Somewhere Manitoba to Canmore | Night Three

We left our second night of rest behind in Manitoba and hit the road early, aiming for Canmore by nightfall. To be honest, Manitoba was a bit of a shock. I know I was only seeing it from the highway, but the landscape felt tired, almost abandoned in places. Faded buildings, weather-beaten towns, and long stretches that seemed forgotten. I wasn’t expecting to feel so unsettled by it. Felt like a scene from a true crime podcast.

For the first time on the trip, I got behind the wheel to give James a break. The roads were straight and flat, which helped. It's my first time driving, so I was pleased about the flats.

Saskatchewan? A total shift. It was alive in a way that Manitoba wasn’t. Soft, golden light skimmed across endless prairies, broken up by slow-moving trains that stretched longer than you’d believe. Hard to capture from the car but my head was on a swivel at this point.

The grain elevators looked like prairie cathedrals reaching for the heavens. Then there were the salt flats - white, stark, and shimmering against the warm tones of the prairie. Everything was a picture.

Once James caught the “control itch,” he was back behind the wheel for the final push into Alberta.

Watching the mountains appear on the horizon was incredible. At first, they were nothing more than faint silhouettes against the sky, ghostly outlines on the edge of the horizon. Within 30 minutes of passing Calgary, everything changed. Suddenly, we were climbing. The flat land gave way to sharp ascents, and the mountains went from distant backdrop to towering presence all around us.

By the time we pulled into Canmore, the light was golden and the peaks were glowing. We stretched our legs along the Bow River, wandered the village a touch, then found a free camping spot just off the highway that backed onto a quiet trail. As night fell, we ate our first dehydrated meal - turkey chili paired with fresh sourdough - and sipped Forty Creek while watching the moon rise over the Three Sisters.

The contrast between prairies and peaks in a single day was something I won’t forget anytime soon. 

Morning, day four. We brewed ourselves some tea by the van, taking our time waking up with the mountains still wrapped in early light. After a slow start, we hit the road again—this time with Golden, BC in our sights. Our goal for the day? Cross the Golden Skybridge to stretch our legs and our nerves. Suspension bridges over canyons are apparently our version of light cardio now.

And, if all goes to plan… we’ll be in Whistler by tonight. Whistler. Tonight. Crazy, right? Yeah. But we’re here for it.