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Canadian Rockies - July 2007
In July, hubby and I went to the Canadian Rockies. Basing ourselves in the Banff Townsite, we did days trips to nearby sights.
We spent our first day close to the townsite.
Here's the obligatory Banff Springs Hotel shot from Surprise Corner.
Next, we decided to hike to the Hoodoos. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were out in droves and we were forced to turn back from this point to get some deet protection.
Rather than returning to the same trail, we moved on to Bow Falls.
For a while, this ring-billed gull was our only companion, but as it was the height of tourist season, that did not last long.
On the trail heading from the falls to the townsite, there were plenty of showy asters.
To escape the crowds, we next went to Cascade Gardens.
While we were relaxing on a bench at Cascade Gardens, we were asked to witness the wedding of a couple from Florida. That's a first for us in all our travels and we were happy to oblige.
Before leaving Cascade Gardens, we took another obligatory photo - of Banff Townsite with Cascade Mountain as the backdrop. At least from this distance the chaos of construction on Banff Avenue is not that apparent.
Thus concluded the first day of our vacation.
Coming up next: Day 2 - Lake Louise.
We spent our first day close to the townsite.
Here's the obligatory Banff Springs Hotel shot from Surprise Corner.
Next, we decided to hike to the Hoodoos. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were out in droves and we were forced to turn back from this point to get some deet protection.
Rather than returning to the same trail, we moved on to Bow Falls.
For a while, this ring-billed gull was our only companion, but as it was the height of tourist season, that did not last long.
On the trail heading from the falls to the townsite, there were plenty of showy asters.
To escape the crowds, we next went to Cascade Gardens.
While we were relaxing on a bench at Cascade Gardens, we were asked to witness the wedding of a couple from Florida. That's a first for us in all our travels and we were happy to oblige.
Before leaving Cascade Gardens, we took another obligatory photo - of Banff Townsite with Cascade Mountain as the backdrop. At least from this distance the chaos of construction on Banff Avenue is not that apparent.
Thus concluded the first day of our vacation.
Coming up next: Day 2 - Lake Louise.
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We arrived at Lake Louise just as the sun was bathing the area in light.
The reflections were awesome.
Despite the early morning chill, we ate an al fresco breakfast on the boardwalk. A few boaters provided entertainment.
From the Lake Agnes Trail we finally caught a glimpse of the famed-color of Lake Louise.
At about the 2.5 km point of the Lake Agnes Trail, we came upon Big Beehive and Mirror Lake.
The only wildlife we saw on the trail were golden-mantled ground squirrels.
We rested for a bit at Bridal Veil Falls before continuing up to the Lake Agnes Teahouse.
Except for a Clark's nutcracker snacking on someone else's leftovers, we had the tea house to ourselves for a while.
We enjoyed Lake Agnes until the crowds arrived.
Back at Lake Louise, the boats were now in the water.
To escape the afternoon crowds, we walked to the far end of the shoreline path and were rewarded with an excellent view of the lake and Chateau Lake Louise.
On the way back to the car, we stopped to smell the flowers on the path.
The yellow flowers are potentilla; the fuschia colored ones are fireweed.
We took one last peek at Lake Louise before getting in the car to drive back to Banff.
On the way down, we encountered a "moose jam." The light wasn't the greatest, but I did manage to capture this photo of a moose calf nursing.
The poor thing seemed shell-shocked by the hoards of tourists vying for a picture.
Driving the Bow Valley Parkway yielded our first black bear sighting of the trip. Again, the light wasn't good and the animal was moving fast, but I clicked the shutter anyway.
Further down the parkway, we had the last wildlife sighting of the day. A young bull elk posed not more than 5 meters from us.
Next Up: Day 3 - What do you do on a rainy day in the Rockies? You visit a canyon.
You caught it. Best I've seen in a very long time!!
Andy W
Day 3 is coming up shortly.
We started the day intending to have an al fresco breakfast at Lake Moraine before continuing to Yoho National Park. The first part of our plans worked out, and despite the overcast weather we enjoyed a very peaceful few hours on top of the Rockpile at Lake Moraine. No sun meant no reflections, but that did not detract from the beauty of the lake.
We then walked down to the shore of Lake Moraine, intending to wander the shoreline path.
When it started to drizzle, we changed plans and headed to Johnston Canyon instead - a perfect place to visit on an overcast, drizzly day. Here's a view of the canyon from near the beginning of the Lower Falls trail.
I was intrigued by the tree on the rear right wall of the canyon that looked like it was growing in mid-air.
View from the canyon floor before we started climbing up again.
The cascade at Teal Pool turned out to be one of my favorite spots in Johnston Canyon.
Finally we arrived at Lower Falls. The roar of the falls made conversation impossible and we just sat back and enjoyed the view.
Since I had a waterproof camera with me, I walked through the small cave to come face to face with the upper cascade of Lower Falls - not recommended without raingear!
Continuing on the Upper Falls Trail, we came to Twin Falls first.
We were underwhelmed by Upper Falls - I think it was the distance from the viewing platform to the horsetail fall that contributed to that feeling. And there were quite a few people there, so we did no dally. Instead, we headed down the trail to the Ink Pots junction and took a lunch break at Cavern Falls.
Plans to hike to the Ink Pots got cancelled when the strings on one of hubby's hiking boots broke. So, we headed back to Banff via the Bow Valley Parkway instead. Big horn sheep grazing roadside was our only wildlife sighting, but they were situated on a curve with nowhere to pull off so we did not stick around long.
After shopping for new shoes, we headed to the Minnewanka Loop on the outskirts of the Banff townsite.
Before we left the Minnewanka Loop, we sighted more big horn sheep.
I could feel the pain of this guy who arrived just a tad too late to photograph the sheep.
Next up: Day 4 - The Icefields Parkway.
Hoping for clear skies, we headed north to the Icefields Parkway under an overcast sky that looked like it was on fire as the sun made a brave attempt to come out.
Our first stop on the parkway was Crowfoot Glacier.
Despite the overcast and drizzle, Peyto Lake lived up to its reputation.
Peyto Glacier is the source of Peyto Lake.
We stopped to enjoy the flowers on the Peyto Lake Trail until someone mentioned that a car had been broken into in the parking lot. Since ours was one of two in the lot when we arrived, we literally ran the rest of the way. :yikes It turns out that our car was OK.
The first flower is a columbine; the second one a showy fleabane.
Wildfowl Lakes turned out to be a favorite and we spent some time here enjoying the serenity of the area.
On our way back to our car, we ran into a spruce grouse hen and her brood of chicks - only one of the chicks stood still long enough to get a picture.
We stopped to have lunch at the Bridal Veil Falls Overlook - had to eat inside the car due to the drizzle, but we didn't mind since we had a good view of the falls across the canyon.
When the drizzle stopped, we went exploring and found the headwaters of Panther Falls hidden in the nearby trees.
A tree in the path of the Panther Falls headwaters was scrubbed clean of its bark.
Since it was raining hard when we reached the Columbia Icefields, we scrubbed our plans for hiking the glacier and continued northward, stopping at Tangle Falls on our way to Sunwapta Falls.
As it was getting quite late, we dropped our plans for hiking in the Sunwapta Falls area and just viewed the falls from the overlooks. Here's a photo of the Upper Sunwapta Falls from the pedestrian bridge over the gorge.
And a closer look at the cataract at Upper Sunwapta Falls.
On the drive back, we were heartened to see the sun trying to come out when we stopped at the Sunwapta Canyon viewpoint for a glimpse of part of the Columbia Icefield.
And here's a closer look at a portion of the Columbia Icefield.
Although it was still overcast, it wasn't raining, so we walked up to the Athabasca Glacier when we reached the Icefields Center.
(no sign of the calving that I saw in "The Most Excellent Adventures of Ann, Christina, Nick, and Skippy" thread that gives us a peek into the deep blue heart of the glacier.)
It was a bit slippery walking in the area set off by cones, but we managed to stay upright on the Athabasca Glacier.
Soon after we left the Columbia Icefield area, we encountered another black bear.
By the time we reached the hamlet of Lake Louise, it was 7:00p and we were hungry. We bought some sandwiches at the deli and decided to enjoy our dinner in view of Victoria Glacier on the shores of Lake Louise.
With hardly a soul around, Lake Louise was very peaceful and the light was very different this time because it was still overcast.
I couldn't resist taking another picture of the boathouse at Lake Louise before we called it a day and headed home.
Next up: Day 5 - we cross into British Columbia for a day.
We woke up to clear skies for a change
We waited over an hour for a train to go through, but no luck!
So, we left to visit Takkakaw Falls. Here's our first view of the falls from somewhere on Yoho Valley Road.
And here's a view from the path before crossing the pedestrian bridge.
Last photo before I packed the "good camera" and took out the waterproof p&s.
By the time we got to this point, we were soaked - well the rainpants and rainjackets were soaked, we stayed dry.
Back on the road, we stopped at Natural Bridge for a quick look-see.
Seeing the power of Kicking Horse River, it's not difficult to imagine how it eroded a hole in these rocks.
As the noon hour was at hand, we had an al fresco lunch on the nearby rocks.
Emerald Lake was our next stop. It was as beautiful as we expected, our only regret being that we had left it for the afternoon and not gone there first thing in the morning.
Returning to the Banff Townsite via the Bow River Parkway, we had a lengthy visit with a black bear scrounging in the bushes for berries -- this encounter really made me regret leaving the 100-400L back home :bash .
After the bear left, we stayed to watch a train at Morant's Curve.
We ended our day with a quick stop at Vermillion Lakes where I got a nice reflection on the still waters.
Up Next: End of our Vacation
We started our last day with a gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain. Early birders that we are, we were on the first gondola to leave the station. At Top Station, we were welcomed by a golden-mantled ground squirrel.
At first we were disappointed by the haze in the air, but waited around for a while until most of the haze cleared and we were treated to some great views of the Rockies.
Then, gearing up we took the boardwalk path to go to Sanson's Peak to explore the old weather station.
Near the end of the boardwalk, we saw more spectacular views, including this one that shows Bow River and Vermillion Lakes in the valley below.
Although the door is blocked with clear plexiglass and we couldn't go inside, we spent quite a bit of time at the old weather station.
Sanson's old boots have definitely seen better days. (The interior of the station is a museum of sorts.)
Necessities of life (inside the weather station).
While we were exploring the weather station, a ground squirrel was checking out our backpack.
Still a bit hazy, but here's a view of Cascade Mountain, the Banff Townsite, and Thunder Mountain from the overlook at the old weather station. Lake Minnewanka is in the far distance.
On our way back from the old weather station to the gondola station, a big horn sheep accompanied us.
The quintessential big horn sheep pose - too bad it wasn't an old male with impressive, curly horns.
Heading to the Lake Louise area to do some hiking (as it turns out, walking would be a better description), we stopped to photograph Castle Mountain on the Bow Valley Parkway.
There was neither a bear nor a train at Morant's curve this time.
But we did find a train at the old Lake Louise train station (now a restaurant).
We spent the afternoon - a very beautiful one at that - walking the Bow River Loop Trail.
Silver-bordered frittilary on the trail.
It was very peaceful on this trail; we had it to ourselves and that was a nice change from some of the other trails we had hiked/walked.
We brought our day to a close at one of our favorite spots - Moraine Lake. This time the sun gods smiled on us.
If you would like to see more photos from our trip, see the galleries at: http://eenusa.smugmug.com/2007%20Travels/360881. And if you want to read a long (and I really mean that) trip report, visit: http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=29&tid=35046705&numresponses=23&start=0&screen_name=eenusa.
Thank you for taking this virtual trip.