So today, I drove for thirteen hours. I didn't WANT to drive for thirteen hours, but for some reason, my day arranged it so that I did. I left Surrey in the morning and then I drove on the trans-canada highway. This is literally what I did all day. There is no part of my day that could not be described as "I am currently driving on the trans-canada highway" except for the two stops for gas and snacks, and the one 13 km detour I took when I missed the turnoff to continue on the trans-canada highway. All of this might lead you to believe that I had a boring day.

In actual fact, it was by far the most awe-inspiring day of the trip so far. I had thought that the scenery I saw in Montana and Wyoming was going to be very tough to beat, but the first glimpse, even, of the canadian rockies completely obliterated that. They are so varied, so large, so omnipresent that they become a part of the character of the highway and the towns themselves.

No hour of my trip was identical to any other hour, there were hours where I was driving through valleys beside inland lakes surrounded by gigantic peaks with even more snow-capped mountains in the distance. There were hours where the up-and-down hill climbing of the drive added a rhythm to it which was almost musical, and there were parts of the drive which I nearly didn't survive to see because of all the times I said "Holy s***" out loud, alone, in the car, and craned my neck to look at the next beautiful piece of earth that presented itself.

I did stop one time to do something touristy, which was to see the final spike of the Great CP railroad, which I've only vaguely had a knowledge of through Pierre Berton's book. It was disappointingly empty, but I suppose it was a friday afternoon, and not really near any towns to be ogled at by busloads of tourists.

Finding the research station in Kananaskis was also a little challenging, since my phone does not know what "highway 40" refers to in Alberta, but I eventually muddled my way through to see my uncle Rob, who is teaching a course here at the Biogeoscience institute. I'll have more interesting shots of that tomorrow, along with shots of the Icefields parkway, which I'll be taking many photos of tomorrow.

For now, however,

Cheers!