Sunday 9 September 2007

More Canada

On leaving Lake Louise we headed for Banff and returned to the Tunnel Mountain campground (6 years on!), where we would spend three nights. We set up camp in the sunshine and revelled in having returned to such an idyllic setting.

This looks like a pic from the brouchure...




We spent a happy evening around the campfire and then had the next day to mooch around banff. The next morning was simply beautifu; clear, crips, still and quiet. This was the view out from our camp:





It was a beautifully sunny day and we had a most relaxing day.


Banff


In the evening we went back into town for a meal, where I had an Elk Burger, which was very fine. We then went to another bar for a few beverages, before calling it a night.

The next day we went to Johnstone Canyon in the morning and took a short(ish) walk up to the waterfalls. It was another beautifully sunny day (this was now a theme which continued for the majorty of our trip!)





In the evening we went to the hot springs and then spent the evening around the campfire again. The next morning we started with a great breakfast of bacon & eggs and Tassy excelled at cooking perfect scrambled eggs for 24 people! I think the trek leaders expected it to be a big lump of rubber, based on previous experiences!

We loaded the vans and headed off north...





The roads up through alberta we're superb and run past numerous stunning bits of scenery. We also saw an enormous moose wading across a river.




The Majestic Moose...






Probably the most famous stretch is the Icefields Parkway, which runs past the Columbia Icefield. This is the edge of a huge mountain ice feild, which you can walk a little way up to on one of the galciers. This is pretty cool, although it has now become a little touristy. It was ok when we were there but I'd hate to be there in season.







We happened to be there as the sun was going down as well, so it diappeared behind the nearby mountain whilst we were on the glacier and it was amazing how quickly the temperature dropped when we were plunged into the shade!

Once we were off the glacier we made a leisurely return to the van (despite it being already quite late in the day) and header off further north up to Jasper.

To Be Continued...

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