Mid-June to Mid-July 2022

We headed northeast from Vancouver, British Columbia, on Highway 99 toward Garibaldi Provincial Park. We spent our first night of this journey at Whistler Campground, on the edge of the Park.

From the looks of things, these parks are busy year-round. Most of the rigs in the RV section had permanent shelters alongside their trailers for ATV and snowmobile storage.

The folks in this section were definitely regulars; they seemed to know each other and happy hour had started pretty early in the day.

In contrast, our section of the campground, which was for smaller rigs and tenters, was woodsy and quiet.

In the distance, we enjoyed a preview of the snow-capped mountains we would see the next day.

Camping near the provincial parks provides opportunities for observing wildlife upclose, but some wildlife is better observed from a distance. This is bear country -both grizzly and black.

Everywhere you go, there are stern warnings and rules about being in bear country. Bears that become accustomed to eating human food become a danger and, sadly, must be put down.

The trash bins and dumpsters are Fort Knox bear-proof and there are strict rules about what you can, and can’t, leave outside your vehicle.

Some hikers wear jingling bells to scare off the bears. Locals refer to these as “dinner bells,” but the campstores do seem to sell a lot of bells. John and I are careful to follow all the camping rules. We also keep bear spray in our hiking pack, and hope we never have to use it.

The next day, we continued on, heading toward Jasper. The road wasn’t busy and the scenery grew more dramatic as we drove.

On this day, we saw our first, and only, bear on this trip. We spotted this young grizzly on the side of the road, and were able to take photos from the safety of our vehicle.

We spent a couple of nights at Pine Grove, a small, private campground near McClure. Independent campgrounds often have more personality, which this one did.

Martina, the owner, also kindly resupplied us with “loonies,” which we would need for showers and laundromats.

A note about Loonies

The Canadian dollar isn’t a paper bill; it’s a coin. It’s called a “loonie” because it features a loon on one side. (Not because Queen Elizabeth is on the flipside) Loonies are used for vending machines, tolls, small purchases and coffee shop tips. Almost everything else is put on plastic, even at farm stands out in the country.

Kamloops

We daytripped into Kamloops to hike the Tower Trail at the Kenna Cartwright Nature Centre and do some shopping. The view from the hill top tower was great.

Then the clouds rolled in and we we raced back down the hill, narrowly avoiding an approaching thunderstorm.

We’ve learned that weather forecasts are not to be trusted; it’s best to keep an eye on the sky.

Jasper National Park, Alberta

Continuing on, we crossed into Alberta. We purchased our Canada National Park Pass (much like our America the Beautiful Senior Pass) and made our way into Jasper National Park. These entry passes are the best deal around. If you plan to see Canada’s National Parks, they’re a must-do. We stayed at Whistler’s Campground near Jasper (not to be confused with the town of Whistler in British Columbia).

We loved this campground. So much, in fact, we extended our stay by watching for cancellations on-line and switching campsites three times during our stay. The campground had been renovated recently and everything was state of the art.

The visitor center was huge and had four registration counters with friendly, helpful staff. The new bath houses were the most grand that we’ve seen in our travels.

We’ve stayed in a lot of campgrounds (hundreds) and Canada sets the bar for national parks very high.

Elk roam freely in the campground, grazing and taking naps.

They seem comfortable having humans nearby, but it’s smart to keep a safe distance. Elk are not as large as moose, but they’re much bigger than deer, and I wouldn’t want to tangle with one.

Most days, we would head out and find a new area to hike. One day, we hiked around Lake Beauvert near Jasper Lodge.

The water in these lakes really is aqua blue; I haven’t altered the color in any of these photos. I’ve been told that the lake and stream water is colored by sediment from snow melt in the mountains.

That same day, we saw big-horned sheep nearby. They look kind of shaggy mid-summer. In the wild, sheep and goats shed their winter coats.

The photographer in this photo was way too close; moments later, the male sheep scampered down onto the road to protect his family.

The signs say, if you’re close enough to make a wild animal move, then you’re too close. We take our photos from a distance, and then count on zooming in to safely “bring” the subject closer.

Icefields Parkway

Jasper sits at the entrance to the Icefields Parkway, which we drove to the Columbia Icefield to see the Athabasca Glacier.

We hiked out to the edge of the glacier and were shocked to see the markers indicating how quickly the icefield is shrinking.

John had visited this area some years ago and remembers the glacier being so much larger.

Currently, the glacier is retreating about 16.5 feet per year. At this rate, it will become history long before its time.

We viewed the Stutfield Glacier from the parkway. Even from a distance, it’s still very impressive.

Athabasca Falls are also on this road, and we stopped and hiked down to the falls. There’s been a lot of rain in this area, so the rivers are rushing and falls are dramatic.

Another day, we hiked the Valley of the Five Lakes, and took the five mile trail that circled the First Lake.

We passed through woods and flowering meadows as we made our way around another very aquamarine lake.

On July 4th, we started out for our next campground at Lake Louise, but were told that the Icefield Parkway was closed because of an avalanche.

The detour was huge. It took us all day to travel there via Calgary and Edmonton. In the rain. We picked up the parkway again further south and learned that it had taken all day to clear the roadway.

When we finally arrived in Lake Louise, we decided to grab a quick dinner before going to our campground. We pulled into the campground at 8pm, waited in a long line to check in, and then set up our campsite dog-tired.

The next day dawned bright and sunny. A brand new day, and we headed out early to go sight seeing.

Lake Louise and Moraine Lake

We had purchased shuttle tickets on-line, so we could see Moraine Lake and Lake Louise without having to worry about parking or traffic. It turned out to be a great idea. The roads are twisty and narrow, and the bus drivers aren’t keen on sharing the road with other vehicles.

These two lakes are high on everyone’s bucket list of places to visit, and they didn’t disappoint. I’d go back here in a New York minute.

Back at our campground, we discovered a nice trail along the Bow River, and the campground views were great, too.

Our next stop, heading south, was Banff.

Banff

We camped at the Banff Trailer Court, which sounds awful, but it’s great. It’s a huge campground, but surprisingly, didn’t feel crowded. It was spread out with lots of trees and greenery.

We met a young family from Quebec traveling with a truck and Airstream Bambi. We exchanged rig tours and their three sweet children practiced their English on us. They were remarkably good. We’ve met some very friendly Canadians and had some good conversations.

We spent an afternoon walking the town of Banff. It’s certainly worthy of another visit. Lots of interesting shops and a vibrant arts and culture scene.

We sat out a rain shower in the Banff Avenue Brewpub. We enjoyed some brews and shared a flatbread with exotic mushrooms and ricotta – yum.

Fairmont Hot Springs Resort

We left the park area and worked our way to Fairmont Hot Springs. We stayed in the Spruce Grove campground, about a mile from the resort. We drove the area and found a few interesting hikes.

This is the spot where the mighty Columbia River begins. We hiked a trail and boardwalk out to its source. It’s a meadow, stream, and pond with springs – and oodles of mosquitoes. It was a quick hike.

A different hike took us to the top of a group of hoodoos. The view of the hoodoos and the Columbia River valley below was worth the climb.

We also hiked to, what was supposed to be, a secret hot springs pool in the woods near the Fairmont Resort. Well, like most “big secrets,” it wasn’t. We found quite a crowd when we arrived. We hopped in and out.

Next time, maybe we’ll stick with civilization and go to the resort pool.

We were also at the Spruce Grove campground on July 9th, our 39th anniversary. We celebrated with some bubbly and a tapas-sort of dinner of shrimp cocktail, Ahi tuna, olives, stuffed grape leaves, and other nibbles from the specialty grocery near the resort.

Our month in Canada was quickly coming to an end. We went to Kikomun Creek Provincial Park in East Kootenay for our last couple of days.

We went through our “getting ready to cross a border” routine: did laundry, cleaned the van, ditched any remaining fresh veggies, made sure our paperwork was in order, and chilled out.

We crossed into Montana at Roosville without a hitch, and made our way to the home of our good friends, Martha and Joe Grieco in Whitefish. What a great welcome back to the US!

Canada was a fabulous experience. We saw so much, but know there’s plenty more to see next time!