[Slugman]

We left Lynnwood on Sunday, June 29th at noon and drove to Kamloops. Monday it was on to Johnston Canyon in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. The people of Alberta, and also some from B.C., believe that speed limits are to be ignored, and that all driving is a race. Even doing 150 kph in a 90 zone did not stop people from passing us, even on curves in no-passing zones. Rogers Pass in Glacier NP in the pouring rain, being hounded by rented motorhomes, 18 wheelers, SUV-driving lunatics and other assorted death-defiers, was no fun. Our little Saturn somehow made it through. Tuesday, Canada Day, we slept late and then hiked up Johnston Canyon with 2,000 or so close friends. Very close. The falls are well worth it, the lower falls can be viewed by going through a little tunnel that was almost claustrophobic with people trying to get out blocked by those coming in. We had a rough time with Daisy on a leash on narrow catwalks hanging from the canyon walls packed with folks. The upper falls are also cool and well-visited on this holiday. Tanja at this point agreed to return by herself with the dog, and I continued on up to the Ink Pots alone. Only 10% of the people went up that far, and most left early, leaving the entire upper valley to me alone from 8pm to 9. I was hoping to see a grizzly reported the day before, but no luck. The Ink Pots are pretty cool, small pools fed by springs that are several different shades of dark blue. There are trails continuing up valley and and to a pass that I checked out a little ways, and some good campsites just 3.5 miles from the cabin we stayed at. Lodging review: Johnston Canyon Resort: First class all the way. They run the place like a page out of the lodging and dining handbook. Every staff member does their job cheerfully and accurately, with everything done just right every time. Our cabin was clean, private, lovingly cared-for, and had a great view. They happily accept dogs, and there is an abandoned service road through the woods above the gorge that is perfect for off-leash time for the pooch. Wednesday, July 2nd we went into Banff township and rode the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain. The views are amazing, and the gondola ride is breathtaking. It goes up so steeply that near the top it is almost vertical. We left the dog in the car with the windows halfway down and a bowl of water, only to find out that they allow dogs on the gondola! Maybe next time, Daisy. We explored Banff town on foot, and went into the NP info center, where dogs are also welcome. We then found out that we were supposed to buy a pass to stop in the park, even to be at our cabin! We were unfamiliar with the concept that the town, highway, resorts, etc, were all in the park. We really only screwed them out of one day, since Canada Day is free. The parks pass is $15 C ($10 US) per day for all the parks combined, with a max of $90 C, the yearly fee. Compare this to Olympic, etc, at $10 per week, but a new fee for each new park. We then headed over to the Hoodoos, cool soil formations caused by erosion. After that it was on to Lake Minnewonka, where we saw a family of wild goats, including several baby goats. We also saw an elk in the woods nearby. Two Jack Lake had a good play area for the pup. Thursday the 3rd we went to Lake Louise and walked to the end of the lake. This area is spectacular due to the gorgeous turquoise lake and hanging glaciers all around. I still can't decide if they've ruined it or not by putting a road up to it and a giant hotel at the lake's head. This is the way it is all through the Canadian rockies. From the end of the lake, Tanja once again took the dog back alone, and I continued on up to the Plain of the Six Glaciers. This may be the most awesome place I have ever been, and the line of other people hoofing it up the 1,200 vertical-foot trail dissappeared from my consciousness beneath countless tons of suspended ice and snow. There is a tea house up on the Plain, supplied by horse and helicopter. Hot cocoa and a bowl of soup and six glaciers:unbeatable! We then went to Moraine Lake, and that was also spectacular and deserted after dinner. We ate at Moraine Lake Lodge, and it was fantastic. Tanja and I agree it was the best meal we've ever had, and very reasonably priced after the currency exchange. I'm going to post this and take a break to resize a few pictures to post with the 2nd half of the story.

[MCaver]

Thanks for the info. I'm heading along that same route in mid to late September for a week or so.

[TravelHiker]

What a wonderful report! Glad to hear you all had such a great time. Looking forward to reading the rest of your journey. I definitely want to return there soon. TH

[Slugman]

On Friday, July 4th we headed over to Yoho and saw Takkakaw Falls in the Yoho valley. The falls are excelent, with a portion shooting out from the cliff where the water hits a shelf part-way down. There is also a view of the Iceline Trail, which was still under snow and had avalanche danger, so I didn't hike it. We then went to Kootenay NP and saw Marble Canyon. This is Tanja's favorite thing she saw. The water has carved the deepest, narrowest, most twisty-turney canyon I've ever seen. There are some natural bridges and five bridges crossing the canyon on the trail. It is a natural marvel that defies description and challenges the photographer. Saturday the 5th saw us depart the wonderfull Johnston Canyon Resort and head up to the Icefields Parkway. We decided to go up the Lake Louise gondola for a last look at the area, and it was a great choice. We could have ridden in a private enclosed gondola like at Banff, but we chose an open chair instead. The weather was very mixed, some sun, some clouds and fog, and some torrential ice downpours. On the way down we saw a grizzly bear, a big sway-back male. From the lodge at the bottom, we saw him again plus a female and her rather large cubs. I was too far away to get a picture, we had to use binoculars to see them clearly. We continued on up to the Icefields Parkway, and of course stopped every mile or so to see the natural wonders. The whole trip within the several parks visited was awe-inspiring:the mountains, the coolest and most interesting I've ever seen, surrounded us the whole time. The Icefields parkway is worth the trip alone. The Crowfoot Glacier was one of my favorites. We must have seen a hundred hanging glaciers all told. We stayed at Sunwapta Lodge, and went to Sunwapta Falls at dusk and enjoyed them very much. The lodge was OK, but didn't compare to Johnston. Sunday the 6th we got up early and went 25 miles back south to the Columbia Icefields center, where we took the snowcoach tour up onto Athabasca Glacier. It was a bit of a dissapointment in that you just go up a little ways onto the glacier, not too much farther than you can walk for free. We did get to see some great glaciers up close, and got to drink fresh, unfiltered glacial meltwater. Bring some bottles if you go, the water is fantastic. This was Tanja's least favorite thing, but I liked it. She said it was the most expensive trip to a frozen parking lot she had ever taken. We were all done with that at about noon, so we went up to Athabasca Falls, which is pretty impressive and powerful. We then went past the town of Jasper and on up to Maligne Lake. We got there at 4:30, just in time for the last boat tour at 5 pm. This is an incredible trip of over 10 miles each way, and the best part was being outside on the back of the boat. The mountains and glaciers surrounding the lake are amazing. We got ten minutes off the boat at Spirit Island, with many photo ops. There are also camping spots for canoers and kayakers along the lake. This is a must-see place. We spent the night at Takkara lodge in Jasper, and it was nice. Very rustic cabins and a good view. Monday the 7th we left early to head back to Kamloops, and we went back the way we came, on the Icefields parkway and Hwy 1. This gave us the chance to see a few things we missed, such as Peyto lake, another emerald lake surrounded by mountains and glaciers. Right before Peyto lake we saw Mistaya canyon, another twisty canyon with a good waterfall and rock-hopping explorations. We stopped one more time in Yoho to see the natural bridge over Kicking Horse river, a worthy attraction. We stayed the nights in Kamloops both coming and going at the Grandview Motel, clean, quiet, nice view and clean, warm pool. Tuesday the 8th we motored home from Kamloops, stopping at Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park to see the falls and the very nice forest surrounding them. This was the first time we had seen any big trees on the trip, as the Canadian Rockies are in the Boreal Forest zone, where tree growth is slow and a two hundred year old tree is about the size of a large Christmas tree. The growing season is about 90 days a year. The weather we had on the trip was unusual to us: we had every type of weather every day. No weather pattern lasted more than an couple of hours. The only thing we didn't see was totally clear sky. Overall it was great, and no day was rained out or even close to it. The parks are very accessible to the average person with moderate willingness to walk/hike. Sometimes, however, I felt like it was as if someone built a road right through the Olympics and put a hotel at the best spots. If Parks Canada ran our parks, there would be a gondola to the top of Mt. Rainier and a hotel at the end of Blanca Lake. It is a fact of life that the more people who get to experience some piece of natural beauty, the less each person gets to enjoy it. I would like to return someday and do some backpacking into the back country to see the flip side of the parks. One piece of advice is to sleep late and stay out sightseeing late as well. Most places the crowds thin out to nothing around dinner time and after. I will post a few more pictures soon.

[polarbear-]

Nice shots slugman. It looks like you covered alot of territory. Did you happen to read the signs regarding Medicine Lake on the way to Lake Maligne? It's an interesting place.

[Malachai Constant]

We love the area too. One of our favorite places with kids was a small campground up a steep road (keeps out trailers and RV's) near the Athabasca glacier. We made pizza in an outback oven and watched the sun set over the mountains. Great hiking crowded but spectacular.

[Slugman]

Polarbear: Yes, Medicine Lake is interesting. Since the underground drainage is fairly constant year round, and the input rises and falls with stream flows, the lake sometimes gets completely empty! It is also a good place to view wildlife. We saw three baby goats and their parents there, plus a moose feeding at a shallow spot on the lake shore. I desperately wanted to hike to the glacier at Peyto Lake, but we had a long drive that day, and there just wasn't time. Too bad, as that trail appeared totally uncrowded. M.C. : We saw some great camping areas also, but didn't do any camping. I would love to see the sun set behind the Columbia Icefield as you did!

[David¹]

Glad you enjoyed your trip. I agree about Canadian drivers - it a consequence of having to live with two lane highways everywhere. As soon as we get a passing lane - EVERYONE (including trucks, buses & trailers) move over to the left lane so it's near impossible to pass anyone - thus you have to make the most of your limited opportunities. However I disagree with your assessment of Parks Canada. It is one of the most underfunded park systems in the world. If Mt. Rainier were in Canada the only road near it would be the Carbon River Road and it would still be unrepaired since it washed out 10 years ago. Banff is the exception as it's designed to suck money from foriegn tourists and has a Disneyland atmosphere to it. Trust me - walk half a mile away from the highway and you will find a wilderness more vast & rugged than anything found in the lower 48.

[Slugman]

David and Karen: My only experience with Parks Canada was on this trip, so I was basing my comments solely on that. I did get three or four miles in at a few spots, and they were rugged but still crowded. Of course, we have over-built parks in the US as well, such as Yosemite. My intent was to compare the parks such as North Cascades and Olympic with Banff and Jasper. There is a different style of park in the Canadian Rockies than what I am used to. There are no highways through the Olympics, no hotels in the park, no motorized boat/snowcoach/gondola tours, no towns in the park, etc. It never occured to me that this might be unusual for Canadian parks as well! I agree with the Disneyland assesment. I must admit that for a tourist trip like the one we took, the parks were amazing and accessible. I should love to return and see some of the true wilderness that exists beyond the day-hiking range of the tour bus crowd. I am surprised to hear they are underfunded, since the daily park pass charge was by far the highest I have ever paid(over $60 American for one week!), and Banff and Jasper were chock full of businesses, which I guess I assumed paid a fee or something to the parks. I really am totally ignorant of Parks Canada's funding sources and amounts. Everything we saw was first-class, nice roads, accommodations, etc. But you must admit that if Parks Canada ran Mt Rainier like it does Banff, then there would be that gondola!

[mms]

We just returned from the Canadian Rockies last week. We stayed at the Baker Creek Chalets on the Bow Valley Parkway near Lake Louise...very quiet and right on a creek. Our first day we hiked near the Chateau...up to the Lake Agnes Tea House, then up to the Big Beehive, then over to the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House, then back down. Long day since we did it with 2 children. We also visited the Columbia Icefields...what a gorgeous trip up there! In Banff we parked in town and walked up to the hot springs and to the gondola. Did the Johnston Canyon/Ink pots hike our last day...got caught in a thunderstorm at the top so the inkpots were not as pretty as they normally would be. Our daughters comment was "we hiked all this way to see giant puddles?!"...that gave us a good laugh:) Never saw any bears...but lots of bull elk on the parkway, and of course the chipmunks all around think they are pets:) Can't wait to go again next year and get more hiking in there!