Hot and Animal-less

It's already oppressively hot at 8:30 in the morning. Today we are packing up our tents at the Redsteak Campground and slowly starting our journey back to Vancouver.

Last night we worked on the return trip, as we still have an unplanned day to fill. After much deliberation, we decided to spend the day in a wine-growing area by a lake and stay in one place for 2 days again. The weather is supposed to reach 30 degrees Celsius every day until our departure. Hiking is not very enjoyable in such heat.

After a hearty breakfast, we head to the Radium hot Springs-Pools.

The thermal outdoor pool opens at 11:30 am. We arrived at 11:10 am and the line of waiting people was already estimated to be 50 meters long.

We were already wondering how many cars were parked here at this time.

The entrance went relatively quickly, so we could soon plunge into the water.

The water was refreshingly 38-42 degrees Celsius. In contrast, the cooling pool felt like it was only 4 degrees Celsius, just enough to prevent it from freezing over.

I can still feel the thousand pricks when I immerse myself in the warm water again.

But we have to keep going, there are still 2 hours drive ahead of us to Illecillewaet in the Glacier National Park, and this time again a campground without a reservation.

We drive along Highway 95 to Golden, the first slightly bigger town in 100 km distance. The whole way there are signs warning to watch out for wildlife, something I would have done, but no assholes showed up.

The landscape is still mountainous but now more spacious with forests and lakes.

Next to the highway, there is even life - houses and farms, even small towns. And so we drive through this beautiful area and I say to my darling: "a little house on the mountain, sitting on the porch, looking out over the valley with the lush green forests and the lakes, sipping a glass of wine and waiting for the sun to set behind the mountain... or for the train to pass by."

In Golden, we need to restock our supplies and briefly take a photo of the Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge.

We continue towards Glacier National Park. According to our guide book, this is supposed to be the most beautiful stretch of the trip.

Due to a time change, we reach the planned campground at around 5:30 pm and we are lucky - we have a place to sleep.

The campground is beautifully situated. Surrounded by mountains in a small forest, next to a charming little stream. We were also lucky because the campground has only been open for 14 days, until then there was still snow here.