Alberta, Canada

We drove for two days on the Trans-Canadian Highway from Vancouver into Alberta. In most places, the Highway is two lanes and the scenery is beautiful. We spent one night at a rest stop in Revelstoke before arriving in Banff. A rustic campground in the heart of the Canadian Rockies was our base for a two-night stay. One morning in camp, we heard a "bugling" bull elk. When he finally came into view, he was the largest elk we ever saw, with a massive set of antlers. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the camera handy at the time.

We did have the camera ready when we spotted a rare pack of black wolves. We were heading to Lake Louise when we saw the car ahead of us slow down on the winding two-lane road. We pulled over as the pack moved across the area, and we got a few shots of the wolves crossing into the woods. As black wolves are rarely spotted, this was a treat for us.

When we arrived at Lake Louise, we found a beautiful emerald-colored glacier-fed lake in a pristine alpine setting. The famous Fairmount hotel sits at one end, with a view of the glacier across the water. We had lunch at the hotel and hiked around one side of the lake toward the glacier. It was a lovely day, chilly but sunny, and we spotted some rock climbers along the way. Hanging off a sheer vertical face of rock is not exactly my idea of fun, but.......to each his own!

We left Alberta after a too-short stay, drove through Calgary, and headed back to the USA.

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