Leg 233, Stewart BC, via Alberta to Kamloops, BC, Canada
DAY04_12.PLN (11.1 KB)
Crossing the Canadian Rocky Mountains not once, but twice. Very imposing mountain range, especially while climbing over it multiple times with icing. Not as high as the Himalayas however that region has/had a temperature bug, no problem with icing there. It’s much more challenging to cross the rockies up north.
04-11 Stewart CZST 5:14 PM
04-11 Witwer Airfield CYSS 5:44 PM
04-11 Private Airstrip CYSI 5:49 PM
04-11 Takla Narrows CBD5 6:16 PM Clump of trees marks the start of the runway…
04-11 Leo Creek CAH5 6:20 PM Same, trees
04-11 Perison CYJM 6:42 PM
04-11 North Cariboo Air Park CBW8 7:03 PM
04-11 Prince George CYXS 7:09 PM
04-11 McBride CAV4 7:44 PM
04-11 Hilton/Jasper-Hinton CEC4 8:20 PM
04-11 Entrance CEE4 8:23 PM
04-11 Edson CYET 8:39 PM
04-11 Wildwood/Loche Mist Farms Airstrip CJJ3 8:57 PM 26 knot crosswind, close call
04-11 Edmonton/Morinville (Currie Field) CCF6 9:22 PM Hard to spot, faded
04-11 Edmonton/Morinville (Mike’s Field) CMN6 9:29 PM Edmonton PG Area
04-11 Edmonton Intl CYEG 9:58 PM
04-11 Millet/Creekview CRK2 10:05 PM
04-11 Wetaskiwin CEX3 10:10 PM
04-11 Panoka Industrial-Labrie Field CEH3 10:17 PM
04-11 Lacombe CEG3 10:24 PM
04-11 Red Deer Regional CYQF 10:31 PM
04-11 Innisfail CEM4 10:35 PM
04-11 Netook CFK6 10:40 PM
04-11 Bishell’s CGB2 10:45 PM
04-11 Airdrie CEF4 10:52 PM
04-11 Calgary Intl CYYC 11:31 PM PG Area
04-12 Calgary Intl CYYC 9:02 AM
04-12 Flying R Ranch CBD8 9:20 AM
04-12 Invermere CAA8 9:52 AM
04-12 Nakusp CAQ5 10:31 AM
04-12 Kelowna CYLW 10:53 AM
04-12 Kamloops CYKA 11:22 AM
Flight time 8:45 30 stops
Departure from Stewart Airport
Heading southeast over Kitimat-Stikine A
A patch of green around Greasetrail Lake
Landing between the trees always gives a rush, Witwer Airfield
Takla Narrows at Takla Lake, mind the clump of trees at the start of the runway
Leo Creek Airport, planting trees at the end of runways seems to be a popular sport…
Fort Saint James (Perison) Airport next to the Stuart River
North Cariboo Air Park
Prince George on the Fraser and Nechako rivers
Home to the Central BC Railway and Forestry Museum, it’s Snowpiercer!
Whiteshield Mountain (8,383ft) on the border between BC and Alberta
Smokey River
Twintree Lake
Flying along Snake Indian Mountain (9,610ft)
Mount Simla (8,799ft), The Rajah (9,898ft) and Mount Stornoway (9,318ft)
Rock Lake - Solomon Creek Wildland
Entrance, unincorporated community in central Alberta in Yellowhead County
Named for the fact the site is a gateway to Jasper National Park
Hinton on the Athabasca River
They have an extensive boardwalk through a beaver invested area (nasty rodents)
Our decades old Pear tree fell victim to a beaver last year, no more pears. He killed it in a single night, ate the trunk bare all around after coming for the pears for weeks. Lots of tree damage from them all around.
Out of the mountains, over Yellowhead County, Alberta, by Titan Land & Cattle Ltd
Lac Ste Anne County, no more clear skies ahead
About to get swallowed up at Sandy Lake
Alexander 134 (Indian reserve) batten the hatches
Edmonton-Morinville (Mike’s Field)
Edmonton, the capital of Alberta along the North Saskatchewan River
Heading down Jasper Ave
Downtown Edmonton
Art Gallery of Alberta in front, flying by City Hall
Rogers Place, construction started March 2014
Multi-use indoor arena opened September 2016
Edmonton, known as Canada’s festival city
West Edminton Mall, largest mall in NA with an indoor pirate ship
And The Royal Alberta Museum
Muttart Conservatory, botanical gardens with tropical & arid biomes
Muttart Conservatory with the Edmonton skyline
Wetaskiwin, name comes from the Cree word wītaskiwinihk, meaning “the hills where peace was made”
Sunset at Ponoka
Red Deer, about halfway between Calgary and Edmonton
Calgary, owing its rapid growth to its status as the centre of Canada’s oil industry
Prince’s Island Park on the Bow River
Approaching Calgary Tower from the east
Calgary Tower (627ft)
Zooming past the Wonderland Sculpture, 12-meter, bent-wire girl’s head in front of The Bow (820ft)
4th Avenue SW
Shaw Millennium Park and Mewata Armoury
Calgary Stampede, festival space that hosts a variety of shows, including a well-known annual rodeo
Time for sleep, then check out how it looks in the morning.
Departure from Calgary International 7:02 AM local time
Calgary along the Bow River
Calgary Tower revisited
And another look at the Calgary Stampede, Repsol Sport Centre further behind (left)
Moving on, landing at Flying S Ranch
https://i.imgur.com/h3ZDtuw.png
Kananaskis, here comes the icing, back into the Rockies
https://i.imgur.com/61cdiEQ.png
Mount King George (11,198ft) in the back right
https://i.imgur.com/PFhax6U.png
Invermere, eastern British Columbia near the border of Alberta
https://i.imgur.com/Ee3PS9Q.png
Mount McCoubrey (9,669ft)
https://i.imgur.com/JfyQvaK.png
Sultana Peak (10,564ft) and Mount Nelson (10,869ft)
https://i.imgur.com/eG0HkyZ.png
Cooper Creek
https://i.imgur.com/6BNTccG.png
Nakusp beside the mouth of Kuskanax Creek, on the Upper Arrow Lake
https://i.imgur.com/eaeFYMf.png
Kelowna on Okanagan Lake, seen from Knox Hill
https://i.imgur.com/hnyhATK.png
William R. Bennet Bridge crossing Okanagan Lake
https://i.imgur.com/Yhq36tI.png
Kelowna City Park with Hot Sands Beach
https://i.imgur.com/CZMxb7b.png
A friend and former colleague lives in that survey near Sutherland Bay Park
https://i.imgur.com/IdFWO62.png
Kelowna is a lovely place to visit, I recognize it from when we were there 16 years ago (time flies)
https://i.imgur.com/AVyFzCf.png
Forest fires are a problem though, lots of smoke to deal with in summer
Shumway Lake
https://i.imgur.com/Ge7XpNS.png
Kamloops, where the North and South Thompson rivers meet
https://i.imgur.com/TLxtld6.png
McArthur Island Park on the lower left along the combined Thompson rivers
https://i.imgur.com/1SbWKIr.png
Final stop for this leg, Kamloops Airport
https://i.imgur.com/NG5TOn5.png
View from McArthur Island park on the right
https://i.imgur.com/xvhPqL8.png
Kamloops heritage railway provides a unique Christmas experience
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ukaVxHe2wc
Next leg, on to Vancouver before heading down into the states.