Willie Wagtales: Canadian Rocky Mountain High

Heading north from Seattle, Washington we were keen to get to started on the next part of our journey so refilled the pantry at Trader Joe’s and headed to Chilliwack. We had been told to avoid the main border gate at Vancouver and take the road less travelled – it would save waiting time. So that is what we did and still had a good long wait at Sumas before getting permission to cross into Canada.

Chilliwack was a lovely campground with full hook-up in a bush setting down the end of the road filled with blueberry farms. It suited us perfectly and from there we explored the local area and the very pretty Chilliwack Lake. After a couple of days we headed up to the mountains.

Lake Louise

The roads were really good, sometimes the highway and at others, good two lane country roads. Our first stop was Kamloops where we stopped for lunch and a quick look around. Kamloops is where our friend, Lauren, was studying earlier this year so we wanted to visit it for ourselves. The landscape changed from farmland to forest and the mountains got higher and more snow-covered the higher we went. Freddie the RV coasted along at sensible speeds with Johno at the wheel. We camped rough a couple of nights, just stopping at rest areas. We went to Jasper in the north of the Jasper National Park – some lovely old buildings here and a cute railway station. It is a stop for the Rocky Mountaineer. The landscape all along our route is spectacular and it’s easy to get lax and fail to appreciate the beauty and wonder of it all. More glaciers, more snow-topped mountains, more deep ravines, cliffs, waterfalls and raging rivers and just when you think it can’t get any better, you see something else that takes your breath away.

On our third night we camped at a beautiful spot with an unfortunate name, Mosquito Creek. It was a National Park and cost $15.00 a night with all the firewood you wanted and a jolly, helpful camp caretaker. We had a great fire and a lovely cosy night. Getting cooler up there.

canoes at Lake Louise

Next morning, we headed to Lake Louise. There is a beautiful luxury hotel built on the edge of the lake some 5,000 ft above sea level surrounded by forests. It looks so spectacular, very regal and when the sun is in the right position you can get the most beautiful photos of its reflection on the lake. We did not have those conditions. The weather threatened so we hurriedly took a walk along the lake, got some photos and then the skies opened so we moved on into the little village. It was very busy there and we couldn’t find a parking space so headed away.

first bear sighting

Just a little further down the Icefield Parkway, which is the highway running through the National Parks, we made a turn to go to Athabasca Falls and up ahead was an ‘animal jam’. Yes, that’s right, an ‘animal jam’ – the first of many we would encounter over the next few days. A bear had been sighted and cars had just stopped where they were so people could get a look and a photo. We were no different and excitedly we got our first look at a bear in the wild. He was big, black and shiny. He was digging and rooting under rocks and not very bothered by all the fuss around him. Thank goodness, too, as we found out later that we were all way too close for safety.

We then continued on to the falls which are very accessible and only a short walk from the parking lot. The Athabasca River is forced to funnel through a smallish channel it has cut through the rock over thousands of years, creating a canyon which deepens as the years go by.

Athabasca Fall

The water crashes through, causing fine spray through the area. People were white-water rafting down below.

It looked like they were having lots of fun as the waters were quite turbulent. It was a great spot for photos.

We got to Banff in time for a late morning tea so headed to Starbucks, yet again, for coffee and wifi. We had received very sad news about a family friend back home and needed to touch base and be reassured from our friends and family that the Lord’s comfort and strength would be their portion in the coming days. So after some tears and prayer-time, we headed out to see what Banff had to offer.

While at Starbucks we met a lovely Australian family from Victoria who had been visiting their daughter, son-in-law and new grand-daughter. They were so friendly and it was good to chat to some Aussies and feel connected to others after our sad morning.

Banff is such a pretty little place, some very old buildings and many others that look like they have only been built in the past 10 – 20 years to accommodate the tourist trade. It is certainly a bustling and very modern place with some very appealing features – like another beautiful old hotel built on the edge of the lake similar to Lake Louise.

Banff gondolas

We had been told about a gondola ride at Banff so decided to go and see what was so good about it. Well, it was just great after we got used to the steep climb, the fact that only steel wire cable prevented us from falling from a great height and we were climbing steadily for 8 minutes. Again, the sky was fairly clear so our views became increasingly spectacular as we climbed 2,292 feet to an elevation of 7,500 feet. We were on top of the world – or so it felt. We had panoramic views all around and the vista kept changing as we walked around the tower top – valleys, mountains, plains, rivers, the town of Banff way down below – so exhilarating. You know, I am starting to run out of words to describe all the things we have seen and experienced – it’s so much fun and I love learning new things all the time.

view of Banff from on high

We left Banff and headed to Calgary where we thought we would stay a night but when we got there we saw it was such a big city and decided we weren’t ready for a city just yet so drove on another two hours and boon-docked in a council depot outside Fort McLeod.

We were up early the next morning eager to get to a special place we had heard about when in Seattle. It is called Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump and it is Johno’s story to tell, so I will finish this up now. Ending our amazing trip down through the Canadian Rockies – a truly magnificent and awesome landscape.

some extra pic's if you are interested...