Sunday night, while trying to find Trans-Canada Highway 1 we
ended up in a residential suburb in Calgary. We turned around and looked for a
gas station where we could ask for direction. The Canadian clerk, although
friendly, had no clue what Banff was let alone where it was or even how to get
to Highway 1. So instead we bought a map
and figured it out ourselves. We found a pull off and camped right off Highway
1 in Kananskis. The next morning we drove into Banff. We walked around the town of Banff, which reminded
us a lot of Breckenridge, and then because we did not want to pay $35 a night for camping we drove over
to Yoho National Park. We found cheaper and more scenic campsites overlooking
Takkakaw Falls. It was necessary to use a wooden cart to bring our camping gear
to the sites that were 500 meters (while in Canada we will be using metric, eh)
from the parking lot. Overall, camping
there for the four nights was great, but the mornings and nights were extremely
chilly.
Tuesday morning we
got up early, ate some grits, and started our trek towards Yoho Glacier. The
first eight kilometers crossed streambeds, waterfalls, and a dense, moist
northwestern type forest. The trail followed Yoho River as it came down from
the glacier. The last 3 kilometers to the glacier were a mix of rock scrambling
and rock climbing to reach a glacial moraine where we could look down on the
Yoho Glacier and across at the Wapitik ice field. The glacier looked like a
huge, powerful river frozen over winding through the valley.
It was a spectacular view, but one that we only wanted to
view for a short time because it was so cold. One of us (he has two eyes) had a
bathroom incident on the way down. It made for some good entertainment (at
least for one of us) as we continued our hike down. We got back to camp and
made dinner on the wood fire stove that was in the camp kitchen and talked with
a couple from Vancouver for a hour or so. We had tea after dinner that proved
to be too much liquid for one of us (she also has two eyes), which led to
another bathroom incident during the middle of the night. What an eventful day!
Wednesday we made bacon and eggs. We then drove back to Banff and hiked Lake
Louise.
It was a beautiful hike that led to more specular views of
glaciers and of Mount Victoria, but the best part of all was the Teahouse at
the top (according to Lauren)! All hikes should have these! We had some
delicious hummus and chips. Chris had a mocha and Lauren had a ginger chai tea.
Yummy!
The hike down went quickly and we headed into Lake Louise
village to buy some groceries and a nice dark Scottish ale. After that we drove
back to camp, ate dinner, and went to bed. No bathroom incidences that day!
Thursday was a pretty uneventful and relaxed day. We first drove into Kootenay
National Park and were rather uninspired by the views. Once we learned that the
visitor center that was in the middle of the park was not in operation we
became frustrated and turned back. Why does Canada have four nation parks all
bordering each other instead of one big one? We then went back into the town of
Banff to get some lunch. We ate at an Indian buffet that was quite good. When
we finished we walked around Banff some more and left. On Friday we walked our
gear back to the Jeep, packed up, and ate breakfast in the parking lot and
drove to Jasper National Park. When we came to the Columbia Ice fields, Chris
went up to Wilson Pass to take pictures of the Athabasca Glacier. The drive
through Icefield Parkway is extremely scenic. The Saskatchewan River had a lot
of glacial runoff, which made it a brilliant blue color. The peaks on either
side were tall and jagged and many had glaciers clinging to their cliffs or in
the valleys. Seeing and hiking to as many glaciers as we have we were ready to leave
to new territory. On the way out we saw a family of mountain goats and four
huge bull elks. Apparently, it is better to just drive on a highway to see
wildlife.
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