For The Love of Travel

Leaving Banff Springs we drove a stretch along the Trans Canada highway turning off onto the Icefield Parkway, (climbing from sub alpine forests to alpine meadows) that takes in Castle Mountain, pristine vermillion lakes, and peaks, glaciers and waterfalls. There was an awe inspiring view of Peyto Lake, located just over the Bow Summit, it’s blue waters reflecting the alpine beauty of the Mistaya valley.

A meeting place of three important rivers (Howse, Mistaya and Saskatchewan), the Saskatchewan crossing is where explorers and fur traders of the 1800s crossed the Rockies into British Columbia.

Next to the Athabasca Glacier on the Colombia Icefield, which we toured on giant 6-wheeled Ice Explorers carrying 56 people at a time. Although the Athabasca Glacier is retreating at a rate of 5 metres (16 feet) per year, it is still massive at 6 kilometres long and 1 kilometre wide. Headwaters from the Snow Dome mountain flow into the Arctic, Pacific and. Atlantic oceans!!

Then we travelled to the Glacier Skywalk, an exciting cliff-edge walkway, over spectacular glacier-formed valleys and rushing waterfalls, that leads to a platform where glass is all that separated us from a 918 foot drop.

What a day, we were so lucky with the weather! It was changing constantly, yet stayed sunny when we needed it to at particular locations.

 

Rafting today on Spray River instead of helicopter flight….too foggy early in the morning and all trips scheduled for 2 hours ahead were cancelled. Ah well, another chance in Whistler in a couple of days time.  

A day for strolling downtown, checking out the shops and ….having my first hair appointment out of the hands of my hairdresser Shane (Smik). I think he will be pleased with the cut and colour on my return and won’t have to work too hard to restore to former glory.

On my walk downtown, a black-billed magpie caught my eye with its beautiful plumage…….Historically associated with bison herds, it now lands on the back of cattle to glean ticks and insects from them. Large predators such as wolves are commonly followed by black-billed magpies, who scavenge from their kills. The species also walks on the ground, where it obtains such food items as beetles, grasshoppers, worms, and small rodents. 

Went to the yummy Fairview restaurant @ Chateau Lake Louise couple of nights ago and the lamb rack and choc creme brûlée were superb.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weather has changed today, raining and lots of mist and cloud. We were lucky to get that perfect day yesterday in Lake Louise, but after lots of changing hues, managed to get a spectacular shot before we departed.

I’ve been practising macro shots of birds and furry critters and am getting quite good at it I reckon.
Today we are venturing through Kicking Horse River Valley, checking out Emerald Lake and Bow Valley. Despite the weather, still gorgeous.
Staying at the Fairmont Banff Springs built initially in the late 1800’s, then a fire, and rebuilt by 1928…lots of nooks and crannies in a palatial masterpiece. Dreamed up as a luxurious development by William Cornelius Van Horne, who was then GM of the Canadian Pacific Railways. ” Since we can’t export the scenery, we’ll have to import the tourists”. He commissioned Bruce Price, who designed the initial lavish structure.