WagoneerSX4
Adventurer
After about a year of slowly planning the trip was a huge success! Weather was great for being spring time, we really couldn't have asked for better. It all started when I found out my girlfriend has never been farther west than Saskatchewan. I knew this had to change, so we started to planning a road trip to the Canadian Rockies. To keep my girlfriend happy the plan was to camp all the way out there, stay in jasper, then head into B.C. for a day trip and then back into Banff and then my family flew out to Canmore, AB for a week to meet us. That we had some luxury in between camping so it wasn't 3 weeks straight of camping. I kept this trip pretty safe. It was not only my first car trip across Canada but it was my girlfriend's first REAL camping trip that didn't consist of staying in full service campsites and in bear country. She started out the trip being absolutely terrified of bears. We've had a couple bear encounters in northern ontario but those are just black bears, not grizzlies. And boy did we have some encounters with grizzlies... more on that later. I'm going to stick mostly to photos that include the SX4 and trailer but we took about 2000 photos so if you'd like to see anything that I talked about let me know and I'll post it.
Total mileage driven: 8,420km / 5,232 miles.
Fuel economy average for entire trip: 12.15L/100km / 19.4mpg
Vehicle: Suzuki SX4 AWD
Trailer: Custom RTT box trailer built off a habor freight frame
Trip length : 22 days
We headed straight north up to Bruce Peninsula to take the ferry to Manitoulin island. We planned this because it's the only way to bypass heading through Toronto and cottage country and again, my girlfriend has never been on a big ferry before. It's also a nice way to split up the day instead of sitting in a car for 12hrs straight. It rained so hard that day we couldn't see 50ft around the boat, so we really didn't get a very scenic tour.
Shortly after the ferry was our first planned campsite in Chutes provincial park. It's a pretty nice park with quite a nice hiking path that goes around all the falls and loops around. We woke up early and hiked the full loop.
The rockies are gorgeous, but driving through northern Ontario has got to be one of the most beautiful places in Canada. Not quite the impact of driving through mountains, but it's got it's own little special charm. Every single turn you go around you're greeted with a postcard scene. We stopped probably every 30min to take photos.
After spottting many moose and black bears, we finally rolled into Kakabeka Falls. We arrived much later than anticipated with all the photo stops along the north shore of Superior. This is quite a touristy campsite, but the falls are really beautiful. Again we got up early and hiked around the park and took some photos.
After a couple more stops in Ontario parks just to check out the sites, we finally headed out to Manitoba.
I have to be completely honest, this is when the trip got SUPER boring. And this is coming from someone who lives in South-western Ontario, I know a thing or two about boring. If we could have just transported from North-western Ontario to Calgary, AB, it would have been awesome. The roads in winnipeg were brutal and gave my trailer suspension a good work out. So much of a good workout, that the frame where the front spring hanger was mounted started to bend. Not too terrible, but it definitely needed to be fixed before going any further. Since we were well out of winnipeg at this point, we didn't have much options for materials. With the help of GPS, I gimped it to a home hardware that was about 50km away. Yes, that was the closest store available, and it took us off route quite a ways. I ended up getting two steel brackets and used the store demo drill to drill holes in them so I couldn't use them as frame reinforcements. Thanks to the home hardware employee that allowed me to do this who shall remain nameless
This is why you should always carry spare tools on road trips! Never know what will break. I ended up banging the frame back with the backside of my axe and kept the bracket from bending any more with vice grips. I checked it every couple of 100km's but it didn't budge one bit for the rest of the trip!
This is just an idea of how exciting Saskatchewan is.
Not only was Saskatchewan the most boring place I've ever visited in my life, but it was also the most unfriendly province in Canada that we came across. Some of the towns you roll into for something to eat you quickly get the hint that they don't want outsiders there. We tried to stay away from the roadside fast food places to get an idea of the local scene and help out the local privately owned businesses. This turned out to not be such a good idea here. Think of the stereotypical farmer standing in overalls and cocking a shotgun while staring at you.
We pretty much high-tailed it through the prairies as fast as I was comfortable with towing the trailer. Okay that's a lie, it was pretty much as fast as the SX4 was capable of going. With a severe head-wind the entire way through the prairies, there were some parts where I was in third gear to the floor just to stay at 100km/h (speed limit is 110). Poor little SX4 was a trooper though, never complained even once about the abuse she was getting put through. It was ironic that the flattest, straightest roads ever was where we got the worst fuel economy of the entire trip. This is where the 40L gas tank of the SX4 became REALLY annoying. The tiny tank is barely adequate when I'm getting 8L/100km, but when you're average twice that, you find yourself running out of gas before you get to the next gas station. Luckily I always had my 20L aux gas can on the trailer filled. Two separate times we wouldn't have even been close to the making the next gas station if we didn't have extra gas with us.
We were very happy to finally see this sign:
Not that that meant the boringness would stop. But at least you get a little more wildlife and SOMEthing to look at when you get into Eastern Alberta. We stayed in a little campsite just off the highway outside Calgary. It was literally just a square patch of land where we parked and opened up the RTT. We had the whole site to ourselves. It was the next day when we would finally spot the things we were chasing... tiny little mountains starting to appear on the horizon.
We went through Banff and then headed up the icefields parkway (hwy 93) up to Jasper. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the most scenic drive in the entire world. This drive alone was worth the 14hrs of torture driving across the prairies. I'll let some photos do the talking for me:
Once again, the SX4 was getting a workout. It's amazing what good use this thing makes of 150bhp and 140tq. On one of the "scenic lookouts" there was a minivan that couldn't make the climb back up to the road because of the loose gravel and gignatic potholes and had to use the entrance ramp instead of the exit. I said challenge accepted and climbed right out with no drama besides a little wheelspin. This might have been in my head but I swear I heard applause as I drove off.
We got to Jasper with plenty of daylight left even after stopping what seemed like a hundred times again. Luckily I had my gas can filled again because gas was $1.55/L ($5.87/USgal) along the parkway. When we got to Jasper the gas was actually cheaper than it was back in Ontario. Why do I live in Ontario...
We stayed at Whistlers campsite just outside Jasper. It was a perfect combo of still have essential services but being on the edge of wilderness. It was rudding season for the Elk and the females apparently use this campsite as a sanctuary to have babies because they know the bears will stay away. Well, apparently this plan wasn't fool-proof because when we got there they were in the process of removing quite a large black bear from the site that was eating a baby Elk. I have to say, they do this in quite a humane way compared to how we treat our wildlife in Ontario. It was nice to see. But then I had the job of calming down my girlfriend who even before this was terrified of bears. You can imagine her emotional state after seeing a bear rip apart a little elk in a campsite where we were going to be sleeping that night. But I have to give her props, she sucked it up as best she could... clutching her bear spray in the tent like a teddy bear every night.
Seeing Elk just hanging around the campsite all the time was really cool. One morning we woke up and a VERY pregnant momma Elk was laying down beside our picnic table. So we basically had breakfast with an Elk sitting a couple feet away from us. The only bad thing was Elk pellets everywhere. And I mean EVERYwhere. After a while you just stopped trying to avoid them and just walked through them.
Campsite in jasper:
The next morning we took the Jasper Skytram up the mountain. There was an optional hike at the top of the skytram to the peak of the mountain. It was labelled as "moderate" so we thought we'd give it a go. Another moment of honesty, this hike kicked my butt. It basically walking an incline straight up the side of a rocky mountain side. There were countless people who started out and then gave up after a couple of minutes but we didn't give up and made it to the top. And it was totally worth it!
I also LOVE the vehicles around here! I've seen so many modified adventure vehicles I was having panic attacks. Everything from a modified toyota tacoma with a camper on the back to an Earth Roamer!!!
Total mileage driven: 8,420km / 5,232 miles.
Fuel economy average for entire trip: 12.15L/100km / 19.4mpg
Vehicle: Suzuki SX4 AWD
Trailer: Custom RTT box trailer built off a habor freight frame
Trip length : 22 days
We headed straight north up to Bruce Peninsula to take the ferry to Manitoulin island. We planned this because it's the only way to bypass heading through Toronto and cottage country and again, my girlfriend has never been on a big ferry before. It's also a nice way to split up the day instead of sitting in a car for 12hrs straight. It rained so hard that day we couldn't see 50ft around the boat, so we really didn't get a very scenic tour.
Shortly after the ferry was our first planned campsite in Chutes provincial park. It's a pretty nice park with quite a nice hiking path that goes around all the falls and loops around. We woke up early and hiked the full loop.
The rockies are gorgeous, but driving through northern Ontario has got to be one of the most beautiful places in Canada. Not quite the impact of driving through mountains, but it's got it's own little special charm. Every single turn you go around you're greeted with a postcard scene. We stopped probably every 30min to take photos.
After spottting many moose and black bears, we finally rolled into Kakabeka Falls. We arrived much later than anticipated with all the photo stops along the north shore of Superior. This is quite a touristy campsite, but the falls are really beautiful. Again we got up early and hiked around the park and took some photos.
After a couple more stops in Ontario parks just to check out the sites, we finally headed out to Manitoba.
I have to be completely honest, this is when the trip got SUPER boring. And this is coming from someone who lives in South-western Ontario, I know a thing or two about boring. If we could have just transported from North-western Ontario to Calgary, AB, it would have been awesome. The roads in winnipeg were brutal and gave my trailer suspension a good work out. So much of a good workout, that the frame where the front spring hanger was mounted started to bend. Not too terrible, but it definitely needed to be fixed before going any further. Since we were well out of winnipeg at this point, we didn't have much options for materials. With the help of GPS, I gimped it to a home hardware that was about 50km away. Yes, that was the closest store available, and it took us off route quite a ways. I ended up getting two steel brackets and used the store demo drill to drill holes in them so I couldn't use them as frame reinforcements. Thanks to the home hardware employee that allowed me to do this who shall remain nameless
This is why you should always carry spare tools on road trips! Never know what will break. I ended up banging the frame back with the backside of my axe and kept the bracket from bending any more with vice grips. I checked it every couple of 100km's but it didn't budge one bit for the rest of the trip!
This is just an idea of how exciting Saskatchewan is.
Not only was Saskatchewan the most boring place I've ever visited in my life, but it was also the most unfriendly province in Canada that we came across. Some of the towns you roll into for something to eat you quickly get the hint that they don't want outsiders there. We tried to stay away from the roadside fast food places to get an idea of the local scene and help out the local privately owned businesses. This turned out to not be such a good idea here. Think of the stereotypical farmer standing in overalls and cocking a shotgun while staring at you.
We pretty much high-tailed it through the prairies as fast as I was comfortable with towing the trailer. Okay that's a lie, it was pretty much as fast as the SX4 was capable of going. With a severe head-wind the entire way through the prairies, there were some parts where I was in third gear to the floor just to stay at 100km/h (speed limit is 110). Poor little SX4 was a trooper though, never complained even once about the abuse she was getting put through. It was ironic that the flattest, straightest roads ever was where we got the worst fuel economy of the entire trip. This is where the 40L gas tank of the SX4 became REALLY annoying. The tiny tank is barely adequate when I'm getting 8L/100km, but when you're average twice that, you find yourself running out of gas before you get to the next gas station. Luckily I always had my 20L aux gas can on the trailer filled. Two separate times we wouldn't have even been close to the making the next gas station if we didn't have extra gas with us.
We were very happy to finally see this sign:
Not that that meant the boringness would stop. But at least you get a little more wildlife and SOMEthing to look at when you get into Eastern Alberta. We stayed in a little campsite just off the highway outside Calgary. It was literally just a square patch of land where we parked and opened up the RTT. We had the whole site to ourselves. It was the next day when we would finally spot the things we were chasing... tiny little mountains starting to appear on the horizon.
We went through Banff and then headed up the icefields parkway (hwy 93) up to Jasper. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the most scenic drive in the entire world. This drive alone was worth the 14hrs of torture driving across the prairies. I'll let some photos do the talking for me:
Once again, the SX4 was getting a workout. It's amazing what good use this thing makes of 150bhp and 140tq. On one of the "scenic lookouts" there was a minivan that couldn't make the climb back up to the road because of the loose gravel and gignatic potholes and had to use the entrance ramp instead of the exit. I said challenge accepted and climbed right out with no drama besides a little wheelspin. This might have been in my head but I swear I heard applause as I drove off.
We got to Jasper with plenty of daylight left even after stopping what seemed like a hundred times again. Luckily I had my gas can filled again because gas was $1.55/L ($5.87/USgal) along the parkway. When we got to Jasper the gas was actually cheaper than it was back in Ontario. Why do I live in Ontario...
We stayed at Whistlers campsite just outside Jasper. It was a perfect combo of still have essential services but being on the edge of wilderness. It was rudding season for the Elk and the females apparently use this campsite as a sanctuary to have babies because they know the bears will stay away. Well, apparently this plan wasn't fool-proof because when we got there they were in the process of removing quite a large black bear from the site that was eating a baby Elk. I have to say, they do this in quite a humane way compared to how we treat our wildlife in Ontario. It was nice to see. But then I had the job of calming down my girlfriend who even before this was terrified of bears. You can imagine her emotional state after seeing a bear rip apart a little elk in a campsite where we were going to be sleeping that night. But I have to give her props, she sucked it up as best she could... clutching her bear spray in the tent like a teddy bear every night.
Seeing Elk just hanging around the campsite all the time was really cool. One morning we woke up and a VERY pregnant momma Elk was laying down beside our picnic table. So we basically had breakfast with an Elk sitting a couple feet away from us. The only bad thing was Elk pellets everywhere. And I mean EVERYwhere. After a while you just stopped trying to avoid them and just walked through them.
Campsite in jasper:
The next morning we took the Jasper Skytram up the mountain. There was an optional hike at the top of the skytram to the peak of the mountain. It was labelled as "moderate" so we thought we'd give it a go. Another moment of honesty, this hike kicked my butt. It basically walking an incline straight up the side of a rocky mountain side. There were countless people who started out and then gave up after a couple of minutes but we didn't give up and made it to the top. And it was totally worth it!
I also LOVE the vehicles around here! I've seen so many modified adventure vehicles I was having panic attacks. Everything from a modified toyota tacoma with a camper on the back to an Earth Roamer!!!
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