Touring British Columbia

StirCrazy wrote:

profdant139 wrote:
Someone suggested waiting till next year -- but will the smoke be any different? Ten years ago, we could count on clear air in September in the Canadian Rockies. But for the last several years, it has been bad.

yes it will, we havent had smoke in the interior for at least three years now. the two befor that was a little haze off and on the clear for a few years befor that. this year is probably the worst in a long time as the whole southren interior of BC is covered with firesso it comes in from every direction. normaly here on a bad year it will be mostly clear then blow in for a couple days. this year its pretty much all haze with the odd clear day then it blows back in at night. my buddy just drove to alberta yesterday and he didn't hit clear skys till jasper. this fire season will most likly go down as a record season for BC.

Steve

I live approximately 5.5 hrs drive south east of Steve, we also didn’t get hardly any smoke the last 2 summers.
We do get smoke for time to time in the “fire” months not just from fires in BC, but also from the western USA as well.
Figuring on when / where/ and for how long the smoke will invade an area is like saying the Leafs are going to win the cup this year, it’s just unpredictable.
If you decide to come next year, you could run into the same smoke and or wild fires again.
I posted that picture of our Main Street in town with all the smoke 4 days ago, and then the next day skies were clear. The 28th was the last day for us valley dwellers to see blue sky’s. Today I can’t see the tree tops 1000 ft away from our house.
We took a drive up onto the mountain passes yesterday to get “some” fresh air and blue skies. We had to get up to 5800 ft to get out of the really bad smoke.
My brother in-law was camping in Banff last week for 3 days, no smoke, today, it’s “kinda” smoky, but nothing near as bad as us.
So it’s a **** shoot.
Calling for 10 mm of rain tomorrow and we are all crossing our fingers.
Maybe by September “IF” we start getting more rain... it will help, but the fire service people are saying theses fires will smoulder until the snow flies.
......

Soup.

Not to deter you but........Not just BC, I'm afraid. We just completed a trip from Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia over three weeks, and didn't have a single day where we were not driving thru smoke. BC was by far the worst. Have to play the return trip by ear in a month or so. Not sure which route thru BC will be best then.

So many variables when travelling thru BC. Even if there is smoke where you plan to go, I'm positive that you will love it.

profdant139 wrote:
Someone suggested waiting till next year -- but will the smoke be any different? Ten years ago, we could count on clear air in September in the Canadian Rockies. But for the last several years, it has been bad.

yes it will, we havent had smoke in the interior for at least three years now. the two befor that was a little haze off and on the clear for a few years befor that. this year is probably the worst in a long time as the whole southren interior of BC is covered with firesso it comes in from every direction. normaly here on a bad year it will be mostly clear then blow in for a couple days. this year its pretty much all haze with the odd clear day then it blows back in at night. my buddy just drove to alberta yesterday and he didn't hit clear skys till jasper. this fire season will most likly go down as a record season for BC.

Steve

Our Oldest Daughter lives between Banff and Calgary, so we got to enjoy the drive through Kootenay and Banff National parks all the time.
This is just after Numa Falls, and before the BC / Alberta Boarder ( Kootenay National Park)

I should also have asked whether you need hookups and how long your fifth wheel is.

The whole Icefields Parkway area is worth a couple of weeks -- here's a sample -- this is looking down on the icefield from the Wilcox Pass area. Wilcox Campground is well located, but I don't know if it can accommodate your rig:


Click For Full-Size Image.

The other issue is the dog -- are dogs allowed on trails in the Canadian National Parks? I don't think they are in the US parks.

profdant139 wrote:


Focusing on riltri's question, I have a couple of questions of my own, to narrow things down. Riltri, what sorts of things do you enjoy? Are you a hiker? A biker? Do you like to spend several days in one place, or do you like to move your campsite frequently?

One more random observation: DW and I have done a lot of traveling in North America. The Canadian Rockies, from Peter Lougheed in the south to Jasper in the north, are the most spectacular mountain range we have ever seen.

We are very active.....enjoy hiking, white water rafting, run almost daily once settled into a park and touring historic sights. We will have a 70lb dog with us. Prefer to find 4 locations to use as home base for a week each.

Someone suggested waiting till next year -- but will the smoke be any different? Ten years ago, we could count on clear air in September in the Canadian Rockies. But for the last several years, it has been bad.

And that is true, of course, for the entire Western USA, as well as Canada.

The immediate problem is a backlog (so to speak) of timber killed by bark beetles, all dried out and ready to burn. I don't know how many years will pass until that is no longer a significant factor.

But the alternative is to just sit home and grumble, which is what we (DW and I) did last year. So my advice would be just to hit the road and hope for the best.

Focusing on riltri's question, I have a couple of questions of my own, to narrow things down. Riltri, what sorts of things do you enjoy? Are you a hiker? A biker? Do you like to spend several days in one place, or do you like to move your campsite frequently?

One more random observation: DW and I have done a lot of traveling in North America. The Canadian Rockies, from Peter Lougheed in the south to Jasper in the north, are the most spectacular mountain range we have ever seen.

And today clear skies.
Yesterday we were inside all day, today it’s coffee on the sundeck.... so far

StirCrazy wrote:

dkilley wrote:
I know this is in alberta but consider spending a couple of days at Tunnel mountain rv park (national park) in Jasper. Our favourite rv park of all time.

only problem with this is tunnel mountian is in Banff.

I am not sure where you are coming from, but I can tell you this fall BC will most likly still be covered in smoke the way the forest fire season is going now. a lot of places are under evacuation alerts and such. unless you are going to vancouver I would not comitte any money to reservations or such so you can cancle if conditions are not improved.

Steve

Good point Steve, I never saw the date, yes this year would not be a good time to visit southeastern BC

Castlegar today.

dkilley wrote:
I know this is in alberta but consider spending a couple of days at Tunnel mountain rv park (national park) in Jasper. Our favourite rv park of all time.

only problem with this is tunnel mountian is in Banff.

I am not sure where you are coming from, but I can tell you this fall BC will most likly still be covered in smoke the way the forest fire season is going now. a lot of places are under evacuation alerts and such. unless you are going to vancouver I would not comitte any money to reservations or such so you can cancle if conditions are not improved.

Steve