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Saturday, August 20, 2011

Canada - Montana - and now HOME!

Canada - Montana - North Dakota - and HOME!

We have heard many people tell us that the Canadian Rockies were beautiful and we discovered that they were absolutely right! After crossing the border and driving only a few miles into Canada, we found ourselves driving right down a valley, surrounded by mountains on all sides.  Our first real glimpse was at a roadside stop overlooking Columbia Lake.



The Lake Louise Campground in Banff National Park is actually two campgrounds, one for tents and one for hard-sided campers. Since the Lake Louise area is home to many grizzly bears the tent area is surrounded by an electric fence to protect both the bears and the campers.

The information flyer they gave us when we checked into the hard-sided section mentioned that since the bears can’t pass through the tent area, they often cut through the RV area!  We were cautioned to keep everything inside the RV, to not go out after dark and to make sure Abbey & Jameson did not go poking their noses into any bushes!  On our first three days in the campground, we took Abbey & Jameson on a beautiful hiking trail that followed the Bow River. Jameson spent some time fishing but the water was too cold for an extended effort. On our last day here Jameson was very disappointed as the trail was closed due to “bear traffic”. We are happy to report that we had no bear encounters during our stay.
Jameson Fishing in the Bow River
                            


Due to the extreme amount of snow the area received this winter, there was still a lot of snow on the mountain tops and a lot of glacial run-off still pouring into Lake Louise.  The water carries sediment down the mountain which they refer to as “glacial flour” and it made the water a little cloudy. Usually by August, the snow is gone and the sediment has settled to the bottom making the water a deeper turquoise blue.  It was still very impressive and beautiful.
Lake Louise


Other than the seeing the lake, there is not much going on in Lake Louise. There is a small Village Center with a few shops and restaurants (mostly expensive!) and condos and cabins for tourists.  At the northern edge of the lake is the famous Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, a hotel with rates as high as $2,000. per night!  We strolled through the Lobby and shops and pretended that we were registered guests and were entertained by a bagpipe band. The band was on a summer tour and its members represented the best players from each of the Canadian Provinces.


We took a drive to see Moraine Lake, just 14km (8.4 miles) away from its more famous neighbor and it was even more impressive than Lake Louise. Even though there was still lots of snow on the surrounding mountains, the water here was a much deeper turquoise blue. It is still hard to really capture the color in photos.


Tom’s knees were feeling pretty good so we climbed up the trail to the overlook. It was worth the hike as we got a great view of the lake and the mountains. Moraine Lake is nestled in the Valley of Ten Peaks but it was impossible to get a photo of all 10 peaks!

 After taking more than enough photos, we just sat there for awhile and soaked in the sun and the view.






They told us the safest way to see a grizzly bear was to take a ride on the Sightseeing Gondola from the Lake Louise Ski Area.  The chairlift rises over the grizzly habitat to the top of Mt. Whitehorn at an elevation of 6,850 feet.

From our open chair we saw one grizzly enjoying a sunny afternoon on the hillside below us.  At the top we took in panoramic views of Lake Louise and the surrounding mountains.


We spent just one afternoon wandering around in the town of Banff. It is a cute all-season tourist town with the usual shops, restaurants and condos but we were happy that we had picked a campground closer to Lake Louise.

Due to the increase in the number of people visiting the Lake Louise and Banff area over the years, there has also been an increase in the traffic on the Trans-Canadian highway and a resulting increase in the number of bears and other animals killed on the highway.  In an effort to keep the wild life from wandering onto the roadways, high fences and dedicated overpasses and tunnels have been constructed for the animals to cross the road.

They have motion activated cameras on the crossings and they have captured over 220,000 photos of bear, elk, cougars and deer using the crossings since 1996.  They said that it can take up to 5 years for bears and wolves to adapt to using the cross-overs, but the elk and deer were using them while they were still under construction.

If we didn’t capture the beauty of this area, it wasn’t for lack of trying!  We took 404 photos in just over 3 days!

Our next journey was to travel the 140 mile Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and Jasper. This road traces the Continental Divide and offers spectacular views of the many glaciers, rugged peaks and turquoise lakes all along the way.  There were not too many pull-outs that would accommodate our 40 foot RV towing the Jeep, but we did get to make a few stops on our trip.


Jasper is another small town with many year-round visitors. We stayed in the Whistler Campground in Jasper National Park but since we had not planned too far ahead, we could only get a no-hookup site. It was a little more rustic and not as scenic as the Lake Louise Campground but it was fine for our short 3 day stay. We did see lots of elk in the campground.


We took a few side trips, the most impressive being a trip to see Athabasca Falls and the Angel Glacier.

Flowing from the Columbia Icefields the waters of the Athabasca River rush through a narrow canyon creating the Falls. As we stood on one of the cross-over bridges we could feel the vibration of the water thundering below us.


Following a switchback road up the mountainside, we took a short hike to the base of Angel Glacier on Mt. Edith Cavell, named in honor of an army nurse who was a WW I heroine. The glacier is supposed to look like an angel with wings on each side. It takes a little imagination.


We had a much sunnier day on our return trip down the Icefields parkway and made a few more photo stops along the way.
Columbia Icefields


After stopping at one lookout we hit a huge pothole as we re-entered the highway. The cabinet doors flew open and dishes and food went flying! Luckily we only lost one soup bowl and the butter dish, and there was another pullout just a short distance away so we could recover!

Our last night in Canada we found a casino with free overnight parking in Canmore, Alberta.   Although Canada is certainly beautiful, we found out it is not cheap. Including fuel, camping fees and a couple of restaurant dinners, this was the most expensive 9 days of our trip so far! 

After safely crossing the border back into the US, our next stop was St. Mary’s, Montana to visit Glacier. National Park. We had been to Glacier on our 2008 trip, but this year we visited two new sections of the park. We traveled back into Canada to see the Waterton Lakes area an also drove through the Many Glacier section.

In Waterton there is a little village with about 100 year round residents. Once again it was mostly shops and restaurants so we did not stay long.


We took two of the scenic drives and a couple of short hikes to see Red Rock Canyon and Cameron Lake. Most of Cameron Lake is in Canada but the southern tip of the lake is in the US.
Red Rock Canyon
Cameron Lake-Looking at the US side

We also saw some bears along the road!
                                 


If you are visiting Glacier you have to drive the Going To The Sun Road. We only drove as far as Logan Pass as we had made this trip before in 08 and there was more road construction going on on the west side of the pass.  They had record amounts of snow this year and at Logan Pass there was still a lot of snow on the trails.

The road did not even open this year until July 13th!  We hiked up to the overloook but the rest of the trail was still snow covered. The snow did not seem to bother this mountain goat!


We tried part of it, but it was steep and slippery so we gave up and went back down. We saw several snowboarders trying their skill on the slopes,  most were not ready for the Olympics but they were having fun.
Snowboarders on Glacier



From Glacier we traveled 400 miles across the state of Montana to Wolf Point. We camped at the Elks and enjoyed a great steak dinner at the Lodge. The next morning we traveled 50 miles north to visit Scobey, MT.  This is small town where my Mom grew up and we still have a small ranch there  (Although there is no such thing as a SMALL ranch in Montana). There is not much going on in Scobey but  it is beautiful country!  This year the senior class at the high school has 13 graduates. 
Downtown Scobey

MOM'S  RANCH

There were not many restaurants but we had a nice dinner at the Silver Slipper and breakfast at the Outlaw Trail Cafe. 


We also visited the Pioneer Museum where they have restored many of the old buildings from the early pioneer days. My grandfather used to own the Bank!
Pioneer Museum

In Granddaddy's Bank with Edgar (Mom's childhood friend)


Our next stop was Teddy Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota. We had also been here once before but we had more time to explore the Park on this trip. We saw bison, elk, feral horses and lots of prairie dogs.


Jameson found the prairie dogs to be very entertaining as they would appear and dissapear running in and out of their holes.



 On this trip after spending the day at the Park, we treated ourselves to a special night out at the famous “Pitchfork Steak Fondue and Medora Musical”.  The steak was a little well done but still pretty tasty and the show presented in an outdoor amphitheater was very entertaining.


So now we have arrived in Box Elder, South Dakota, our official “Home”.


 We stopped here to get our driver’s licenses changed to our current address, but while we were here we made a few quick trips to see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, Wall Drug and the Badlands National Park.

In just a short walk through the parking lots, we counted license plates from 21 different states at Mt. Rushmore. Wall Drug came in second place with 20 states represented. One took years of hard labor and was created to honor four of our Presidents and the other started with a sign offering a free drink of cold water for travelers. They both draw a lot of tourists!

From here we will travel to Minnesota for September and then on to Massachusetts for October where we are expecting a new grandson on Halloween!




This will be the last Blog for a while as the next few months will be spent relaxing and visiting family and friends.  We hope to see many of you very soon.

LOTS MORE PHOTOS





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