Motor Home Trip to Jasper National Park Canada – Week 4, 3-8 June 2007
We spent another day at beautiful Lake Louise taking a long hike around the lake along with swarms of Japanese tourists, luckily the crowds thinned as we got further away from the hotel. We then drove on to Banff which is a short drive away. Banff town is a cute little town with elk running through the streets. We spent the first day browsing the town and the shops, had dinner out a couple of nights and went to the Banff Hot Springs to take the waters (felt like a Jacuzzi that smelled like sulfur). On our second day we took a bike ride around Vermillion lakes, just out of town. It was like riding along giant mirrors reflecting the spectacular mountain scenery. We took advantage of the nice weather and went for a two hour hike through nearby Johnson Canyon. It is a steep narrow canyon where the path includes many catwalks suspended from the canyon walls along a rushing river with rapids and beautiful waterfalls through primal forests and moss covered rocks. It was a real highlight. On our way back to Banff, we saw a huge grizzly bear bounding across the highway at lightening speed, right in front of us and disappeared off into the woods before we had a chance to grab a camera. It was fantastic to see this huge animal moving so fast. Before leaving Banff we stopped to see the Whyte museum which was mildly interesting.
On Monday (4 June) we left Banff and headed south toward the USA along scenic highway 93, passing Radium hot springs, where we saw a herd of scruffy looking mountain goats and stopped for the night at Fairmont Hot Springs, BC. As we were driving we were listening to the final chapters of “Truman” which kept us company for the last 3 weeks. We hated for the book to end. It was a wonderful way to get to know a bit more about the man Truman was. The next day stopped at the quaint, restored frontier town of Fort Steel and learned a bit about the history of the region, before passing through Customs and arriving at West Glacier, MT a couple of miles from the entrance of Glacier National Park. It was the first time that we got a glimpse at the “Luxuriant Bear Grass”. We had to stop to take a close look at these gorgeous large white flowers which we have never seen before. They are growing in great abundance along the roads and seem to be unique to this area. (First reported by Lewis and Clark). After three weeks of almost perfect weather, a cold front moved through and we got some rain and cooler temperatures. The timing was good as we were both really ready for a break from touring and scenery. It was great to have a down day, reading, surfing the web (we had Wi-Fi at the campground) and watching a DVD. It’s sure nice to have your house along for the ride.
On Friday (8 June), refreshed, we were ready to tour Glacier National Park. The weather improved a bit but was still overcast and cold. We found that there had been serious storm damage to the Park over the last few years, from road wash outs to forest fires. Despite this, we were able to see some wonderful scenery. We took a short walk near Lake McDonald on a boardwalk through mature forest along a lovely rushing river. (It is still a real thrill to me (Dahlia) to see such old trees, so much water, so many large rushing rivers waterfalls and lakes.) On the drive along US2 we spotted another herd of mountain goats roaming along remote cliffs at Goatlick point. (We had to use the binoculars to distinguish them from rocks J)
The road then crossed the Continental Divide to the east side of the Park, at Marias pass, where the Rocky Mountains gives way to the Great Plains. Here the rivers really switched direction and flow to the east!!! (I’m still trying to get my head around this one… D.)
It is here that you really get a sense of what “big sky” really means. The transition from mountains glaciers and dense forests to the plains was sharp and very striking. Along with the change of scenery there was an abrupt change in weather as well. The gloomy cloud cover was gone and a beautiful blue sky with puffy clouds made the day look so much brighter. We saw a big herd of bison grazing in a huge meadow; the trees gave way to endless grassy meadows. We passed through the Blackfoot Indian Reservation and visited the Plains Indian Museum, which was enlightening.
It’s been 4 weeks since we left home, and 2.5 weeks to go with many exciting parks ahead.
On Monday (4 June) we left Banff and headed south toward the USA along scenic highway 93, passing Radium hot springs, where we saw a herd of scruffy looking mountain goats and stopped for the night at Fairmont Hot Springs, BC. As we were driving we were listening to the final chapters of “Truman” which kept us company for the last 3 weeks. We hated for the book to end. It was a wonderful way to get to know a bit more about the man Truman was. The next day stopped at the quaint, restored frontier town of Fort Steel and learned a bit about the history of the region, before passing through Customs and arriving at West Glacier, MT a couple of miles from the entrance of Glacier National Park. It was the first time that we got a glimpse at the “Luxuriant Bear Grass”. We had to stop to take a close look at these gorgeous large white flowers which we have never seen before. They are growing in great abundance along the roads and seem to be unique to this area. (First reported by Lewis and Clark). After three weeks of almost perfect weather, a cold front moved through and we got some rain and cooler temperatures. The timing was good as we were both really ready for a break from touring and scenery. It was great to have a down day, reading, surfing the web (we had Wi-Fi at the campground) and watching a DVD. It’s sure nice to have your house along for the ride.
On Friday (8 June), refreshed, we were ready to tour Glacier National Park. The weather improved a bit but was still overcast and cold. We found that there had been serious storm damage to the Park over the last few years, from road wash outs to forest fires. Despite this, we were able to see some wonderful scenery. We took a short walk near Lake McDonald on a boardwalk through mature forest along a lovely rushing river. (It is still a real thrill to me (Dahlia) to see such old trees, so much water, so many large rushing rivers waterfalls and lakes.) On the drive along US2 we spotted another herd of mountain goats roaming along remote cliffs at Goatlick point. (We had to use the binoculars to distinguish them from rocks J)
The road then crossed the Continental Divide to the east side of the Park, at Marias pass, where the Rocky Mountains gives way to the Great Plains. Here the rivers really switched direction and flow to the east!!! (I’m still trying to get my head around this one… D.)
It is here that you really get a sense of what “big sky” really means. The transition from mountains glaciers and dense forests to the plains was sharp and very striking. Along with the change of scenery there was an abrupt change in weather as well. The gloomy cloud cover was gone and a beautiful blue sky with puffy clouds made the day look so much brighter. We saw a big herd of bison grazing in a huge meadow; the trees gave way to endless grassy meadows. We passed through the Blackfoot Indian Reservation and visited the Plains Indian Museum, which was enlightening.
It’s been 4 weeks since we left home, and 2.5 weeks to go with many exciting parks ahead.
posted by Dahlia and Lance Riley @ 8:18 AM
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