the form of the southern end of the huge Porsangerfjorden, the fourth longest fjord in Norway. We passed the road leading north before, but it was the first time that I saw the fortification high in the mountain walls left of the road. It is part of Banak fort, started by the Germans in WWII and continued by the Norwegians and used until 1987.

On the other side of the road the scenery is completely different. Stabbursnes nature reserve is a large protected area dominated by wetlands.

Annika started geocaching a while ago. Sometimes I join her in the search for I found a place to park the car, sometimes I focus more on looking for photo subjects, ideally I do both. At one of the geocache locations behind a gravelly area I first find this lonely birch and then surprisingly beautiful coastal cliffs, although it looked a bit dull in the grey weather.

I hardly take any photos of one of my favourite landscapes on this stage of the journey – the plateau of Sennalandet. I only stop for the Aisaroaivi kapell after the sky has cleared up a bit.

Some more photos from this day:

At 7 o’clock in the evening we arrive at our last overnight stay of this road trip near Sørstraumen. This time we used Airbnb and found a real gem, owned by Gunn, who is a fantastic host. Gunn rents out rooms in her private home and not only invites her guests to her kitchen for a chat but also provides huge amounts of waffles with jam. I can highly recommend her when you like meeting interesting people. We met two Germans who wanted to go north for fishing and a motorcyclist, who is driving all coastal roads of mainland Norway to collect money for ME-fondet, part of Norges Myalgisk Encefalopati forening. We are talking about 50,000 km – what a trip! This is his Facebook page: Around the Coast 2026.

A last photo of this day.

The next day at Gunn’s place began a bit like the evening before: a lively chat and waffles. One thing was different, though. Gunn already told us about whales she saw and showed some videos. While eating another waffle I looked at the fjord and saw movements on the surface. It was a school of white-beaked dolphins passing by the house. We observed them for a while, swimming, jumping, blowing and hunting. They were far away, so even with the big telephoto lens I only got images like this one:

Later than usual, we left this wonderful place to drive the last stage to Tromsø. We could have made it in four hours but it took us seven and a half. The reasons: geocaches, photo stops, detours and an outdoor lunch break. Here are some photos.

Around 18:00 we arrive in Tromsø, my “work home”. I’ll be here for about four weeks and Annika will join me the first two weeks.

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