Summary of time:
· The Canadian Rockies, Glaciers
· Banff and Elk
Handy hints –
§ Good maps and information about campsites
§ Good camera for the views
§ Take time to stop and enjoy the places where you are
The road dropped several hundred metres, through trees towards the Saskatchewan River Crossing. Leaving the valley we knew it would have to climb up as to get to the Columbia Icefield and the Athabasca Glacier we had to cross the Sunwapta Pass at 2,035m. The way this is achieved, is the road does a big loop at the head of the valley and then a steep climb up the side of the mountain. This is called the Big Bend on the local maps! It was a very steep climb, and i didn’t want to stall as i was driving up it, near the top of the climb there is an almost 90 degree turn to reach the summit. Not much further on we reach the Columbia Icefield.
On the right of the road, is where all the information centre, cafe and tours start from. To the left is a car park, from which you can walk to near the glacier. If you are lucky the gate is open on the road to a lower car park. We were lucky.
We had a little climb up to the glacier, and on the path up there were markers showing at which point the glacier was there. It was interesting to see how far it had moved, about 40 years previous the lower car park was under the glacier!
The edge of the Glacier was grey and mucky, but you could see under the edge from a hole water was flowing out from, and it was a blue-ish colour. I think dad was a little disappointed not to walk on the glacier.
We then drove back down the valley. Dad drove, and it was nerve wracking when we reached the almost 90 degree turn, because it was on you before you realised, and then it was a steep road down to the big loop. No commercial vehicles are allowed along here!
The small campsite we stopped at only had 30 or so pitches, no hook-up, no real facilities, but it was peaceful, by the river, and we got one of the last few spots. I cooked our last meal together, and enjoyed the peace and quiet. It was dark by 8pm, and cool, so we were soon inside. We discussed my leaving; it didn’t seem real that the time for me had arrived. I remembered that there was a bus about 9am in the morning, which would get me in at 9pm, so i could catch the bus on Thursday, and i would get a taxi to the hostel, rather than trying to find my way by train, bus and walking at night.
We both decided this was a better option, it also gave us a bit more time to relax, but also we could have a last meal out together in Banff. I started to pack some of my stuff away, sorting out what i was taking.
We knew that we didn’t need to rush the next morning, so lay in bed for a while, after all the driving we had both done the previous few days, and the early mornings, we relaxed. Our peace in the morning was interrupted by a helicopter we appeared to have landed close by, we saw it head off carrying something. We got up for a leisurely breakfast, in fact most of the people for the site seemed to have left and is was only around 9.30am
We heard the helicopter return a while later, drop down a distance a way for a short while, then up and then back down half a mile or so upstream from the site, it then left again with some more things. A while later a big lorry drove away from the site. We still don’t know what it was.
We drove onto Banff, found the train / bus station and got my ticket (i got a 20% for being a HI (Hostelling International) member!!), for the next morning, then headed into town to get some information about walks, get a coffee, find somewhere to have dinner, and to get some cash.
We then got booked into the RV site above town, making sure that dad got a decent view from his window for the morning. We had lunch, and finding a route on the map we decided to go for a walk, which would take us down to the falls, then around into town and we could catch the bus back up to the site. We went to speak to the people at the gate, to find out where the path started from, who explained that the route was quite steep in places, and there wasn’t actually a path (apart from a very steep one – which they didn’t advise) into town, so we would have to walk back up the same way.
We changed our plans, got the RV, and drove to the north side of town to walk around the small fenland walk, along the river, crossing over and then to the falls from the other side (which would have better views).
It was all a nice amble; we decided that we would do the fenland loop on the way back, so followed the river route to town, and crossed over the bridge, and along the footpath by the river. The falls were impressive, there were more of a series of small falls, called steps, rather than a big waterfall. We meandered back, and debated whether to actually do the loop or not.
In the end we did the loop, and having rested a short while on a bench, we continued on our way. A gentleman stopped us to tell us he had seen a bull elk scrapping his antlers on a tree, and gave us directions. We cautiously and quietly moved on.
We got to the place we were told to get to (the next bench on the walk) and we looked right but didn’t see anything, then we saw it moving away from us. We continued around on the path, and moved in through the trees to the open field. We could hear the elk, but not see him.
Then we saw a female appear, some distance away, followed by 2 youngsters, another female and then the bull. We probably watched them for 20 mins, as they grazed on the other side of the field. I got several photos, it made my day.
We then headed back to the RV, and to the site. We worked out times, and planned to get the bus just before 7 which gave us little over an hour. We had a beer, and dad went for a nap. I went off to the showers, really pleased that it was a decent one. When i got back dad was only just waking up and we had just over 10 mins before the bus was due. Dad raced off and back fairly quickly, changed and as we were leaving the RV, the bus was turning into the site. Dad jogged over to make sure it didn’t leave without us, only for the bus driver to tell him that it would be 5 mins before he left!!
We had a nice meal, but they took ages for dad’s starter to arrive, and i had nearly drunk my pint and was getting light headed. When mains arrived, dad was surprised i had ordered a second pint. By the time i had got through my meal, i was not as light headed.
We reminisced over some of the things we had seen, and also the plans for meeting up in Vancouver, dad would be coming from Seattle, getting in late morning, so i was to sort out going up Grouse Mountain. It was dark as we went to catch the bus back, and the electronic bus info said we had just missed a bus and the next would be half an hour, but as we were walking off, the bus turned up, the same driver as before, getting us back safely to the campsite. It was only 9ish but it felt too late to be packing, so off to bed.
Up early the next morning, and i squeezed everything into the bags, clearing away my bed, etc. We had breakfast and was down to catch the bus by 8.30am
There was loads of people at the station, waiting to catch the Rocky Mountaineer train (which would take a couple of days to get to Vancouver, and i didn’t want to think what price it was). Although the train was due to leave at 9.15am, someone told us it never ran on time. My bus turned about on time, and we were away a bit late, as people needed a rest stop that had travelled from Calgary. The train had not arrived at the station by the time we left. Dad was heading back over the mountains and then into America to head towards Seattle to get the RV back on Tuesday morning, and then would spend time in Seattle before coming to Vancouver.
It was a long bus journey, with several stops, and went on the route dad and i had come.
· The Canadian Rockies, Glaciers
· Banff and Elk
Handy hints –
§ Good maps and information about campsites
§ Good camera for the views
§ Take time to stop and enjoy the places where you are
The road dropped several hundred metres, through trees towards the Saskatchewan River Crossing. Leaving the valley we knew it would have to climb up as to get to the Columbia Icefield and the Athabasca Glacier we had to cross the Sunwapta Pass at 2,035m. The way this is achieved, is the road does a big loop at the head of the valley and then a steep climb up the side of the mountain. This is called the Big Bend on the local maps! It was a very steep climb, and i didn’t want to stall as i was driving up it, near the top of the climb there is an almost 90 degree turn to reach the summit. Not much further on we reach the Columbia Icefield.
On the right of the road, is where all the information centre, cafe and tours start from. To the left is a car park, from which you can walk to near the glacier. If you are lucky the gate is open on the road to a lower car park. We were lucky.
We had a little climb up to the glacier, and on the path up there were markers showing at which point the glacier was there. It was interesting to see how far it had moved, about 40 years previous the lower car park was under the glacier!
The edge of the Glacier was grey and mucky, but you could see under the edge from a hole water was flowing out from, and it was a blue-ish colour. I think dad was a little disappointed not to walk on the glacier.
We then drove back down the valley. Dad drove, and it was nerve wracking when we reached the almost 90 degree turn, because it was on you before you realised, and then it was a steep road down to the big loop. No commercial vehicles are allowed along here!
The small campsite we stopped at only had 30 or so pitches, no hook-up, no real facilities, but it was peaceful, by the river, and we got one of the last few spots. I cooked our last meal together, and enjoyed the peace and quiet. It was dark by 8pm, and cool, so we were soon inside. We discussed my leaving; it didn’t seem real that the time for me had arrived. I remembered that there was a bus about 9am in the morning, which would get me in at 9pm, so i could catch the bus on Thursday, and i would get a taxi to the hostel, rather than trying to find my way by train, bus and walking at night.
We both decided this was a better option, it also gave us a bit more time to relax, but also we could have a last meal out together in Banff. I started to pack some of my stuff away, sorting out what i was taking.
We knew that we didn’t need to rush the next morning, so lay in bed for a while, after all the driving we had both done the previous few days, and the early mornings, we relaxed. Our peace in the morning was interrupted by a helicopter we appeared to have landed close by, we saw it head off carrying something. We got up for a leisurely breakfast, in fact most of the people for the site seemed to have left and is was only around 9.30am
We heard the helicopter return a while later, drop down a distance a way for a short while, then up and then back down half a mile or so upstream from the site, it then left again with some more things. A while later a big lorry drove away from the site. We still don’t know what it was.
We drove onto Banff, found the train / bus station and got my ticket (i got a 20% for being a HI (Hostelling International) member!!), for the next morning, then headed into town to get some information about walks, get a coffee, find somewhere to have dinner, and to get some cash.
We then got booked into the RV site above town, making sure that dad got a decent view from his window for the morning. We had lunch, and finding a route on the map we decided to go for a walk, which would take us down to the falls, then around into town and we could catch the bus back up to the site. We went to speak to the people at the gate, to find out where the path started from, who explained that the route was quite steep in places, and there wasn’t actually a path (apart from a very steep one – which they didn’t advise) into town, so we would have to walk back up the same way.
We changed our plans, got the RV, and drove to the north side of town to walk around the small fenland walk, along the river, crossing over and then to the falls from the other side (which would have better views).
It was all a nice amble; we decided that we would do the fenland loop on the way back, so followed the river route to town, and crossed over the bridge, and along the footpath by the river. The falls were impressive, there were more of a series of small falls, called steps, rather than a big waterfall. We meandered back, and debated whether to actually do the loop or not.
In the end we did the loop, and having rested a short while on a bench, we continued on our way. A gentleman stopped us to tell us he had seen a bull elk scrapping his antlers on a tree, and gave us directions. We cautiously and quietly moved on.
We got to the place we were told to get to (the next bench on the walk) and we looked right but didn’t see anything, then we saw it moving away from us. We continued around on the path, and moved in through the trees to the open field. We could hear the elk, but not see him.
Then we saw a female appear, some distance away, followed by 2 youngsters, another female and then the bull. We probably watched them for 20 mins, as they grazed on the other side of the field. I got several photos, it made my day.
We then headed back to the RV, and to the site. We worked out times, and planned to get the bus just before 7 which gave us little over an hour. We had a beer, and dad went for a nap. I went off to the showers, really pleased that it was a decent one. When i got back dad was only just waking up and we had just over 10 mins before the bus was due. Dad raced off and back fairly quickly, changed and as we were leaving the RV, the bus was turning into the site. Dad jogged over to make sure it didn’t leave without us, only for the bus driver to tell him that it would be 5 mins before he left!!
We had a nice meal, but they took ages for dad’s starter to arrive, and i had nearly drunk my pint and was getting light headed. When mains arrived, dad was surprised i had ordered a second pint. By the time i had got through my meal, i was not as light headed.
We reminisced over some of the things we had seen, and also the plans for meeting up in Vancouver, dad would be coming from Seattle, getting in late morning, so i was to sort out going up Grouse Mountain. It was dark as we went to catch the bus back, and the electronic bus info said we had just missed a bus and the next would be half an hour, but as we were walking off, the bus turned up, the same driver as before, getting us back safely to the campsite. It was only 9ish but it felt too late to be packing, so off to bed.
Up early the next morning, and i squeezed everything into the bags, clearing away my bed, etc. We had breakfast and was down to catch the bus by 8.30am
There was loads of people at the station, waiting to catch the Rocky Mountaineer train (which would take a couple of days to get to Vancouver, and i didn’t want to think what price it was). Although the train was due to leave at 9.15am, someone told us it never ran on time. My bus turned about on time, and we were away a bit late, as people needed a rest stop that had travelled from Calgary. The train had not arrived at the station by the time we left. Dad was heading back over the mountains and then into America to head towards Seattle to get the RV back on Tuesday morning, and then would spend time in Seattle before coming to Vancouver.
It was a long bus journey, with several stops, and went on the route dad and i had come.
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