CANADA'S POWDER HIGHWAY (PART 1) | Vanlife Road Trip From Denver To British Columbia

Описание: This week we kicked off our Powder Highway road trip, leaving Denver behind and heading for Schweitzer Mountain Resort in northern Idaho. Long winter miles and a night at a Montana rest stop later, we rolled into Sandpoint and explored town, walking the Cedar Street Bridge Market and grabbing dinner at Matchwood Brewing before ringing in New Year’s Eve mountain-town style.

The next few days at Schweitzer brought every condition imaginable—rain, sleet, snow, and sun—but we loved the laid-back vibe, fun terrain, and huge views over Lake Pend Oreille. Evenings were spent at Eichardt’s Pub enjoying live music and the local scene.

From Idaho we crossed the border into Canada and officially entered the Powder Highway, stopping in Salmo, BC for a quick beer at the Out Cold filming location before continuing to Rossland for dinner at the Flying Steam Shovel.

Our first day at RED Mountain delivered deep snow and wild terrain, despite some goggle issues for Jamie, and set the tone for what’s ahead.

With RED, Whitewater, and Revelstoke still to come, this episode marks the true start of our Powder Highway adventure. If you’re into van life, RV road trips, and chasing snow across the West, this one’s for you.

Skip ahead to:
00:02: Intro to Powder Highway
02:34: Road tripping
06:28: Flathead Lake, MT
07:00: Arriving in Sandpoint, ID
09:57: First Day at Schweitzer
15:56: Moose sighting!
28:00: Last day riding
31:28: U.S./Canada Border Crossing
32:30: Salmo, BC
35:00: First Day at RED
38:47: Rossland, BC
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Affiliate Links & Resources:

Here’s some of the gear and resources we loved using on this leg of the trip. These affiliate links help support Detour Diaries:

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🎶 Spotify Snowboard Playlist
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🏂 The Best Snowboard Movie Of All Time! (Out Cold)
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🏔️Check Out Our Full Schweitzer Travel Guide
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🏂 Gear Essentials
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Hi!! We're Jamie and Dre, an adventure-loving couple originally from Southern California who’ve been together for over 15 years. After growing up in the same area, we both landed in Colorado for college (DU and CU Denver!) and have called it home for the last 12 years. In 2019, we sold everything to travel the world and work remote full-time… but then the pandemic hit and those plans took a detour. So we bought a van, hit the road, and spent the next few years living out of our tiny home on wheels.

By 2023, we bought a house and started mixing remote work with international travel, always wishing we had started a YouTube channel back when we first moved into the van. Life got busy, but here we are now, finally sharing the adventures we’ve been chasing all along! We’re snowboarders, travelers, trail runners, mountain bikers, hunters, explorers...basically any excuse to get outside, we’re in.

We’re currently back in the van for a bit and gearing up for some huge trips: the Canadian Powder Highway, driving our van all the way to Alaska, snowboarding in Chile, and European Christmas markets in 2026. Follow along :)

#vanlife #fulltimevanlife #rvlife #schweitzer #schweitzermountain #sandpointidaho #powderhighway #roadtrip #skiroadtrip #wintervanlife #redmountain #rosslandbc #whitewaterresort #revelstokemountainresort #travelvlog #vanlifediaries #detourdiaries #lifeontheroad #snowboarding

📸 Follow along for more:
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Website: www.thescenicdetour.com