Canadian Rockies

Day 1

Travel day to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, landed around noon and went through customs quickly and got our car. We drove through Banff National Park on our way to Radium Springs. We stayed the week at Bighorn Meadows in Radium Springs. A nice condo resort at the edge of a golf course in which most people staying there came to play golf at one of the many courses in the area. Quiet and secluded from the main highway. The resort gets its name from the many Bighorn Sheep that call Radium Springs home. They are wild, but they are found all over the town laying under the trees. We checked in after about a 4 hour drive from Calgary, taking our time, it's actually about 3 hours but we stopped along the way. We made our way back to main drag and got some dinner at Radium Family Restaurant. After a lack luster dinner we went back to the condo and a hot tub. The best part of the resort was the pool and hot tubs were not crowded all week.

Day 2

We woke up and made our way back into Banff National Park and went to Banff. A small but growing resort town in the middle of the Rockies with stunning vistas. We didn't do a whole lot today but walk around and get our bearings.  We had lunch at Eddie's Burgers and was quite pleased. We walk up to the Banff Springs Hotel a magnificent Castle style hotel up the canyon. We took a hike to see the Bow Valley Falls a pretty hike through the forest and along the Bow Valley River. We walked back to town and I seen a car show! You know I like a car show.

Not anything like the car shows you see in the USA but still some very cool rides on display and I got my first souvenir, a t-shirt from the car show. We also stopped at the Cascade of Time Garden, that were just starting to get going. We learned as the week went on, that we were there during the shoulder season. The kids were still in school and the actual tourist season doesn't start until July 1st and runs through Labor Day. So it wasn't too crowded at any point during the week, but still plenty of people. On the way back to Radium we stopped at the Continental Divide and got a few pictures by the monument. That night we ate at Wildside Pizzeria which was fast and good. We spent the rest of the evening at the pool and hot tub, where we chatted with folks from the area and they gave us great ideas and places to go, see and do.

Day 3

We headed south on highway 93/95 on the directions of our talks from the evening before and went through the small towns of Invermere, Kimberley, Marysville and down through Cranbrook. Kimberley was our first stop for the day. It was a mining town and reminded us of Park City. They have train rides and mine tours that you can go on, but we chose to hike up the mountain at the local Kimberley Alpine Ski Resort. We hiked just a few minutes to vista to see the valley from and it was a good point to view from. We went back into town and ate lunch at Our Place Restaurant, good home food and good prices with great atmosphere and friendly folks! After lunch we continued south and stopping in Marysville to see their falls. Short hike along the river to platformed viewing areas, they were worth the short hike. After this we headed south and ended our road trip at Cranbrook a larger city in the southeast of British Columbia. We stopped for a minute at the Wal-mart and checked out the Canadian version of Wal-mart but more like a super target. We headed north from there back to Radium Springs. We stopped in Invermere and had dinner at Station Inn Pub, good food, reasonable prices and good service.  Great view of the lake. After dinner we made our way back to Radium Springs and the hot tub.

Day 4

Yoho National Park, Banff National Park, Lake Louise and Lake Agnes. We drove north on highway 95 to Golden where we turned east on Highway 1 back into the parks. We made our way up the canyon to Lake Louise. A beautiful lake with an outrageous Chateau on its banks. We got there early enough we got a parking spot at the resort, barely. We walked around the lake to where we met up with the trailhead to Lake Agnes, this was one of the to do things that Al and Debbie told us about. Not thinking we headed up the trail only 3.4 km to the lake and "Tea House".  What we didn't anticipate was that it was straight up 3.4 km and straight down. We were dumb in that we hadn't eaten breakfast, we had no water with us, and I'm old fat and out of shape. We got to a lookout point and could see Lake Louise below in its Turquoise Blue splendor, which gave us a little boost and we made it to Mirror Lake tucked up into the cliffs of Beehive Mountain. From here it was only another 1/2 mile again straight up even more so than what we had just done, the last 200 feet were stair steps up the side of the cliffs. We made it to Lake Agnes and the Tea House!! We gladly paid for water and a sandwich, which the crew brings up everyday by horse back and backpack. Pretty incredible. The view was great and the weather was excellent, thankfully, not as hot as it could have been. We ate our sandwiches and drank some of the water and rested for a bit before we made our way back down the trail. Going down was quicker for sure but our thighs were on fire by the time we got back to Lake Louise. We spent another hour or so just looking around and taking in the beauty of the valley. Our next stop was at Lake Louise the township a four corners stop with a small strip mall and gas station. We stopped there and planned our next three days out and purchased tickets for the glacier tour, glacier skywalk, Banff Gondola and Lake Minnwanka tour. Sally mailed her postcards to the grandkids and we got some snacks and drinks at the small grocer there in the strip. We drove slowly down Highway 1 and seen across the road a Grizzly Bear, as we approached we thought there had been an accident with all the flashers going. People running across all 4 lanes of the highway to see this poor bear trying to get something to eat. That's when we realized why they had 10 foot fences all along the highway, not keep the animals off the road, but to keep the idiots away from the wild life and to save their lives, they still stood there putting their arms through the fence trying to entice this huge bear to come to them. Let alone them dodging cars as they ran across the road. We made it to our cutoff and back to Radium Springs in time for dinner. We got a little refreshed at the condo then went to "Old Salzburg" a German based menu and I thought I was in heaven, going to get some Spatzl and schnitzel. We were disappointed with this choice. Slow service, Sally's meal cold and overcooked by the heat lamps, and mine was cold without much taste to the meal. We drowned our sorrows with left over pizza from the other night and a hot tub evening. We met up with a few more locals that were there to golf and had a great conversation them.

Day 5

Short hike day, after our kick butt hiking day at Lake Louise we decided to make our way through Kootenay National Park and stop at all the sights. We first stopped at the Lodge and got snacks, drinks and sandwiches for the day! Talked to the cashier and she gave us directions and places to see in the canyon and she didn't disappoint. Stopping at Paint Pots the first attraction in the canyon. We started to hike and then seen the sign that said 13.8 km to the Paint Pots and we decided that wasn't going to happen since we were still sore from our Lake Agnes adventure. We hiked a little ways up the trail to see some of the river and canyon and then turned back. Next stop was Marble Canyon. Marble Canyon was a short 1.5 km hike that followed the river up the canyon. That became a slot canyon the trail followed up both sides of. This was a highlight trail of ours. The river cut down through rock 200-250 feet with only small glimpses of the river at the top end of the canyon. At the top however the river funneled down into a toilet bowl type drop to the bottom of the slot, it was amazing to watch this river fold into a 10 foot opening and plunge downward. We hiked back to the car had a picnic lunch and went to the next stop Vista Lake and Twin Lakes which was a view point for us. From there we went back into Banff National Park and onto the Bow Valley Parkway, a scenic route of Highway 1. We stopped at Moose Meadows only to find out that moose no longer frequented the area. We stopped at Johnston Canyon and hiked up to the falls in the canyon not to strenuous. The falls were cool, with a little walk through viewpoint that put you right at the bottom of the falls, felt kind of like being at Niagara Falls, just a lot smaller. We returned to our car and followed the parkway to the end and got back on Highway 1. We back into Banff for a short time looking for the road to the caves district and couldn't find it so we went to Sunshine Village Ski resort and found it to be closed but still walked around a bit. Not wanting to go back to the condo Sally decided to go back up to Lake Louise and ride the "gondola" at Ski Louise. They said it went over a game preserve with bears. We got there and the receptionist hooked us up with a great deal. We rode to the top of the lift and went on a small hike to the nature room where they had a small nature display of the animals and plants in the reserve. We hiked back over to the lift and found out we had just missed a grizzly bear on one of the snow fields on the slopes. I asked the attendant at the bottom how they skied in the early season with the bear population, he said that they made the skiers aware of the possibilities of running into a bear and to be cautious until they went into hibernation. The slopes were encircled with an electrified fence, again I'm not sure if it was to keep the bears in or the idiots out. We were hungry and asked where a good place to eat in the area, since all the places on the mountain were closed. We were given directions to the Out Post Pub. This is where I finally got some German food that reminded me of growing up and eating. The spatzl was spot on and the Brat was great! Service was good and friendly, a little pricey but worth it. From here we made our way back to Radium Springs and an evening in the hot tub.

Day 6

Athabasca Glacier, Glacier Skywalk and Jasper. We got up early and made our way into the Jasper National Park where we were to tour the Ice field and glacier and go on the skywalk. We made it there earlier than anticipated and tried to get on an earlier tour but no luck. So we chilled at the visitor center and had lunch. Finally our tour time came up and we boarded the bus to the "Big Bus".

After a short ride up to the staging area we boarded the "Big Bus" and went to the Ice Field/glacier of Athabasca. A cool ride in this enormous bus and on the moraines of the glacier. We stopped at the ice field and spent a good half hour on the ice. Not realizing the amount winds of the glacier creates it was a brisk and heavy wind. You could see down through ice where small fissures dove deep into the ice field. The water was cold and delicious. After a few pictures we had to board and go back to the staging area. Learned that Big Bus weighed in around 30,000 pounds and the tires were nearly 5 feet tall and only ran 16 psi. This thing crawled up a 32 degree pitch without hesitation. From here we were supposed to go directly to the skywalk but this is where it broke down. We were taken back to the lodge and then had to wait for an hour to get back on the bus to go to the "Glacier Skywalk". Knowing all of us on the bus were supposed to go to the Glacier Skywalk the folks didn't care and treated the whole lot of us very rudely.  The bus we came back on sat in the parking stall and didn't move, which could have easily taken us to our destination. Anyhow we made it an hour later, some of our group was later than that. The Glacier Skywalk was a small disappointment. It didn't take you over the glacier but a canyon right off the side of the road five minutes up the road from the lodge. Still cool that you were suspended hundreds of feet over the canyon, but not what they portray in the fliers and advertising. We got a bunch of pics and got back the bus since we were an hour off schedule now. Making it back to the lodge we loaded up and headed north to Jasper. By the time we arrived there it was late afternoon, early evening and we were hungry. We stopped at a place that Al and Debbie had mentioned. L&W Family Restaurant a mix of greek and american style food.  Good service, good prices, and good food. In fact the best prices of the whole trip, including gas prices were in Jasper. We ate quickly because we knew we wanted to stop at some sights on the way back to Radium Springs 4 hours south of us. On the way out of town we seen a Grizzly and her cubs right on the side of the road. Again idiots getting within 10 feet of them, we didn't wait to see the carnage if any. We stopped at Athabasca Falls another cool falls and easy hike. Getting back on the road we seen a black bear meandering down the highway. Next we stopped at Sunwapta Falls, another short hike to see these falls cut through the granite rocks. By now it was late evening and we knew we had a drive ahead of us. We loaded up and made our way back to Radium arriving at midnight, no hot tub tonight. The sun had barely set at this time.

Day 7

Last day in Radium we checked out of the condo and went into Banff. In Banff we rode the Gondola up Sulphur Mountain and hiked over to the Sulphur Mountain Space observation deck. This was a nice morning on the mountain we spent about two hours walking around and enjoying the cool breezes. The views were amazing from the top of the mountain. From there we could see Lake Minnewanka. Riding back down the gondola we talked about our adventures of the week and realized we had a great time! We drove back into town and had lunch at Tommy's Pub, a good place to eat, reasonable prices, good food and a lot of it. Service was good and friendly. We made our way back the train station and got directions to Lake Minnewanka, a short drive out of Banff and we loaded the next tour boat out to the lake. The lake was designated a reservoir since they had dammed it to get more water storage and is the only lake in the Banff park that can have motorized boats on it. With all the rivers and lakes in this area I didn't see one angler except here. They have a couple charter fishing boats at the docks and I actually seen a couple boats fishing while on the tour. I asked the guide what the scoop was and he told me. Lake trout, Bull trout and White fish were found in the lake, and they planted Lakers for the taking all other fish had to be returned. If caught without a license and any other fish the fine was up to $60,000 and jail time. We enjoyed the boat tour for what it was. We called it a day and drove back into Calgary where we spent the night to catch our plane the next day.

2500 plus kilometers on the rental car and great memories were made on this vacation.

Some likes and dislikes, the views and hikes but be prepared. We didn't do some of the hikes due to the bear activity in the area. Bring or buy plenty of bug spray, mosquitoes are terrible in the park.

Buy all of your supplies outside the park if possible. Food, no matter where you get it is expensive. $5.00 for a gallon of milk.

Tours are ran by one company and they know it, but we only had the one bad experience with them, but they also didn't care if it was their screw up or not.

Drive as much as possible and get to your destinations as early as possible, or you will be in the overflow parking which can be 15-20 minutes away from your destination.

Must Do's in our opinion;

Lake Louise, Banff, Banff Gondola, Marble Canyon, Johnston Canyon, Athabasca Glacier and Ice Field, Jasper (but maybe spend the night there to see the whole town), Athabasca Falls, Sunwapta Falls, Lake Minnewanka tour. Lake Agnes if you're prepared, we weren't the only ones on that trail that shouldn't have been there. Lots of hikes can be made if you are prepared for them, food, water, bear spray, bug spray etc.....

Food was our most expense for the trip, more than lodging and gas. Gas was reasonable.  Customs at the airport was very kind and easy to navigate.