Canadian Rockies

We started our last full day in the Canadian Rockies with a walk from our B&B to the bow river and out to the Bow River Falls. We then spent some time walking around Banff Town, and then drove down to Canmore just south of Banff, to shop a little, and then go to the Grizzly Paw Brewpub... always on the lookout for a nice brewpub.

We then called it a night, and headed for the airport in the morning. An fantastic vacation was coming to a close!

Friday was another day of hiking, and we headed for Sunshine Meadows. In the winter this is one of the larger ski resorts in the area. During the summer they have bus rides up to the top, where you have dozens of miles of hiking through alpine meadows. This was one of several lakes in the meadows.


This is just a glimpse of some of the wild flowers that grow in this high elevation. They have just a few short weeks every summer to grow and thrive before being destroyed again by cold weather, and fall snow.





This is a view from the ridge looking back down at the lakes. It was incredibly windy at the top, and quite cold. After the hike at sunshine meadows, we made our way to Banff, and headed for the gonola, as it was the first time in several days when it was mostly sunny out, a great day for catching the views from the top.


This is a view looking North towards the bow valley. The bow river cuts through an endless string of the Canadian Rockies. After this we called it a day, and made our way down to our B&B in Banff Town.

Thursday we left our bed and breakfast and headed towards Lake Louise. Our B&B at the right was a wonderful place, but not quite as nice as it looks, as we were in the basement. But all in all, it was close to town, and a great place to stay.






On the way toward Lake Louise, we stopped at Athabasca Glacier. Each year this glacier is retreating several feet, but it's still very impressive. You can walk right up to and out on the glacier, but it's *surprise, surprise* amazingly slippery. I think part of that was because we were there in the morning early, so it had frozen over night.



After that we were on to Lake Louise. For what was probably the most amazing hike of the week, mostly because of the tremendous elevatoin change. We started at lake side and hiked all the way up to Big Beehive about 1500 feet above the Lake. The hike winds it's way up to Mirror Lake and then to Lake Agnes and the teahouse, before continuing around that lake to Big Beehive, a nearly straight up hike with more than a dozen switchbacks. The view from the top is more than worth it.


To the left is a picture of Big Beehive, still very daunting from Mirror Lake, which is already half way to the top. At the right is a picture of Lake Agnes, just in front of the teahouse, and the beehive is around the lake and to the left.






This picture is from the back of Lake Agnes, looking back at the teahouse as we got ready to make the hike up to Big Beehive. Luckily the weather was nice, with a slight overcast... a great day for hiking.








And this amazing view from the top. You can see the blue/green Lake Louise, with the beautiful Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise at the bottom. From here we hiked back down, and headed for Johnston Canyon Cabins for a repeat stay.

Wednesday, we awoke from our bed and breakfast, and made our way out to the local bakery, Bear's Paw Bakery. It was a wonderful start to the day. The weather could have been better, but the clouds and wind, pretty much gave us Maligne Lake to ourselves on our kayaks.


The rest of the day after the kayaking, consisted of a few shorter hikes. We went out to Lake Annette. It's a very calm lake close to Jasper Town, that is popular with the locals, and has a 'beach' where many people hang out during the summer months. The picture on the right is Annette with Pyramid Mountain in the back.

Next is a trip up to Pyramid Lake (pictured with a closer view of Pyramid Mountain in the background.

Tuesday, we got up early to make our way to Jasper National Park on the Bow Valley Parkway. Along the way we made several stops. The first of which was Bow Lake, just off the parkway. This was the first time we got a view of the amazing teal/blue lakes and water. The interesting color is more vibrant during sunny days, and has to do with the silt/sand that is in the water thanks to the glacier melt-off.

You'll also notice that Who Dey spirit is alive and will in the Canadian Rockies!
After that we made our way further up the parkway to the Athabasca Falls area. These falls are amazingly powerful. Kind of like a mini-niagara. One of the other intersting things about the drive, is that along the drive the water switched the direction it was flowing, as we crossed the mountain range.

After a short and easy hike at the falls, we made our way towards Jasper Town, and ended up hitting the part of the trip that was my favorite part of the week. We drove up to Angel Glacier and Mt. Edith Cavell. The 'attraction' for the hike is the Angel Glacier, which you can see pictured here, and is pretty obvious where it gets it's name, with the wide 'wings' on either side.


However, what I was really amazed by, was much further up the hill. A long and difficult hike to the Cavell Meadows. Where there is an amazing collection of wildflowers. The fact that they can thrive in a climate like this makes it all the more amazing.
Then to finish up the day, we drove into Jasper Town, and then made a short drive out to the Maligne Canyon Trail. I didn't expect to be 'wowed' as much as I was. The canyon is amazingly deep. It's not grand canyon, but it certainly is impressive.

So, we flew into Calgary on Monday, July 10th. We picked up our rental car and headed straight for Banff. It was an amazing drive, and just a glimpse of what we'd see.

We made our way up to Johnston Canyon and checked into our cabin. The 'resort' was a collection of about 40 of these stand alone cabins. Definitely worth the money, and cheap compared to lodging in Banff.


After checking in, we made our way to the trailhead that started right at our cabin front door. The Johnston Canyon Falls hike. A hike that was just over 3.5 miles. The first portion to the lower falls was pretty well traveled and paved for a good portion. The hike to the upper falls (pictured to the right) was a bit steeper. Because it was early June, and we were very far north, it doesn't get dark until about Midnight. So after the hike we got cleaned up and headed into town for a late evening dinner.

The view to the left is from the roof of the restaurant we ate at in downtown Banff.