Banff trip Part 2 - Kicking Horse to Lake Louise August 1, 2009

Day Two saw me leave the campsite in Golden and head for Banff with a number of stops along the way.

STOP#1 KICKING HORSE REST AREA AND BRIDGE VIEW

For years the trip through the Kicking Horse Canyon from Golden to near Lake Louise was always a winding twisting drive up through the canyon with a couple of very narrow bridge crossings - it was a highway death trap - in the past few years the Fed and Prov governments have been funding its gradual four laning and bridge replacement - this rest area give you a good view of the new Bridge which is a bit of an engineering marvel - it cost something like $300M but has reduced the traffic accident rate substantially.

STOP #2 NATURAL BRIDGE - YOHO NATIONAL PARK.

I had hoped to stop at both the Hoodoos and the Spiral tunnels but when i got to the Hoodoos campsite it has basically been closed and there is only an overflow area and therefore the walk to the Hoodoos was considerably longer - as for the Spiral Tunnels - too much traffic to take the time to stop and see the trains goes through the tunnels.

As I was turning off the main highway onto the Emerald Lake Drive - there were 3 moose making there way to some water at the turnoff - because of some construction there wasn't a safe area to pull off and get some pictures.

Just up the road from the turnoff is the Natural Bridge.

STOP #3 EMERALD LAKE - A GEM IN THE ROCKIES AND A HIKE I REALLY ENJOYED.

When I arrived at the Lake I wasn't sure just what I was going to do - the views weren't that sharp because of some smoke haze and the position of the sun but I started to hike in a clockwise direction - before I knew it I was at the upper end of the Lake so i just continued along the remainder of the Lake - it is about 5.2 KM around the lake and the trail is flat but on the east side it is much less developed - also a lot more people were arriving as a lot of canoes started to dot the colorful lake - with the sun higher in the sky the views started to increase greatly - there was also a good flower show which will be reflected in the next stop.

STOP #4 WILDFLOWERS IN BLOOM IN THE ROCKIES.

While walking along the Lake there was a good display of alpine wildflowers - I will let the pictures tell the story.

STOP #5 HIKE TO HAMILTON FALLS.

This is advertised as a short hike - less than a km up to a waterfall and then on to a lake - it climbs most of the way and I was more than a little disappointed with the end result - while the canyon wall is impressive the water flow was quite low.

STOP #6 LAKE LOUISE IN ALL ITS SPLENDOR.

My final stop of the day before heading into Banff was at Lake Louise - as the traffic seemed to be back up getting to the parking lot I parked on the road and walked the last km to the Lake - turns out one of the reasons that the traffic was backed up is that Parks were checking each vehicle for their Park Pass.

I walked around and down the lake before returning to the truck and heading for Banff. The pictures tell the story of the beauty of the area and why it is so popular.

This last picture is taken along the Bow Valley Parkway - the slower and more scenic way to Banff - it wasn't far from here that traffic had stopped to watch a bear - unfortunately by the time the cameras came out it had wandered into the forest.

Thus ends Part Two of this trip.

Part three will be of my time in Banff - including town scenes, a walk to Bow Falls and the floral beauty of Cascade Gardens.

Rockies trip 2009 - on the road to Banff

PREVIEW OF THE TRIP.

On Friday July 31, 2009 I set out for Banff, Alberta and the Banff Y Mountain Lodge to meet up with my hiking group to do Camp 4 with the Skyline Hikers of the Canadian Rockies - I am planning on taking two days to reach Banff with a couple of stops along the way. The weather is still very warm and this is some smoke haze as I make the trip out the Fraser Valley stopping in Abbotsford for both breakfast and gas and then it's up the Coquihalla to Merritt where I decide to take the more scenic Highway 5A into Kamloops and from there it is on towards Revelstoke and a possible overnight stay.

STOP#1- THE LAST SPIKE REST STOP AT CRAIGELLACHIE.

As luck would have it just as I started to explore the site a CPR freight train goes roaring by creating a different sense of the meaning of the this achievement in Canadian nation building.

Having made good time into Revelstoke I decided to head over the Rogers Pass and on towards Golden and the Kicking Horse Pass - which brought me to my second stop in Rogers Pass.

STOP #2 - LOOP BROOK TRESTLES DISPLAY, ROGERS PASS AREA, GLACIER NATIONAL PARK.

This display provides a very good example of the early 20th century challenges in trying to build a railroad from coast to coast - long replaced by tunnels through Rogers Pass they are a great reminder of the our railroading past.

STOP #3 ALPINE FLOWERS ALONG THE WAY.

While not taken at any one place these few flowers do indicate that the season is right for viewing them. Won't try and identify them as I will probably get some or all of them wrong.

The recent warm weather has brought them out in profusion .

While I didn't capture any photos I did see a Rocky Mountain sheep along the side of the Highway, three moose, three deer and one black bear as I made my way to Banff.

STOP #4 OVERNIGHTING AT THE GOLDEN MUNICIPAL CAMPGROUND - GOLDEN BC.

Getting close to supper time and not feeling like cooking up any meals on the camp stove because of the hot weather I decided to call it a day at Golden BC - gateway to both the Rockies and the Columbia and Radium valleys.

Stopped at the tourist info site and got some info on campgrounds - decided on the municipal one - they still had a couple of shaded spots left - since it was only for one night I am sleeping in the back of the truck instead of putting up the tent. After checking in and dropping some of my camping supplies I head back to the highway in search of a place to eat - no shortage of fast food places along the highway strip - settled on a 50's place called the Legendz - what a mistake - order a simple to make Hawaiian or ham and pineapple pizza - here's what I got - a warmed over frozen crust - eight slices of tomato, cheese with about 5 pieces of pineapple and equal amount of ham - only because I was tired, hot and hungry did I not send it back.

After the disaster for the meal I drove around town and then returned to the campsite and walked along the Rotary sponsored trail that circles the campground.

The campground itself is located along the Kicking Horse River and is adjacent to both a secondary high school and the towns swimming and recreation center - for a small fee they also provide wi-fi which I passed on since I can use my Blackberry to retrieving emails etc.

Tomorrow it's on to Banff and a meet up with some of my fellow hikers for next week's hike and a few from this week's camp.

I am planning on stopping at Spiral tunnel, Hoodoos, Natural Bridge and Emerald Lake and finally Lake Louise

More on the next post

Cheers

Dennis