This is a reanimation of the Vicaribus blog as lived by Miro Kazakoff and Ehren Foss in 2004 and 2005. The photos may be spotty.

Nature is Awesome

Posted by ehren

In the morning (nearly afternoon) we broke camp and went to Jasper for an hour. I went back to Napa and bought an epoxy/putty material for the bearing/grease access hole, applied it, and noted that it did nothing to solve the problem. The leak has slowed to a slightly slower rate than before we started messing with it, and thusfar I think we've spent a total of 6 hours and about $25 on the problem. As well, I had a frustrating time with internet, as the good cafe was taking apart their network to install a wireless router. I'm writing this from a web cafe in Banff, and the pictures are finally almost uploaded.

Miro drove up most of the Icefields Parkway. We stopped at a churning waterfall, similar in complexity and style to the one near Joffrey Lakes. The day was largely overcast, but we did stop to sightsee and take pictures a few times on the way up.

The Icefields Parkway, from Jasper, hits the first pass at the Columbia Icefields. The view from the road, and the parking lot where we camped, is among the most amazing I have ever seen. The sun, miraculously, started to poke out as we took a 2k hike onto the very toe of the glacier. Towering, ice-capped mountains flanked the glacier. Look at the pictures, seriously.

After driving 3k up the road to a campground to dump our tank and take on water (only partially successful, no threaded hose connection available) we resumed our awe. Charley picked up a bottle of Tia Maria liqueur from Jasper and we had 'black russians' on the roof while considering, dumbfounded, our amazing luck at being able to witness such a sight and camp in the shadow.

We cooked a dinner of various canned soups, continued our Tia Maria consumption, and just stared out the windows. When Miro and I installed the 4'x25' bank of windows on the starboard side, it was with exactly this purpose in mind. We talked about British and American politics and a bunch of other stuff until around midnight. I thought I heard Merriweather while falling asleep, and Charley confirms that she hunted vermin for around 2 hours during the night after it scampered over her sleeping bag.

We agreed to wake at 8 to try a 4.5k hike nearby. I had almost forgotten how loud my alarm is when it's not on vibrate. By 9 we were back at the trailhead. The hike was wet, but mostly above treeline with excellent views of the surrounding mountains. The tiny alpine wildflowers were in bloom, and it was a nice change of pace to hike across taiga and tundra instead of plain old rocks or dirt.

I drove to Lake Louise in one straight shot, I think, as lately I've been pretty desperate to get somewhere I can work for a few days straight without worrying about computing infrastructure or amazing vistas to look at. When we arrived at Lake Louise, I noticed that an entirely new puddle of liquid was forming underneath a wdifferent part of the engine. !@#$!%@Forcryingoutloud. My original diagnosis (coolant) was incorrect, but based on a usually dependable indicator (color: greenish). By just then I'd had just about enough of leaks, and everyone else put out the vibe of "let's go look at the lake and hope it goes away," which worked out pretty well. Despite the clouds, the lake was beautiful, and with more time or energy we would've attempted one of the hikes to the alpine tea huts.

Instead, we went into the Chateau Lake Louise for high tea. Unshaven, smelling of diesel engine effluence, dirty. Our dignity and grace would not be denied! They had a harpist in the lobby playing beautifully, and we ordered scones along with glasses of port (I had a latte...designated driver and all that). We must've spent about an hour there, getting occasional stares from other patrons who felt we were disturbing the ambiance they felt they were paying for, and had a great time.

After several more tests (smelling, comparing coolant green and fluid green among them), we determined that in fact, we have a fuel leak! Yay! I'm so excited. It seems to be coming from an input port on the front of the engine, precisely positioned to be difficult to reach from below, top, or the side. We drove on the leak for the 58k remaining to Banff, and it didn't seem to have much of an effect. I estimate the leak is less than 1 gallon per 100k. Still, it must be fixed before we continue from Banff. Also, I will bite the bullet and get a professional opinion on the power steering damage we've done. The steering still works fine, but I'd rather it stop leaking.

Also, the mouse button is stuck on my laptop. If you want to see how frustrating that is, put a paperweight on yours and try to use your computer. I've tried just about everything, and tomorrow will probably purchase a USB mouse and uninstall the drivers for my Thinkpad trackpoint, a change which is probably nonreversable from the road. If I can't find a fix I'll need to bring Miro's old laptop back to life and send mine in from Montana.

Everything is broken! But the scenery is nice.