Advertisement
Published: July 10th 2015
Edit Blog Post
The Toe Tester
Do I taste good? We left Calgary this morning towards the Canadian Rockies. I was excited to see them and see if they are like I remember them from 1988, when I was here last. If anything, they are even more impressive!
The drive from Calgary was easy, except for a little backed up traffic because of road works. What I didn't expect was toll booths on the Cross Canada Highway before Banff. Turns out they were for the Banff National Park. Just driving through is free, but if you want to enter the national park anywhere along the way, you need to purchase a pass. So we did, and it's good for tomorrow too.
We drove on to Lake Minnewanka and entered the park. The road here makes a big loop with many stops on the way, where you can park and go for a walk, swim, or just enjoy the scenery. Our first stop was at Two Jack Lake. Whoever comes up with these names should work in advertising! We were greeted here by super friendly ground squirrels (wood chucks, ground hogs, whatever you want to call 'em). They came right up to us to check if we had some snacks.
Or if we
were snacks! One of them tried to nibble on my toe! Others sniffed at the kids' hands. We all went to explore the lake. Unfortunately we didn't see any more impressive creatures there.
We continued on to Lake Minnewanka itself for our next stop. On the way we saw a mountain goat by the road. It wasn't afraid of us in the least. Ethan got out to take pictures and it let him come right up to it. It didn't even stop nibbling when I stopped the car right next to it.
A little further down the road there were more goats by the road, and they were just as timid.
We stopped at a larger parking area by the lake. There's a boat launch site here, with bathrooms, parking and some biking/hiking trails. The lady's room had a swallow's nest with 5 chicks above the door. We watched mom flying back and forth to feed the brood, then went for a walk in the woods. Just beautiful. At one point the trail crossed a bridge over a canyon, and the water is a gorgeous clear turquoise. Add to that the pure blue lake,
evergreen forests and giant mountains all around and you think you're in a poster. Absolutely beautiful.
But there was more to see, so we drove to Banff. Banff is a nice little town, very touristy but still enjoyable. We stopped at the Banff Visitor's Center for some advice, but the girl who we got to didn't really help much. She seemed to know less of the area than I did.
We stopped at a Starbucks for something cold, but because of the unexpectedly hot day (they are not used to 31
oc temperatures here) many of their cold drinks ran out! Still we got something cold, wet and tasty, had a rest and cooled off. Amechaye!
We went to the Bow River Falls in Banff and enjoyed the natural beauty all around, the rapids, the river, the small beach. We had sandwiches, skipped stones and watched people rafting and canoeing. Tamar got in the water, of course, despite the cold.
We went for a short walk on the trail above the falls, then returned to the car and drove back the way we came to Canmore, where our hotel is.
Have a look at the day's
vid:
The kids love the hotel... they have a pool with a water slide! And they made friends with another brother & sister the same ages as them, from Texas. Tamar and Katie exchanged emails. I hope they stay in contact.
Anyway, enough for one day, I think. Going to crash...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.215s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 42; dbt: 0.1653s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb