Canada- Eh!

Three Sisters - Faith, Hope and Charity in Canmore Alberta

Golf at the Kananaskis Golf Club

Dinner theatre we attended in Canmore Alberta called, "Oh Canada, Eh!"

Cascade Gardens in the town of Banff

Moraine Lake in Banff National Park

Natural Bridge in Yoho National Park - British Columbia Canada

Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park - British Columbia Canada

Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park British Columbia

Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park British Columbia Canada

The confluence of two rivers - Kicking Horse and Yoho Rivers. Notice the difference in color. This is due to the glacier silt in one river while the other one has traveled farther and allowed the silt to settle.

Bow Lake located along the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park - Alberta Canada

A view looking away from the Athabasca Glacier towards the Icefields Visitor Center

Standing near the end of the hike near the "hole". This hole drops over 300 feet to the bottom of the glacier.

Kirk is peeping into the hole while our guide, Ron hangs onto him. Kirk was scared to death! If you fall, there is no rescue. You drop to the bottom and die!

Carol shot this picture while she was looking in the glacier hole. This hole is caused by the glacier melting and the runoff finds a crevice which develops into a bigger and bigger hole.

Our group hiking up the Athabasca glacier

At the beginning of the hike the glacier looks dirty

Kirk is starting up the glacier next to large runoff coming off the glacier. It gets chilly so he had to put on his coat

As we left the trail you can see the beginning or "toe" of the glacier.

Lake Louise in Banff National Park in Alberta Canada.

Temple Mountain in Banff with a very large ice field

A falls on the Johnston Canyon hike in Banff

The Upper Falls in Johnston Canyon located in Banff National Park

The Lower Falls of Johston Canyon in Banff. It was a great hike!

The beginning of the Johston Canyon hike requires walking along a catwalk for about 1/2 mile

Our campsite in Bow Valley Campground located 12 miles east of Canmore Alberta Canada. Kirk is having his first beer in Canada with our ever present flamingoes.

This is our one and only blog report for "8 Days in Canada - Eh!" We arrived after a 370 mile journey from West Glacier, Montana which was a bit trying . . . many of the roads were narrow, winding, and hilly and the trip through "barely the outskirts of Calgary during rush hour" was not relaxing! But we made it!! The campground was pretty nice and generally quiet.

Early on we ventured into Banff NP and first did a 2 mile hike up Johnson Canyon to visit two different waterfall sites. A good part of the walk was along boardwalks constructed alongside the walls of the canyon. The waterfalls were nice but not as pretty as some we had hiked to in Glacier NP. After the 2 hour hike we took a shorter 45 minute hike up to another set of waterfalls, actually more picturesque than the Johnson Canyon falls; however, we didn't post any pictures as it was actually difficult to get a good representation of the falls in picture form.

Later, we visited Lake Louise, which is probably one of the most publicized and photographed lakes in Banff NP. It was very pretty and it was really nice to just sit along the lakeside and gander at the lake, the surrounding mountains, etc. Just outside of Banff we took some pictures of what was a beautiful snow and ice buildup on top of one of the mountains surrounding Banff.

About mid-week, we decided to book an Ice Walk on the Athabasca Glacier which is located in the Columbia Ice Field just out of the northern edge of Banff NP and just in Jasper NP. Most everything we saw and did in this area took a lot of driving . . . this was no exception, i.e., a 3 1/2 hour drive where we had to get up with the chickens (or the squirrels, deer, elk, moose, bear, etc.) in order to get there by 10:30 to meet our guide. The walk was quite an adventure, perhaps one of the major highlights of our Canadian visit. Our guide, Ron, was very informative, very friendly, and just generally a delight. Our nearly 4 hour walk started out with a fairly steep hike up to the base, or "toe" of glacier. We then set out onto the glacier and walked up the middle of the glacier perhaps a third of the way up the glacier. Along the way we hopped over small rivers of ice cold water and peered down into waterfall ice holes which we were told were probably 300-400 feet deep (you could kiss your ....ss goodbye if you happened to slip into one of these - no way out!!). At the far end of our walk, we saw (based on some measuring rods that the geologists use to study glacier changes, melting ,etc.) how a point where we standing was almost 5 feet lower than it was just 3 weeks earlier . . . . a testimony as to just how much and how fast the glaciers are melting away. This one area, called the Columbia Ice Field, a series of about 5 or 6 major glaciers, provides the fresh water source for perhaps a third of Canada.

On the road back from our icewalk, we probably passed at least 20 huge glaciers sitting at the top of various Rocky Mountain Range mountains . . . really some awesome sights. We also saw our first black bear on the way back . . . I had to put the brakes on hard to keep from hitting him . . . but, unfortunately, he scurried away quickly before Carol could get him on camera.

Toward the end of the week, we took a tour over to Yoho NP (just west of Banff) and there saw a magnificent waterfall, Takakkaw Falls, which drops over 800 ft (by contrast Niagara falls about 170 feet and Lower Yellowstone Falls drops about 300 feet) . . . so this is one of the big ones!!!! As you stood near the bottom, you got drenched from the mist!!! We also saw a natural bridge formed by water which had undercut its way through a wall of rock. In some of the pictures you will think the water white . . . you are right . . . it is white from glaciel till, or rock flour as some would call it . . . . suspended fine white dust that makes the water flow white.

Towards the end of our stay, we experienced rain for about a day and a half which put a bit of a damper of sighseeing. But we filled the time by treating ourselves to a hour long bath in a hot springs pool (103 degrees) followed by a glorious 1 hour massage at the spa next to the hot springs. On the second to last night in Canada, we went to a dinner show which not only had good food but also good entertainment. On our last day in Canada, we played some golf (which we were supposed to play earlier in the week but got rained out). It threatened and occasionally spit some rain while we play but we "tuffed" it out. The course was beautiful with great scenery but was "tuff"!

We got up very early Thursday morning and were on the road back to the States by 6:45 am. The trip to Canada was well worth the mileage since we probably will never be that close again. As we said earlier, the park system required a lot of driving but we saw big, beautiful mountains that pictures cannot begin to present their size and numbers. We are sad to leave here but are anxious to move onto the next adventure which is working our way from Bow Valley Campground in Alberta to Rocky National Park in Colorado. As we look at the schedule we see that the Campbell's Traveling Salvation Show is getting closer to its end so we must enjoy the time we have remaining. We conclude this posting by saying, "Oh Canada, Eh!"

Glacier - the Final Days

Kirk was really cooling his heels in the Sunrift Gorge . . . . damn cold!!!!

Downstream from St. Mary's Falls . . . . beautiful azure blue!

Virginia Falls

St. Mary's Falls . . we thought this was the most beautiful.

Baring Falls . . . the first, and the smallest, of the falls we visited

Jackson Glacier - the only glacier visible from the road

Another falls and a view to go with it

Kirk was very proud of his form in this shot as well as he whomped my butt. The course is Glacier View, just outside the entrance to Glacier Park.

After fishing was a bust we decided to sit by McDonald Lake and have a brew

A hike to Rocky Point provided another photo opportunity at McDonald Lake

This hike had loads of wildflowers. We did this right after fishing.

The last few days at Glacier were a mix of activities. We tried another day of fishing but the wind made it almost impossible to cast a fly. So we called it quits after a few hours and took a few hikes. One was a nature trail with lots of wildflowers and the other gave us a chance to enjoy McDonald Lake, one of the larger lakes at Glacier. We found a perfect spot to watch the water and enjoy a cold beer.

After all the exertion of fishing, we decided a round of golf would be a good recovery. Since it was Kirk's birthday he was allowed to pick the activity and was allowed to win which he did fair and square! We fell into a real nice geezer rate - 18 holes, cart and a nice lunch for $35 each. Later that day, Rose from HDR came to the campsite with her granddaughter and daughter-in-law to have dinner with us. They are vacationing in Glacier for 5 days. The highlight of the evening was eating s'mores!

Our last day in Glacier was a "Falls" kind of day. The hike we picked took us to three falls. It ended up being a longer hike than we thought. We found a place where we could cool our feet. Boy...that water coming out of the snow drifts and ice fields is REALLY cold!

It is a very sad day for us that we must leave this beautiful place. However, Kirk's knees probably could not handle any more hikes. Besides he is another year older and is already slowing down! The Campbell's Traveling Salvation Show will be departing early in the morning for our 8 day visit in Alberta Canada and Banff National Park.

Glacier - Golf, Fishing, Lunch with the Moose

Waterton Lake in Canada - our return destination is way back as far as you can see

The herd of Moose having lunch with us . . . or us with them

Big Moosies!

Wanna' eat with me

One of the bridges on the hike to Kootenai Lakes

The hike to Kootenai Lake was very lush and foresty

The mountain is called the Citadel - unusual formation - our hike took us behind it

The Glacier - Waterton International cruise - Prince of Wales hotel on the hill

Some scenery from the Going to the Sun Road which is the main road through Glacier National Park. Many waterfalls, very steep road.

The Weeping Wall - this section of the mountain flows lots of water next to the road-always

Our campsite in West Glacier Campground

The bathroom facilities in Polebridge Montana!

This little store has the best bakery in Montana!

The local saloon in Polebridge, known as the Northern Lights Saloon

Golf at Village Greens in Kalispell

The Campbell's Traveling Salvation Show decided to rest our legs after the Highline hike by playing some golf at a course in Kalispell. It was flat and and relatively easy and afforded some nice views of the mountains - although in the distance.

The next day, Friday, was fishing day. Kirk has been chomping at the bit to get to those lovely trout laden rivers. If you fish in the national park there is no Montana fishing license required. We spent the entire day fishing. I actually caught a few bull trout but all bull trout are catch and release. Kirk also caught a few but they were all "throw-backers!". On the way to the Flathead river, we went through the town? of Polebridge. It is very remote, up a very dusty dirt road, and has a general store and saloon. Just what you need in the boonies! They are noted for their great baked goods and we were not disappointed. It was quite the experience sitting at the picnic table and enjoying our huckleberry sweet roll. After a hot day of fishing, we enjoyed a couple of cold beers in Polebridge and then headed our way back to the camper.

Saturday we headed to Waterton Canada to take a cruise on Waterton Lake so we could hike to an area where there are usually moose to be seen. The lake we needed to hike to was 2.8 miles one way and winded through thick underbrush. At some places we thought we were bushwacking!. The only way to get to this lake is either to hike 30 miles from the Glacier park side or take the Waterton cruise to hike the trail that we took. When we arrived at the lake there was one big bull moose and a cow munching away in the water. We found a nice spot behind the willows next to the lake and proceeded to eat our lunch along with the moosies. By the time we had finished lunch we had watched nine different moose - 8 bulls and one cow (poor thing!). We were elated to be dining with the moose! We stayed for about 45 minutes and watched them come and go. After the hike we had 2 hours before the boat came back for the return to Waterton. I decided to take another hike to Rainbow Falls. Kirk's legs were tuckered out so he sat out that short hike. We dined in Waterton but this time with the deer - anywhere from 5-6 deer roam around town in the parks etc., all the time. I had the most expensive hamburger I ever ate in my life. But what the heck! We were starving and we are on vacation. By the way, the hamburger was just a little better than McDonald's. The local Canadian draft beer we had, however, was very good. It is a long drive to Waterton from the west side of the park (3 hours). Kirk asked me to drive back (I am sure he still regrets that decision - he sweated more on the return trip than he did on the hike!).

The last thrills of the day included the black bear we saw on the east side of the park on our return trip. We did not pull over to take a picture because it was dusk and the lighting conditions were unfavorable and he was too far away. But we did watch him wander around the meadow for a little while. The last thrill was me driving us back to the campsite going up and then down the Going to the Sun road after dusk and in nightime conditions (prime deer jump in front of the truck time!!). I think there are nail marks in the passenger door from Kirk's death grip. Hey..."I am a very good driver.....and I buy my underwear at Kmart" (quote from Rainman). We arrived safe and sound, albeit nerve wracked (just Kirk) around 10:30 PM. After a refreshing shower to remove all the bug spray we decided that the next day would be an easy fishing day - maybe back to that fine town of Polebridge!