Summary of our trip to Banff, Waterton Lakes/Glacier National Park
(scroll down to see each day)
16 days
2 countries
3 states
2 providence
2600 miles
Sept 6 - 21, 2008
-Yakima, WA (via Centralia)
-Radium Hot Springs, BC Canada
-Banff, BC/Alberta Canada
-Calgary, Alberta Canada
-Waterton (Pincher Creek), Alberta Canada
-Many Glaciers, MT
-Columbia Falls, MT
Scroll down and go to "Older Post" to start at the beginning.
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Sun, Sept 14 Waterton Lakes, CND
We took a boat trip to the end of Waterton Lake to Goat Haunt. This crosses the international border into the U.S. so we had to clear customs before our hike. Yep, we had our passports.
Waterton / Glacier is the first (only?) international peace park that crosses between the U.S. and Canada. Here's teh border markers, notice there is a 10 ft wide border cut in the trees.
I thought these mountains looked cool, so I'm including the pic. That craggy peak on the end is known as the Citadel also called the Sawtooth Mountains. They are on the U.S. side of Waterton Lake.
Here we are at Goat Haunt. The boat is the International and has been running on the lake for 80 yrs. Can you see the ranger station in the background.
The hike from Goats Haunt took us to Kootenai Lake. We were scared of bears but we went anyway. We saw some moose but I already showed you a pic, so here's the lake instead.
We tried to make it to Rainbow Falls but were afraid we'd miss the boat (there are only 2 afternoon boat trips). So we had an early dinner and headed for the U.S. As it turns our we were crossing the border at about 5 and it was only opened till 6, so good thing we didn't take the later boat.
Waterton / Glacier is the first (only?) international peace park that crosses between the U.S. and Canada. Here's teh border markers, notice there is a 10 ft wide border cut in the trees.
I thought these mountains looked cool, so I'm including the pic. That craggy peak on the end is known as the Citadel also called the Sawtooth Mountains. They are on the U.S. side of Waterton Lake.
Here we are at Goat Haunt. The boat is the International and has been running on the lake for 80 yrs. Can you see the ranger station in the background.
The hike from Goats Haunt took us to Kootenai Lake. We were scared of bears but we went anyway. We saw some moose but I already showed you a pic, so here's the lake instead.
We tried to make it to Rainbow Falls but were afraid we'd miss the boat (there are only 2 afternoon boat trips). So we had an early dinner and headed for the U.S. As it turns our we were crossing the border at about 5 and it was only opened till 6, so good thing we didn't take the later boat.
Sat, Sep 13 Waterton Canada
5 hikes = 10 miles with 1400 ft elevation gain, we are tired.
Lower Bertha Falls, Cameron Falls, Cameron Lake, Bears Hump and Blakiston Falls via Red Rock Canyon.
Here's Cameron Falls, right in town. A bride and groom followed us up the path.
At Cameron Lake there was a moose in the water, look at those ears (antlers). He made sure to give us humans plenty of space.
Bears Hump was a steep climb but look at the reward. Here we are with thetown of Waterton below and Waterton Lake with mountains.
Our last hike of the day was through Red Rock Canyon to Blakiston Falls. This pic doesn't really do the canyon justice.
We saw 3 bears today. I'm very happy to say we were in the car driving through the park. Tom's camera was able to capture some good shots from a safe distance.
Lower Bertha Falls, Cameron Falls, Cameron Lake, Bears Hump and Blakiston Falls via Red Rock Canyon.
Here's Cameron Falls, right in town. A bride and groom followed us up the path.
At Cameron Lake there was a moose in the water, look at those ears (antlers). He made sure to give us humans plenty of space.
Bears Hump was a steep climb but look at the reward. Here we are with thetown of Waterton below and Waterton Lake with mountains.
Our last hike of the day was through Red Rock Canyon to Blakiston Falls. This pic doesn't really do the canyon justice.
We saw 3 bears today. I'm very happy to say we were in the car driving through the park. Tom's camera was able to capture some good shots from a safe distance.
Fri, Sep 12 Calgary
Got up this morning with a mission; to find Tim Horton's (dounut shop). You would not believe the line!! But we toughed it out and waited and it was worth it. Yum. Steeped tea, tea biscuits and pastries.
Now we were ready to explore the rest of the city.
We went to the Calgary Tower, which is like the Space Needle but made of cement. It is the tallest tower in the world by elevation because it starts above sea level. There is also a glass floor in the tower. Now that was freaky. We had a tough time walking out on it at first.
The arena for the Stampede is pretty close to downtown. I can't image what this town must be like at Stampede time.
Then we were off to Waterton Lakes with a stop off at "Head-Smashed-In" Buffalo Jump. Once I saw the name I knew I had to stop here. Turns out it was very interesting and lovely.
This is where the Indians (First Nation, in Canada) chased the bison and they fell off the end of a cliff where the Indians killed, if necessary, and butchered the bison for food, clothing, etc. They used all parts of the bison except the jaw bone and front legs. It was amazing!
Legend says a young brave got too close to the bison falling off the cliff. As his people were butchering the bison they found him with his skull crushed.
This site goes back 6,000 years where the native people used it as a buffalo jump.
We arrived at Pincher Creek and ate dinner at Denise's Bistro, yum.
Now we were ready to explore the rest of the city.
We went to the Calgary Tower, which is like the Space Needle but made of cement. It is the tallest tower in the world by elevation because it starts above sea level. There is also a glass floor in the tower. Now that was freaky. We had a tough time walking out on it at first.
The arena for the Stampede is pretty close to downtown. I can't image what this town must be like at Stampede time.
Then we were off to Waterton Lakes with a stop off at "Head-Smashed-In" Buffalo Jump. Once I saw the name I knew I had to stop here. Turns out it was very interesting and lovely.
This is where the Indians (First Nation, in Canada) chased the bison and they fell off the end of a cliff where the Indians killed, if necessary, and butchered the bison for food, clothing, etc. They used all parts of the bison except the jaw bone and front legs. It was amazing!
Legend says a young brave got too close to the bison falling off the cliff. As his people were butchering the bison they found him with his skull crushed.
This site goes back 6,000 years where the native people used it as a buffalo jump.
We arrived at Pincher Creek and ate dinner at Denise's Bistro, yum.
Thurs, Sep 11 Banff
Today we leave for Calgary but decided to take the gondola on Sulphur Mountain. Sulphur Mt is at 7,527 ft, we got a little winded while walking the boardwalk on the mountain. The gondola took us up 2,132 ft, at times it was almost straight up. There is an option to hike up, but we were still recovering from yesterday's hike.
There are great views of the town and surrounding mountains, rivers & lakes. It is breathtaking beauty.
We had lunch in Banff then headed out to Calgary.
On the south end of Calgary is the Olympic Park. Do you remember Calgary hosted the 1988 Olympics? They have some things to see & do there but we decided to head into the city.
We walked around the city and had a nice steak dinner. I had a Turtle ice cream bar, I have to say I didn't like it. I think the ice cream is caramel but it tasted like mocha :<
Wed, Sep 10 Banff
Today we visited Lake Louise. Last time we were here the lake was still frozen over, so it was nice to see a real lake :) It's a beautiful blue/green when the sun shines on it; due to the glacial till.
The Chateau Lake Louise is a lovely hotel at the end of the lake and a nice landmark to look at while hiking.
Back when Banff was a young park, to encourage tourist the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railroad) built teahouses in park. We hiked to 2 of the teahouses; one on the trail to "Plain of Six Glacier", the other at "Lake Agnes". Yes, they are real teahouses. We had 2 scones, a cup of tea & 2 lemonades at the cost of C$16 - ouch. But it's the experience!
Here I am with our new friend Jen on the trail to Plain of Six Glacier. Yes, Tom did walk on this trail, but he didn't like it.
We had left the outlook of Six Glacier about 15 mins, when we heard a rumble. We went running back to a clearing to see the end of an avalanche. It would have been cool to see it while we were at the outlook.
All toll we think the hike was about 12+ miles with an alternate hike to Lake Agnes.
We were pretty tired & I foolishly did not wear my sock liners & had a nasty blister, but that was the worst of it. It was a great hike and we met some nice people, Jen & Sean from Memphis.
Tue, Sep 9 Banff
Rain, Rain, go away.
We still decided to drive out to Yoho National Park even though it was pouring. We went to see Takakkaw Falls. Takakkaw means "it is magnificent" in Cree, and it is very fitting! These falls are amazing and pictures do not do it justice.
It was a pretty slow day due to the rain, but we still got to see some great scenery.
Mon, Sep 8 Banff
We left Radium Hot Springs this morning & quickly arrived at the ranger station at Kootenay National Park. After the ranger robbed us of $136.40 (the cost of an annual park pass!), we were on our way.
We drove through the park to a short hike to Paint Pots. This is where the coil is colored ochre (orange) by minerals leached out of spring water. Indians (First Nation) and later commercially mined for pigment coloring. This stopped when Kootenay became a national park.
We drove a little further to Marble Canyon (above & below) where the canyon was carved out by water to create a long deep canyon. The canyon looks like marble but it's limestone.
We rounded out our hikes with a hike to lower Consolation Lake. The hike starts at Moraine Lake, where 9 yrs ago when we were here, Tom fell through the melting snow and he scraped the carp out of his leg. His leg was bleeding like crazy so we had to go to a med clinic and never got to hike at Moraine Lake.
If you like to (rock) scramble - this is the place! We scrambled up the giant rock pile at the end of Moraine Lake and another scramble at Consolation Lake.
There are beautiful views of nearby mountains in the interior of the Rockies.
Mt Bident (2 teeth) and Mt Quadra (4 summits) to the south, then there's me with Mt Babel and Mt Fay behind us to the north.
We drove through the park to a short hike to Paint Pots. This is where the coil is colored ochre (orange) by minerals leached out of spring water. Indians (First Nation) and later commercially mined for pigment coloring. This stopped when Kootenay became a national park.
We drove a little further to Marble Canyon (above & below) where the canyon was carved out by water to create a long deep canyon. The canyon looks like marble but it's limestone.
We rounded out our hikes with a hike to lower Consolation Lake. The hike starts at Moraine Lake, where 9 yrs ago when we were here, Tom fell through the melting snow and he scraped the carp out of his leg. His leg was bleeding like crazy so we had to go to a med clinic and never got to hike at Moraine Lake.
If you like to (rock) scramble - this is the place! We scrambled up the giant rock pile at the end of Moraine Lake and another scramble at Consolation Lake.
There are beautiful views of nearby mountains in the interior of the Rockies.
Mt Bident (2 teeth) and Mt Quadra (4 summits) to the south, then there's me with Mt Babel and Mt Fay behind us to the north.
Sun, Sept 7 Radium Hot Springs
Driving, driving; 478 miles Yakima to Radium Hot Springs, BC, Canada.
The temp was 40 degrees, but of course I wear shorts on vacation.
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