We had an absolute blast up in the great white north this past week! We visited beautiful but rainy Seattle (My wife had a 3 day business conference there) and then we drove over the border into British Columbia, Canada. We stayed in Vancouver which is an awesome city to visit and explore. We were pleased to see a lot of new MINIs there but I was also surprised to see the amount of classics we saw in the streets used apparently as daily drivers. I managed to snap a few shots of three classics and one Electric Blue Cooper, which is not available for sale in the USA. Electric Blue looks so much nicer in the Cooper, it baffles the mind as to why MINIUSA decided not to make it available in our market. I will post the pics later today.

There are 2 fully independent MINI dealerships in Vancouver: Richmond MINI and MINI of Yaletown. These dealers have their own showrooms and have thier own service departments which is in my view, the ideal way of running them vs the BMW/MINI shared dealer setup we often see in the US. Canadian spec MINIs are identical to American spec MINIs, only differences being the Electric Blue color available in the Cooper, the Euro spec speedo with Km/h calibration and some factory options. Also all MINIs in Canada come with Xenon Lights and ASC+T standard with the exception of the lower level "Cooper Classic" model that has halogen headlights instead.

Canada is a beautiful country with awesome natural wonders and incredible scenery. We visited the Canadian Rockies (A good 12 hour drive east of Vancouver, BC in the Trans-Canada Highway) and drove up to Jasper, Alberta which is a quiet and fairly remote alpine town nestled inside Jasper National Park. The towering snow capped peaks, high mountains and glaciers make up for some breath taking scenery! Then we drove down towards Banff National Park in the famous Icefields Parkway also known as Highway 93 which is the highest altitude road in Canada. Let me tell you this Mini amigos... that road was built for MINIs, period. The twists, turns, straightaways, up and downs and breathtaking scenery are every MINI/Mini driver's dream come true!. The road is failrly wide, extremely well paved and maintained, putting some of our Interstates and state roads to complete shame. The Icefields parkway connects Jasper with Banff National Park and the world famous Lake Louise. it takes solid 4 hours to make the drive as the speed limit is around 80 Km/h or 50 MPH. But with almost zero traffic, beautiful mountain vistas and plenty of wildlife to see, this is the drive of a lifetime. I rented a 2005 Toyota Corolla and while it is a nice decent economy car, I missed not being behind the wheel of one of our MINIs to experience what that road has to offer in terms of REAL twisty driving. We also visited the Columbia Icefields on top of mount Columbia which is a 200+ mile wide icesheet at 3744 meters above sea level. Going there is like visiting another planet..is that impressive.

After our stay in the Canadian Rockies we headed back to Vancouver another 12 hours in the Trans-Canada (Which by the way is a gorgeous road in the daytime and pitch black and scary at night) and then took the ferry over Vancouver Island, one of the biggest islands in the Pacific west for the entire American continent, including South America. Vancouver Island is home to Victoria, the provincial capital of British Columbia. If you haven't been to England, Victoria is a faithful reproduction of central London. Double decker buses and yes classic right hand drive Minis! The Parliament building and the famous Empress hotel right next to it are must see sights.

We took around 900+ photos that better describe our trip so I will try to post just a small sample for your enjoyment.

After all was said and done, this week we travelled around 10,000 miles!!

Well happy to be back in Miami, but man, after seeing these beautiful places Miami and Florida in general...well.... is a little too overrated IMO.


Many thanks to DiD for his excellent posts/pictorial of his trip to this area back in 2002. they were of great help.

Lots of catching up to do around here. Talk to all of you later.

 

LIES LIES ALL LIES! Don't believe a word of it! It's totally inhospitable, completely devoid of beauty, and you'd never want to go there.

Glad you had a good time. Damn hard not to in that area. Just amazing.

Here's a pic of my MINI near the Columbia Icefields in 2002.


Please post your pictures soon.



Here's my post for anyone elseC A N A D A: Denver to Jasper (MANY PICTURES)

 

I grew up in Edmonds Washington and took many trips north of the border. Bueaford Gardens in Vancover is an awesome botanical garden. Just wish I didn't live so far from the Northwest these days... Such is life little problems...


Art

 

Man you guys are making my life hard...I'm deciding right now what to do this year for vacation...one of my options is Banff and the surrounding parks. I have ALWAYS wanted to explore that area, but never really had the time until now. Unfortunately the days of me willing to hop in a car at a moments notice for a 3,000 road trip are gone. I'm actually finding it hard to contemplate doing now...I think I just need a refresher for why it's worth it!

Incidently, how is the price of premium fuel up there now? How much did a tank full cost?

 

Monday morning we crossed the border back into the US at Blaine, Washington. We made a brief stop in Edmonds. I was there a few years ago when we took the ferry over the Olympic Peninsula to visit Port Angeles and Olympic National Park.

Beautiful country up there. Too bad I live 3000 miles away, on the other side of the continent!

 

Hey Did - most of your pictures on that post are dead links, or image station isn't letting them go through. I get 3 pictures and 50+ red x's

 

On my last trip to Jasper (this past august), we flew into Calgary and rented a car. Between the two of us we managed to bring along quite a bit of camping gear in our checked baggage.


RE: Imagestation
Yeah, I saw that before I posted the link. Freakin Imagestion. I assume they are being finicky again. If I get some time in the next couple days I'll get those photos re-hosted and re-linked.

 

I highly recommend visiting Jasper and Banff National Park areas. The beauty and peace in that place is so impressive it is almost the equivalent of a spiritual Journey. When you see those impressive Canadian Rockies peaks, all youir life's stresses and worries simply wash away. Simply put, have the opportunity to experience all that natural beauty is the reason why we have to celebrate life at each and every moment of our existence.

We flew into Seattle from Miami because my wife had a business conference there. Once she was done, we drove orver the border. We did a lot of driving and it was kinda of crazy considering all the places we visited in just 10 days. My recommendation is that if you don't feel like hoping into the car on a transcontinental drive, then make arragements and fly straight into Canada and land on either Calgary or Edmonton, Alberta. This way you can see these urban centers and head to the national parks which are just a few hours away.

If you are crazy like us, then hop into a car from Vancouver and drive 12 hours non-stop to Jasper that is if you want to see the most of British Columbia and Alberta.

I found the exchange rate to be very favorable for us "gringos". Food, lodging is cheaper for us in Canada. To me Canada right now is a great alternative and much cheaper than going to Europe, where our weak Dollar is not making it any easier for us to visit there.

I filled up the tank of our '05 Corolla rental in Banff with Husky (One of their gas brands) 87 Octane regular and it came out to US$18.00 which to me seemed cheaper than in the US. In Canada they sell gas by the Liter and gas stations have only posted one price per liter of gas. I am not sure how to do the conversion so if any Canucks are willing to help, please do.

In the US gas stations, prices are posted for each grade of gasoline, not so in Canada. Also in Banff, the highest octane at the pump was 92.

Don't think twice about visiting this area, Highly recommended!

Just ask DiD!

 

I agree, it's a gorgeous area...I took the family to the Seattle area (& Olympic Peninsula) a few years ago and unfortunately there wasn't enough time (or $$) to get up to Vancouver as well.

But, I've had lots of business there and the city's great -- Stanley Park, Chinatown, great eats, climate, and people. The best thing about the Winter Olympics coming to Vancouver is that there will be a real road out to Whistler -- awesome skiing.

A friend went to Banff recently and did "heli-hiking" where the chopper takes your party & a guide and drops you off a good day's hike back to the lodge...very nice.

 

See, I'm torn between the road trip, because I would really like to do it in the Mini - or flying. Both would be about the same price, but doing it in the Mini is part of the reason for the trip. Maybe flying is the better option though.

 

Well, if you are willing to drive the distance, then bring the MINI by all means!

Flying is more convenient if you are short on time, otherwise driving up there should be the experience of a lifetime.

 

I live in Calgary which is only 1 hour 15 minutes from Banff, 2 hours from the Icefields Parkway described in your post. As I have said somewhere in a previous post, that highway between Lake Louise to Jasper is one of the most beautiful in the world...the speed limit is restrictive so that we don't create carnage for all the wildlife crossing the road, but it is still ideally suited to our MINIs. Have runflats or carry a spare though - cell phone coverage is poor! (I know from experience!)

The thumbnail below shows an aerial view from 30,000' taken last December. The Icefields Parkway is the valley on the right, running northward to Jasper.

 

YYC, fabulous photo!

I envy you, you live in a gorgeous province. While in Alberta, I only saw one CR/CR MCS speeding west bound on the Transcanada last week. The great majority of MINIs I saw while in Canada were in Vancouver and Victoria.

How's the MINI "scene" in Alberta? Maybe next time we go up there we can plan an "all-MINI" get together for lunch or something. I would like to see Calgary the next time around.:smile:

I also agree on that cell phone coverage sucks in that region. My phone went dead for long periods of time. One thing that really struck me is that you never see any kind of highway patrol on the roads. If you experience a breakdown in those lonely roads you can easily become some Grizzly bear's dinner!

CB radios seem also to be useless around mountain passes as apprently there are not sufficient repeater antennas.

I don't think it is a good idea to travel those roads at night under any circumstances. I am wrong?

 

Well that explains your username

 

We don't have a Calgary Mini Club yet, but the local dealer (Mini Crowfoot) has been talking about some organized days at the track! There have been some posts on the "other" forum trying to get the Calgary crowd together for a drive, but nothing yet, I don't think. A new dealership will be opening in Edmonton soon, so perhaps Mini "density" in Alberta will increase.

The biggest risk about travelling the mountain parks highways at night is collisions with wildlife. Contact with a moose, elk, deer, or bear is going to do some serious damage to both parties involved! No major threat to your well-being if you break down at night (at least in the summer!) - have a sleep in the car and wait for daylight!:smile:

 

Here are a few photos from this past August. I swear, no more photos from me after this. It's really C4's thread (get some of your photos up. I'm curious to see them too ).

EDIT: jeez, I didn't do a very good job making the horizen level did I.

 

My SO and I took the 2 day train from Vancouver to Jasper last fall, staying overnight in Kamloops. Then rented a car in Jasper and toured to Lake Louise, banff, Athabasca falls etc. That is definately a gorgeous area. I could post a few pictures if C4 doesn't mind. Nowhere near the sharpness of DID's tho.

Glad you also had a great trip C4 and DID!

 

DiD, we also visited Johnston Canyon. That day we took a nice drive via the Bowl Valley Parkway. That place is out of this world!

Feel free to share your own pics of the area. I will get mine ready for upload tomorrow (Its been a busy day!).

 

Cool. I'm glad you got to Johnston Canyon.

Did you do the Valley of the Five Lakes hike in Jasper?

 

Well the biggest damage from hitting a moose is when you cut it off at the knees it's so tall it "falls" onto your windshield/roof. I wonder if it would fall right over a MINI and miss it entirely! Not that I want to find out!

 

Yes, I suppose our MINIs could duck under a moose in a collision, but I wouldn't count on it!!

Check out the damage caused by a head-on collision with a calf moose in Ontario! (yes those are hoofs sticking out the front windshield!!)


http://www.ontario-outfitters.ca/car...-collision.htm