Icefields Parkway and onward to Elk River National Park.

Last of the catchup posts, Tuesday morning we left Banff for the drive along the Icefields Parkway to Jasper and beyond.

The first part of the drive you go along The Trans Canada Highway for about 60km. and just passed Lake Louise you turn on to The Icefields Parkway.

                                                                       

How do I describe this drive and the scenery, you can use words like magnificent-aweinspiring-beautiful or that much over used word awesome, but none of them do it justice.  

I read somewhere this road is one of the best 10 drives in the world. I can't argue with that.

 Bow Lake, the river of the same name starts here eventually emptying into Hudsons Bay.

So many lakes and mountains, hard to keep track of them and their names.

Looking back down Sunwapta Canyon, just short of Sunwapta Summit

 Nearly there.

 And over the top, the highest pass of our journey 2035 metres. The weather changing by the time we approached Jasper it was raining on and off.

Lunch time. 

We joined the Yellowhead highway at Jasper and continued to Hinton. 

Wednesday morning rained all the way to Edmonton, on to Elk River Retreat a total drive Banff to Elk River 706km.

A change from mountains here at Elk River, grass with buffalo grazing.

Tranquil stream and Marsh Marigolds.

Astotin Lake.

One thing they have here which we don't like-mosquito's, pesky things!

Banff, Lake Minnewanka & Vermilion Lake.

Continuing the catch up of our wifi less days - I have compressed two days of visits into one post.
                                                                               

 Banff Cave & Basin, the discovery of the original hot springs by Frank McCabe and brothers William and Tom McCardell in 1883. Their efforts at trying to exploit the springs for commercial gain resulted in this becoming the first National Park in Canada in 1885.

The basin, no longer used, there is a long tunnel carved through the rock to get. The light in the top left hand corner is sunlight coming down he shaft, discovered by the 3 railway workers.

 The original plunge pond dating back to the end of the 19th. century 

The original swimming pool, built in 1913 closed in 1994. Now used as an open air theatre.The swimming pool is now at The Upper Hot Springs.

 The Hoodoos looking over the Bow River.

Chipmunk wondering if it can get in the trailer.

Another view from the campground, 

Lake Minnewanka.

Same lake, same mountain taken from where The Cascade River enters the Lake.

The Cascade River flowing through Stewart Canyon 

The Stewart Canyon Bridge.

Vermilion Lake

This Slipper Orchid on the Fenland Trial, we walked this trail before driving along the lake.

Looking across the lake, is that Canada Goose sitting on a nest?

 Drive a bit further and get closer, looks very happy, sitting on its eggs and watching the world go by.

Lake Louise & Moraine Lake via The Bow Valley Parkway

We are at Elk River, Alberta today 28/05/14 had no wifi for the last 5 days, one of the downsides of staying in a National Park Campground, lots of wildlife walking around but no modern electronic communications.      Friday 23 May we leave Granum for Banff, we are going to Banff a little ahead of schedule to meet up with our friends from Gabriola, Vancouver Island who are giving some friends of theirs, on a visit from Indonesia, a whistle stop tour of British Columbia and the Rockies.

We met up and had dinner at Spanish/Mexican restaurant,  had a super time and got to meet their friends from Indonesia after hearing all about them over the last few years.

Saturday we travel on The Bow Valley Parkway to Lake Louise, the first photo is looking across The Valley towards the mountains.  This pic is castle mountain, which is quite a stunning sight, well every where you look here is stunning.  When the Creator (First Nation Term) made the world he was smiling when he made Canada.

The typical Canadian scene (you always see a scene like this European publicity for holidays in Canada) A CP train by the side of a river with snow covered peaks in the back ground, mind you they would wait for the snow melt to slow down a bit, the mud brought down by the fast flowing river dosn't look good.

 On our way up to Moraine Lake, can you believe this is the end of May, look at the height of that snowbank. Parks Canada only opened the road this past Thursday.

Parked at the Lake, weather changing a bit, hope it dosn't snow again. Moraine Lake still frozen over, a little different from the usual picture of this lake.

 The Famous Hotel at Lake Louise, built by Canadian Pacific to get people on their trains and visit.

The Columbia Glacier and Lake Louise again a scene you don't see very often-no refections.

On the way back to Banff we pass the memorial to the people interned during the First World War, immigrants from The Austria-Hungary Empire, a sad part of Canadian history, but they where not alone in isolating so called "enemy aliens"At Banff they have built a museum dedicated to the memory of these people.

Elk giving us the eye.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump &Fort Macleod.

Wednesday morning and we leave Cardston and head up highway 3 to Fort Macleod and a visit to Smashed-In-Head Buffalo Jump.

Where the prairie meets The Porcupine Hills.  The Interpretive Centre is built in to the cliff from which the buffalo where driven over to their deaths by the native hunters, they had been doing this for over 6,000 years.  The Interpretive Centre itself is worth a visit, the architect has won awards for his design and rightly so.

Inside the centre gives you an insight into how the the First Nation People lived,  and then as you walk down the different levels of the building, their village life how the organized a hunt, eventually reaching the ground floor, 5 in all where they tell the story of all the digs that have taken place here over the last 100 years or .so

 Leaving the sight, the Rockies can be seen in the distance

 

Now at The Granview RV Park in Granum  about 20km north of Fort Macleod.

A couple of birdy snaps, caught these on the fence just behind our tailer, Common Grackle above and a singing American Robin below.

 Thursday morning Fort Macleod.  The museum concentrates on the long march of The North Western Mounted Police to get here from Manitoba- 97 days, when they then built the fort sent the whiskey traders packing back in to Montana and set about establishing the rule of law and then making friends with the First Nation People and the signing of Treaty No. 7

This Diorama of Assistant Commissioner Macleod and Crowfoot the Blackfoot Chief.

 This is a Red River Cart the Mounties brought 114 of these together with their Metis drivers creaking and squeaking all the way from Manitoba.

Tomorrow Friday we are going to Banff