Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

This year my vacation was a bit different; I had to work for 1 day in the company office in Calgary right in the middle of my 2-week holidays. Also we had my wife's grand niece from Ukraine visiting us, so I had to plan the trip more precisely than usually. The day we left Vancouver campfires were banned but when we arrived to Cathedral park in the evening we were glad to find out that the ban did not affect the area and we had no problems burning firewood along the way through Kootenays and Alberta. Anyway we left Keremeos 2 days later heading north through Oliver-Penticton-Kelowna-Vernon and finally turned East on Hwy 6. The plan was to drive to Calgary on the route we have never driven before. Hwy 6 was spectacular and the short trip on the ferry across the Upper Arrow lake was a relaxing break. We settled down near Nakusp on the hot springs campground but we were not interested in taking a bath the public pool for $9.50 which smells like chlorine. The next morning we were on the road to find another hot springs in the woods in about 30 km away. St. Leon hot springs were awesome; a young couple we met there left shortly and another 2 people came when we were leaving.

From Nakusp we continued going East on Hwy 23, took a ferry across Kootenay lake and returned to Hwy 3. A short stop in Cranbrook and we were on the way to Banff. As it was getting late I decided to camp on the forestry campsite found in the mapbook; plain forest, no water and the only exciting thing was a spectacular sunset.
The rest of the trip to Banff next day was a routine stop-and-go through Kootenay National Park. In Marble Canyon I found an iPhone on the parking lot which was returned to the owner from Vancouver later in Banff.
Hiking to Sulfur mountain next day was a good workout after a long trip but according to my schedule the hotel in downtown Calgary was our next destination and we left Banff by the end of the day.

While I was working in the office the girls were exploring the city. The next day which was Saturday we left Calgary to Drumheller. As expected all campgrounds near Drumheller were full because of the long weekend but I had a spare plan which worked well. In 2003 when we came to Drumheller for the first time I managed to find a community campground Michichi where we stayed overnight with nobody else in the area. This time the campground was about 50% full which was good enough for us. Beside mosquitoes the only inconvenience was a drunk Alberta guy who was hanging around with a can of crappy Budweiser and asking questions about a 'cool van'. Then he returned to his camper where he was swearing and making some noise throwing thing around and demonstrating his karate skills to happy campers. Finally when it was getting dark 2 police cruisers arrived and we had some entertainment before going to sleep. I even captured this 'police operation' on video and will try to publish it on Youtube later.

According to my plan we had to reach Kananaskis Country by the end of the next day. First we were heading South and I was checking the hourly weather forecast on my blackberry. There was a severe thunderstorm warning and we could see it coming fast from the West, so I had to drive southbound as fast as possible. The plan worked well to a certain point. We went off the way to visit the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Center, did not find anything exciting there and continued our journey to K-country. The first thunderstorm hit us when we were on Hwy 3 going westbound and we could see the storm coming fast and furious. It was a classic storm with lightning, thunder a heavy pouring rain but it was over in 15 minutes or so. The second wave hit us on Hwy 22 northbound in heavy traffic. It was so bad that I was ready to pull over but everybody kept going so I decided to keep up to save time. Shortly after the wall of water turned into a rain and we spotted a dead deer on the shoulder and an SUV with a smashed front end parked about 100 m further. I believe the driver was going too fast for the severe conditions.

K-country was amazing and we stayed there for the rest of our vacation. 5 days were gone fast with hiking, kayaking and enjoying sunshine and 3 more thunderstorms. On the way back home through Canmore-Bannf-Lake Louise we met White Mule which was a good surprise for both parties.
The return trip through all the mountain passes and a 30-min delay on Hwy 1 in Abbotsford because of an accident at night was exhausting but I managed to bring us back home at 1:30 am safe and sound.
This was a farewell trip for our lovely Delica and Deli The Brick treated us very well on this 4000-km journey. The camping season is over for us and hopefully we will be ready for a new adventure after getting Deli The Bun (L400 Chamonix) in November.
Thank for reading!

Cool Sergiy,

You're getting really good with your camera, those pictures were amazing! Time for a new Delica isn't it?..

Do you mean I was not this good before?
As for a new Delica I think I need a break; I enjoy driving my little SX4 for the next few month.

Wow, great pictures! Looks like it was an excellent adventure
We're off to Pachena Bay, Bamfield BC. leaving tomorrow!

Lori

Very, very nice pictures!!!! By the way, what camera do you use?

Awesome report Sergiy - and fantastic photos!

NAKAMI wrote:Very, very nice pictures!!!! By the way, what camera do you use?

Nothing special: Canon Digital Rebel 1st generation. The camera body does not matter but what makes the difference is a lens. I have 3 of them but the cheap ones. The better lenses are on my shopping list but the new L400 Bulka is the first priority.

jrman wrote:Awesome report Sergiy - and fantastic photos!

Thanks Sean, I did not see you for years. I am camping with my Suzuki SX4 this weekend (this might be fun going back to tenting) but I will stay it town next weekend; we can get in touch and go for coffee in your favorite 'Beans'.

Hey sorry I missed you - I check in much less frequently these days!

Good for you Sean. I am in IT and I believe computers are much worse than a guillotine. I leave alone phones and cell phones as they are even worse than anything else on this planet.
Most likely I am going mushroom hunting this weekend but I have no plans for the next one.