Sept 6 – Sept 13 – Canadian Rockies Part 1

We’ve been heading in a Northeast direction with Glacier National Park as our goal.  

We saw some fun things along the way, including another Lazy Daze RV at a gas station.  When we pulled in behind them, it looked like a Rally!

The forest fires in Idaho and Montana, blowing smoke into Glacier has disappointingly made this stop impossible.  The mountains were not visible … at all, the ‘Going to the Sun’ (spectacular drive) road was closed, and the air was frankly toxic.  The color of the air and atmosphere was a strange orange orange.

So, we re-arranged the schedule to tour the Canadian Rockies first, then head south back through Glacier, on a second pass, to see if the situation in Glacier had improved.While not planning on driving another 7 hours today, that’s what we did. 

It frankly exhausted Stinky.

The visibility on the drive improved tremendously as we headed North.   Although there was still smoke, there were mountains!  This turned out to be a good decision.  Camp sites were plentiful, even without a reservation.  

One thing we’ve learned … at this time of year, we generally don’t need or want camp reservations.  The capacity to flex the schedule, add stops, leave early, stay longer has been terrific. 

Banff Round 1

Finally, a sunny day!  ...  still some smoke filled skies, but very tolerable, just a little hazy.Banff was established in 1885, two years after Canadian Pacific Railway workers discovered a misty cave containing thermal springs.  The Canadian government set aside the rugged land as the first national park of Canada.  The town was named Banff by the president of the Canadian Pacific Railway after his birthplace, Banff, Scotland.  Banff is now a World Heritage Site.  The town of Banff has a population of about 7800 people.

We took our bikes on a long bike trail that followed a river that runs through town up into Sundance Canyon,  passing horse stables and picnic spots along the way. 

When the trail ended, we hiked up into the canyon for a while. 

And since that wasn’t enough exercise, we hiked along the river that runs through town.

Such a beautiful day after a long day’s drive yesterday.

This guy strolled through the campground around dusk.  What a treat that was!  Caribou can be dangerous in fall rut season.  There are signs all over the place warning people to keep a good distance, which we did.  

Hurray for long lenses and high ISO.

We have no reservations, and only a loose plan to spend about a week in the Canadian Rockies.  Not sure how long it’s going to take to see things, we decide to keep heading north tomorrow towards the Columbian Icefields.

Columbia Icefield – Round  1

The weather is turning ugly … cold and rainy.  We are driving the Icefield Parkway and know that there are big mountains all around us, but we can’t see them but for an occasional ‘shadow’ glimpse.  We hiked Mistaya canyon for an up close and personal look at the terrain.

 

The spectacular viewpoints along the way are less than spectacular, though interesting in a haunting way.

There are numerous wildlife overpasses along the way.  They are an innovative approach to reducing the number of animals and people being injured or killed.  The construction of the overpasses began in the 1980’s.  There are now about two dozen under and overpasses.  The overpasses have been effective for elk, deer and coyotes.  Wolves, cougars and bears are reluctant to use them.

When we get to the Icefields, the clouds are obliterating the mountain tops, and the whole world is mostly gray and white. 

The Visitor Center is grand, with one of the best national park movies we’ve seen.   The visitor center is across from the current foot of the glacier in an area sprinkled with 150 year old spruce trees that sprang up in that spot as the glacier receded.

There is another parking lot, about a mile away, at the base of a receding glacier, so we hop on our bikes and ride over.  That was fun, although unlike Alaska, free walking on the glacier is not allowed.

The only local color is in the fall foliage ground cover.   

We don’t know what this fuzzy wildflower is, but we do know that there are TONS of them lining the highways.

The rocks around the glacier are fun.  You can ‘feel’ the pressures and movements that created the layers of the striped rocks and the scratches from receding glacier

We are allowed to camp overnight in the parking lot at Columbia Icefields , and decide to do so.  We have no phone service, no 4G, and no radio stations!  It poured overnight and the wind blew hard. 

Night Night

Next Post Canada Part 2