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June 28 to July 1st July 2 - 4 July 5 - 7 July 8 - 10 July 11 - 14 July 15 - 23
As you can see by the dates, this blog was written in summer 2007. I decided to add the English version in June 2012.
Remember, at the time, this was written for family and not as a blog for all to read.
Looking back, I got to thinking that maybe some folks out there may like to know what the "Canadian Rockies" are all about!
This is only "our trip". I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.
Thursday June 28, 2007
We left Cold Lake at around 2 pm. myself and Michele are heading towards Calgary to meet my brother Rolland and his wife Suzie. They are traveling from Montreal, Quebec. The roads are very nice in Alberta. We did good time traveling and got to spend the night in Airdrie, close to Calgary, at the Walmart. Not a good night's sleep. We are by a major highway, the train goes by really close. We are on the flight path to land for the international airport of Calgary. Noise?
I am up at 5 am, had breakfast. I am on my bicycle checking out the neighborhood until 7 am.
We are at the Calgary airport by 9:30 am. Suzie and Rolland are not scheduled to arrive until 11:30 am. Oh well!
It is nice to have your own "house" with you, it makes your wait time more enjoyable.
Once Suzie and Rolland arrive, we all want to talk at the same time, so much to say. After getting the luggage, we take time to have a beer. Talk some more before we head to the Rockies to the town of Banff.
I only made two bad turns going through Calgary. We made a stop for groceries before heading west.
A light drizzle keeps falling until we are out of Calgary, then it stops. We can see the Rockies looking ahead.
Suzie and Rolland can't believe how beautiful the scenery is. They also can't believe how big and tall the mountains are.
The 4 of us by Lac des Arcs or Bow Lake. It is actually in French on maps.
The closer we get, the bigger it gets. Suzie and Rolland find it so beautiful.
Mount McGillivray.
Three or four stops later we got to Banff. Right away, we went to our campground to get our spot, rest and catch up with a beer or two. It is so funny to watch Suzie and Rolland with their head spinning around trying to catch all the sights.
The rain started in the evening and went all night long. We spent the evening inside looking at photos we took so far.
In bed by midnight!
Our bodies are up by 8:30 am. The rain stopped, off we are to visit Banff. To go downtown, we decided to follow a hiking trail going by the Bow River. A little hike of 6 km.
Here we go, the boys have to throw rocks in the river!
Boy, that water is some cold.
Is Suzie sick? No, she is just looking at the other side of the ridge.
The hotel behind us is the Banff Spring Hotel. Built in 1886 by the CP (Canadian Pacific), and when it opened in 1888, this was the biggest hotel in the world with 250 rooms.
Once in Banff, we shopped the main street and let me tell you there is a lot of shopping to be done here.
Done with the shopping, we took the bus to get home from Banff.
Beautiful scenery and a nice little hike we had today.
Out to get more beer!
After dinner, we just chat and take it easy. Rolland just can't stop looking at the mountains and telling us "this is just beautiful".
Today we had no rain, even some sun! The temperature was still only in the +16 C. We spend the evening inside because the outside temperature got down to +7 C. We started to look at today's photo, but ran out of energy and went to bed by midnight.
A very nice hike and some good shopping.
We use the local, but to get to the "Banff Gondola".
Departure building.
From the departure building looking towards mount Sulfur, our destination.
Looking down at our departure point.
But before we go up, we stop and read some information on the valley and the Sulfur mountain.
Suzie and Michèle took the gondola to get to the top of Mount Sulfur.
Myself and Rolland go up by the trail.
The trail to get to the top is 5.6 km with an elevation gain of 70 M. Lots of zigs and zags.
Two and a half hours later, we are at the top.
While we are going up the mountain, Michèle and Suzie are busy waiting for us with a cold beer.
And another beer...
They had to control themselves for not having another beer. Maybe it was the fear or the doubt about us climbing the mountain!
We made it to the top of Mount Sulfur! Good thing we had some wind and a cool +16 C or it would have been hot.
What a fantastic view from the top. The photos do not even come close to what we actually see.
On the top left of the photo, Mount Stoney Squaw at 1,884 meters high. Middle left, the town of Banff. The "small" mountain in the middle is Mount Tunnel at only a height of 1,690 m. Top right, you have the Minnewanka lake and going through the photo is the Bow River.
View of the valley.
Another view of the Minnewanka lake and the Palliser range. The tall mountain is mount Aylmer at 3,162 m.
Lots of wind at the top. It is a little cool for short pants.
This is where the gondola arrives. It is at an elevation of 2,260 m.
And the ultimate point of the day, Mount Sanson at 2,270 m.
The trail between the two places is all above the ground to protect the fragile eco-systems at those altitudes. Lots of information about the history and nature surrounding the mountain.
Can you see all three goats?
All four of us take the gondola to get back down the mountain. The next stop is the thermal bath of Banff located 10 minutes from the gondola.
The water is at +39 Celsius, but before we talk about the bath, we have to talk about the performance me and Rolland did. We could not make the pay lockers work. We kept putting 25 cents in the locker, but it would not work! Finally, we read the instructions and found out it requires $1.00. Not our best performance!
Lots of people in the bath, the water was very nice, especially after our hike up the mountain. After about an hour, we head back to the motorhome.
Right by the entrance of our campground, we saw this elk.
Here we are having a beer from Africa, a Flag.
Spent the evening inside as the temperature cools off quickly when the sun goes down. Also, we cannot have a campfire in the part of the campground.
We went to bed at around midnight again...
Next, from July 2 - 5.
June 28 to July 1st July 2 - 4 July 5 - 7 July 8 - 10 July 11 - 14 July 15 - 23
The Canadian Rockies 2007.
June 28 to July 1st.
As you can see by the dates, this blog was written in summer 2007. I decided to add the English version in June 2012.
Remember, at the time, this was written for family and not as a blog for all to read.
Looking back, I got to thinking that maybe some folks out there may like to know what the "Canadian Rockies" are all about!
This is only "our trip". I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.
Thursday June 28, 2007
We left Cold Lake at around 2 pm. myself and Michele are heading towards Calgary to meet my brother Rolland and his wife Suzie. They are traveling from Montreal, Quebec. The roads are very nice in Alberta. We did good time traveling and got to spend the night in Airdrie, close to Calgary, at the Walmart. Not a good night's sleep. We are by a major highway, the train goes by really close. We are on the flight path to land for the international airport of Calgary. Noise?
Friday June 29, 2007
I am up at 5 am, had breakfast. I am on my bicycle checking out the neighborhood until 7 am.
We are at the Calgary airport by 9:30 am. Suzie and Rolland are not scheduled to arrive until 11:30 am. Oh well!
It is nice to have your own "house" with you, it makes your wait time more enjoyable.
Once Suzie and Rolland arrive, we all want to talk at the same time, so much to say. After getting the luggage, we take time to have a beer. Talk some more before we head to the Rockies to the town of Banff.
I only made two bad turns going through Calgary. We made a stop for groceries before heading west.
A light drizzle keeps falling until we are out of Calgary, then it stops. We can see the Rockies looking ahead.
Suzie and Rolland can't believe how beautiful the scenery is. They also can't believe how big and tall the mountains are.
The 4 of us by Lac des Arcs or Bow Lake. It is actually in French on maps.
The closer we get, the bigger it gets. Suzie and Rolland find it so beautiful.
Mount McGillivray.
Three or four stops later we got to Banff. Right away, we went to our campground to get our spot, rest and catch up with a beer or two. It is so funny to watch Suzie and Rolland with their head spinning around trying to catch all the sights.
The rain started in the evening and went all night long. We spent the evening inside looking at photos we took so far.
In bed by midnight!
Saturday June 30, 2007
Our bodies are up by 8:30 am. The rain stopped, off we are to visit Banff. To go downtown, we decided to follow a hiking trail going by the Bow River. A little hike of 6 km.
Here we go, the boys have to throw rocks in the river!
Boy, that water is some cold.
Is Suzie sick? No, she is just looking at the other side of the ridge.
The hotel behind us is the Banff Spring Hotel. Built in 1886 by the CP (Canadian Pacific), and when it opened in 1888, this was the biggest hotel in the world with 250 rooms.
Once in Banff, we shopped the main street and let me tell you there is a lot of shopping to be done here.
Done with the shopping, we took the bus to get home from Banff.
Beautiful scenery and a nice little hike we had today.
Out to get more beer!
After dinner, we just chat and take it easy. Rolland just can't stop looking at the mountains and telling us "this is just beautiful".
Today we had no rain, even some sun! The temperature was still only in the +16 C. We spend the evening inside because the outside temperature got down to +7 C. We started to look at today's photo, but ran out of energy and went to bed by midnight.
A very nice hike and some good shopping.
Sunday July 1st, 2006
We use the local, but to get to the "Banff Gondola".
Departure building.
From the departure building looking towards mount Sulfur, our destination.
Looking down at our departure point.
But before we go up, we stop and read some information on the valley and the Sulfur mountain.
Suzie and Michèle took the gondola to get to the top of Mount Sulfur.
Myself and Rolland go up by the trail.
The trail to get to the top is 5.6 km with an elevation gain of 70 M. Lots of zigs and zags.
Two and a half hours later, we are at the top.
While we are going up the mountain, Michèle and Suzie are busy waiting for us with a cold beer.
And another beer...
They had to control themselves for not having another beer. Maybe it was the fear or the doubt about us climbing the mountain!
We made it to the top of Mount Sulfur! Good thing we had some wind and a cool +16 C or it would have been hot.
What a fantastic view from the top. The photos do not even come close to what we actually see.
On the top left of the photo, Mount Stoney Squaw at 1,884 meters high. Middle left, the town of Banff. The "small" mountain in the middle is Mount Tunnel at only a height of 1,690 m. Top right, you have the Minnewanka lake and going through the photo is the Bow River.
View of the valley.
Another view of the Minnewanka lake and the Palliser range. The tall mountain is mount Aylmer at 3,162 m.
Lots of wind at the top. It is a little cool for short pants.
This is where the gondola arrives. It is at an elevation of 2,260 m.
And the ultimate point of the day, Mount Sanson at 2,270 m.
The trail between the two places is all above the ground to protect the fragile eco-systems at those altitudes. Lots of information about the history and nature surrounding the mountain.
Can you see all three goats?
All four of us take the gondola to get back down the mountain. The next stop is the thermal bath of Banff located 10 minutes from the gondola.
The water is at +39 Celsius, but before we talk about the bath, we have to talk about the performance me and Rolland did. We could not make the pay lockers work. We kept putting 25 cents in the locker, but it would not work! Finally, we read the instructions and found out it requires $1.00. Not our best performance!
Lots of people in the bath, the water was very nice, especially after our hike up the mountain. After about an hour, we head back to the motorhome.
Right by the entrance of our campground, we saw this elk.
Here we are having a beer from Africa, a Flag.
Spent the evening inside as the temperature cools off quickly when the sun goes down. Also, we cannot have a campfire in the part of the campground.
We went to bed at around midnight again...
Next, from July 2 - 5.
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