Road tripping across Canada has always been a goal of mine, and this summer marks the beginning of the journey to cross that off my bucket list. While the recent gas price still make both my wallet and I cry internally, I can say with certainty that this trip spanning two months and over 6000km driven provided a unique experience that can not be justified by the monetary value alone. After leaving home in Surrey, I headed East toward Hope where I sprinted through two quick water falls: Bridal Veil Falls, and Flood Falls, before visiting the Hope Slide. Originally I planned on tackling Needle Peak as well in the afternoon, but I was deterred with snow, fog, and a construction site with warning of "Active demolishing in progress in the area" upon my arrival. A quick rest stop at the Hope slide humbled me in regard to the raw power of nature before I quickly ventured on towards Kelowna.

On entering Kelowna, I found myself stumbling across a car show at the waterfront, and thus reminded me that it was Father's day weekend. I called Papa H to update him on my wellbeing and current location before taking in what the city has to offer. I took a quick trip to UBCO and then checked out the Kangaroo Creek Farm where I got more than I bargained for in terms of cute and fluffy critters.

Who-s that Pokemon

Heading further East, I visited the worlds largest paddle in Golden before arriving at Radium hot spring, where I was 30min too late for the day's entry into the hot spring. And so I spent the night to try again tomorrow. Bright and early, I tried to tackle the Lake of the Hanging Glaciers hike with very little preparation foreshadowing, and soon spent more than an hour going down rough logging road before entering bear country.

World-s Largest Paddle - Parson

I still ventured on into the woods by myself, which was alarmingly filled with large animal droppings, before realizing 1.5hrs into the hike that the temporary foot bridge used to access the rest of the hike was not in place during this time of the month. Let this be a lesson to myself to plan solo hikes of more than 5hrs in duration more thoroughly before attempting to tackle it. On the way back down from the logging road, I ended up popping my tire over some sharp rocks and spent an hour on the side of gravel road trying to figure out how to replace my tire, or if I need to call a tow truck to get me out of this mess. Anyways... a whole three hours of hassle later I found myself back to civilization, where I made arrangements to have the tire replaced at the closest Canadian Tire in Invermere the next day. I still have not dipped in the hot spring yet at this point.

Once my tire was repaired, I headed off to Fairmont hot spring instead. Might as well check it out while I am here right? I spent the rest of the day relaxing in the hot spring fueled pools before enjoying a bit of reading on the library book I loaned out for the trip. I filmed a part of the sunset before ending my night with a bit of planning on my exciting drive to Banff.

Finally, I am crossing into Alberta! Little did I know that the next few days will be the last I see of any slopes for a while. I first met up with Sophia in Lake Louise where she recommended me on a few nearby hikes and attractions to check out, I quickly left to fulfill my unmet hiking urges and tackled the Plain of Six Glaciers near the end of the day. When I got up to the tea house, I was once again just a few minutes too late to enjoy a cup of tea as the owner has already closed up shop. I then tackled the end of the upper trail where I was greeted with rain, hail, and a lot of snow before finally arriving at the view point to see where early explorers and mountaineers could access the Abbot Pass before returning back to base for the night.

Via Ferrata 1- Mt Norquay

Having yet to satisfy my craving for nature, I started the morning tackling the Tower of Babel at Lake Morraine which ended up being more than what I bargained for (shocker!). After a 2hr long scramble up fallen rocks, I headed down right before the snow storm hit.

The rest of the day was spent exploring much of Canmore and Banff, where I got to check out many of the artisan galleries, and learned about how Ammonite is created from the Ammonite Factory.    I tried to tackle the East end of Rundle before realizing that the area was under construction and that I was in no mood to bush wack my way through another unfamiliar hike deep in the mountains. I quickly explored the cave and basin national historic site, and drove back to Johnston Canyon, another waterfall filled trail that I was excited to tackle, before sprinting through all the waterfalls. To end off the day, I treated myself to the Grizzly House where I got to grill a variety of interesting meat selections. MMMMM yum yum thicc steak cubes.

After multiple days of hiking, I decide to round off the mountain experience by tackling the longest guided tour offered at Mt. Norquay's Via Ferrata with Sophia, 8hrs of climbing route where our group was latched to the side of cliffs by two dangly rope around our waist, super cool experience! I then started my drive towards Calgary, had dinner, before heading to Sylvan Lake to meet up with Marmar and visit her cutest cat friend and spending the next day catching up and exploring downtown. And off to Edmonton I go.

The next two weeks were spent at Allura's place, and even though I haven't went clubbing or drinking in years, she took me out four times that week, and we even went to a Sullivan King show! I got to check out the West Edmonton Mall, the Royal Alberta Museum, as well as the Muttart Conservatory during my time there while getting back in shape and catching up on my pet projects. I even got to witness the Northern lights in the middle of summer! In the end I checked out Elk Island National Park before heading back to Calgary in anticipation for the Calgary Stampede.

Summer northern lights - Edmonton

Ah to finally be in Calgary, the sunniest city in Canada, was a refreshing experience in comparison to the rain city of Vancouver that I have become accommodated to. I took a week to try out the amazing local coffee shops such as the Roasterie, as well as amazing food from the likes of YYC Pasta Bar. I had the opportunity to learn about the wonderful history of music in Studio Bell, as well as walked the Peace Bridge (who's construction was apparently frowned upon by some of the locals?). Last but not least, I was able to attend the Calgary Stampede! An annual event which showcases the Western heritage and culture where I witnessed a variety of yeehaw-eries like barrel racing and calf wrangling. It was also at the Stampede where I got to see Whipped Cream, Kaskade, and the New Pornographers perform live along with many other artists throughout the night while I chugged ice coffee as a diet to keep myself fueled throughout the day.    Little did I know or expect, that I would be obliterated with many shots of picklebacks and tequila pounded back with people I have only met that day, along with Valerie who was also visiting from Vancouver. I was happy to be able to catch up with Valerie, whom I have not seen since my early university days, as well as Carney who invited me along for floor hockey, and also showed me how unfit I have become cardio-wise. And with the festivities coming to an end, I departed for the final third of my journey. But first, a quick detour towards Drumheller! Although I had little expectation for what Drumheller would be like when I set out on this detour, hoping to catch a few quick hikes and sights along the way, I soon became awed at the surrounding landscape. As I drove through the dark and woke up to see the view from Orkney viewpoint, I was overtaken by the majestic atmosphere that surrounded me.     The rest of the day was just as unique as I traversed from site to site looking at the educational displays of dinosaurs from the Royal Tyrrell Museum, the breath taking views from Horseshoe Canyon, as well as the tales of hardships told by the Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site. This stark contrast between the city life of Calgary and the preserved landscape of Drumheller was only a tease at the journey I had ahead of me.

Orkney Viewpoint - Drumheller

After departing Drumheller, I began the last leg of my journey: the way home. Having promised my best friend Hamid that I would make it back to Vancouver to go clubbing with him one last time before he departs for Europe, I abstracted my return trip to only a week and a half through the states. I spent a hasted afternoon in Lethbridge where I got to check out the Lethbridge Viaduct, before leaving bright and early in the morning to head towards Montana for Yellowstone park. Along the way I was able to make time for a half day at West Glacier National Park where I was greeted with hail and rain in the middle of July while tackling the Hidden Lake Trail. When I finally arrived in Montana, I discovered the super sized Iced Breve latte, a heart attack made up of 6 shots of espresso with at least 10 shots of half & half, and it was love on first sight. Before finally arriving at Yellowstone National Park.    One of my biggest regret on this entire trip was only spending 1.5 days at Yellowstone National Park. From a lake front view, to mountains, to plains, Yellowstone had it all. I drove shoulder to shoulder with Bisons, and even walked right into a few, often by accident because they are usually so darn quiet and chill, while being able to see beautiful natural phenomenon such as the Grand Canyon and the Grand Prismatic Spring. My time at Yellowstone was over in a blink of an eye, and before I know it I was heading towards home. I visited the Garnet Ghost Town, and almost destroyed my car for the second time, before crossing Spokane and Seattle off my quick visit list and finally crossing back across the border to home.

Grand Prismatic Spring - Yellowstone National Park

After a whole two months spent on this journey, I felt rejuvenated and more learnt as an individual. But even though I felt a little wiser, I was definitely not much maturer as I immediately went out clubbing the night I got back. All in all, this was a fun experience and I would be interested in going on more road trips in the future. I hope to make time to plan in more details for a visit of Northern Vancouver Island, a trip following the Juan de Fuca trail, as well as a cross Canada road trip to cross off my bucket list. To future me: listen to the wise gentleman from the island, and enjoy your present a little more. Smell the roses as you past them because there is no opportunity better than the present. That is why its called the present!