Banff & Lake Louise

June 11th

     We are booked for three nights in a campground (Tunnel Mountain Campground) in the Banff National Park - that gives us two full days to explore this area and we wasted no time....an evening drive (after checking in) through downtown on the day of our arrival and a visit to the Banff Hot Springs before turning in for the night.

Our Banff Homesteads

June 12th

     We got an early start with a big day planned. We rode from Banff on the Bow Valley Parkway (scenic drive) in the direction of Lake Louise. This road is famous for wildlife viewing and as we first entered the highway we spotted a large bull elk near the road.....as it turns out - that is the only wild life we saw all day but still a great drive.

Bow Valley Parkway Elk

     About midway to Lake Louise we stopped at Johnson's Canyon and hiked the trail there to the waterfalls.....both the lower and the upper falls.....three miles round trip. A great hike with many places on the trail having walkways that were anchored into the rock and hung over the canyon. After that workout we were ready for our picnic lunch at a windy roadside picnic area.

 Johnson Canyon Hike

Ed & Kay in Johnson Canyon

     From there we went to Lake Louise along with MANY other people...very crowded but a beautiful lake/setting. Weather was pretty cool and it started raining lightly while we were there. Got a few photos and moved on to Lake Moraine which is also in that vicinity.....also crowded but not as bad and just as pretty.

Lake Louise

Lake Moraine

     A quick stop by the bakery for some fresh baked bread to go with our navy bean soup that had been simmering in the crock pot all day.....great ending to the day.

June 13th

     As we were getting loaded up in the truck to leave this morning a bull elk walked through the campground about 20 feet from our camper. After that excitement we headed out to explore a another scenic drive called Vermillion Lake Drive...it too, was pretty but no wildlife (other than some birds) were spotted.

     After that we headed to the Lake Minnewanka Loop drive that has a couple other lakes in the area. Very pretty and we took a detour to a smaller lake called Lake Johnson where we decided to do the hike around the lake.....not many people there and very nice views of the lake and mountains and a perfect hike....easy and beautiful!. At this lake we noticed many more of the wild roses (and other wild flowers) that are small and pretty but have an incredibly good fragrance.

     After leaving the Lake Johnson/Lake Minnewanka area we headed to the Caves and Basin national historic site....it is a cave that has a pretty blue warm spring. Most of the springs in these areas (especially the warm springs) have a very strong Sulphur smell that is hard to take for long. They tell of folks bathing in these springs but that would be difficult for us to do. This site is the birthplace of the Canadian Parks System.

     Back to the camp for a late lunch/rest and get cleaned up for an evening in Banff (downtown) and dinner out. We walked around and shopped for awhile and had dinner and drinks at one of the local restaurants. Pretty good evening until a thunder storm rolled in and we high tailed it back to camp.

     Getting ready to leave here in the morning headed for Jasper National Park via the Ice Fields Parkway.

     Some additional photos from the past couple days below:

Mountain wildflowers

Bench with a view

Lake Johnson

Wild rose

Lake Johnson

Lake Minnewanka Loop Road

Vermillion Lake

Lake Moraine

Kathy and Kay at Lake Moraine

Ed and Kay at Lake Moraine

Tree benders from Florida

Johnson Falls (upper)

Johnson Canyon trail

Johnson Canyon

Chipmunk on hiking trail

Bow Valley - Canadian Pacific Railroad

Oh Canada

   
     We rolled into Alberta, Canada on Saturday morning June 11th with Ed and Kay following close behind....we are happy campers!. Kathy and I had practically used all of our groceries and supplies so we needed to find a Walmart or suitable substitute to shop. There was a Walmart Supercentre on the south side of Calgary and pretty much on our way to Banff.....first stop.

     We tried to change some (US) dollars to Canadian back in Great Falls but were told we needed to wait until we got to Canada or closer to the border so we had none, which proved interesting on the Walmart trip. I assumed that we could shop with a credit card...this turned out to be correct........but we needed alot of groceries/supplies and needed a shopping cart to collect them...turns out in Canada (at least at that Walmart) you must put a $1.00 coin deposit (you guessed it, Canadian) into a slot in order to get a shopping cart. I went to customer service to see if they had a bank or money exchange....no luck, and also no other way to provide us a shopping cart.

     Ed and Kay on the other hand, looking helpless in trying to get a cart....a local man felt sorry for them and put a coin in and told them they owed him a $1.00.  I wasn't so lucky so I had to scour the parking lot to find a cart and trust me with a $1.00 deposit on them, there were not many unattended carts in the parking lot but I was lucky enough to find one......my lucky day!

     After rounding up the groceries we proceeded to the checkout and the cashier asked if we wanted bags? I said "you mean paper or plastic?" She said no, if you want a Walmart bag (yes, the cheap plastic bags) they were a nickel each. "Say what",  I giggled and said sure we do. So in addition to our groceries that seemed higher than usual (mainly because of the exchange rate), we got to pay for the bags to carry them home in. Can't make this stuff up ;-)

     In the end - hats off to the Canadians....they have very little, if any, shopping carts all over the parking lot because when you return the cart you get your $1.00 back AND people don't likely fill the landfills with Walmart bags. Most people we observed seemed to bring their own bags.

     Wonder how these good ideas would go over in hometown USA?

     We left the Calgary Walmart and headed on to Banff National Park only to be greeted by rain and the temp dropped to 38 as we pulled in and set up camp.....checked the calendar and yep, it is 11 June. We will be here for a couple days and hopefully the weather will improve!

Leaving East Glacier - Heading for Canada

June 7-10

     Kathy and I arrived in East Glacier KOA on 7 June in anticipation of meeting up with Ed and Kay that afternoon and enjoying a little bit of the east side of Glacier National Park with them before crossing the border into Canada....... that was not to be....see Ed's post on their journey.

     Weather here has been pretty varied....we have had highs in the upper 80's the first day with mild nights but it has turned a little cooler the last two days. Last night was a cool 36 degrees and today a pleasant 65. Tonight is expected to get to the mid 30's again and a chance of snow in the morning by the time we plan to depart......you need everything from a bathing suit to a snow suit. 

     We spent all day on the 8th of June touring and hiking here in the park on this side. Note - with the going to the sun road not open yet it is a 2.5 hour drive from the West to the East side of the park. Again a beautiful setting with fantastic hiking trails/views of St. Mary Lake and the mountains. Much of the hiking we did on this side was through forests that had been destroyed by fire....some one year ago and some ten years ago. It's interesting that the forest service now talks about the fires as a good thing to regenerate the forest. You will notice from our photos that much of the timber is burned yet the bed of the forest is alive with many wild flowers that are beautiful.

     On Thursday the 9th of June we rested and did laundry except for a short ride to the Many Glacier part of the park which is an entrance about 8 miles north of where we are staying.

     Today was our long hike day....we did about 6 miles of a hike that included three named waterfalls and at least a couple other places with water cascading that deserved to be named in my opinion. It was a really nice hike along the shores of Lake Mary.....we met and talked with many nice folks along the way.

     We were very happy to get back to camp to find Ed and Kay had arrived in their brand new truck.....they were as happy to see us and we are all ready now to move on. Tomorrow morning we break camp and head into Alberta, Canada with plans to tour Banff and Jasper National Parks.

Some of the photos from the last couple of days below:

Sunrise photo on Lake St. Mary - notice how the sun lit the tiny island in the water

Kathy by the Baring Waterfall

Wild flowers on the hillside

Still snow on these peaks

Getting in the selfie game

Just below the falls

Beautiful trails

Wildflowers

Wildflower or weed?

Hiking Trail

Hiking Trail

View driving from the West side on Highway 2

Lake St. Mary

 

Ed & Kay have arrived!

"Ed Says" - A summary of our cross country marathon

     We were able to leave on our journey to rendezvous with Darrell and Kathy on Friday June 3 about noon.  Our plan was to drive, eat and sleep until we met them, no touring.  And that is mostly what we did for 5 days, averaging 500+ miles per day and eating out except for breakfast.  One day we drove 660 miles!  Never again!  Ed had vertigo for the next two days (car sickness we think).   Another objective was to stay at no cost camp sites the entire way.  This we accomplished by staying in Walmart and Cabela's parking lots, and one Dodge dealer parking lot (more on that experience later).

     We arrived in Great Falls, Montana on Tuesday June 7 for an early start the next day for the run up to Glacier National Park for our rendezvous.  Well, we got the early start.  That's the good news.  Kay started driving first and quickly noticed the MIL light was on.  Not a good sign--this stands for Malfunction Indicator Light, like in engine problem.  We have had this experience with this truck before, none of it with a good outcome.  So we headed to the Dodge dealership right down the road.  The problem was diagnosed and was a relatively quick and inexpensive fix.  I have learned that "inexpensive fix" for a diesel is a relative term and does not mean low cost, as everything about a diesel cost more that any other auto repair or service.

     Having had significant problems with this truck before and now coupled with this problem,  we lost all confidence for this truck to get us to Alaska, let alone to get us back.  So, while at the dealership we began discussions to trade this truck in for another.  And we did.  We now have a gas 2015 Ram 1500 4x4 with trailer towing package, and an extended warranty!!  Comfort and confidence at last!  My one and only diesel experience has been a complete nightmare! 

     With repair work on the diesel, haggling for the new truck, installing trailer hitch, and adjustments to trailer part of the hitch, it was going to be Friday June 10 before we could leave for the rendezvous.  And this is how it came to be for us to spend the night in our camper in the dealers parking lot.  We can not say that was a no cost stay.  Let's just say it was included with the truck!

RENDEZVOUS AT LAST!   We arrived in Glacier early afternoon.  What a joyous sight to see Darrell and Kathy.  Now the fun part of the trip begins.  Tomorrow, we cross into Canada.

West Glacier

6 June
    
     Spent the day doing some exploring....first the local towns. We are staying in the small town of Columbia Falls and we checked out this quaint small town before heading to the even smaller town of Swan Lake and a ride through the Swan Valley as recommended by our golfing friends in Great Falls.....very pretty ride and the lake was beautiful. There are mountain lakes all over and most are really pretty (and cold).

Swan Valley Scenery

     After the Swan Valley we rolled into the town of Kalispell, a fairly large town compared to what we've been seeing. Big towns have Walmart's :-) We stopped by Cabela's for a couple things and did lunch in a restaurant that rated high on Trip Advisor called Wheat Montana Bakery & Deli....it was a great stop and we met and talked with some folks there from Arkansas who retired to that area.....they love it and tried to convince us that the winters were not all that bad.....it is a dry cold they said. (Not putting the house up for sale just yet)

     Afternoon we made our way into the Glacier National Park- wow, huge, beautiful and still very different than Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks. Unfortunately, the "Going to the sun" road is not opened all the way....only 16 miles from this side and I think maybe 14 from the east side. They had a photo of the top of the road (Logan Pass) a few days earlier that still looked clobbered with snow. I learned that it often times doesn't open 'til 4th of July.....may have to stop by here on the return trip.

     We took the going to the sun road as far as we could and then took a six mile hike (Avalanche Lake and creek trails) to a high mountain lake. It was a good workout and welcome relief from all the riding. Again we found ourselves on the return hike with the sun going down on us. Actually sunset here is 9:30'ish and we were back by 8:30 but in the thick forest with the sun dropping behind mountains before setting...it starts getting dark. Again, Kathy led the charge back to the truck.

Avalanche Lake

Avalanche Creek

Avalanche Lake

West Glacier - Last Day

     Spent better than the first half of the day dealing with Verizon on cell phone issues. Won't bore you with details but not a happy ending.

     Took a ride back towards the east on highway two to an area called Goat Lick. It is a place that mountain goats frequent where salt and other minerals seep from the rocks and they lick them. Unfortunately the rocks (and other tourists) is all we saw there....it was a pleasant ride there and back :-)

     On the way back we went back into West Glacier National Park and visited the areas that we missed the first day including an ice cream and walk through the shops are the Apgar Village.

Glacier Lake

Glacier Lake

     Leaving the park around 5:00 and heading back to camp we remembered that we had not visited the next town over called Whitefish, Montana so we drove over there to have a look not expecting much. Boy were we surprised....great little town and they happened to be having a farmers market on the square that included live music, many food trucks, and crafty type sales booths. We enjoyed some food truck food and soaked up the atmosphere....cool town!

     When we returned home we noticed that another Georgia camper had set up in a neighboring site with Mitchell county plates....that is close to where Kathy and I used to live in South Georgia. We met Paul and Eugenia Bozeman and had a great visit and cold beverage with them before calling it a night. They are heading to Washington/Oregon with no particular agenda. They had been to Alaska a few years ago and had some stories and advice for us.....a very nice couple!

     Heading to St. Mary Montana now to meet up with Ed and Kay and visit the east side of Glacier National Park.

Great Falls to Columbia Falls (West Side of Glacier)

Great Falls Last Day
     We spent the morning of our last full day in Great Falls visiting the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery Interpretive Center. A very nice and interesting museum.....hadn't studied the Lewis and Clark expedition since grade school and it was a great refresher. The volunteers there were great and very enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge of the subject.

     We played in the Eagle Falls golf tournament around noon and did quite well. Kathy and I finished second place in our flight as a team and I won a closest to the pin on one of the par 3's. A few nice prizes but more importantly a great day and met some very nice folks.

Ed and Kay Progress
     They left home Saturday afternoon and have been making great progress (tonight in Mitchell, South Dakota) towards our rendezvous point, which is now Glacier National Park and estimated to be Wednesday or Thursday this week.

     While they are traveling, Kathy and I moved from Great Falls to the West Side of Glacier and are now staying in the town of Columbia Falls, Montana. After our arrival we checked out a Forest Service Lake (outside of Glacier)  called Hungry Horse......a really pretty and large mountain lake.

Hungry Horse Lake

Hungry Horse Lake

     We plan to spend the next couple of days exploring the west side of Glacier Park and the towns in this area....Columbia Falls, Whitefish, and Kalispell Montana and maybe a ride through the Swan Valley - one of our golf tournament partners recommended seeing. We will leave here in time to meet with the Culpeppers on the east side of Glacier National Park in St. Mary, Montana.

Great Falls and Great News!

Driving from Yellowstone
     "Home, home on the range....where the deer and the antelope play".....you get the idea :-)
We departed Yellowstone on 1 June and headed north. We had a plan and an alternate plan - goal was to reach Great Falls, Montana with a fallback plan of stopping in Helena if we were tired and needed to stop.

     I caught myself several times singing "Home on the range" as I was driving - it was that kind of drive, beautiful but a lot of open country. We laughed, at one spot we saw a real estate sign selling "lots" - they were 20 acre lots, so that gives you an idea on the vast open landscape. We traveled along the Missouri river for a good ways and saw several folks enjoying what looked like some fishing float trips - looked like fun.

Great Falls, Montana
     We did make it to Great Falls and are here (Dick's RV Park) for a scheduled maintenance stop. Haircuts, oil change and vehicle maintenance, laundry, grocery shopping, golf and just relaxing. Hey - don't laugh, being a tourist is a tough/tiring job.

     Great Falls is a pretty nice small town. My early observations is that the bars and casinos are plentiful. A lady at the golf course told us towns in this area are all bars and churches. Their number one attraction (on trip advisor) is the Lewis and Clark interpretive center - we plan to visit their before we leave the area.

     Yesterday we rode to the three golf courses in town trying to decide which one to play and when. The temps have been great here (70's) but the wind is pretty tough the last couple days. At the Eagle Falls golf course we met some very nice local folks and managed to talk ourselves into a golf tournament they are having Saturday....we are excited to be able to play and meet some more local folks.

     We spent seven days in Yellowstone with our eyes peeled looking for eagles and did not see any there. As we walked out of one of the golf courses here in Great Falls, a beautiful bald eagle was flying just over our heads....impressive but no camera handy for that. I fully expect we will see many more eagles on this trip.

Great News
      For those of you that know (or have been following the trip from the beginning), our good friends Ed and Kay Culpepper had to cancel due to medical issues they expected to derail them. As it turns out, Kay got a good report from the doctor yesterday and was approved to travel.

     They called yesterday after their appointment excited to ask if we would slow down and wait for them to catch us....we are excited to have them back in the plan. They are departing the Griffin, Ga. area today and we expect to meet up with them in Glacier National Park in the next six or seven days. We are going to stay in Great Falls a little longer than planned and may tour both the West (not originally planned) and East side of Glacier now in order to allow them time to catch us.