This is a Blackfeet Tribe monument and viewpoint overlooking St. Mary lake, looking up the valley leading to Going-to-the-Sun Road.
And then we drove to Gunsite Pass. This is about as far as you can go due to heavy snowfall and road reconstruction on Going-to-the-Sun.
We stopped to see a little waterfall and discovered this tunnel under the road.
Jason tried to wash his hands in the running water but it was too cold!
Since we have been to Lake McDonald (West Glacier), Waterton Lakes National Park (Glacier in Canada), Many Glacier (Northeast Glacier), and are staying in St. Mary (West Glacier) we decided to take a ride to Two Medicine (Southeast Glacier) for the day.
We stopped for a short walk to Running Eagle Falls. There were several people at the falls, but since the bridge crossing the river had been washed out, they could not get any closer than across the river. Jason and I decided to cross the river in a shallower spot and get to an area for a better picture. The river was swift and very cold but we quickly made it to the other side, walked a little up the valley and had the opportunity to take a better photo of the falls. As you can see, there were no other tourists in the vicinity. I was knee-deep and using a tripod to take this shot from the middle of the river.
This is the river we crossed to the amazement of the other visitors there. I helped steady Jason to keep him upright in crossing but he was sure proud that he made it across!
We saw this tourist bus upon returning to the trailhead. I have no idea where the twenty or so people went, they were surely not on the trail.
This is our first view of Two Medicine lake, taken from near the Visitor Center and store.
Two Medicine Lake with Mt. Sinopah. The mountain was named after the daughter of a powerful Blackfeet Chief. It was a little chilly outside so there were still boats available for rental.
After leaving the Two Medicine area, we headed into the town of East Glacier to see the railroad depot and pick up something cold to drink. Unfortunately, all we saw going through the depot was a freight train and missed the passenger train. Between the railroad depot and the Two Medicine Junction, while climbing out of the valley, we saw this neat view of the mountain range and valley behind Two Medicine Lake.
As we climbed the pass leading out of the valley these views became available, again looking back.
In the morning, we crossed over into Canada, which was absolutely trouble-free, with the exception of being asked three times if we had any weapons.
We skipped our stop at Red Deer and drove straight through to Edmonton. After setting up the motor home we headed into town to find a Spaghetti Factory. It was in the West Edmonton Mall. After a plate of spaghetti, we took a quick walk through the mall, looking at the only submarine in Canada, the sailing ships, the NHL size ice rink, the water park and surfers, the amusement park with a full roller coaster, the casino, the hotel…did I say mall? Yes, there were hundreds of stores to choose from. This mall bills itself as the largest shopping mall in the world.
Jason decided to pose doing the hockey thing.
Cathy and Jason also posed for the pirate thing.
Cathy and Jason walked on the bridge over the submarine with the full-size sailing ships in the background.
I offered to take Jason skating. He is deciding if he really wants to skate…on ice.
Oops. Jason claimed it did not hurt when he fell.
We had two hours to get hurt and bruised. Jason steadily improved as time passed.
Ready for minor-league hockey?
And his favorite part of the skating experience, watching the Zamboni resurface the ice .
We met Dave and Carrie Pino for an early dinner at the Delux Burger Bar (which happens to be across the street from the Crestwood Curling Club in Edmonton. Alas, the club was closed for the season, but dinner was great. This is the first time we had seen Dave and met his new bride in years, many years. I worked with Dave at Cousins Home Furnishings (The Brick) in Sacramento and Hayward when we lived in California. I don’t think he has changed a bit.
In the morning we took a drive to Elk Island National Park, on the Yellowhead Highway, just east of town. We spent the better part of the day there, hiking some of the trails until the mosquitos found us. Without the mosquitos we would have spent considerably more time hiking through the park.
We came across many beaver-created ponds with these large lodges.
The land on which Elk Island is situated was gifted to the government with the intention of preserving an elk herd. It has since become home to a couple of herds of bison, with Plains Bison restricted to the northern side of the Yellowhead Highway and Wood Bison on the southern side of the interstate. The Wood Bison are Canadian and are slightly larger than the Plains Bison, which are found in the states. It was calving season so we had to be careful not to get too near the babies.
Our next stop would be Dawson Creek, Mile “0” of the Alaska Highway. We had to take to obligatory photos of Jason at the two structures denoting the start of the highway. The Alberta Pool Elevators building is actually in British Columbia and houses an art gallery and the visitor center is located in the adjacent building.
This is the historic Kiskatinaw bridge, a 531 foot structure and the only original timber bridge built along the Alaska Highway that is still in use today. We took the new bridge across the river as this structure had a weight limit of (about) 13 tons.
The river below the bridge was heavily silted due to the recent rains.
Two beavers were working below the bridge. Again, unfortunately I only had my wide-angle lens as I was not expecting to see wildlife on this short excursion. We watched them for a while and they were busy eating and working on the structure just above them.
In the late afternoon we took a short walk on the Dawson Trail, which follows wetlands along Dawson Creek. We waited too late to start the walk, and were subsequently eaten alive by the huge mosquitos. Needless to say, we retreated to the safety of our truck in short order.
In the morning we continued north, along the Alaska Highway to Fort Nelson.
We stopped at this memorial at Charlie Lake, outside of Fort St. John in British Columbia. This monument memorializes the twelve U.S. soldiers who drowned here in 1942 when their ferry boat capsized in foul weather during construction of the Alaska Highway. 
Along the way, we spotted two black bears in the Peach River area, near Pink Mountain/Sikanni Chief and two more bears in the Northern Rockies area, near Prophet River.
Arriving in Fort Nelson, we set up camp and immediately headed to the Simpson Trailhead. I had run this area on my last trip and did not want a repeat of our Dawson Creek experience. I stayed with Jason while Cathy walked. Shortly into the run, the rain began to fall but it was a light rain and we continued on. Jason and I made it to the turn around point and back, a distance of over six miles. Jason was tired and thought it was more than a 5K and I let him in on the actual distance once we finished. This is the longest run I believe Jason has done. We spotted two deer on the run but missed the bears!
This is the view of the Simpson trail from the turn-around point.
We head out, northbound in the morning with a destination of the Liard River Hotsprings Provincial Park, hopefully stopping at Stone Mountain Provincial Park on the way to spend some time on the mountain.
Travelling with the Schinglers 