Saturday June 29 Banff

Short drive today, 150 miles to Banff. Rather than take Rt 1 direct (which is a divided super highway with lots of traffic) we went south to Longview then the "scenic route" up 541/40 to meet up with RT 1 at Exton. What a beautiful ride! Great road, little traffic, starting with rolling farmland then into great views of the mountains. Wildlife sightings too! Two Grizzly Bears just yards off the road, then several groups of Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep, licking salt off the road! (If we had taken the more direct route of Rt 1, we'd have missed all this!)

South of Calgary one goes through a bustling area called Okotoks. New construction of homes, apartments, malls, etc everywhere!

When we reached Rt 1, lots of traffic! Then bumper to bumper as we reached Banff. It was impossible to go anywhere. We had planned to ride the gondola but we couldn't get there. We did find Tunnel Mountain Drive which provided some good views and a way to the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. The hotel is magnificent, but totally unaffordable! Unbeknownst to us, this weekend is Canada Day (Like our July 4th) . It was very crowded!

Our Best Western is right downtown with a Chili's attached to the Fox Hotel next door, so we had dinner there.

Sunday to Jasper/Hinton

Today was an odd day. Started with disappointment, ended with a more positive attitude! First of all, it was raining. It rained on and off all day, with bits of sun later in the afternoon. The problem arises with such mobs of people! We never knew about Canada Day - which is this weekend. Its like our July 4th. Banff was really crowded, but first thing we visited the Cascade Gardens behind the Park Headquarters building. Very pleasant place with mostly annuals. Then we went to the famous "Cave and Basin" which is a hot spring complex that was the very first National Park in Canada. If you plan in advance, you could have a nice soak!

Then we headed north about an hour to Lake Louise. This is the ugly part of the day. All parking lots are full and the tickets to the shuttle buses are sold out. So, we were unable to see either Lake Louise nor Moraine Lake, nor the Fairmont. Bummer.

Undetered, we continue north on Rt 1 just a ways before the two lane divided speedway heads west and we continue north on Rt 93, a more reasonable two-lane, park like highway. In spite of the rain and clouds, the mountains are spectacular. We stopped at the famous "spiral tunnels" and, as luck would have it, there was a train going through! An unexpected place was the "Ice Fields", or Glaciers. The main one that can be seen from the road is called Athabasca. Thousands (really) of tourists we hiking up to the glacier, some were riding in specially equiped big-tired machines.

We approached Jasper but headed north around the city to Hinton, where our hotel is. We'll check out Jasper in the morning, then on down to Kamloops. The mountains at this end of the park are very different.

An observation: I have never seen so many Indians! Women in saris, young men wearing turbans. Are they Canadians? Did they get cheap flights from Mumbai? They seem to spend a lot of time taking pictures of themselves!

So the day started off badly, but in the end, "its all good!"

257 miles  40.9 mpg

Many wildlife crossings

As close as we got to the Fairmont

WE did NOT see this!

Nearing Jasper

Monday Canada Day on to Kamloops

Leaving our hotel first thing was a zoo! There are so many Indian families here with lots of kids! A few rain showers today, but mostly clear around 70 degrees. Hinton is an industrial town with wood products being the main business. There's a huge lumber operation. As we head south, back toward Jasper, the mountains are spectacular! Lots of lakes and supposedly great places to see Rocky Mountain Sheep (we saw one yesterday here).

Jasper is the main town in Jasper National Park. Looks like a fun place! Lots of hotels, shops and restaurants. Not sure what's here except that its the northenern gateway to the National Parks.

Now we head south on Rt 5 following the Thompson River. Great road, not much traffic. We stopped at Mt Robson Provincial Park for a break. Mt Robson is 12,000+, the tallest point in the Canadian Rockies. A popular place for outdoor activities.

As we approach Kamloops, the landscape opens up to a wide valley, hillsides barren of trees with lots of sagebrush. Reminds me a bit of the land around the Columbia Gorge.

Kamloops is a large city, population around 100k.  Our hotel is a "Prestige" brand, part of Best Western.Very nice! We had a our dinner in the hotel dining room. We were the only customer, a great meal and a delighful Philipino waitress.

Tomorrow an interesting route to Nelson.

340 miles  41.6 mpg

(Note: in August of 2024 much of the city of Jasper was destroyed by fire)

Indians taking pictures

Jasper

Jasper

Mount Robson

Kamloops

Tuesday - Nelson, B.C.

Rain on and off today, sometimes heavy. The road from Kamloops to Revelstoke is Rt 1 Trans Canada Highway. Its mostly two lane and lots of traffic! After a brief stop at Tim Horton's for a donut, we continued on to come across the Canadian Pacific's "Last Spike" exhibit. It was 1885, four years BEFORE the U.S. Last Spike in Utah.

We stopped at a wonderful fruit stand for a box of cherries.

Heading south along the "black" roads on the map, for the second half of our day, was almost entirely along the Columbia River and, later, several lakes. One gripe we have: the Canadian road designers have no interest in "scenic views" or turnouts. So for the entire afternoon, I only found ONE place where I could get a view! Otherwise, its just heavy forest on both sides of the curvey road. (They don't do well with rest areas, either!)

At a place called Shelter Bay, we had to take a short ferry ride across the Columbia. It cost us time! We arrived at the dock at 1:30, expecting to take the 2:00 trip across. Turns out, Tuesdays 2:00 are reserved for "hazardous materials"......so we had to wait for 3:00.

Our final stop for the day is the Prestige Hotel (which turns out to be an upscale chain just in B.C.) Beautiful place. Too bad we got in too late to enjoy it! Weather wasn't good anyway. Nice dinner in their dining room.

285 miles  41.6 mpg

Wednesday - Prince of Wales Waterton

The Prestige Hotel in Nelson was really nice! Right on the marina. Off in the distance a highway bridge known as "the Big Orange Bridge".  (Note: two months later that wooden bridge would burn down) After breakfast in the room of cereal and banana, we headed off toward our goal for the day, Waterton Park (the Canada part of Glacier).

As we approached Creston, were were in a little valley with lots of orchards, mostly peaches. Stopped for gas, coffee and donuts at Tim Horton's. Then on the Cranbrook where we stopped for a few groceries.

In Spanwood, there's a huge coal mining operation. Can't see much except the top of the mountain is gone! Continuing east we went over Crowsnest Pass and the Continental Divide going into Alberta. 

On the east side of Crowsnest Pass, the terrain changes completely. We're now on the "Prairie", no trees, wheat fields, etc. Lots of wind turbines.  Elevation now at about 4500 (the last few days we were usually at only 1500),

The road turns south at Pincher Creek and you start to see the mountains. The weather has actually cleared! We spotted a bear in the field!  As one gets closer, the mountains loom and over the next rise you see the Prince of Wales Hotel, all by itself on top of a hill. Just as I remembered it!

We had been advised ahead of time that the hotel's 95 year old elevator was broken but we assured that some young fellows would help us get our stuff up any stairs. Thankfully, we got a room on the second floor, not the fourth! A fellow named Tony hauled all our stuff in far fewer trips than it would have taken me! The hotel has an interesting history. Built in 1926-7 by the Canadian Pacific, about the same time as Many Glacier Hotel.

Dinner in the Lounge consisted of Shephard's Pie and Potato and Cabbage Rosti. The view from the lounge, dining area, is spectacular. At about dusk, the clouds came in and it started to rain.

Here all day tomorrow, hopefull to take boat ride on the lake. We hope for good weather!

304 miles 40.6 mpg

Nelson marina

Nelson Big Orange Bridge