Canadian Rockies Day 6 - Drive to Jasper

We spent most of the day on the drive, stopping at various neat viewpoints.
Crowfoot Glacier


Bow Lake

A grizzly bear.  It was at a distance and its head is hidden in this picture, but I had to include it anyway.  I doubt we will see any more.

Peyto Lake

More to come in the next few posts.    

Canadian Rockies Day 6

We had hoped to take a short hike up into the mountains this morning before leaving for Jasper.  However, the snow changed our minds.  We'll be in the area again coming back from Jasper so we may do the hike then.


We will take the day to drive to Jasper, making many stops, and hopefully taking lots of pictures, along the way.  We may not have much internet for the rest of the trip, but I'll catch up with the blog posts eventually.

Canadian Rockies Day 5 cont'd

The weather cleared a bit this afternoon so we walked along the edge of the lake to the end of the trail.  This is the view of our part of the lodge from the lakeside.


We found a glacier up in the mountains at the end of the lake.

Canadian Rockies Day 5

We woke this morning to sunshine.  Knowing how changeable the weather can be, we ran out before breakfast to take photos.


We climbed up the moraine at the end of the lake to try to get the perfect photo of the lake.


This is a view of the lodge at the lake's edge.


By the time we finished breakfast the wind had come up so much we wonder if we will have a chance to paddle a canoe around the lake.  If we manage it, I'll be posting more photos.  Meanwhile we are enjoying relaxing in the lodge.

Canadian Rockies Day 4 - Flowers

We found several favorite flowers on the hike in Johnston Canyon.

Indian Paintbrush


Columbine


Fairy Slipper Orchid

Canadian Rockies Day 4

I love my new knee!!  We hiked 9.5 miles and climbed over 2000 feet today and my knee didn't complain.  We can't remember when we have hiked that far.  The hike was up Johnston Canyon, all the way to the ink pots at the top of the trail.


It was hard to choose which photos to include, there are so many neat ones of the canyon and falls.



This is the lower falls, about 1 kilometer in.


Then more scenery on the way to the upper falls.




Then the upper falls about 2.5 kilometers further on.


Then we left the crowds and the paved trail behind and climbed about 3 kilometers further to the ink pots, which are quicksand-filled pools where the water bubbles up and flows to the stream.


We had hoped for a nice rest when we got here, but the weather had different plans.  While it had been mostly sunny and cool on the hike up, it now started to snow in earnest.  So we headed quickly back down the path.

We then drove to Moraine Lake Lodge where we will stay the next 2 nights.  It was snowing there as well and had been all day.

Canadian Rockies Day 3

The weather has deteriorated, so we were very happy we got up the mountain yesterday.  We went into town to explore yesterday afternoon but didn't find much of interest.  We fled back up the mountain when the rains started.  This morning it was very cold and rainy and we are pretty sure there is more snow on the highest peaks.  It eventually cleared a bit so we drove the road up Tunnel Mountain.  This is a view into the Bow Valley with our hotel nestled up on the mountainside with the cloud overhanging it, but very difficult to see in the photo.

We managed to walk the trail to view the hoodoos at the river's edge before the rains came again.  
We will probably be stuck in the hotel the rest of the day.  Since it is the fanciest place we will be staying, that is not necessarily a bad thing.  And fortunately we padded the vacation with extra days in case of bad weather.

Canadian Rockies Day 2

This morning, after a yummy breakfast buffet, we walked up the road to the base of the Banff gondola.  We rode it to the top of Sulfur Mountain and enjoyed the views.
That is our hotel in the foreground.


And more views from the top.



We even met some wildlife.  We enjoyed watching this young mountain goat effortlessly run around over the steep ground.

The ground squirrels were all around begging for handouts.  They would run right up your legs if you weren't careful

We even saw 2 marmots right next to the trail on top of the mountain.

Canadian Rockies

We had a long day today.  We drove ~2 1/2 hours to the airport in Ottawa and boarded a plane for Calgary.  It was a very easy drive and the airport is surprisingly small.  Getting through security was a breeze.  In Calgary we picked up a rental car and drove ~1 1/2 hours to Banff and up Mountain Avenue to the Rimrock Hotel at the base of the Banff gondola on Sulfur Mountain.  This is the view from our balcony.

Paddling the Raquette River

A large group of us, about 20, paddled the Raquette River from Axton Landing to the Crusher, stopping at a campsite for lunch.  We expected a leisurely paddle, but the winds were strong out of the west, completely negating the current in some spots.  But it was nice as always with good weather and good friends.  This is a view from our lunch spot.


After the paddle we cleaned up then drove to Plattsburgh to see the movie "Now You See Me 2".  That made for a very long day but well worth it.  The movie was fun and we were afraid it would be gone when we got back from vacation.  More on that in the next post.