The Rockies

Republishing, this time with photos (I hope). Apologies, I tried a different method and it obviously didn’t work!  

I’ll always remember my geography teacher describing the various Canadian mountain chains.  “Well, there’s the Laurentians and the Appalachians but both of these are dwarfed by the Rockies”.  He wasn’t joking!!  And what a thrill to finally see them for myself!

We approached the Rockies on a level with Calgary and stayed two nights in Canmore.  Not only did we have mountains towering around us, we also had a train track for company.  Suffice to say that Canadian freight trains are some of the longest in the world, and thunder along 24 hours a day, hooting at the numerous level crossings.  But sleepless nights were a small price to pay – Canmore is home to one of Canada’s biggest quilting shops  – 8000 bolts of fabric and 200 quilts on display  – I was like a kid in a sweet shop!!

The Rocky Mountains are famous world-wide which means that the WHOLE WORLD wants to visit them.  Our day in Banff brought this home to us – the National Park is no longer big enough to cope with the huge numbers of people.  Car parks are full by 7am!  We resorted to Park and Ride which worked well and was always on time  – but sadly was badly advertised and hardly used.  A hair-raising gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain, ascending 2,451 metres in ten minutes, certainly tests your altitude adaptability, but the views in all directions from the top are spectacular.

A further trip out to the Cave and Basin National Historic Site gave us insight into the first ever National Park in Canada, and the original hot springs.  The combination of the heat and the ever present sulphur smell,  did not make for a pleasant experience!  Banff town itself had a lovely atmosphere, lots of interesting shops and cafes – all of whom overcharge, simply because they can get away with it!  $20 for two frozen yoghurt cups!!  An evening boat trip on Lake Mannawaki completed our day – lots of scruffy mountain sheep on the road to get there – but our guide was, as ever, very knowledgeable and made learning fun.

The weather ‘closed in’ on us the next day and we used this as an excuse to treat ourselves to breakfast at the Fairmount Banff Springs Hotel!  The food was delicious but sadly we had no chance of seeing the views, as the cloud was down.  The joys of being in the mountains!  Moving on to the Lake Louise area, we were again astounded at the crowds of people  (we have been spoiled so far!)  Even the overflow/park and ride carpark was full by midday, despite the grey miserable weather.  We gave in and used the afternoon for finding some WIFI and catching up with emails and future campsite bookings.  Tourist information assured us that the only way to see both Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, without the crowds, was to get up very early.  Two consecutive 05:30 wake-up calls, ensured that we enjoyed the absolute beauty of these lakes.  What a joy to physically see what the travel brochures always show you!  Turquoise blue water, towering majestic mountains and rushing mountain streams help to make this area particularly special. 

A 20 minute ride on a ski-resort chairlift took us to the top of Whitehorn mountain – 3,399 metres.  An hour’s guided walk through a bear enclosure ensured we knew all about ‘what to do if you meet a Grizzly’, but needless to say, they stayed firmly hidden from view!  Incredible views all round – the weather had cleared – and we enjoyed a coffee in the special cafe at the top, looking across the Bow River Valley to Lake Louise.

Crossing into British Columbia (province No 10!), Lulu has negotiated some incredible mountain passes, and seen some spectacular feats of engineering, as the Trans Canada highway descends through deep gullies and layers of rock, or passes over raging mountain torrents.  I have a love of waterfalls, and was thrilled to view the Takakkawa Falls (one of Canada’s highest) at the end of a very windy road, which included two switchbacks!!  It was touch and go, but Lulu made it (a three point turn or two).  Certainly an adrenaline charge!

We will be in B.C. for a month now,  and hope to see the vast majority of the province, but I’ll save that for another blog.  In the meantime, I must mention the wonderful Canadian people.  Three examples this week show their exuberance for life!  A couple approached us as we sat in the sun having lunch in a roadside ‘pull-in’.  “Where are you headed?”  is always the question.  An hour later we were still chatting to these lovely people – they gave us all sorts of suggestions as to what to see and do and couldn’t have been more welcoming.  Another lunch stop in a tiny park area overlooking a lake – very much a back road.   A group of cyclists joined us, much in need of a break and some shade.  They also wanted to know exactly where we’d been and where we were ‘headed’.  Lots of ideas for little side trips.    Today’s was a classic . . . . . . . we were in YET ANOTHER queue for YET ANOTHER set of roadworks.  Whilst lorries were dumping grit the two queues ended up literally alongside each other.  Windows down in the heat, and the chap next to us – big grin – says “Hey! Have you got lunch on board?  What are you having?  We could all come whilst we wait here!”  Lots of joking, and then “where are you headed? Oh wow! you’re seeing more of Canada than we’ll ever see!”  They are all so proud to be Canadian and proud to show off their country.   There’s a few lessons in there somewhere . . . . . . .