Tag Archives: Chens

On to Jasper

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Our time at Banff had come to an end and we were making the trek to the Jasper area.  It is not a short, trivial drive but we started relatively early and it was light until around 11:30 each evening so we could make it.  We also had to stop to see the sights along the way.

The first sight was Peyto Lake.  The color of these glacial lakes is amazing!

The next stop was lunch at the Columbia Icefield.  That is a large glacier behind the trailer:

Then we saw Sunwapta and Athabasca Falls, respectively:

We continued on to Jasper, found a dump station and grocery store and went to the campground.  Naturally there were mosquitos and a very steep spot for us:

Lots of space under the back but not much in the front!  When I was lowering the front, something under the trailer stopped it from lowering any farther.  Hmmm…

Remember I told you about darkness not coming until after 11:30.  Here is an 11:30 shot of the sunset:

We toured around Jasper a bit.  We headed toward Maligne Lake and passed Medicine Lake on the way.  The first picture is a storm rolling in on Medicine Lake.  The second is Roxie in front of Maligne Lake.

While at Maligne Lake we took the hardest hike to date!  George really wanted to see a moose, or Man-Moose as he called it.  There was a trail to Moose Lake where we had heard moose sometimes show up.  This trail was horrendous because there were tree roots covering the entire trail from heavy usage.  It rained on and off, it was uphill and long.  We finally made it but, alas, no moose.  We made it back during some heavy downpours and enjoyed sitting down on the ride back to Jasper for a nice evening meal.

We left Jasper, of sorts, and moved to a new campground.  Bye Jasper:

When I hooked up to go to the next campground I found out what stopped the lowering of the trailer.  It was the spare tire under the front of the trailer.  I have never lowered the trailer that far to hit the spare but now I know that the characteristics of that happening.

The next campground was the last one we were going to share with the Chens.  This was near Hinton AB.  We walked an elevated path through a huge beaver pond and saw numerous animals including a beaver.  We also took an interesting drive past a local mine and to a Canadian Continental Divide marker.  It was a lot of gravel road but we saw even more beavers along the way.  Here we are (it was COLD!):

The time with the Chen’s came to an end.  They were heading west toward Vancouver BC and we were heading east to Edmonton.  Parting is such sweet sorrow, but we will see them again!

Before and after:

Banff

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The next stop after Radium Hot Springs was Banff.  Only 85 miles or 135 kilometers since we were in Canada.  A nice short drive but very spectacular.  We were last here in 2004 (14 years) and a lot has changed.  We were able to camp in the full hookup campground at Tunnel Mountain:

We were able to show the Chen’s some old spots we went to and some new ones also!  Bow Falls and the Cave and Basin Historical site:

The above shot was in one of the displays promoting Canadian National Parks.  Looks like an Airstream to me!

One day we took a drive up to Lake Louise, a requirement for anyone in the area as the parking lot bore out.  The lot said full but we drove around and found one but it might have been illegal parking.  No ticket in the end!  Lake Louise is amazing but you cannot go into the hotel there anymore unless you are a guest (staying or eating I guess).  We could not even drive to the Moraine Lake parking as they close the road when it is full.  We have to suffice with Lake Louise:

Another day we stayed around the Banff area and drove by Two Jack Lake and Lake Minnewanka.  We also saw some wildlife, mangy and otherwise, you guess which.

I had seen photographs of the Banff valley from an elevated position and I wanted to go there.  There was one possibility, the Mt Norquay ski area.  Actually, there is a viewpoint before you get there and it was the place.  The parks in Canada have a ‘red chair’ promotion going where they place two Adirondack (ironic) chairs in scenic locations and encourage people to find them and sit in them.  There was one here:

One of the days we decided to take a hike.   It had to meet everyone’s criteria.  The kids wanted long and strenuous but we like short an easy.  A compromise was had with the Johnston Canyon hike.  It was listed as not too long and a moderate hike.  They lie!!  We must have a different definition of moderate.  We did the hike but it kicked our butts!  There were numerous waterfalls all along the river along with some ingenious ways to construct the trail:

Our time in Banff was very enjoyable.  The weather was great for the most part.  It was interesting to see the changes.  Banff is still the touristy town it was 14 years ago, just a bit bigger and busier.  But it was time to move on.