I was recently on my first road trip into the heart of BC and Western Alberta.  It is a land of danger and intrigue. Firstly, where else in the world can you be surrounded by such splendour and majesty … but the highways are like a gauntlet … constantly warning you of falling rocks and avalanches; icy bridges and runaway trucks on the serpentine mountain passes. The signposts warn you of animals like elk and moose and caribou that could cross in front of you at any time … and weather conditions that could change spontaneously. It was an adventure. From the balmy spring temperatures and rolling landscape of the Okanagen to the treacherous passes into the Rockies and snow, ice rain and even blizzards and a freezing -6C  – we had it all in the space of two hours.

I was constantly on the lookout for wild animals – hoping to spot the mighty moose, elegant elk and cautious caribou – but they only lurked on signposts. And even though our pompous Englishman on the GPS said “in 300m, bear left” … we saw no bears either, with it being too early in some of the wintry places we travelled.

The Jasper National Park I hear is beautiful. But when we were there, it was a blur of white as we drove at a snail’s pace in a blizzard, through the Columbia Icefield to the town of Jasper.

So as fairly newcomers to this exquisite country we learned one thing … maybe wait until Summer before attempting another road trip like this!