June 2004

Can you believe it? Almost a full month in Canada. We have seen, done, experienced so much of this great country.

The first week of June was spent in Montana; a few days with Dahlia and Tyler and a few days in Kalispell revisiting the Flathead National Forest's Education Center atop Big Mountain Ski Resort. Both were wonderful but we were ready to start our Canadian adventures.

The Plan - visit as many Canadian Rocky's national parks as possible.

The first on our list was Kootenay National Park (NP). Although probably better known for its Radium Hot Springs, this small park gets top ranking from us for its abundant wildlife. The story goes the community leaders wanted a road built to link Radium with Banff and swapped 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) on both side of that proposed road (now Route 93) for funding for the project. That swapped land became Kootenay NP and Rt 93 a delightfully wide highway through breathtaking mountain valleys. The spacious green space between the asphalt and spruce tree provides a great place for animals of all sorts to come, graze, and be seen by tourists like us.

Our next National Parks were Yoho, Glacier, and Revelstoke. For some reason (it is mid-June), we didn't think snow would be a problem. Boy, were we wrong. Some of Yoho's best attractions were still snowbound. However, it must be said, the sights we did see were outstanding. It was in the Yoho we saw our first green lake. It was named, appropriately enough, Emerald Lake. We had noticed many of the rivers had a chalky green color to them but didn't know the reason. At Emerald Lake we learned why - "glacial flour". It is the super fine dust produced by a glacier grounding rock which is suspended in water. While the rivers all are about the same color, a lake's color will change depending of angle of the sun and the amount of glacial flour suspended in the water. There was no sightseeing in either Glacier nor Revelstoke as snow still blocked access to most of their sights. We will revisited both the first days of July when the weather is nicer (at least, it shouldn't be snowing, right?).

Than a week in the Lake Louise section of Banff National Park. It was beyond beautiful. What a week it was!!! We hiked and hiked and hiked a little more. We hiked up mountainsides, down moraines, over patches of snow, across creeks in the mornings and stream in to afternoon, switchbacks, goat's trails, bike paths, gullies, dales, and lush forests. It was great! The longest hike was 4.43 miles one way (with an elevation gain of 1200ft) to a teahouse at the edge of the Plains of Six Glaciers. Honest, there was a two story log cabin caf‚ serving hot tea, sandwiches, and desserts, all made in the cabin's little kitchen at the end of the trail. Their "major" supplies (flour, sugar, etc) are brought in once a year by helicopter while the "minor" supplies (lettuce, eggs, etc.) are brought up by staffers returning from their days off. Anyway, it was an awe-inspiring experience to sip a delicious cup of hot tea while watching a dozen or more avalanches tumble down the various mountains around us.

Jasper was our next National Park but we had to stop at the 3.75 mile long Athabasca glacier (about midway between Lake Louise and Jasper) for a tour of that little portion of the Columbia Icefield (total area of the Icefield is 130 square miles!). We took a ride on a vehicle called a Snocoach to the middle of the Athabasca glacier. It was something special to be standing on ice 1000 feet deep and possible 8000 years old (both estimates provided by Snocoach's driver).

While in Jasper, we visited Mt. Edith Cavell and its three glaciers one day and Maligne (pronounce Ma-leen) Lake another. We hiked some at both and enjoyed magnificent sights at each. But perhaps the most exciting sight is of the elk grazing around our rig. One fear is Ralf may have a heart attack or hernia from all his barking. The elk are completely unimpressed.

While in Jasper we made a little day trip for a horseback trail ride that took us passed one breathtaking mountain called Mount Robson. The tallest mountain in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, it is not at all bent, twisted, or castelled. This mountain is a huge block raising skyward of perfect horizontal layers, one atop the next. The dark layers of ancient sedimentary rocks are emphasized by strips pure white snow clinging to the top is each layer, making this magnificent specimen appear to be some titan's multi-layered torte cake.

We are so enjoying Canada's Rocky Mountain National Parks. The people have been great; so friendly and gracious. Every sight seems to be better than the last. The Parks are more developed than we see in the States and have a resort feel to them. This might be because the Parks "grow" up with the railroad and were promoted as railway vacation destination. We are told places like the Glacier House, in Glacier NP, were a big favorite among USofA's 19th century's affluent society. The hiking trails here are better maintained. As for the campgrounds, they feel more like our national forest campgrounds than national parks. The sites are spacious, the privacy between sites good, and the overall atmosphere is quiet and peaceful. And like many national forest campgrounds, the Canadian campgrounds have interior roads in need of attention.

Once again we have had to leave out chunks of our adventures - sorry - but there will be more in the next Wanderings. July will find us revisiting Revelstoke, Glacier, and Banff national parks. Then about a week in Calgary (a real city) and the Stampede. A brief stop in nearby Drumheller (Why? Dinosaurs!) before heading back to the States and Fred's cousin's wedding. Phew! Hope you are enjoying your summer as much as we are.

Suzi and Fred