We flew to Calgary through a time zone so were 2 hours behind Toronto. So we went to bed at 2100 (which was really 2300) and woke up at 0600 (which was really 0800) and pretty confusing and not good for the body clock.
Checked out and went into the town for a look around and breakfast, the temperature about -2 according to Google but the sun was out and it wasn’t too cold. We then drove along the shore of Lake Minniewanka (snigger). The views were incredible. Imagine a postcard of Canada with pine trees around a perfectly still lake with mountains in the background, that’s what we saw. We took photos of course. Carried on around the lake and stopped to take more photos and saw a small group of Canadian goats just lying around, then an eagle floated past. Stopped at another part of the lake and on the way back to the car saw a coyote. All this in the space of about 15 minutes. At another part of the lake we saw dozens of ground squirrels that would come out of their burrows, stand up to look at us and then pop back in if we got too close.
We left Lake Minniewanka (chortle) and headed along the scenic route to Lake Louise.
When we drove up to Banff we had to buy a pass to stick in the window, and Song said we shouldn’t have bothered. I said they probably have checkpoints and she laughed and said that it was Canada, not Libya. So, guess what we came to – yes, a checkpoint. Ha.
The scenery was mostly tree lined avenues with the surrounding mountains. After a while I said I’d pull over to grab a drink and the next place turned out to have a full car park, a place called Johnston Canyon. It was a magnificent river canyon, sheer cliff faces with a fast running river. After about 20 minutes we arrived at the lower falls, a small but impressive waterfall. There was a path up to other falls but we decided to push on.
Arrived in Lake Louise town, which was really just a few shops, after about 15 minutes and found a pretty rubbish place to eat. I had a chicken burger and chips, Song had chicken wings with salad and both were as good as could be expected.
Drove around the corner, parked and walked to the actual lake. Wow. Absolutely breathtaking. If you wanted to design the perfect scenic spot you’d probably come up with this. Words can’t describe it, certainly not mine, so look at the photos. Just amazing. We walked around the lake for a bit then I felt a bit cold so turned around but Song wanted to go a bit further. I sat down on a bench looking out over the lake to the snow covered mountains. What a hard life I have. There were plenty of people around but not so many that we couldn’t take photos, and we found ourselves alone on the path a few times.
Drove a bit more, came across some more goats crossing the road, then discovered another lake surrounded by mountains, and the lake was partially frozen, ice covering most of the surface. Carried on a bit further and saw a load of parked coaches so thought something must be worth looking at, and found the Athabasca Glacier. Climbed a steep slope and stood at the toe of the glacier. Photos of course.
Carried on the only road to Jasper, amazing views of the surrounding mountains, and as we were driving I saw a small black blob in the distance at the side of the road that moved. I reckoned it was a bear, and yes, it was. A black bear. Stopped and took a couple of photos but a car came so drove off. A bit further up the road Song said we should go back, and I thought that was a good idea, because how many times do you see a bear at the side of the road? So we did, and I got more photos. Another car had stopped as well, and the guy got out of the car to get closer to get better photos. I switched the camera to video, because I thought I was about to capture a wicked youtube video. However, the bear didn’t seem interested. Carried on towards Jasper, and 5 minutes later, there was another bear. Stopped again, because how many times do you see a bear by the side of the road? Several, it seems. Thinking we’d never get to Jasper at this rate, finally got to the town only to see 4 white tailed deer by the side of the road.
Unbelievable, an incredible day.
Tomorrow we spend in and around Jasper, just chilling out after the hectic travel.
