Blogs from Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, North America - page 4

We spend 8 days at Banff National Park. It has stunning views of the mountains that surround it. On this leg of the journey we were joined by Joy's daughter Pamela, her husband Dean and our grandson Finley. Pamela and Dean stayed 4 days. Finley will stay with us for another couple of weeks. The campground is close to the town of Banff. A very busy tourist town. We got to celebrate Canada Day with the family and do a several day trips to Lake Louise, Columbia Ice Fields and Drumheller. See other blog entries.... read more

So, in a somewhat last minute decision, we took off for a week camping trip to Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yolo National Parks. We had heard the area was beautiful, but had no idea how incredible the scenery is! The Icefield Parkway, particularly driving from Lake Lousie to the town of Jasper is jaw dropping along most of the turns. Yes, it was crowded, very crowded at the popular spots, but we found it very easy to getaway from the crowds, sometimes, in as short as a 5 minute walk. We stayed in campsites, with most of them large, nice and quiet. Except for the night train traffic at Lake Louise. There were a lot of trains! Fortunately, we had made the first two nights reservation at Lake Louise campground, as when we pull up to ... read more

Our destination was Tower Lake, referring to the tower of the distinctive Castle Mountain. The route was simple. And always up. My wearied calculations as the goal seemed ever illusive was a 15% grade, except for the portions of 20% grade. A few dips towards the top gave relief both on the way up, and on the way down, down, down. The best part of this hiking was walking amongst the trees and wild flowers. The dappled sunshine lit the open forest, punctuated by thin, greyed deadfall. With all the rain in the past weeks, the undergrowth was luxuriant with spring-like bright greens. Yellow cornflowers and purple fleabane popped their presence amongst the grasses. Tiny black currants, still sour, promised late feasts for the bears. Concerns about bears and stories about encounters were a rich source ... read more

Senses - Tom Odell It is kind of foolish to think that the stars have anything to do with our life stories. But aren't they mesmerising? As our human lives go back and forth on random patterns driven by our emotional will, they stare and shine without any alteration possible from our part. The obsession by the untouched and the grand makes me wonder why we don't celebrate the micro world as we pray to the eternal. ---------------------- Strong minded people have populated my world since I was born. It is important to me to make the distinction between what people say and how they actually behave. Being strong headed, having a big personality makes people interesting, energizing. They bite in life like there is no tomorrow and advocate for their doings and sayings without withholding ... read more

Je reste la journee a Banff en attendant que la depression ne passe. Il est etrange de retrouver ces lieux en velo l’été. Le choc que je pensais ressentir n’a pas eu lieu. La derniere fois que je suis venu dans cette ville, c’était il y a deux ans durant l’hiver. Debut octobre 2013, a Montreal, je rencontrais une femme atteint par la sclerose en plaque et qui avait atteint le stade ou elle ne pouvait bouger plus que la tete. Durant le premier mois, je m’occupais d’elle a temps partiel, contre un toit et de la nourriture dans mon assiette. Ne voyant pas d’amelioration de son etat et se plaignant de ses autres aidants, je me propose de m’occuper d’elle 24h/24. Mon payement sera un billet d’avion pour Calgary avec elle et les promesses d’une ... read more