Sunday 9 July 2000

We have breakfast in Jasper Townsite and continue to Maligne Lake, so named by a Belgian priest, who, in 1846, had some trouble crossing the Maligne River, thus calling it a maligne river. On the shores of the lake is the start of a trail. On our trail we are greeted by a deer, ground squirrels and even a moose grazing a dense patch of forest. As often in Canada we do not meet a soul on during our walk. The view on the lake is magnificent.

After the walk we drive in the direction of Jasper. We pass Medicine Lake. This lake gets its water from the Maligne river, but it is not visible where the water flows out of the lake. It appears that the lake has an invisble drain under the surface. We also stop at Maligne Canyon, a deep gorge, in which the Maligne river finds it way downstream. It is rather busy here with visitors walking along the canyon and numerous bridges across it.

In the afternoon we do another walk near Patricia Lake on the other side of Jasper townsite. This too is a beautiful area. We come across a lake in which we a couple of beavers swimming. We return to the Youth Hostel for a bit of a rest and have dinner at the local Korean. Simple but very tasty. After that we do another tour in our car to spot some bears. We do not get to see any, but we drive a up into the mountains via long and winding roads, full of potholes until we reach the Cavell glacier. The mountains are partly hidden in the low clouds. Meanwhile it has started raining, although we have a fine day with lots of sun.

Monday 10 July 2000

Today we are moving on to Lake Louise, about 250 km south of Jasper. The route takes us along the Icefields Parkway, across an areas with Canada’s largest glaciers, the Columbia Icefield. The Athtabasca glacier is most accessible. It stretches into the valleys. At the Icefield Chalet we take a tour onto the glacier with

Brewster's Snowcoach. A Snowcoach is a gigantic 6 wheel drive coach on huge 2 metres high tires. It is another unique experience. It quite cold up there and the white snow and ice are blinding. The blue glaze of the glacier’s ice is breath taking. It is obvious to see that the glacier is retreating, due to global warming. As the glaciers play a major role in supplying North America with water (both the Hudson Bay and the Mississippi river to name but a few) the consequence of this will be far reaching. We carry on to Peyto Lake. From a viewpoint, 10 minutes walk from the highway we have, what is probably the nicest view of the day. The lake is beautifully blue coloured. Around four we get to Lake Louise Village. This a relatively busy place. Our booking for the Youth Hostel did not come through as it should, but the staff is quite helpful. After a few tricks with the booking system and some urging on my part they give a very nice private double room. The Hostel complex is brand new and comes with all modern comforts. Unfortunately it is next to a busy railroad. The lake itself is a first rate tourist attraction. The first Europeans to see the lake, a bunch of amateur explorers, must have been struck be the sheer beauty of it. That was before Canadian Pacific’s monstrous luxury hotel Chateau Lake Louise was built in 1882 when tourism to Lake Louise got off the ground. Despite of all the tourists it still beautiful and a "must see". At night we have dinner in the former railway station, that now houses an excellent, but rather pricey restaurant.

Tuesday 11 July 2000

After breakfast in the Youth Hostel we pack our things and drive to Lake Louise. Even this early in the morning it is buzzing with tourists from around the world. We therefore continue to the much quieter Moraine Lake, about 12 km further south. Here we have booked a room in the Moraine Lake Lodge, to celebrate our six years together. A room with a view on the lake of course. The surroundings of the lake are also the habitat of grizzly bear, who is used to humans. That not a good sign at all, because it mean that he is not scared of humans anymore. The good thing is that he has not been spotted since June, but stories about the bear roaming the hotel’s parking lot are intimidating. We do a canoe tour on Moraine Lake (complimentary for hotel guests). In the afternoon we follow a trail to Consolation Lakes. It is a beautiful and not too heavy a trail. There no sign of the bear either, probably to crowded. It soon turns out that we are to warmly dressed. The temperature is easily in the low twenties (Celsius). At night we have a splendid dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. The food is terrific in its own right, but the view on the lake and the snow capped mountains adds to experience. After dinner we have a complementary drink in the lounge, where a former park ranger does a presentation on wildlife and geology of the area. Amusing, but a bit over the top to my taste. After that we call it a day and go to bed.

Wednesday 12 July 2000

Banff, our next stop is the largest resort in the Canadian Rockies and quite busy. The area around it makes well worth visiting though. The several beautiful trails along canyons and waterfalls. On our way to Banff we many elks grazing on the side of the road. We take the Bow Valley Parkway, which even more scenic than the Transcanada-highway. When we arrive at our hotel in Banff (Inns of Banff) we cannot get into our room. It will not be ready until four (!). A clear minus for this otherwise excellent hotel. The weather is fine (24°C) and after lunch we go for another trail: Johnston Canyon. It is about 25km North of Banff townsite. The walk is uphill and not too difficult and the trail is fairly crowded. We first reach the lower falls continuing to the upper falls. We don’t continue uphill towards the source of the river (ink pots). We head back to the hotel, where our rooms are ready now. We try the Hot Pool, but it is a bit too hot to our liking, so we head for the swimming pool instead.

Before dinner we take a look at the Banff Springs Hotel, once the largest hotel in north America. It too is part of the Canadian Pacific chain and has 828 rooms. Built in 1888 on an initiative of CP president Van Horne, whose motto was: "If we can't export the scenery, we'll import the tourists". The view from the hotel is stunning. A room here is somewhat beyond our means (from $880 upwards to $1500 a night), but a cocktail in the bar is about affordable for us. .

After that we have dinner at Earl's, who here too have a very popular restaurant.

Thursday 13 July 2000

We have a coffee at Second Cup, a Canadian competitor to Starbucks. After that we out for another trail. It is a sunny day and soon the temperature reaches 25 degrees. On the other side of the river near the entrance of the sulphuric baths is the start of the Sundance Canyon trail. The first part is very easy on a sealed track along the river. After an hour we get to the start of a loop uphill along the Sundance canyon itself with beautiful falls and fine views. In all about 2.5 hrs of walking. Back in Banff we eat a sandwich and have short rest in our hotel room. In the afternoon we do tour with our car. First up Mount Norquay (a ski resort in winter), then on to Vermillion Lakes and finally a tour along a series of lakes around Lake Minnewanka. It is there that we see our first Big Horn Sheep.

This evening we have something to eat in a 1950s style diner, after which we drive to Sulphur Mountain Gondola. This gondola takes us to the top of Sulphur mountain at 2255 metres in 8 minutes. From the restaurant and the inevitable gift shop a vista trail (with interpretative panels) leads up to a restored weather station at Sanson Mountain, with a view on the valley on the other side. The view is good on the mountains surrounding Banff townsite. Around the restaurant there are Big Horn sheep lurking around hoping for food being thrown their way. It is illegal to feed wild animals, but judging by the patient pose, it easy to see that unfortunately not every visitor heeds the warnings against this.

Friday 14 July 2000

After our morning coffee (Second Cup) we drive to Calgary. Calgary is to Canada what Dallas is to Texas. Lots of oil companies and cowboy hats. The image in reinforce by the "Stampede", being held this week. It is a yearly festival ("the greatest on earth") with competitions in Bull-riding, rodeo, Tractor racing, square dancing and gods knows what else, as long as it is western style. We stay at the Travelodge near the airport (convenient for tomorrow when we have to return our car and catch a morning flight). The city is full of cowboys and girls and buzzing. From the hotel we take the C-train, a sort of rapid tramway, into town. We visit a covered market and have some lunch in an Italian restaurant. From our table we can see some square dance demonstration in the square outside. One of the activities connected with the Stampede. We take a bus to Fort Calgary. This reinforcement was built in 1875 in six weeks time by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, establishing its authority in these wild parts. The area covered by the Mounties stretched until Edmonton in the North (400km) and Fort McCleod in the South (160km). An important task of the RCMP was the protection of the indigenous nations against rough types and whiskey traders. The fort today is not much more than a wooden fence and a couple of houses. On the site some historical scenes are reenacted and the museum next to the fort shows the developments of daily life in Calgary from 1888 until the 1950s.

At night we have dinner in the (gay) Victoria restaurant and do some exploring into the local gay scene. Even here wearing a large cowboy hat is the thing to do. I’ve left mine at home alas...