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July 2 to 4, 2007
Late start this morning, up at 9 am. We take our time, chat a little, no rush. Today, we are taking a guided tour of Banff. The bus is picking us up at the campground at 1:30 pm.
Our bus has a name, Issy and our guide, Emma. She is from England. Emma takes us downtown Banff and tells us all kinds of information and stories about Banff.
The next stop is the lookout. Emma tells us stories and information related to the Banff Springs Hotel.
Also about the Bow river and falls.
The next stop is the "Cave & Basin" historical site.
Here is the cave and the hot springs found by the 3 railroad employees. One of the first commercial hot springs.
This is the "second" hot spring in Banff.
It is now closed to swimmers and it has a unique snail living in the hot water pool.
This is what they are looking at.
This hot spring pool was the 3rd pool built and was in use until 1976. If I remember right, I used this pool when I came to Banff in 1976 with my parents. This site is now a museum.
The next stop is at the hoodoos by the Bow River.
The guided tour group.
Lake Minnewanka is our next stop on the tour. This lake is actually a reservoir for the town water.
Again, the scenery is just great.
We even had the chance to watch some mountain goats.
Back from the guided tour, we asked to let off in Banff. Suzie and Rolland decided we were going to have dinner in town.
Some more shopping was done. We even had time to stop for a few beers in this cozy little bar.
Dinner was at the Keg and it was very good. Look like we are always drinking beer?
Back at the campground by 8 pm. Had some more beers. We even had to get more beer before we run out. Rolland and me left on the bicycles to get beer. We also had to confirm the operating hours of the laundromat.
Too late to start a wash!
Our mission is still accomplished, we got beer!
We transferred all the photos taken so far to the laptop. We are not even looking at them, too many to look at.
Tomorrow we are leaving Banff and going to Lake Louise.
Here are some bits of information about the town of Banff and the Banff National Park.
The town of Banff would not be here today if it was not for the Hot Springs. The CPR built the Banff Spring Hotel to attract tourism and helped them making money with the railroad. There is even a 4 year period when cars were outlawed in the park (1905 - 1909). The Banff National Park was created in 1885. It is the oldest national park in Canada. The 3rd oldest in the world after Yellowstone in the US and the Royal National Park in Australia. Banff National Park is the most visited park in Canada with 4.5 million visitors a year. Banff NP is also part of the UNESCO World Heritage site. With an area of over 6,640 square kilometers, it is twice the size of Prince Edward Island. Banff NP has over 1,000 glaciers.
Enough info for now...
July 3, 2007
Up at 8 am. Breakfast and we are on our way to Lake Louise, but first Suzie and Michèle stop at the local grocery store to replenish our food. Rolland and me got the GyPSy.
The GyPSy is a GPS and a tour guide in one unit. Based on your GPS location, the tour guide kicks in and gives you all the historical information about the location. We will be using it between Banff and Jasper. A very good addition to our trip.
We left Banff at about 11 am.
We are taking the secondary road to Lake Louise. The Bow Parkway.
On our way to Lake Louise, we stop and hike the Johnston Canyon trail.
A nice hike of 6 km to see 2 beautiful falls.
The first fall.
There is even a tunnel to see the falls closer.
The girls in the tunnel.
A view of the falls. Lots of water mist and the roar of the falls.
Here is the other side of the tunnel as seen from the belvedere.
Most of the trail is on thesidewalk attached to the side of the canyon.
Another view of the canyon.
This rock is worn by 4.5 million people visiting the park every year.
Michèle and Suzie and the four of us!
The second falls. Of all the hiking trails around Banff, I would recommend this one as a must.
A little further down the road, we hike another trail to see the 50 m high Silverton Falls.
The falls are named after the town of Silver City. It only existed for two years (1883 - 1884).
Both photos are of Storm Mountain. Very beautiful place, and it is a very big mountain.
This mountain looks like a castle, hence the name "Castle Mountain".
This stretch of road was so pretty, we had to...
...take a photo of us in the middle of it!
More beautiful scenery. The photo on the right is of the Morant curve with the CN railway. You probably have seen this curve before.
Once in Lake Louise, we were pretty lucky to get a campsite without a reservation.
We are in the tent area. Here, we are chatting away!
Dinner is a mixed affair, us outside, them inside!
Mount Temple and the Bow River.
The whole campground is surrounded by an electrified fence. It is used to protect the bear from encounters with human and their food.
A big 58 Km covered today!
Showers and gone to bed by 11:40 pm.
Our first stop this morning is at Lake Louise. The hotel was built by the CPR to attract visitors and make some extra money with the railroad.
What a beautiful place and a perfect day to enjoy it.
We even had the chance to listen to a horn player, just like in Switzerland.
Lake Louise and Mount Victoria with her glaciers. To the right of the lake, right at the edge of the water, you have a trail going all the way to the back of the lake.
We took the trail and went all the way back. A look from the other end of the lake.
This is actually the color of the water. It changes as the sun travels the sky.
Can you see the horses on the trail?
A beautiful day in very good companies, and we just started our travels!
After visiting Lake Louise, we head towards British Columbia for a quick peek in Yoho National Park.
This is Cathedral Mountain.
Changing of provinces, you need an official photo!
The reason we are in BC now is to have a look at the Spiral Tunnels. A marvel of engineering at the time of its construction.
We can see where the train goes in the tunnel (top left corner of the photo) and where it comes out of the tunnel (center right).
After the tunnels, we are back in Alberta.
Back on the Icefield Parkway, we travel north towards Jasper.
In many traveling books and even the National Geographic calls the Icefield Parkway one of the most beautiful drives in the world.
The Parkway was started in 1931 and completed in 1940.
Photos or words cannot express the beauty of the place.
More than half a million people take the parkway between Banff and Jasper every year.
One of the early explorers was a man by the name of Hector, this mountain is named after him.
Another long traveling day, 67 km total for the day. We camp at Mosquito Creek.
Here we are drinking some champagne to celebrate our wedding anniversary, 26 beautiful and happy years with Michèle.
After a few drinks, here we are making funny faces.
Here is what you see from the campground, mount Dolomite (2782 m).
Mosquito Creek is very cold, fresh from the glaciers.
A Chinese fondue for dinner tonight. We won't mention the few incidents that happen to Michèle tonight!
Another full day today, WOW!
Next, from July 5 - 7.
June 28 to July 1st July 2 - 4 July 5 - 7 July 8 - 10 July 11 - 14 July 15 - 23
The Canadian Rockies.
July 2 to 4, 2007
July 2, 2007
Late start this morning, up at 9 am. We take our time, chat a little, no rush. Today, we are taking a guided tour of Banff. The bus is picking us up at the campground at 1:30 pm.
Our bus has a name, Issy and our guide, Emma. She is from England. Emma takes us downtown Banff and tells us all kinds of information and stories about Banff.
The next stop is the lookout. Emma tells us stories and information related to the Banff Springs Hotel.
Also about the Bow river and falls.
The next stop is the "Cave & Basin" historical site.
Here is the cave and the hot springs found by the 3 railroad employees. One of the first commercial hot springs.
This is the "second" hot spring in Banff.
It is now closed to swimmers and it has a unique snail living in the hot water pool.
This is what they are looking at.
This hot spring pool was the 3rd pool built and was in use until 1976. If I remember right, I used this pool when I came to Banff in 1976 with my parents. This site is now a museum.
The next stop is at the hoodoos by the Bow River.
The guided tour group.
Lake Minnewanka is our next stop on the tour. This lake is actually a reservoir for the town water.
Again, the scenery is just great.
We even had the chance to watch some mountain goats.
Back from the guided tour, we asked to let off in Banff. Suzie and Rolland decided we were going to have dinner in town.
Some more shopping was done. We even had time to stop for a few beers in this cozy little bar.
Dinner was at the Keg and it was very good. Look like we are always drinking beer?
Back at the campground by 8 pm. Had some more beers. We even had to get more beer before we run out. Rolland and me left on the bicycles to get beer. We also had to confirm the operating hours of the laundromat.
Too late to start a wash!
Our mission is still accomplished, we got beer!
We transferred all the photos taken so far to the laptop. We are not even looking at them, too many to look at.
Tomorrow we are leaving Banff and going to Lake Louise.
Here are some bits of information about the town of Banff and the Banff National Park.
The town of Banff would not be here today if it was not for the Hot Springs. The CPR built the Banff Spring Hotel to attract tourism and helped them making money with the railroad. There is even a 4 year period when cars were outlawed in the park (1905 - 1909). The Banff National Park was created in 1885. It is the oldest national park in Canada. The 3rd oldest in the world after Yellowstone in the US and the Royal National Park in Australia. Banff National Park is the most visited park in Canada with 4.5 million visitors a year. Banff NP is also part of the UNESCO World Heritage site. With an area of over 6,640 square kilometers, it is twice the size of Prince Edward Island. Banff NP has over 1,000 glaciers.
Enough info for now...
July 3, 2007
Up at 8 am. Breakfast and we are on our way to Lake Louise, but first Suzie and Michèle stop at the local grocery store to replenish our food. Rolland and me got the GyPSy.
The GyPSy is a GPS and a tour guide in one unit. Based on your GPS location, the tour guide kicks in and gives you all the historical information about the location. We will be using it between Banff and Jasper. A very good addition to our trip.
We left Banff at about 11 am.
We are taking the secondary road to Lake Louise. The Bow Parkway.
On our way to Lake Louise, we stop and hike the Johnston Canyon trail.
A nice hike of 6 km to see 2 beautiful falls.
The first fall.
There is even a tunnel to see the falls closer.
The girls in the tunnel.
A view of the falls. Lots of water mist and the roar of the falls.
Here is the other side of the tunnel as seen from the belvedere.
Most of the trail is on thesidewalk attached to the side of the canyon.
Another view of the canyon.
This rock is worn by 4.5 million people visiting the park every year.
Michèle and Suzie and the four of us!
The second falls. Of all the hiking trails around Banff, I would recommend this one as a must.
A little further down the road, we hike another trail to see the 50 m high Silverton Falls.
The falls are named after the town of Silver City. It only existed for two years (1883 - 1884).
Both photos are of Storm Mountain. Very beautiful place, and it is a very big mountain.
This mountain looks like a castle, hence the name "Castle Mountain".
This stretch of road was so pretty, we had to...
...take a photo of us in the middle of it!
More beautiful scenery. The photo on the right is of the Morant curve with the CN railway. You probably have seen this curve before.
Once in Lake Louise, we were pretty lucky to get a campsite without a reservation.
We are in the tent area. Here, we are chatting away!
Dinner is a mixed affair, us outside, them inside!
Mount Temple and the Bow River.
The whole campground is surrounded by an electrified fence. It is used to protect the bear from encounters with human and their food.
A big 58 Km covered today!
Showers and gone to bed by 11:40 pm.
July 4, 2007
Our first stop this morning is at Lake Louise. The hotel was built by the CPR to attract visitors and make some extra money with the railroad.
What a beautiful place and a perfect day to enjoy it.
We even had the chance to listen to a horn player, just like in Switzerland.
Lake Louise and Mount Victoria with her glaciers. To the right of the lake, right at the edge of the water, you have a trail going all the way to the back of the lake.
We took the trail and went all the way back. A look from the other end of the lake.
This is actually the color of the water. It changes as the sun travels the sky.
Can you see the horses on the trail?
A beautiful day in very good companies, and we just started our travels!
After visiting Lake Louise, we head towards British Columbia for a quick peek in Yoho National Park.
This is Cathedral Mountain.
Changing of provinces, you need an official photo!
The reason we are in BC now is to have a look at the Spiral Tunnels. A marvel of engineering at the time of its construction.
We can see where the train goes in the tunnel (top left corner of the photo) and where it comes out of the tunnel (center right).
After the tunnels, we are back in Alberta.
Back on the Icefield Parkway, we travel north towards Jasper.
In many traveling books and even the National Geographic calls the Icefield Parkway one of the most beautiful drives in the world.
The Parkway was started in 1931 and completed in 1940.
Photos or words cannot express the beauty of the place.
More than half a million people take the parkway between Banff and Jasper every year.
One of the early explorers was a man by the name of Hector, this mountain is named after him.
Another long traveling day, 67 km total for the day. We camp at Mosquito Creek.
Here we are drinking some champagne to celebrate our wedding anniversary, 26 beautiful and happy years with Michèle.
After a few drinks, here we are making funny faces.
Here is what you see from the campground, mount Dolomite (2782 m).
Mosquito Creek is very cold, fresh from the glaciers.
A Chinese fondue for dinner tonight. We won't mention the few incidents that happen to Michèle tonight!
Another full day today, WOW!
Next, from July 5 - 7.
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