Day Seven – Thursday, July 30th
We woke up to crisp blue skies and NO RAIN. (We had to wait to get to a resort for the rain to stop!) Today the agenda was to explore the Banff area. As AAA guide says, “the majestic beauty is inescapable”. And they weren’t kidding. Everywhere you look are glorious mountains, lovely lakes, wildflowers….wow! Banff National Park is the oldest in the Canadian National Park system.
Lake Louise is the real gem here and with its turquoise-colored water from the glacial slit….it is stunning. But, on the average summer day 10,000 tourists come to gaze at the water and get their pictures taken. We knew we didn’t want to just hang out with all of those folks. Our home base of Canmore is a little out of the real bustle of this crowded tourist area. The problem with these really gorgeous places is that other people seem to also want to go there! What to do? One of the tricks we have learned over the years is that you can visit even the busiest of National Parks and soon get away from the throngs just by hiking away from the blacktop parking lots. What a relief. National park parking jams are no fun, but the people who you meet out on the trail are definitely friendly and “our type of travelers.”
So, as soon as possible, we set off to go on a lovely trail, about 7 miles round trip around the Lake and up one of the mountainsides to reach: ta da: a teahouse. Yes, we hiked 3 and a half miles up hill (1500 feet gain in altitude) most of the way in order to have lunch at a Swiss chalet style teahouse built in 1927 for the comfort of the rich folks who came to view the park. (They mostly rode up to the teahouse on horseback…NOT hiking.) The day was a beautiful, not too hot, sunny and the walk was outstanding. Again, the people we have been meeting as so super.
We met two rather interesting couples: one a couple in their mid-70’s from Calgary who have been hiking this trail for the past at least 35 years and did it again today. Although not backpackers, they had hiked throughout the Canadian Rockies and much on the American side, too. They talked of their efforts to get their kids as enthused about hiking as they have been, with mixed results. As it turns out, they vacation each summer in Carlsbad CA, the next town over from where we live. What a small world! 
We also met a couple of retired educators: the husband was a high school science teacher and the wife a school librarian. Their passion, along with hiking, is wildflowers. So we got quite a guided tour of some of the wonderful wildflowers along this hike. They knew many of the common ones off the top of their heads, but had along three different guidebooks for the trickier flowers, and had some spirited discussions about a number of the flowers. People are so generous, and how we did appreciate picking their brains on some we were not familiar with.
So you might be asking, did you really eat at a teahouse on the top of this mountain? Yes we did. And found out that the staff there has to hike in over 3 miles up the mountain for their 5-day shift, and then sleep in cabins near the teahouse. The non-perishables are brought in once a season by helicopter, while staff carries in the perishables on their shift changes. Great food including home-baked bread, homemade soup, and fresh apple pie.
A hiker was sad that they had no ice water, but they have no electricity. The food tasted terrific! While we were up top, we had the chance to see several glaciers much closer than from down below and we also saw (and heard) 3 avalanches, or glaciers “calving” and falling hundreds of feet. Very cool and very dramatic. It took 3 and a half hours to hike up and one and a half to get down. Down was a lot easier!
Then as we were driving back to the resort, guess what? Rain again! It continued off and on all evening. Guess it was making sure we got our daily quotient of rain. After dinner, we settled in for a nap, a soak in the hot tub (oh, those achy muscles) and to watch a DVD on Alaska.
The hot tub gave a chance to talk with a young couple who had been rock climbing and the husband goes on regular trips to the Himalayas, as well as a more elderly gentleman who was visiting and bring around friends from Shanghai, offering them a glimpse of the majesty of the Canadian Rockies. Who knows WHO you’ll meet while soaking your achy muscles.
Day eight – Friday, July 31st
Another beautiful day in paradise. Okay, we woke us with clouds totally socked in. It reminded us of the marine layer at home. We couldn’t see the mountains outside our window even though the weather report there just aren’t words for how lovely the scenery is. One more night at our timeshare resort and then we are off to a string of nights camping.
One of the interesting things about this area is that the Trans-Canada Highway runs right through the national park, much of it a four-lane expressway. Convenient for travelers, but what about the animals? Well the smart people who run this place have taken care of that by building high fences along the highway, and then putting in underpasses (lots of these) and now also animal overpasses complete with tress and grass right over the highway. They have been monitoring them and found that the deer and elk used them first (being the early adaptors), with the moose and bears following behind later.) A creative way to allow animals access other areas of their home territories while still allowing traffic to go along.
So, what did we do when it was crazy foggy and cloudy? Drove to see what would be possible. It turned out that things cleared up enough late morning that we could go see another fabulously beautiful sight: Lake Moraine and the Valley of the Ten Peaks. This is a famous beautiful lake that at one point was on the back of the Canadian $20 bill. We decided that Lake Louise wasn’t turquoise, Lake MORAINE is truly turquoise, especially at this time of 
year, and it was almost electric in color. We climbed upon the rocks of the moraine, shot photos, oo-ed and ah-ed at the beauty. We watched a couple, despite all the warnings, feed a golden mantle ground squirrel, even to having it climb onto the guy’s shoulder in order to get fed. Not a good idea for the animal, plus, you sure could get bit! Yipes. Oh well.
We then drove over to Yoho National Park, right next door to Banff if you continue on the Trans Canada Highway. We went on the recommendation of a fellow guest last night to see a waterfall called the Takakkaw Waterfall. Both Takakkaw and Yoho are words from the Indian Cree language, with Yoho being an exclamation of amazement and Takakkaw would mean “It’s magmificient!” Both were great choices. The waterfall is fed by a glacier, so in the hot summer sun, water is roaring along! The closer you got, the louder the roar of the water. At over 800 feet in its primary fall, it is the tallest waterfall in Canada. It is so splendid to look at and the feeling of the spray on our faces on a warm afternoon was refressing.
On the way back to our timeshare, Patti suddenly got a glimpse alongside the road of a bear, she thought. “Stop now!,” she shouted and when we pulled off, there, behind the freeway fence was
a yearling grizzly bear. We hopped out of the car, safely, because of the fence, and eventually so did nearly 75 other people. Patti it seems, caused a “bear jam” of some proportions. It was stunning to see a bear up so close, eating, drinking from the river and eventually taking a swim. Very, very cool!
Then back to do some last laundry, get the car ready and pull things together for our journey continues tomorrow. On to Jasper National Park.
So just how are we working out creating these blog entries? Inquiring minds want to know. Generally, Patti takes first stab at a rough draft, passes that along to Dick where he corrects things and fills in his recollections, then back to Patti for final editing and posting to the blog site. Then Dick goes through all of the photos for two days, pulls out the ones that fit with what we are saying, (out of several hundred each day!) He passes these to Patti who reduces the size and does some photo editing, then back to Dick to be uploaded. We pass the flash drive back and forth between laptops. Yes, it is a new century!
For those of you who want to follow our progress, here is the next chunk of traveling for the NEXT block of days:
Day 9: Travel to Jasper National Park
Day 10: Travel to Dawson Creek, BC (beginning of the Alaskan Highway)
Day 11: Travel on the Alaskan Highway to Fort Nelson BC
Day 12: Travel to Watson Lake, Yukon
Day 13: Travel to Whitehorse YT
Day 14: Travel to Haines Junction, YT
Day 15: Explore the edges of Kluane National Park, near Haines Junction, YT
Day 16: Travel to Fairbanks, Alaska
Day 17: Explore Fairbanks Alaska
Day 18: Travel to Healey, AK (outside Denali National Park)
Day 19: Explore Denali National Park
Day 20: Explore Denali National Park
We woke up to crisp blue skies and NO RAIN. (We had to wait to get to a resort for the rain to stop!) Today the agenda was to explore the Banff area. As AAA guide says, “the majestic beauty is inescapable”. And they weren’t kidding. Everywhere you look are glorious mountains, lovely lakes, wildflowers….wow! Banff National Park is the oldest in the Canadian National Park system.
Lake Louise is the real gem here and with its turquoise-colored water from the glacial slit….it is stunning. But, on the average summer day 10,000 tourists come to gaze at the water and get their pictures taken. We knew we didn’t want to just hang out with all of those folks. Our home base of Canmore is a little out of the real bustle of this crowded tourist area. The problem with these really gorgeous places is that other people seem to also want to go there! What to do? One of the tricks we have learned over the years is that you can visit even the busiest of National Parks and soon get away from the throngs just by hiking away from the blacktop parking lots. What a relief. National park parking jams are no fun, but the people who you meet out on the trail are definitely friendly and “our type of travelers.”So, as soon as possible, we set off to go on a lovely trail, about 7 miles round trip around the Lake and up one of the mountainsides to reach: ta da: a teahouse. Yes, we hiked 3 and a half miles up hill (1500 feet gain in altitude) most of the way in order to have lunch at a Swiss chalet style teahouse built in 1927 for the comfort of the rich folks who came to view the park. (They mostly rode up to the teahouse on horseback…NOT hiking.) The day was a beautiful, not too hot, sunny and the walk was outstanding. Again, the people we have been meeting as so super.
We met two rather interesting couples: one a couple in their mid-70’s from Calgary who have been hiking this trail for the past at least 35 years and did it again today. Although not backpackers, they had hiked throughout the Canadian Rockies and much on the American side, too. They talked of their efforts to get their kids as enthused about hiking as they have been, with mixed results. As it turns out, they vacation each summer in Carlsbad CA, the next town over from where we live. What a small world! 
We also met a couple of retired educators: the husband was a high school science teacher and the wife a school librarian. Their passion, along with hiking, is wildflowers. So we got quite a guided tour of some of the wonderful wildflowers along this hike. They knew many of the common ones off the top of their heads, but had along three different guidebooks for the trickier flowers, and had some spirited discussions about a number of the flowers. People are so generous, and how we did appreciate picking their brains on some we were not familiar with.
So you might be asking, did you really eat at a teahouse on the top of this mountain? Yes we did. And found out that the staff there has to hike in over 3 miles up the mountain for their 5-day shift, and then sleep in cabins near the teahouse. The non-perishables are brought in once a season by helicopter, while staff carries in the perishables on their shift changes. Great food including home-baked bread, homemade soup, and fresh apple pie.
A hiker was sad that they had no ice water, but they have no electricity. The food tasted terrific! While we were up top, we had the chance to see several glaciers much closer than from down below and we also saw (and heard) 3 avalanches, or glaciers “calving” and falling hundreds of feet. Very cool and very dramatic. It took 3 and a half hours to hike up and one and a half to get down. Down was a lot easier!Then as we were driving back to the resort, guess what? Rain again! It continued off and on all evening. Guess it was making sure we got our daily quotient of rain. After dinner, we settled in for a nap, a soak in the hot tub (oh, those achy muscles) and to watch a DVD on Alaska.
The hot tub gave a chance to talk with a young couple who had been rock climbing and the husband goes on regular trips to the Himalayas, as well as a more elderly gentleman who was visiting and bring around friends from Shanghai, offering them a glimpse of the majesty of the Canadian Rockies. Who knows WHO you’ll meet while soaking your achy muscles.
Day eight – Friday, July 31st
Another beautiful day in paradise. Okay, we woke us with clouds totally socked in. It reminded us of the marine layer at home. We couldn’t see the mountains outside our window even though the weather report there just aren’t words for how lovely the scenery is. One more night at our timeshare resort and then we are off to a string of nights camping.
One of the interesting things about this area is that the Trans-Canada Highway runs right through the national park, much of it a four-lane expressway. Convenient for travelers, but what about the animals? Well the smart people who run this place have taken care of that by building high fences along the highway, and then putting in underpasses (lots of these) and now also animal overpasses complete with tress and grass right over the highway. They have been monitoring them and found that the deer and elk used them first (being the early adaptors), with the moose and bears following behind later.) A creative way to allow animals access other areas of their home territories while still allowing traffic to go along.
So, what did we do when it was crazy foggy and cloudy? Drove to see what would be possible. It turned out that things cleared up enough late morning that we could go see another fabulously beautiful sight: Lake Moraine and the Valley of the Ten Peaks. This is a famous beautiful lake that at one point was on the back of the Canadian $20 bill. We decided that Lake Louise wasn’t turquoise, Lake MORAINE is truly turquoise, especially at this time of 
year, and it was almost electric in color. We climbed upon the rocks of the moraine, shot photos, oo-ed and ah-ed at the beauty. We watched a couple, despite all the warnings, feed a golden mantle ground squirrel, even to having it climb onto the guy’s shoulder in order to get fed. Not a good idea for the animal, plus, you sure could get bit! Yipes. Oh well.
We then drove over to Yoho National Park, right next door to Banff if you continue on the Trans Canada Highway. We went on the recommendation of a fellow guest last night to see a waterfall called the Takakkaw Waterfall. Both Takakkaw and Yoho are words from the Indian Cree language, with Yoho being an exclamation of amazement and Takakkaw would mean “It’s magmificient!” Both were great choices. The waterfall is fed by a glacier, so in the hot summer sun, water is roaring along! The closer you got, the louder the roar of the water. At over 800 feet in its primary fall, it is the tallest waterfall in Canada. It is so splendid to look at and the feeling of the spray on our faces on a warm afternoon was refressing.On the way back to our timeshare, Patti suddenly got a glimpse alongside the road of a bear, she thought. “Stop now!,” she shouted and when we pulled off, there, behind the freeway fence was
a yearling grizzly bear. We hopped out of the car, safely, because of the fence, and eventually so did nearly 75 other people. Patti it seems, caused a “bear jam” of some proportions. It was stunning to see a bear up so close, eating, drinking from the river and eventually taking a swim. Very, very cool!Then back to do some last laundry, get the car ready and pull things together for our journey continues tomorrow. On to Jasper National Park.
So just how are we working out creating these blog entries? Inquiring minds want to know. Generally, Patti takes first stab at a rough draft, passes that along to Dick where he corrects things and fills in his recollections, then back to Patti for final editing and posting to the blog site. Then Dick goes through all of the photos for two days, pulls out the ones that fit with what we are saying, (out of several hundred each day!) He passes these to Patti who reduces the size and does some photo editing, then back to Dick to be uploaded. We pass the flash drive back and forth between laptops. Yes, it is a new century!
For those of you who want to follow our progress, here is the next chunk of traveling for the NEXT block of days:
Day 9: Travel to Jasper National Park
Day 10: Travel to Dawson Creek, BC (beginning of the Alaskan Highway)
Day 11: Travel on the Alaskan Highway to Fort Nelson BC
Day 12: Travel to Watson Lake, Yukon
Day 13: Travel to Whitehorse YT
Day 14: Travel to Haines Junction, YT
Day 15: Explore the edges of Kluane National Park, near Haines Junction, YT
Day 16: Travel to Fairbanks, Alaska
Day 17: Explore Fairbanks Alaska
Day 18: Travel to Healey, AK (outside Denali National Park)
Day 19: Explore Denali National Park
Day 20: Explore Denali National Park
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