We left Sharon & Smoky for a week in the Canadian Rockies. We also left our bar and wine collection, Alaskan Salmon, and other frozen meats and fruits to avoid problems at the border.
Driving due north from Kalispell (Flathead Lake) on Route 93 brings you to the Roosville, BC border crossing and Canada Route 93 that continues up the west side of the Rocky Mountains. We spent two days at Fairmont Hot Springs where Sue got to soak to her heart's content and we caught up on laundry, etc. We also got to have lunch with WA friends Ed & Helen Harmon who were in the area using a week's timeshare they own.
Continuing north on 93 takes you to Radium Hot Springs and the entrance to Kootenay NP and the route over to Banff and Lake Louise. It is a beautiful 90 mile drive up river defined valleys with very moderate mountain passes. Route 93 intersects Canada Route 1 about 20 miles north of Banff and 15 miles south of Lake Louise. We headed south to Banff for the the holiday weekend (Heritage Day) and a big crowd in Banff which was hosting the US Golf Skins Game over the weekend.
Banff is a charming village located within Banff NP that was founded by the Canadian Pacific RR that built the Banff Springs Hotel. The entire area shows the Swiss influence of two of the CP's Board of Directors who were from Switzerland. The local landmark is the Banff Springs Hotel founded almost 100 years ago as a destination resort designed to draw CP railroad passengers to the Rockies.
We quickly learned that the only campground in Banff large enough for the Tradewinds was full but the Park Service opened an overflow area just east of town for big rigs for the night. It really offered much nicer views than Tunnel Mountain CG that we moved into Saturday.
Sue is standing in one of the gardens at Canada Place overlooking downtown Banff. We had just wandered through the Banff village park where a young folk singer was performing for those out for the afternoon. Banff is a beautiful locale that we will have to see again, perhaps on the way up to or returning from Alaska next year.
On Monday we left Banff for Lake Louise which is an hour north of Banff and the lake was filled with rowboats and canoes. The entire area is surrounded with mountains that rise from the lakeshore that add to the ambiance. The forest fires in the area made it extremely hazy but the glaciers show in the photo above.
To further enhance the Swiss atmosphere the horn player in the photo has been performing every summer for years. He is trying to encourage everyone to sing along but most were content to listen to the sounds of the horn echoing across Lake Louise. A great morning's excursion!
From Lake Louise we climbed a winding road for 12 miles to Lake Morraine with its six mountains climbing from the lakeshore. As you can imagine the time to take photographs here is in the early morning with a calm lake and good light.
Originally we planned on spending a day driving the Icefields Highway all the way to Jasper but when we sat down to plan the trip it obviosly was too long a day without enough time to enjoy the scenery so we drove from Lake Louise up to the Columbia Ice Fields and the Athabaska Glacier where we road all-terrain vehicles up on to the glacier for a chance to get chilled in a hurry!
The drivers spend a great deal of time informing everyone of the history and dynamics of the entire ice field and it was very interesting. This icefield feeds three oceans. Rivers wind their way to the Pacific, Atlantic (Hudson Bay), and the Artic far to the north.
Driving due north from Kalispell (Flathead Lake) on Route 93 brings you to the Roosville, BC border crossing and Canada Route 93 that continues up the west side of the Rocky Mountains. We spent two days at Fairmont Hot Springs where Sue got to soak to her heart's content and we caught up on laundry, etc. We also got to have lunch with WA friends Ed & Helen Harmon who were in the area using a week's timeshare they own.
Continuing north on 93 takes you to Radium Hot Springs and the entrance to Kootenay NP and the route over to Banff and Lake Louise. It is a beautiful 90 mile drive up river defined valleys with very moderate mountain passes. Route 93 intersects Canada Route 1 about 20 miles north of Banff and 15 miles south of Lake Louise. We headed south to Banff for the the holiday weekend (Heritage Day) and a big crowd in Banff which was hosting the US Golf Skins Game over the weekend.
Banff is a charming village located within Banff NP that was founded by the Canadian Pacific RR that built the Banff Springs Hotel. The entire area shows the Swiss influence of two of the CP's Board of Directors who were from Switzerland. The local landmark is the Banff Springs Hotel founded almost 100 years ago as a destination resort designed to draw CP railroad passengers to the Rockies.
We quickly learned that the only campground in Banff large enough for the Tradewinds was full but the Park Service opened an overflow area just east of town for big rigs for the night. It really offered much nicer views than Tunnel Mountain CG that we moved into Saturday.
Sue is standing in one of the gardens at Canada Place overlooking downtown Banff. We had just wandered through the Banff village park where a young folk singer was performing for those out for the afternoon. Banff is a beautiful locale that we will have to see again, perhaps on the way up to or returning from Alaska next year.
On Monday we left Banff for Lake Louise which is an hour north of Banff and the lake was filled with rowboats and canoes. The entire area is surrounded with mountains that rise from the lakeshore that add to the ambiance. The forest fires in the area made it extremely hazy but the glaciers show in the photo above.
To further enhance the Swiss atmosphere the horn player in the photo has been performing every summer for years. He is trying to encourage everyone to sing along but most were content to listen to the sounds of the horn echoing across Lake Louise. A great morning's excursion!
From Lake Louise we climbed a winding road for 12 miles to Lake Morraine with its six mountains climbing from the lakeshore. As you can imagine the time to take photographs here is in the early morning with a calm lake and good light.
Originally we planned on spending a day driving the Icefields Highway all the way to Jasper but when we sat down to plan the trip it obviosly was too long a day without enough time to enjoy the scenery so we drove from Lake Louise up to the Columbia Ice Fields and the Athabaska Glacier where we road all-terrain vehicles up on to the glacier for a chance to get chilled in a hurry!
The drivers spend a great deal of time informing everyone of the history and dynamics of the entire ice field and it was very interesting. This icefield feeds three oceans. Rivers wind their way to the Pacific, Atlantic (Hudson Bay), and the Artic far to the north.
These temperatures would come in handy in Illinois in August!
