After exploring the Great Lakes region in Ontario, including the vast Lake Superior, and after three years discovering Montreal and Quebec, it’s time for us to embark on the journey crossing Canada from East to West to reach Alberta. This is a territory that has captivated our dreams for years. We are eager to discover what surprises and adventures await us! Our first goal: the Canadian Rockies!
Monday, May 30 to Thursday, June 2, 2022
One thing is certain: the Canadian West must be earned! Crossing Canada from East to West by car from Ontario means four days on the road. Three Canadian provinces, two time zones, and, most of all, endless kilometers of highway. We go from a muddy country road where we camped to the legendary Trans-Canada Highway… in the rain!
Thus, from the city of Thunder Bay, the first day of driving is in heavy rain. After a few hours on the road, we change time zones, giving us an extra hour in our day! And by the end of the day, still in the rain, we leave Ontario and enter the neighboring province of Manitoba.
After this long day of driving in the rain, we set up camp by a lake for the night. The place is nice, but we don’t set up the tent, as rain and strong winds are expected overnight.
The next day, we’re on the road before 8 a.m.! That’s what happens when you don’t have to pack up the tent! It’s raining (again), so we stop at Tim Hortons for breakfast, warm and sheltered from the wind. We love their muffins… and also their Wi-Fi! In the morning, we reach a crucial point of our drive crossing Canada from East to West: the center of the country! I brave a strong wind that almost sweeps me away to capture the moment.
Late in the morning, we reach the big city nearby and the capital of Manitoba: Winnipeg. We drive through it without stopping and take a few pictures on the go.
The rest of the day is spent searching for a campsite to take a shower and enduring a relentless windstorm. At least it has the advantage of clearing the clouds. However, the wind is blowing sideways. We have to hold onto the Jeep tightly! Fuel consumption spikes to 18 L/100 km, unheard of! (We usually average between 13 and 14). Our rolling brick doesn’t like the wind, and aerodynamically, it’s not great! We spend long hours on a straight highway, to the point where even the slightest curve is announced by a sign! The railway runs alongside the highway, giving us the chance to cross or overtake freight trains several kilometers long.
Summary of the day: nearly 600 km traveled (370 miles), 4 campgrounds checked for a shower, without success, the center of Canada crossed, a new time zone change, and entry into a new Canadian province: Saskatchewan. A full day!
We spend the evening in a village rest area, enduring strong winds. The evening is marked by solving a mystery: we kept hearing a sound similar to a lawnmower trying to start before abruptly stopping. After hearing this sound in three different places, including deep in the woods, we started to doubt it was a lawnmower… The mystery is now solved: it was actually a large species of grouse that seems to be performing its mating display 😂
For the first time, we take refuge in the car to eat in warmth. Once again, we spend the night in the car to shield ourselves from the strong gusts. After rain and then wind, we’re hoping for good weather tomorrow at last!! 🤞
Wish granted! We wake up to a bright blue sky full of promise and, best of all, no wind. It’s pure joy to have breakfast in the sun after these past few days of bad weather.
In the nearby town of Wawota, a surprise awaits us: a scalding hot shower in a park! We meet a local resident who admires the Jeep and our project. He also advises us to fill up on water. He insists on taking our photo, not even giving us time to tidy up a bit! 😉
We then set out to explore Saskatchewan, the ‘breadbasket of Canada.’ We take secondary roads and paths to better appreciate its grandeur and beauty. This province offers us vast expanses on either side of a straight road swept by winds. Fields not yet seeded, bright green prairies, pastures, and wild plains, all as far as the eye can see. We are amazed by this vastness. Agricultural operations, each served by the railway, grain silos, and oil extraction wells follow one after the other. A very agricultural face of Canada, exploiting its lands and resources without limit.
To our great delight, we spot numerous wild animals that still inhabit these vast plains and prairies. Many prairie dogs stand on their hind legs by the roadside. ‘What is that? A deer? No, it’s a reindeer! No, it’s not! I’ll look it up on the internet later.’ After researching, they turn out to be pronghorn antelopes. We even see a coyote catch and devour a prairie dog right in front of us. And, of course, many cows!
After 500 km (310 miles) in strong winds, we stop at a new village rest area, still free of charge. Very pleasant. We spend a quiet evening, sheltered from the wind behind the Jeep.
According to our calculations, and especially our GPS, today is our last day of drive crossing Canada from East to West. If all goes well, by the end of the day, we will finally catch our first glimpse of the Canadian Rockies. This prospect gets us up early to break camp and hit the road as soon as possible!
Late in the morning, after taking secondary roads and carefully avoiding prairie dogs, who have the habit of crossing the road at the worst possible moments, we arrive in Alberta, the province marking the end of our drive across the Canadian Great Plains!
After a stop for groceries and Wi-Fi in the nearby big city, Medicine Hat (what a funny name!), we hit the road again, heading straight West! We scan the horizon, eager to see them for the first time. It’s after two hours of driving, and at the cost of a truck speeding by and leaving a nice rock chip on the windshield 😒, that they start to stand out against the brilliant blue sky: the Canadian Rockies! We are deeply moved to see them for the first time, something we had dreamed of for so long.
We find a spot by a dam lake, where we can admire the mountains in peace all evening. Facing this magnificent landscape, we are beyond excited! After four days of driving and over 2000 km traveled (1200 miles), crossing Canada from East to West by car was a journey, but we are finally at the foot of the Rocky Mountains! Tomorrow, we’ll hit the road to venture into the heart of the mountains and discover our first Rocky Mountain National Park: Waterton Lakes National Park, which already promises some wonderful surprises! 🐻
