Tuesday, July 13th - We departed West Glacier about 8:00am for the 160 mile trip to Fort Macleod, arriving there just after noon. The road around the southern boundary of Glacier National Park is narrow and curvy, but we made it around without mishap though we narrowly missed a deer crossing the highway at one point. All 34 units parked in a school yard in town. In the afternoon we went over to the Fort Museum to witness the musical ride of the North West Mounted Police performed beautifully by eight high school teens on matched horses. Fort Macleod was the first outpost manned by the NWMP after their creation in 1873. Their assignment was to bring order to the frontier. The NWMP became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - RCMP - in 1933. Fort Macleod is the oldest town in Alberta province and takes great pride in its history.
After the musical ride we walked over to the historical part of town for a guided tour through the old Empress Theater which dates back to 1910.
Wednesday, July 14 - At noon we all gathered at the Heads-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump interpretive center some 12 miles out of town. This is another of those cliffs that the native people used to slaughter buffalo before horses were introduced to the culture. It took some 500 people to form a human corral to lure the animals to the cliff. Specially trained runnerss dressed in buffalo and wolf skins coaxed the buffalo herd in the right direction down lanes bordered by lines of people waving foliage. Then at the last minute, they stampeded the herd in the direction of the cliff. The doomed animals cascaded over the cliff like a waterfall. Then the real work began, as the people harvested the meat and the pelts. This went on every year for over 5,000 years until the 1700s when horses made it possible for the buffalo to be hunted more efficiently.
The interpretive center was a ten-million dollar project in 1987, created to tell the story of the buffalo jump. The base of the cliff is literally a pile of old bones 30 feet thick - an archeologist's dream. The recovery of tools, weapons, and other utensils used by the native people has made the museum a master storyteller of the ancient culture. There is an almost infinite source of study at the base of the cliff which is aome 1000 feet in length.
There was an Indian Pow-wow going on as we arrived, a ceremonial display of Blackfoot culture. Indians in full native costume were dancing to the beat of a drum corps. The ceremony began with one of the elders offering a prayer in the native language. It was a colorful performance. Songs, games, feasting, storytelling, and other ceremonies make up the pow-wow. It is also an opportunity for the native people to honor their elders. We were able to photograph the dramatic dancing, but when they got to the more serious parts of the ritual ceremony, we were asked to cease photography out of respect. One interesting note of trivia: North of the 49th parallel (the Canadian border) the Indians are the Blackfoot tribes; South of the border - in the U.S. - they are the Blackfeet tribes. Although we had been to this place twice before, this was the only time we'd seen the Pow-wow.
Heads-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump is now classified as a World Heritage Site along with the Egyptian pyramids, the Taj Mahal, and others. There are five stories to the museum, almost all of which are imbedded into the side of the cliff with very little disturbance to the natural surroundings. The unusual name comes from an Indian legend that tells of a young lad who happened to be at the bottom of the cliff when the herd came tumbling down on top of him. When they found him later, his head was smashed in.
At 6:00pm we gathered at Aunty Lynda's Restaurant for a kitty treat dinner. All the first time caravanners were called to the front of the room for an initiation. A song had been prepared for them to sing after which they were roundly applauded. A few Joker games with Bill and Pat Herzing followed our return to camp from dinner.
Thursday, July 15th - We pulled away from the high school in Fort Macleod about 9:00am for the 121 mile drive to Calgary. The roads were excellent with a new one that circumvented the downtown area to the east. Our campground for the five day stay was Symons RV Park north of the city.
GAM #3 was at our motorhome with Jerry & Joan Larson, Fred & Julia Lyons, Harold & Margaret Strassle, and Francis and Barbara Posniewski. Following the GAM we walked down to a building adjacent to the RV park for a catered BBQ chicken dinner.
Friday, July 16th - Ann's birthday was announced over the CB, and she was given individual greetings regarding that all day long from the other caravanners.
This morning's adventure was to Heritage Park, Canada's largest living historical village. Set on a 66 acre peninsula, the park is set up in three sections to depict life as it was in the 1860s, the 1880s, and the 1910s. The first area includes an old fur trading post and a few tipis. The second area includes a Northwest Mounted Police Post, a few cabins, a saloon, a school, and a sawmill. The third area is set up as an authentic town with hotel, schools, dentist's office, bakery, ice cream parlor and some 50 other stores and houses. All the businesses were open for business. The bakery was the most popular.
Horse drawn wagons pull tourists through the streets, and there are a few 1910 model horseless vehicles - an old station wagon, a bus, and a few Model T type cars. A steam engine driven train circled the park every 10 minutes. There was an amusement park for the kids. Several groups of children had arrived in buses dressed as they might have been dressed 100 years ago. We learned that these were kids from a summer camp nearby on a field trip to the park. They were both learning themselves and adding more authenticity to the place.
We rode the train and wandered through the village for a couple of hours. It was an enjoyable trip back in time. The largest shopping mall in Calgary is in the center of town - Chinook Center. The Sony store there was probably the same one I recalled from our trip through here in 1991. Everything Sony makes was on display. The air-conditioning in the mall was not the least of its attractions.
The weather has been good since we arrived in Canada, but on the warm side. A thunder storm appeared ominous in the western sky on Thursday night, but we got only a few drops of rain. The morning paper described huge piles of hail in some parts of the city that stopped up storm drains and caused major flooding. If we'd been in the path of that, it may have caused damage to the RVs.
Saturday, July 17th - Calgary is a modern, growing city of some 900,000 residents. One thing we learned was not to try to find our way around with a 13 year old map. Too many new roads. We drove west to the little town of Cochrane in the morning. Cochrane is an upscale town of folks who mostly commute to Calgary to work. The draw was McKay's Ice Cream factory, widely known as a good place to indulge. We also stopped at a farmer's market where mostly organic fruits and vegetables were being sold - also buffalo meat. It was on the way back from Cochrane that we got lost in a subdivision of two and three story new homes that all looked alike - and of course, none of the roads were on our map. Finally stopped at a gas station for directions. If all else fails, ask.
At 5:00pm on this day, a bus came to transport our group from the campground to the "Calgary Tower" for dinner. The tower is a spire that is prominent on Calgary's skyline and has a rotating restaurant on the top. It is some 550 feet tall, and the restaurant makes a complete revolution once an hour. Distant views of the surrounding plains changed to views of the Rocky Mountains as the meal progressed, but the more dramatic views were of the city itself. To the south we could look down upon the Stampede grounds; to the west was the high hill where the Olympic ski jump contests were held; to the north were the sprawling new residential subdivisions; and to the east the Bow River stretched into the distant plains. The nearby skyscrapers of downtown Calgary were in our close view. It was a terrific setting for a delicious meal of prime rib and the fixin's, though some opted for salmon.
Sunday, July 18th - I doubt that I can do justice describing the Calgary Stampede. We did the Stampede 13 years ago, but it has been expanded and improved greatly since then. The claim is that it is the "Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth," and I have no doubt of that fact. Taking a bus from the campground to the Stampede site, we arrived about noon and stayed until midnight - still able to see only a part of it. There were all sorts of contests. Besides the rodeo, which included saddle and bareback bronco riding, steer wrestling, calf roping, barrel racing, wild cow milking, and bull riding, there was cattle judging, bike riding, a dog show, a building full of vendors, farm exhibits, pigs, rabbits, horses, chickens, the Budweiser Clydesdales, casinos, a country music show, a huge midway with outrageous rides and all sorts of food booths. We rode a sky ride which gave us a birds-eye view of the Stampede grounds, then wandered around trying to take as much in as possible.
We watched some of the grooming of the cattle being prepared for the final judging. On this final day of the Stampede, the cattle judging contest was between animals that had already been judged Grand champions of their breed. This contest was to select the Supreme champion of all breeds. $10,000 was awarded to best cow, and another $10,000 was awarded to the best bull. The breeds included Angus, Charolais, Hereford, Limousin, Murray Grey, Shorthorn, Simmental, and Pinzgauer. The Supreme winners for both cow and bull were the Simmentals. The bull Simmental was a huge animal - probably weighing close to 3,000 pounds. Of course, there was a big show to all this. It began with a ringing rendition of the Canadian national anthem, and ended with trophy presentation and speeches by the judges and winners.
One of the cutest exhibits was a 300 pound "York-Landrace" sow with 10 eleven day old piglets in a mad scramble for their dinner. There were several similar exhibits, but this one was special. The sow was light pink in color - clean as a pig can get. She was two years old, and had been barn raised. Her little pigs were all identical in color and size.
Our grandstand tickets - provided by the kitty fund - were for the 8:00pm show. This was the final day of the Stampede, and the show was the finale. To describe the show as an extravaganza would be an understatement. To begin with there were nine heats of chuckwagon races, culminating with a championship run for the finalists. These things are the ultimate in organized chaos. There are four wagons in each race, each pulled by a team of four horses and accompanied by four outriders. With the five horse riders on the field acting as judges or referees, that makes 37 horses on the field for each races. The teams start the race facing in the opposite direction from the way they will go. At the sound of the starting whistle, the horses rear and plunge into their traces. Then it's a mad race around the track with the audience screaming encouragement. The best time of the night was 1 minute, 15.02 seconds, and the winner received a check for $50,000.
Then, a big John Deere tractor towed a monster show stage down the track to align with the platform already there. Then for two and a half hours we were entertained by a cast of over 300 performers, singing, dancing, juggling, and much more - accompanied by music, lights, laser beams, colored smoke, and fireworks. The theme was a tribute to the city of Calgary. There were Indian dancers, a comedian, two strong men doing a muscular exhibition of skill and balance, an acrobatic woman winding herself around and through a ring swinging from a long cable that rose and fell to the rhythm of the music and her movements. Often the stage was simply full of people dancing in bright costumes. Each time we thought the fireworks had reached a peak that would mark the end, it would go on some more to reach another peak - and then again, and again. As we filed out at midnight, the midway was still going strong with no hint they had any intention of slowing down.
It took an hour for our bus to wind its way through the heavy traffic and get us back to the campground, so we got to bed around 1:30am - exhausted. It had been a fantastic day.
The second section of the caravan (there were 28 RVs in the 2d section, traveling three days behind us) arrived in the early afternoon to join us at the Stampede. There was no room in the campground proper for them, so they circled their wagons in an open field to stay until we left on Tuesday. So, there were some 124 Airstreamers sitting together in the Stampede grandstand.
Monday, July 19th - With a full day without any planned activities, we caught up on laundry, email and other chores, went out to lunch with the Larsons, and rested up from the Stampede.
Tuesday, July 20th - It was moving day again as we moved from Calgary to Banff, this time with the early work crew. We had parking duty along with three other couples which meant we followed our caravan leaders with an hour's lead time over the rest so we could make sure all was ready for the group at the new campground. We parked on three levels in Tunnel Mountain RV Park very near downtown Banff. Everyone was in by about noon, freeing us for some sightseeing in the afternoon.
Trying to do things we had not done on previous visits, we took a gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain in the afternoon. The 360 degree view from the top was awesome. These mountains are magnificent. We could look down with a bird's eye view of the city of Banff and the Banff Springs Hotel.
The caravan group went together for a fun evening in the nearby town of Canmore. It was a unique dinner show called "Oh Canada Eh!" celebrating the cultural diversity of Canada - its people and its geography. The young people in the cast also were our servers, so it took a great deal of coordination to serve the meal between show parts. The meals, served family style, consisted of ample quantities of roast beef, chicken, fish, vegetables, bread, and dessert. We were there from 6:30 until past 9:00. Elk were out grazing as we returned to the campground.
Wednesday, July 21st - We began the day with a visit to Chateau Lake Louise, walking the lake's perimeter trail a few hundred yards. There were hundreds of people there, filling the parking lots. Lake Louise is as beautiful as ever. The lake is fed by a melting glacier at the far end, then drains via a small creek that rushes down the mountain by the lodge. There were probably a dozen canoers on the lake.
At 11:30am we joined the other caravaners at The Lodge of the Ten Peaks near Lake Louise for lunch and another gondola ride up the mountain. This one was a little different in that it was used as a ski lift during the winter season. There were a few enclosed gondolas, but most of the cars were open chair lifts. So, there was a choice. We chose the open chair lifts for better viewing. This ride was longer - 14 minutes compared with 8 minutes in Banff - taking us up to elevation 6700 feet where we hiked another quarter of a mile to a building now being used as an interprative center. It was the same building that housed a restaurant where we ate as a group when we made this trip in 1991. From the top we had a commanding view of Lake Louise, the chateau, and the surrounding mountains.
After that excursion, we drove to Moraine Lake. The number of people there was surprising. Cars were parked along the road for a mile back from the lake. The brilliant color of this lake is stunning - a truly beautiful spot. Again though, the number of people was a detraction. This was true at every stop. The mountains, of course, have not changed from our last visit, but there were at least three marked differences - the crowds of people, the scarcity of animals, and the lack of snow.
The boundary between British Columbia and Alberta is the Continental Divide. The TransCanada Highway crosses the Divide at Kicking Horse Pass, following the original railroad bed across the mountains. Those grades were so steep the early trains met with one disaster after another when they lost control on the downhill grade. That problem was solved in 1908 with the completion of two spiral tunnels that cut the grade by half. We were fortunate to be there this day when a westbound train came through and made the descent through the spirals, demonstrating the engineering marvel. From the view point four levels of track can be seen. This train was a long one. The back of the train was still visible as the engines emerged from one of the tunnels. Had it been just a few cars longer, it might have been visible on three levels at the same time. It took 1,000 men 10 months using 75 carloads of dynamite to complete the project.
Just a couple of miles west of the spiral tunnels there's a side road to Takakkaw Falls. And, what an awesome sight that was! From the parking lot, it appears that a huge amount of water bursts out of a hole in the mountain some 1200 feet up. It falls about 200 feet, then hits a ledge that sends it crashing out and down in a dramatic arc, spreading like a horse's tail in the wind as it falls. About 200 feet above the canyon floor it hits another shelf, then flows rather sedately the remaining distance down to a swiftly flowing river. The water is actually coming through a crevice along the top of the mountain where it is fed by a melting glacier, but the glacier is not visible from below. The river below is milky looking, indicating a large amount of glacier silt being taken away. These falls must rank very high on the scale of incredible sights on the trip.
It was nearly 8:00pm by the time we got back to our campsite in Banff. It had been a full day - such striking scenery!
Thursday, July 21st - The main event of this day was lunch at the Banff Springs Hotel. Besides a fantastic buffet meal, we were treated to a tour of the hotel. The hotel was first built in 1888 to attract visitors to the Canadian Rockies. It now has eleven stories and 770 rooms. The rooms rented for $3.50 per night at the outset. Nowadays, the rooms run from $350 to $2,500 per day. The rooms are sold out every night during the summer months. The hotel is located near the Bow River Falls with a beautiful view down the Bow River Valley. Our meal consisted of a buffet of nearly every imaginable variety of meat and vegetable, salad and dessert. It was pigout time!
That evening Al got everybody together at his trailer to give us a preview of our next stop - Kootenay Plains.
Friday, July 22nd - We left Banff early after getting the rigs serviced and ready for several days of dry camping. From Banff we drove north on TransCanada Hwy 1 past Lake Louise to Hwy 93, the Icefields Parkway. We climbed steadily into the mountains, passing some gorgeous lakes. Still, there were only a few patches of snow and a few small glaciers. We left the parkway on Hwy 11 and drove back into a wide valley called Kootenay Plains. This was Indian reservation. Our camp site was beside Indian ceremonial grounds considered sacred by them, though we saw no Indians. We were surrounded by huge, monster mountains, though the terrain we were parked on was level plains. After getting set up, we did some exploring.
Not far from the camp site was a road sign indicating Siffleur Falls - 4 Km. Instead of a 4K drive, it was a 4K hike, but very much worth it. We crossed two rivers, the first on a suspended foot bridge probably 100 yards across, the second a bit smaller. About a half mile of the trail was a well maintained boardwalk. Then the trail led upwards until we reached the falls that were actually in a deep gorge below us. The gorge was huge - reminiscent of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, maybe not quite as deep, but with more water. From this high vantage point we could look back and see the sun shining on the silver Airstreams in the valley far below. 4K in also meant 4K out, so in all we hiked about 6 miles, arriving back at camp just in time for a hot dog cookout. Some of the guys had built a big campfire, and the coals were just right for cooking. After everyone was pleasantly stuffed, we sang songs and told stories around the campfire until dark.
Saturday, July 23rd - We were on the road at 7:30am, along with the other caravaners in a convoy of tow and towed vehicles, for the short trip to Athabasca Glacier. Riding a "snow shuttle" from the Icefield Center, we transferred to huge "ice explorers" for the trip to the glacier. These huge vehicles have six drive wheels with large tractor tires designed to soften the ride over the rough terrain. Each vehicle held about 40 people. Once out on the ice, we wandered around collecting glacier water, taking pictures, and trying to understand the incredible scenery.
The Athabasca Glacier is actually a runoff from the much larger Columbia Ice Field. The glacier is receding, the "toe" having dropped back a mile or more from its most forward position established in 1844. Should anyone think that the recession is the result of "global warming" in recent times, the rate of recession was greatest in the period between 1844 and 1944, and has actually slowed in the last 50 years. We also learned that the Columbia Ice Field is on a continental apex as opposed to a continental divide. The ice melt flows out in three directions - to the Arctic Ocean, to the Pacific Ocean, and to the Atlantic. There is only one other place in the world where this occurs, and that is in the Himalayas somewhere. The water running off the ice is the purest natural water known. According to the guide, the water we collected this day came from ice that fell as snow some 150 years ago.
We had a picnic lunch with the Larsons on a table we found by a little stream on the way back to camp. Then, after a few games of Joker and Hand & Foot, another hike - this time up to and around a ridge overlooking the camp site. It was an exceptional view of our encampment with those humongous mountains in the background. The distance this time was about 2.5 miles.
Sunday, July 25th - The 100+ mile trip from Kootenay Plains to Jasper went smoothly. Around every turn along the Icefields Parkway, there was another breathtaking scene. We passed the Athabasca Glacier again, then Sunwapta Falls, and Athabasca Falls before arriving at our planned campsite at the Wapiti Campground. A black bear was cavorting near the entrance as we arrived.
There were swarms of people in Jasper and no place to park as we sought a grocery store to resupply. Cars and RVs were parked alongside the highway for a good half mile outside of town. Finally, we found a spot to park a couple of blocks inside away from the stores and walked to the Visitor's Center and stores.
Back at camp, we spent the afternoon resting, before going to a drama at the railway station in the evening. The drama was called "Water on the Rocks," a comedy about the way water shaped the land and the need to protect the environment, balancing the commercial interests with the need to preserve the wild habitats of the animals and plants. It lasted an hour and a half, very well done. The three performers appeared exhausted at the end.
Monday, July 26th - Jasper is a bustling village, located along the tracks of the Canadian National Railroad near the intersection of the Yellowhead Highway (#16) and the Icefields Parkway (#93) in the center of Jasper National Park. A large totem pole greets visitors as one enters the town. On the far side of the tracks is the meandering Athabasca River. Jasper is the most northern of four national parks in the Canadian Rockies that have together been awarded the distinction of being named a World Heritage Site. The huge mountain peaks, ice fields, glaciers, broad valleys, rivers, canyons, waterfalls, lakes, and abundant wildlife make Jasper an awesome place.
We started the day by taking a unique tram ride up Whistler's Mountain to an elevation of 7,500 feet. The Jasper Tramway is one of the longest cable runs in the world. The propelling cable is some 6,000 feet long wrapped around 20 foot diameter wheels at each end. The two trams are equally spaced and fixed to the cable that shuttles them back and forth. When one car docked at the bottom, the other docked at the top, and vice versa. They pass each other at the mid-point of the ride. Both cars are supported by another cable on which their wheels ride. The cars were large enough for a couple dozen people. The view from the top was incredible, but it was windy and cold, so we stayed only long enough to take a quick look around and snap some pictures.
From there, we drove down to the Athabasca Falls where the river piles up and bursts through a narrow crevice, thundering down about seventy-five feet in the process. Steps and guardrails have been strategically placed to make the falls visible form a variety of angles. The power of falling water is displayed dramatically in this phenomenon as the evidence is clear where, over thousands of years, the water has cut through the hard, quartz-rich rock - a sight to see!
By then it was time for lunch at the Jasper Park Lodge. The lodge is in a beautiful setting between two emerald lakes.
After lunch we drove up to Maligne Canyon where water of the Maligne River has cut a narrow, rugged gorge that extends for several thousand feet. A foot trail follows the gorge downstream, crossing it four times. Two other bridges cross the river below the gorge before it empties into the Athabasca River. At points the gorge is over 150 feet deep. At the fifth bridge two big horn sheep were posing on a steep, rocky cliff next to the river.
Wildlife is supposed to be plentiful with large numbers of elk, moose, mule deer, big horn sheep, both black and grizzly bear, cougars, coyotes and wolves. They must have all been in hiding though, for at this point we had only seen one black bear, five or six elk, one coyote, a few Dahl sheep, and the two big horns mentioned above.
Tuesday, July 27th - Maligne Lake is the largest, deepest, and coldest natural lake in Jasper National Park - 14 miles long and about 300 feet deep. It's not clouded with glacial silt like many of the others, so the fishing is good, and it's strikingly beautiful. Once pictured on the Canadian ten dollar bill, Spirit Island and Maligne Lake personify the spectacular beauty of the Canadian Rockies.
The day began with overcast skies, and we considered postponing our boat ride on the lake. It was an hour's drive from Jasper, and by the time we got there, the skies were beginning to clear, so on we went. The ride lasted and hour and a half, and it was grand. The captain and crew were young college students - the captain, a young man, and the crew, a young woman. She kept up a running commentary on what we were seeing, talking about the geology of the area, the history of the lake, wildlife - all of it interesting. But the grandeur of the scenery made the trip incredible. The emerald green color of the clear water became more intense as we approached the upper portion of the lake. In a sense, the lake is a wide portion of the river, so the further we moved upstream, the less the glacial flour had settled out. The mountains surrounding the lake were beautiful with many hanging glaciers.
About halfway up the lake, we disembarked for a short hike around a loop trail that included a picture taking spot for Spirit Island with magnificent scenery in the background. That was the scene that once appeared on Canada's ten dollar bill. The sun came out as we returned to the docks, and it was time for lunch in the View Restaurant in the Maligne Lake Lodge.
Returning to Jasper after lunch, we decided to drive up to Mount Edith Cavell. This mountain was named for a British nurse who in World War I heroically assisted refugees from war torn Europe. About eight miles from Jasper off the old parkway, the road to the mountain was not well maintained and was full of potholes. Dodging them was a challenge. But we finally arrived at the crowded parking lot. The walk to little Cavell Lake at the foot of a glacier on the side of the mountain was about a mile long, over a gravel bed left by the receding glacier and following a little stream of glacier runoff. Mount Edith Cavell towered over the little lake that was full of ice that had calved off the glacier. It was an unusual sight.
By the time we walked the mile back to the parking lot and renegotiated the "holey" road back to town it was time to eat again. A family restaurant in Jasper served a great meal - one of only a few at a reasonable cost.
On the way back to the campground a group of seven large elk appeared, nonchalantly munching on the grass on the shoulder of the highway. Between Banff and Jasper, we had driven many miles in search of wildlife, and here they were in sight of our campsite.
It had turned out to be a fine day. This is a wondrous part of the world, not diminished at all by having been here once before.
Wednesday, July 28th - This was a chores day - laundry, haircuts, refueling, a few groceries, catching up on email ... so nothing exciting to report. A GAM and drivers meeting in the evening got us prepared for the next move to Clearwater, British Columbia. We're due to have some electricity at the next stop which has most folks excited. The weather has been great - cool at night and not overly warm in the daytime. What little rain there's been has not interfered with anything.
