We found out this morning that Highway 3 east of us had been closed due to the heavy snowfall and winds. It was still not open at 6:00 am. So the head scratching began. Do we hunker down and stay tucked away in our cozy motel room...do we head south across the border in search of less snowy conditions as was suggested to us on more than one occasion (FYI: That route had just as ugly of weather as we were having in British Columbia)...do we wait and see what happens with the closure at the Crowsnest Pass? By 9:00 and after 'exhaustively' researching different options, we decided to at least move the 200 kilometers to Fernie and see what the conditions were like by then. The strange part was that there was no snow in Creston and the temperature was a 'balmy 1 degrees. That changed. Within 100 kilometers the temperature had plummeted to minus 18 degrees. The roads were snow covered but not that bad. The real issue was all the truck traffic that we suspect was a result of a backup from the road closure overnight.
In Fernie we decided to 'keep on truckin' as the highway had re-opened. The Crowsnest Pass area certainly had lots of snow probably 3 feet of new stuff and it appeared around Sparwood that lots of vehicles had been in the ditch including a snowplow that was still off of the road and a transport flipped onto it's side.
By the time we were into Alberta and into the Pincher Creek area there was little snow and the road was dry...convenient since that is when I was willing to relinquish control for Sue to drive (as everyone knows that is tough for me).
We are staying in Taber tonight a place that we have travelled through two times before. On both occasions and particularly on our bicycles the memories are less than spectacular. It was pouring rain both times. For once it is not...but, but, but...it is minus 23 and dropping. Ouch!!!
Snow Near Sparwood...Where The Highway Had Been Closed
No comments:
Post a Comment