It has been some time since we last blogged but we had a week in Vancouver just doing mundane things like sight-seeing, drinking, geocaching and eating. Although, we did spend one morning having eye tests with Dr Meghan which diagnosed all good and it was all free. Meghan is Blairs partner.

Last Saturday we began a road trip to the Calgary Stampede. We left Vancouver late afternoon heading for Kamloops, a distance of 350kms. Great roads here, often 2 lanes each side of a serious median, sometimes a green belt 40 metres wide. With Blair driving it was great to be able to relax. Even on a Saturday afternoon in light traffic it took the best part of an hour to clear the city limits.

Our first nights accommodation was difficult to find and ended up in a motel with two double beds in one room. Character building I heard mentioned. All fine for those still wishing to build their characters but for me, and the character already built, I slept like a log.

Out of Kamloops our next destination was Jasper where we had booked 3 nights in a lodge. We signed in and drove a few extra kms to walk near Maligne Canyon. It was a misty evening and an ideal time for spotting wildlife. Not too difficult when they come right up the road edge. Evening twilight lingers here for hours so while at 8.00pm it is starting to get dark, it isn’t completely dark until around 10.30pm.

Our second day in Jasper National Park started with rain and we had to reschedule our schedule. We reconvened at noon while it was still raining and a threat of cabin fever the day turned into a layday. We did manage a quick trip into the metropolis, similar to Hanmer Springs, Woodville type size. Filled our “growler” with a local Fire Engine red which didn’t put out any fires for me but was dispatched in short time anyway.

Fires don’t seem to be the problem around Jasper but the Mountain Pine Beetle certainly must be. He has destroyed approximately 50% of mature lodgepole pine trees in Jasper National Park. Quite a concern really, to see nature doing its work. The beetle also attacks other pines but not so much the valuable species such as Douglas-fir. Temperature is a major factor and it is estimated the beetle has impacted more than a billion cubic metres of merchantable timber in British Columbia. 

Although the following day was heavily overcast we had to get out and about. First the Athabasca Falls right near the highway but then into the woods for the Five Lakes walk. The rain stayed away and we got a lung full of fresh air and saw a large wapiti stag in velvet and two bears foraging for their dinner.

After three nights we left Jasper heading south toward Banff National Park and toward sunshine and clear blue skies. We took another walk in the woods up “Parker Ridge”, a steep elevation in a short distance, to a lookout over the Saskatchewan Glacier. Meghan (whose hometown is Saskatoon) got a bit homesick there I think. 

We were pleased to see that the beetle hadn’t yet begun destroying the forests this far south. It is about 300km between Jasper and Banff so quite close in terms of distance for Canada. 

We took some time to visit the Columbia Icefield which covers an area of 215 sq.kms. We rode in an all-terrain Ice-Explorer vehicle up onto the ice field proper and also did a skywalk which was impressive. A giant walkway that is constructed out over a valley so you look through glass at your feet to the valley floor some 1000 feet down. Diana didn’t spend too long out there.

We managed to get to our apartment in Canmore late in the evening after one last walk to Lake Peyto. Canmore is a small town with a lot of accommodation and services for summer time adventurers and sight seers and in winter the ski bunnies. We see people on the paved walkways skating with two poles, practicing for cross country skiing I suppose.

Our first day we drove back into the park where we had to pass through a toll gate and pay $20 for the experience we hoped to have. New Zealand have to do this somehow. $20 didn’t seem too much for our car and four passengers. We walked to Lake Agnes from Lake Louise, magnificent scenery at every turn. Lake Agnes is a tarn in a hanging basin which reminded me of my days in Fiordland on deer recovery in the 1970’s. Although there were no deer to be seen only enormous numbers of humans, I did scan the sloops for a big horn sheep. None to be seen. We were pretty stiff and sore after the hike up to the lake so pleased to get horizontal in the evening.

But not for long. Blair and Meghan had previously ridden the Goat Creek trail and thought that Mum and Dad would really enjoy that. A 20km taxi ride into the high country and we extract our hired mountain bikes from the back of the V8 Ram ute. (makes my Hilux look like a puppy!) Helmets on we set off tentatively down the trail toward a back road into Banff. Holy bejesus we haven’t done any of this. A 19 km trail where a moments lapse in concentration and you’re on your nose grading gravel. Pleased to say that we didn’t break any bones, or draw blood, but very pleased to be back on tarseal albeit with a numb posterior.

Lunch in beautiful sunshine and 28 degrees in the town of Banff was most appreciated. Then another 20km ride along a cycle expressway from Banff back to Canmore. This is a two-lane route near the highway for cycles only. Diana and I were pleased that we had done some preparatory cycling and walking prior to leaving Blenheim and this I think helped us through some of our adventures. We rolled into Banff at 6.30pm now numb from knees to belly button!

We have had a great look at the two of the major wilderness attractions in Canada and are getting set today to head to Calgary and the Stampede where I’m still tossing up whether I should try the bull ride or the bare back buck jumper.