We left Kenora and continued to drive west on Trans Canada HWY. At the border from Ontario to Manitoba we passed another time zone and won one hour. Also the landscape changed suddenly. Forests and lakes disappeared and we experienced the endless widths of the prairie with cord-straight roads. We passed the town with millions of inhabitants; Winnipeg, then we crossed the provinces Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In the pouring rain we passed the border to Alberta and reset the clock another hour. Then we reached Brooks 150 km SO of Calgary and stayed for two days in a motel. There we met Dennis, which carried us forward to the Rodeo and helped us get the phone number to the BMW workshop in Calgary. Tobias 1150 needed to be repaired. Our first reparation. We made a trip the Dinosaur Provincial Park and drove to Calgary. We could see the city already from 50 km distance. We found the workshop at first attempt. Unfortunately they had to order the spare part and we had to wait four days. In Calgary we met Nancy and Chris who offered us to set up our tent in their garden. At the night we experienced another mega thunder storm. In the morning we were spoiled with a fantastic breakfast, prepared by Nancy's sister Beth, who was there to visit. Until the spare part arrived, we drove into the Banff national park and Rocky Mountains. After 2000 km straightforward by the prairie, a few curves were welcome. We also made a visit at one of the Hot Springs in Banff. After three days in the mountains we drove back to Calgary, stayed overnight again with Nancy and Chris and the next day the motorcycle got repaired. Afterwards we drove back to the Rocky Mountains again. Between Banff and Jasper, north the Bowpass, fled we before a thunderstorm into a closed Campground. With the motorcycles we went past the bar. The thunderstorm developed to continuous rain and we became stuck the whole next day. Some mudslide had blocked the roads and we were glad we that we had waited one day.
At the Columbia Icefields it was foggy and we decided to look at it from the road instead of taking the guided tour we intended to take. On the way after Jasper we saw our first black bears and a coyote.
In Grande Cache, north the Jasper NP, we met Dennis at the supermarket parking lot, again. He has a dwelling in Grande Cache. We could stay there overnight, take a hot shower and wash our clothes.
We continued to go crossed the border from Alberta to British Columbia. Into Dawson Creek we came on the Alaska HWY. Starting from Fort Nelson we had 24 hour daylight, which is very pleasant. We drove into the mountains again and experienced more curves.
Along the way, we met Rahel and Jörg from Switzerland, which like we intended to do the same trip as us, Alaska - Tierra del Fuego, but with the bicycle!!! At the same place we also met Robert from Florida, with BMW 1150 gs (same as Tobias). Also he was on his way to Alaska. We joined them and continued on north together. We saw a giant moose bull, 2 black bears and 2 young Grizzly bears this day. The Grizzly mamas was hiding, but was surely very close.....
In Liard Hot Springs we bathed in hot sources of sulfur water and drove into the province Yukon. In Watson Lake we made stop at the road sign collection (over 50000), bought food and refuelled the reserve can for the first time. We stayed overnight outside Watson Lake, near of the place at a ski facility. The next 1.5 days we drove on the Campell HWY, approx. 600 km on agravel road through the endless forests. 20 km before Dawson City, near the border to Alaska we enjoyed a quiescent day and visited the legendary gold grave city.
