Sunday the 26th September we were to do the drive from Jasper to Banff via the Icefields Parkway. The weather wasn`t the best to start the day with low cloud hiding all the mountains. This did not make for good scenic driving so we decided to hang around in Jasper for the morning. By noon there were a few breaks appearing in the clouds so we headed off down the Parkway. This drive is recognised as one of the most scenic in the world!!!! We stopped in at numerous viewpoints along the way including Horseshoe Lake, Athabasca Falls, Sunwapta Falls as well as a lot of other spots where good mountain and valley views could be had. It was not long before the cloud lifted and we were driving under clear blue skies.

As mentioned in my last post we were once again witness to some clever tourists as two guys decided to get a better look at Athabasca Falls. We watched as they climbed over the safety railing and walked right up to the edge of the falls. No wonder we pay too much for insurance!!!!
Photo of Athabasca Falls.
Photo of Icefields Parkway scenery.

We arrived at the Athabasca Glacier by mid-afternoon. It was here we discovered where all the tourists were. We were within range of the organised tours and they were out in force. Busloads of them everywhere and this was supposed to be the shoulder season??? Oh well we had a good run while it lasted. We decided to take the Snocoach ride up onto the glacier itself. You can park and walk up to the face if you want but we were glad we did the coach ride because they tell you some pretty interesting stuff about the area such as some of the alpine forests we passed were over 700 years old and the trees were barely 5 feet tall. I guess it is glacier territory. We got to walk around on the glacier for a while and take some photo's. While there I emptied out our water bottle and filled it with water that was running down one of the small streams. Once my hand had returned to its normal colour and I could release my hold on the bottle we both had a drink and agreed that it tasted like.... water!!! I am missing that flouride taste though. Can't wait to get back to Adelaide tap water?
View image from on Athabasca Glacier.

After the glacier experience we jumped back in the car and headed off towards Banff. Again we stopped at lots more viewpoints to look at more mountains, lakes, rivers, valleys etc etc.
More Icefields Parkway scenery.

We arrived at Lake Louise right on dusk and were undecided about whether to drop in for a quick look or not. In hindsight we both wish we had not because someone forgot they had the camera on their lap when they got out of the car. Lens glass and bitumen don't make a good combination. Needless to say the rest of the trip into Banff was rather quiet and despite the outside air temperature being quite mild it was pretty frosty inside the car. Our accommodation (view Stockade Cabins website) for the next two nights was located at Canmore (20km from Banff).

Monday 27th September saw us head straight into a camera store in Banff to check the damage status of the camera. Thankfully the scratches on the lens are such that they should not affect any of the photos unless I am doing real close macro shots which I do not intend doing when viewing bears!!!! With the divorce papers confined to the backpack ;-) we headed off for the days sightseeing.

We started by doing the town stuff including seeing the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel and driving around the golf course. We then headed off on the Bow Valley Parkway which is the scenic route from Banff to Lake Louise. About halfway along we stopped at Johnstone Canyon and given the fantastic weather (21degC) we decided to take the trail all the way to the upper falls (5.4km round trip). The effort was well rewarded. We then headed back into town so we could get Michele's shopping quota out of the way. I really enjoyed this because there were lots of busloads of tourists around to make the experience so much more pleasurable!!!
View image from Johnstone Canyon.
View image of Castle Mountain (Bow Valley Parkway).

We were on our way early on the Tuesday and headed back out the Bow Valley Parkway again to complete what we hadn't seen the day before. We arrived mid morning at the Lake Louise Gondola (at the ski fields) and took the gondola up the mountain. It was another clear day and we got really good views across the valley to Lake Louise and the surrounding mountains. From here we drove over to Lake Louise before heading off to Lake Moraine. We walked around the lake for a way before heading back to the parking area. From here I took the trail that climbed onto the huge rockpile at the end of the lake. It was one of the views of the trip. From an elevated position the colour of the water was incredible and it was set off by the surrounding terrain known as the Valley of the Ten Peaks.
View image of tourists at Lake Louise.
View image of Lake Moraine.

With the day passing quickly and a fair way to drive to our next destination we reluctantly headed off. We needed to make Windermere that evening and from Lake Louise decided to take the longer route up through Kicking Horse Pass and onto Golden. We stopped along the way to see the Spiral Tunnels that are used to allow the trains to gain the elevation they need to cross the mountain pass. Once we got off the TransCanada highway at Golden and away from the trucks and roadworks the drive was realy enjoyable. It is easy to see where the name Golden came from with the colours of the trees.

We arrived into Windermere about 7pm and found that we had done really well with our accommodation (view Windermere Creek website). The Bear's Den cabin was fantastic. This was one place that had included all the little things to make a stay much more enjoyable. We got a loft bedroom, jacuzzi, kitchenette, fireplace, large deck and wonderful breakfast as well as a location next to the creek in the apple orchard. You would not have known there was anyone else around. There was an added bonus to this place. Black Bears knew the apples were ripe and late that night we stood on the deck and watched by moonlight a big black bear munch on apples for about 20 mins before wandering off. He would have been no more than 10-15 metres away.

The next day was a quiet day. Michele wanted to stay in the cabin all day to enjoy it and just in case the bear came back!!! She even knocked a few apples from the tree closest to the deck to entice them. Her thinking was that there were no apples on the ground under this tree so it must have been the bears favourite type of apple (it was different to the others!). That evening around dusk while standing on the deck with a glass of red we noticed a black bear at the top of the orchard. He started to move down but kept standing on his hind legs to get a better view and to check out the two nosy tourists watching him. As he was strolling down we noticed a second bear approaching from the bottom of the orchard. This led to bear no.1 running off into the woods. Bear no.2 wandered up and started eating in the next row of trees before he heard a sound and headed for the woods as well. Then bear no.3 appeared at the bottom of the orchard and wandered up the row of trees before he too took off. We stayed outside for a long while but none of them returned. The next morning Michele went outside and counted her apples to discover somebody had been eating her porridge... sorry apples...different fairytale!!! 12 of her 13 strategically placed apples were gone. With that excitement over with we had a casual morning before heading to one of the 12 local golf courses to give that little white ball another whack.
View image of black bear no.1.

Late afternoon we started the drive back into Calgary through the Vermillion Pass which is in the Kootenay National Park. They had suffered very severe wild fires here last year and the evidence was all around. The next morning we were up early and off to the airport to catch a plane to Montreal. We only just got seats on the plane as it had been overbooked and we didn't have advanced seating. We sat there nervously waiting while everyone else got on and other names were called until finally we got the call up. I think it was the last two seats on the flight. Anyway we made it...