Canadian Rockies - 2013
Welcome!
We visited the Canadian Rockies in the summer of 2013 - Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper with a short stop in Calgary to hit the Stampede. Mostly photos - hope you enjoy - we surely did!
Fly in/out of Calgary, nights in Banff and Jasper, with a final night in Calgary at the end.
LAX - our fave
At the first of 3 gates today
Next stop PHX. Had to walk ¼ mile in the Phoenix heat to get to our terminal. Need an airport planner here.
SEA - 3 down, one to go
Now this is the way to wait for a plane
Blue sky in Seattle!
Prop job
Portal to the top of the world
Banff - the view from our room
About 10:30 at night. Banff Springs Hotel are the dim lights at the swale in the mountain range.
Day 1 - July 4
A long day. We woke up at 4:45 am in Orange County, did the LAX-PHX-SEA-YYC (the last one is Calgary) route. But all went smoothly - no delays, other than circling Calgary for about 15 minutes due to a thunderstorm. The ride to Banff was easy - about 75 miles, and once you get through Calgary, all 4-lane freeway.
Sun sets about 9, they say, but it looks more like 10 to us. The view out of our room at The Juniper is spectacular!!
Good morning Banff! View from our room!
Blueberry pancakes
Mt. Sulphur Lookout
City of Banff: Banff Springs Hotel (bottom middle), Bow River
From Mt. Sulphur Lookout
Mt. Sulphur Lookout panorama
Mt. Sulphur Lookout
Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station - Kathy and I are glowing now.
Sulphur deposits
Kathy in the Mt. Sulphur gondola
Banff Ave
At the brand new Pedestrian Bridge in Banff. Just opened 4 days ago.
Moo
Bow Falls, just behind the Banff Springs Hotel.
Banff Springs Golf Course
Banff Springs Hotel (not ours)
Revolving door
At Banff Springs Hotel
View from the Banff Springs Hotel
Blank Planet
View from Banff Springs Hotel - about 180 degree panorama
View from Banff Springs Hotel. Bow River at bottom middle, golf course bottom right.
Swale
And finally…View from Banff Springs Hotel
A nice little end o’ day
Day 2 - July 5
A beautiful day. The forecast was for rain in the afternoon, so we scurried a bit to get some sightseeing in early. We took the Banff Gondola to the top of Mt. Sulphur for some spectacular views of the Banff valley.
After that, we took a walk across the Banff Pedestrian Bridge. The town has wanted to build such a bridge for decades - well, they finally did it, and it opened just 4 days ago!
We forgot to bring our Calgary Stampede tickets (for next Friday - way to go, Ric). So we called our friend Debi, who looked all over the house for them, but could never find them. In desperation, we called Stampede customer service, and they emailed us new tickets, which we printed at the hotel. Whew!
In the afternoon, we went to Banff Springs Hotel and took in the marvelous views there. Yep, no rain all day - well maybe about 33 drops.
All in all, a grand day…
Back in a Couple of Days
We are staying at Pine Bungalows in Jasper. Very quaint (just our style!) but Internet service is nigh to non- existent. We will return in a couple of days, when we get back to Banff, and update you then.
God bless!
We begin our 6-hour trek from Banff to Jasper, traveling the Icefields Parkway. This is the source of the Bow River, as it comes out of Bow Lake.
Bow Lake
Bow Lake panorama
Ric & Kathy at Bow Lake
Peyto Lake. Took a short ½-mile hike to an overlook. Panorama.
Hard to see, but we were snowed on! This is about halfway along the Icefields Parkway, at the border of Banff and Jasper National Parks.
Athabasca Glacier, part of the Columbia Icefields. These icefields are the source for three major rivers systems, the Athabasca, the Saskatchewan, and the Yellowstone.
Kathy at Athabasca Glacier
Ric at Athabasca Glacier
Tangle Creek Falls
Sunwapta Falls, on the Athabasca River
Athabasca Falls, on the Athabasca River
Athabasca Falls
Kathy at Athabasca Falls
Arrived in Jasper, at the end of the Icefields Parkway. Our next stop is at this street - from Cottonwood to Cottonwood.
Pine Bungalows - our cabin awaits.
Our own little cabin!
Okay, a tour. The bed…
And the living room. Very quaint, but we had more room to move around in than our hotel room in Banff.
Looking out the front window. Just past the cabin you see, to the left, is the Athabasca River.
The Athabasca River, just a few yards from our cabin, on its way to the Arctic Ocean.
Nearby are two small lakes, less than ¼ mile from each other. This is Annette Lake…
…and this is Edith Lake.
At end the day we ate at Karouzo’s. Kathy had Top Sirloin, Ric had salmon. Outstanding food and service.
Day 3 - July 6
We left Banff early in the morning. Jasper is about 175 miles north, traveling on the road known as the Icefields Parkway. It is one of the most beautiful drives in the world. Seems like you want to stop around every corner. The trip took almost 7 hours.
Incredible sights. Glaciers (we walked to the foot of Athabasca Glacier). Icy blue lakes, some of which are almost entirely glacier-fed. The bluish tint comes from glacial silt that absorbs all other colors but blue, which is reflected to the eye. Powerful waterfalls. Rivers that grew from a trickle to ½ mile wide in 40 miles.
Have we seen any wildlife? Not yet, but we are sure we will!
It was supposed to rain the entire drive, but the Lord blessed us by opening up the skies just about every time we wanted to stop and take His creation in. It was spellbinding.
We arrived in Jasper late in the afternoon, and settled into our bungalow along the Athabasca River. What a day!
Welcome
Fantastic coffee shop/bakery in Jasper
Medicine Lake, on the way to Maligne Lake
Maligne Lake
Kathy getting ready for our boat ride
Ric with a Canadian Mounted Police
Maligne Lake boat docks
Maligne Lake - on the boat
Maligne Lake. As we traveled upstream toward the lake’s source (a glacier), the water took on a deeper blue-green tint. The bare spots on land are the results of avalanches.
Maligne Lake, Spirit Island. Not really an island, but a peninsula. The boat dropped us off for a 15 minute visit.
Maligne Lake, Spirit Island
On Spirit Island
The Maligne River is the outlet for the lake. This is about 3 miles downstream from the lake.
Maligne River rapids
Maligne River. Kathy hiding in the bushes
This is the speed limit on the Maligne Lake road. In kilometers - about 37 mph. Why so slow? Caribou in the area.
And here they are! Our first wildlife sightings, right off the side of the road, grazing on leaves. Magnificent creatures.
Caribou. We saw two grazing together.
About 15 miles downstream, the Maligne River has cut a canyon about 150 deep for a stretch of about 5 miles. There are many trails and a series of 6 bridges that cross the river. This was from Bridge 3.
Maligne Canyon, again from Bridge 3.
Maligne Canyon, from Bridge 4.
Maligne Canyon, Bridge 5. Washed out about 2 weeks ago.
Maligne Canyon, Bridge 6. Well, not really a canyon any more.
Ric thought he’d do a little funky panorama with Bridge 6.
We visited 3 Fairmont hotels on our trip - Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. Didn’t stay in any of them. We liked Jasper the best - quaint, kind of a bungalow feel. The other two are hoity-toity.
Lake Beauvert at Jasper Lodge
Lake Beauvert rocks
Jasper Lodge. Kathy & Ric sittin’ in Adirondack chairs
Jasper Lodge. Dinner on the lake. A mere $500 per couple. We went into Jasper and had pizza.
Sausage and pepperoni
Back at Pine Bungalows. Athabasca River panorama.
Day 4 - July 7
Our only full day in Jasper. It was a bit cloudy, but still beautiful. We really like Jasper, and would like to return someday and check out all it has to offer.
We drove to Maligne Lake and took the boat tour of the lake. It was not our favorite activity. Not sure why - maybe a little too touristy for us. We have discovered we have a real aversion to tour buses, and will not likely ever take a tour bus vacation. But don’t hold our experience against the lake - it is very pretty.
Our tour guide encouraged us to visit Maligne Canyon. Were we glad we did - it was fascinating! The Maligne River, which is formed by water coming out of the lake, has a 5-mile stretch where is has cut a 150-foot deep, 20-foot wide canyon. An extensive trail system, including 6 bridges, gives you great views.
Spent the late afternoon at the Fairmont Jasper Lodge, then pizza in Jasper. We hear it is supposed to be sunny in Jasper tomorrow, but we are scheduled to return to Banff. If it is sunny, we will stick around for the morning before heading back.
View of the Jasper Tram Observation House. We are going up there!
Tram Car
Kathy’s new teddy
Kathy beginning the trail up to the summit. Steep and slippery. About a 750 foot elevation change
Climbing...
The vegetation is sparse and delicate
Snow patch
The town of Jasper. The Pine Bungalows where we stayed is in the green patch to the right of the topmost part of town.
Still climbing. Notice the Observation House between us.
Kathy made it!
Ric too!
At the summit. Beautiful mountain ranges all around us.
Kathy tossing a rock on the “memorial pile”
Jasper Tram Observation House from the summit
One of the mountain ranges viewed from the summit
Another mountain range, viewed from the summit
And another…
Mt. Robson, in British Columbia, viewed from the summit. The highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, 12,972 ft.
On the Icefields Parkway, found a herd of mountain goats. Notice the mom is shedding.
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
Waiting for dinner - in the Chateau Lake Louise
Lake Louise - a rainy day
Lake Louise panorama
Lake Louise outlet
Day 5 - July 8
Happy 35th anniversary to us!
We woke up in Jasper to beautiful blue skies, so decided to take the Jasper Tram to the Observation House. From there, you can hike another 750 foot elevation change to a summit that gives 360 degree views of 3 mountain ranges and of the town of Jasper.
We flip-flopped back and forth on whether to make the hike. Finally, Kathy told Ric that this would be her anniversary present to him - she would make the hike. And she did - Ric was very proud of her! The views at the summit were stunning, including a view of Mt. Robson, many miles to the west. Mt. Robson is in British Columbia, and is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies at 12,972 feet. We hear it is usually not clear enough to see it from here.
On we went, on the Icefields Parkway back to Banff. We didn’t stop much this time, but did when we saw a heard of mountain goats grazing in the dirt along the side of the road. It rained steadily for the last half of the 4 hour drive.
We stopped at Lake Louise to check it out (we will be back tomorrow, and probably again after that). It was raining pretty hard at first, but tailed off. We ate dinner at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Wonderful steak sandwich and bison burger!
Then on to Banff, back in The Juniper, the same hotel we were in before.
Banff
Where we get our morning coffee/hot chocolate and pastries in Banff
Spiral Tunnel
A model depicting one of two spiral tunnels. This is the same train - the front exiting the tunnel below as the caboose enters the same tunnel above.
Deer - there were about 8-10 grazing along this river
Tekakkaw Falls. Wish we would have caught this later in the day, to get more sun. We tried waiting it out, but as soon as the sun was in the right position, the clouds came along and hid the sun!
Tekakkaw Falls. This was the most sun we got.
Emerald Lake. No touch up.
Emerald Lake
Kathy at Emerald Lake
On Emerald Lake - let’s go for a canoe ride!
The primary rower on this two-person canoe
Glacier feeding Emerald Lake
Emerald Lake reflection from the canoe
Natural Bridge. This used to be a waterfall; over time, the water eroded the rock and created a tunnel for the water to travel.
Moraine Lake
Glacier shelf above Moraine Lake. This is a long telephoto shoot - I am guessing this is hundreds of feet thick.
Lake Louise, day 2. Still cloudy, but a touch of sun on the water. Hoping for more sunshine tomorrow.
Waiting for dinner at The Saloon at Chateau Lake Louise
A sunnier Chateau Lake Louise
Day 6 - July 9
You have to have flexible plans…
If the weather looked good, we had planned to spend the day in Lake Louise. The skies were perfectly clear when we woke up, so that was the plan. But we stopped at Wild Flour for coffee and danish, and the barista told us we had to go to Yoho National Park. Were we glad we did!!
We saw:
The Spiral Tunnels - railway tunnels built in the early 20th century to get the trains up the steep Kicking Horse pass from Kamloops in British Columbia to Edmonton in Alberta.
Tekakkaw Falls - the water feeding these falls originates from a glacier only 300 meters from the brim of the falls. Lots of water!
Emerald Lake - so far this is our favorite lake. Not nearly as many visitors, stunning emerald green color. We rented a canoe for an hour and rowed the length of the lake.
Natural Bridge - originally a waterfall, the water had cut through the rock and formed a tunnel for the water to flow.
At the end of the day we visited Moraine Lake near Lake Louise. A beautiful lake, but what a traffic mess! There were cars parked at least two miles away along the narrow mountain road. We took a chance and went all the way to the parking lot and found a spot.
Next, on to Lake Louise again for dinner at one of the hotel restaurants called The Saloon.
The plan for tomorrow? Spend the day at Lake Louise…
Three more pictures from Emerald Lake…
Panorama
Panorama
Lake Louise Outlet
Trailhead at Lake Louise to Lake Agnes and the Teahouse. 6.8 km is 4.3 miles roundtrip.
Just starting out on the trail, view of Lake Louise
Lake Agnes Teahouse trail. Up we go…
Flowers on the trail
About halfway to the teahouse, we are given a view of the upstream end of Lake Louise
Canoe on Lake Louise
Ric & Kathy at the Lake Louise viewpoint
Mirror Lake, just below Lake Agnes
Big Beehive with Mirror Lake in the foreground
Kathy at Mirror Lake
Falls - outlet from Lake Agnes, on its way to Mirror Lake
Kathy at the Falls
Lake Agnes. Sorry, so beautiful, there’s a couple more to come.
Lake Agnes
Lake Agnes
Ric at Lake Agnes
Lake Agnes Panorama
Lake Agnes Teahouse. Lake to the left, waterfall to the right.
Kathy at the Teahouse
Apple Crumble at the Teahouse
About a 5 minutes walk uphill from the Teahouse was this view of Lake Louise on the left and Mirror Lake on the right
Viewpoint just uphill from the Teahouse, telephoto of Lake Louise
Viewpoint just uphill from the Teahouse, telephoto of Mirror Lake
When we returned from the Lake Agnes Teahouse hike, Lake Louise welcomed us with this
Kathy resting from our hike. Well rewarded.
More Lake Louise
One last shot…
Day 7 - July 10
Beautiful sunny day, so we decided to take our most challenging hike today - the Lake Agnes Teahouse trail. Starting at Lake Louise, it is 4.4 miles round trip, but with a 1,300 elevation increase. The trail itself is very well maintained, smooth and wide. We started at 8:45 - took us 2 hours to get up and just a little over an hour to descend. But what an amazing scene at the top! Lake Agnes is a small lake amphitheatered by a mountain range with a cute little teahouse alongside. We had lemonade and apple crumble, but mostly just ate up the view. One tip - go early, this trail really loads up in the afternoon, and we’re sure there is a long waiting line if you want eats at the teahouse.
When we finished the hike, we sat at a Lake Louise trailside bench for over an hour. It got a little cold and windy, so we went inside the Chateau Lake Louise and read our books for awhile until it was time for dinner. Then, back to our hotel in Banff.
Sorry for the repetitive pictures of Lake Agnes and Lake Louise. Well, I’m not sorry really. You’ll probably get more of the same tomorrow - we plan to come back to Lake Louise one final time.
The trip from Banff where we stayed and Lake Louise is about 45 minutes. There is an alternate road you can take for much of it, called the Bow River Parkway. This is a funky panorama of the Bow River, which is pretty straight at this point.
Water coming out of Lake Louise, with Chateau Lake Louise in the background
Kathy on the Lake Louise Trail
A 3-inch waterfall
Sunlight really affects the color of the lake
Along the Lake Louise Trail, at the back of the lake. So many different rock formations in the Canadian Rockies.
Where the glacier empties into Lake Louise
Lake Louise inlet again
Lake Louise inlet panorama
Lake Louise, from the inlet to the hotel
Ric at the end of the Lake Louise trail. The Six Glaciers Teahouse Trail continues for another 2 ½ miles uphill from here. We turned around.
A pond near the Lake Louise inlet, thick with glacial silt
Lake Louise, from the inlet to the hotel, this time telephotoed
Lake Louise
For the first time in our stay, all of Lake Louise and the surrounding mountains had sun on them all at once. So, a new series of Lake Louise pictures, starting with another funky panorama.
Lake Louise
Lake Louise
Our view of Lake Louise from the dinner table
Back to Banff and our hotel room for one final night’s stay. This is our window view, taken at about 9:30 pm.
Day 8 - July 11
The weather today would prove to be backwards from the norm we have experienced - cloudy and rainy in the early morning, then clearing in the afternoon.
We traveled again to Lake Louise and walked the 2 ½ mile round trip Lake Louise Trail. Very flat, very popular trail.
Later, we went inside the hotel and read our books for a couple of hours, then had an early dinner. We ate outside - perfectly clear, but very windy in bursts. We then headed back to Banff, saying goodbye to Lake Louise. Incredible work of God!
Usually we take these obligatory sign pictures when we enter an area. This time we catch it on our way out.
The Calgary Olympic Ski Jump venue, just on the western end of town
Entering the Calgary Stampede
Much of the stampede had a carnival/arcade feel. Very colorful, but tons of these kiosks for eating and carnival games.
Bull, big bull
Mooing
Butting, gently
Rump roast
Heavy Lifting horse. We saw one that was over 19 hands tall and weighed over 2,000 pounds. Beautiful animals.
Getting a morning workout
Stagecoach, with rubber tires
Heating up a metal tire to go on this wooden wagon wheel. The tire affixes to the wheel by shrinking as it cools.
Hungry? Deep fried cheese cake, deep fried oreos, deep fried pickles, or chocolate dipped bacon is for you.
Kathy trying on a hat. Looks good on her, but no sale.
Aqua show. This attaches to the outflow of your Sea Doo. He probably went 40 feet in the air. Gotta get one.
Aqua show, jet ski tricks
Indian Village
Welcome to the Stampede!
Stampede 101
Kathy at our rodeo seats
Panorama of the Grandstands
Motocross tricks. Hard to see, but there are 3 motorcycles in the air.
Rodeo
Rodeo
Ric met one of his former bosses here. Imagine that!
He’s still on - feet up!
Rodeo
I’ll bet this guy does stretching exercises every morning
Rodeo - the ladies
Rodeo
Rodeo. The final event. Three young girls (maybe 8-9 years old) would team up. One held the line, another would grab the pony, and the third would try to ride the pony. They grow ‘em tough up here!
Wall of people
Kathy holding a baby lamb
Cow
Our last dinner
Day 9 - July 12
We left the Canadian Rockies for Calgary this morning. We decided to leave early, and hit the Calgary Stampede when it opens at 9. Good move! The Stampede is open until midnight; the crowds really show up in hoards in the early afternoon so they can party into the night.
Although the rodeo doesn’t start until 1:15 pm, there is plenty to see. We really liked walking the stables where the animals are kept - horses, cattle, sheep.
The rodeo was fantastic. It is a competition, and this is the semi-finals for most of the events. Incredible athletes!
When we left the Grandstands after the rodeo was over, it was wall-to-wall people. We left soon after that, made our way to our final hotel, the Days Inn at the airport, and had a quiet evening. No partying for us!
Tomorrow we fly home, sad but true…
At YYC bound for Dallas
At DFW bound for Los Angeles
Day 10 - July 13
We returned to Southern California at about 10:30 pm - 1 ½ hours late due to a plane maintenance issue in Dallas.
It is sad that our trip has ended, but it is good to be home.
Thanks for joining us on our trip!
God bless!!