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Warning: Photos do not do justice to the incredible beauty of this area! During our stay in the Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper area, we actually visited four national parks: Kootenay, Banff, Jasper and Yoho.

We left the Beyond Hope Resort near Sandpoint, Idaho on Saturday, June 23 following the Wild Horse Trail Scenic Byway (US 95) north and crossing into Canada at Kingsgate. We spent one night at Fairmont Hot Springs RV Resort in British Columbia then bid our goodbyes to Carl and Cheryl until our rendezvous in Jasper on July 13. At Radium Hot Springs, we turned northeast on Hwy 93 to travel through Kootenay National Park on our way to Banff National Park. It was here that we bought an annual Canada National Parks Pass for $123. Each time you enter one of Canada’s national parks or spend the night at a campground, you must pay a $9 day-use fee per person in addition to the regular camping fee. We figured that the annual pass would pay for itself quickly! The drive through Kootenay was spectacular but we were sad to see that about 12% of the park has burned in recent years.

As we crossed into Alberta, we entered the Banff National Park and were back in familiar territory. We visited here in 1999 with Jerry’s mom, aunt, cousin and his wife. We loved it so much that we vowed to come back again and here we are! Just outside Banff, we opted to drive the Bow Valley Parkway as it has lower speed limits and is more scenic. One cannot rush when so much beauty abounds! We dry-camped (that means we had no hookups) at Johnston Canyon Campground in Banff National Park for two nights. We were surprised to learn that we had to pay $8 for a fire permit just to have a campfire! But, for that fee, you could have all the free firewood you wanted. So we saved the wood that our Idaho friends had given us for future needs and used the park’s supply. I might note that there are no private campgrounds within these four national parks, only public campgrounds.

On Tuesday, we hiked three miles into Johnston Canyon’s lower and upper waterfalls. It was a spectacular hike through a narrow canyon with rushing water. The hike to the lower falls was pretty easy but the upper falls section was pretty steep. After our hike, we stopped at the lodge, at the canyon entrance, and had lunch then headed north toward the Icefields Parkway.

The Parkway is 230 kilometers (roughly 140 miles) of sheer visual splendor. It traverses two national parks, Banff and Jasper, and has been described as the "most beautiful road in the world." I think they could be right. The entire Parkway is a World Heritage Site and every year, over one half million visitors travel it between Lake Louise and Jasper. The Parkway commemorates Canada’s powerful natural landscape and is a scenic drive, not a transportation corridor. You will find no large trucks on this stretch and, in fact, you must have a National Parks pass to enter it. The road was begun in 1931 when the government of Canada put hundreds of unemployed men to work building this "wonder trail" through the heart of the Canadian Rockies. The men were paid 20 cents a day and used picks, shovels and horses to hack a single-lane gravel track from Lake Louise to Jasper. The road opened in 1940 and was widened and paved in the 1950s and 60s.

The Icefields Parkway passes within viewing distance of seven icefields (large upland glaciers) and about 25 smaller but still notable glaciers. The centerpiece is the Columbia Icefield, the largest in the Rockies. Glaciers form from layers of snow that remain after each summer’s melt. The delicate snowflakes gradually change to hard, interlocking ice crystals. Some glacial ice in the Rockies is hundreds, even thousands of years old. Beneath the crushing weight of its surface layers, a glacier becomes elastic and flows slowly downhill like a river of taffy.

Wildlife is abundant along the Parkway. In fact, we saw a black bear, many elk, deer, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep. We have also seen a number of ground squirrels, fox squirrels, and many, many types of birds, as is evidenced in our photos. I think I was a wildlife photographer in another life because I just don’t know when to stop!

We had to traverse two mountain passes on the Parkway: Bow Pass at about 6,800 feet and Sunwapta Pass at 6,700 but Bubba handled them with ease! We stopped at a couple of campgrounds along the Icefields Parkway but found none that allowed enough room for Bubba so we ended up driving all the way to Whistlers Campground, just south of Jasper, for the night. Whistlers was a lovely national park campground with over 700 campsites. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights there, then moved to Wapiti Campground, just down the road, for four nights. We had to move because all sites in Whistlers were reserved for the weekend – duh! Sunday, July 1 was Canada Day, their equivalent to our 4th of July. Luckily, Wapiti had about 40 spaces that were not reservable and we were able to snatch one early Thursday morning. Both Whistlers and Wapiti campgrounds were great because they were only about 2 miles from the town of Jasper.

While in Jasper, we spent quite a bit of time hiking and touring. We visited Athabasca Falls, Mount Edith Cavell, Maligne Canyon, the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and Lakes Patricia and Pyramid. We also took the Jasper Tramway, Canada’s highest and longest aerial tramway, to the top of Whistlers Mountain where, from 7,500 feet, we could see six mountain ranges, meandering rivers, emerald lakes, Mount Robson (the Canadian Rockies’ highest mountain), and the town of Jasper. It was here that we saw our first hoary marmot who eats for four months and sleeps for eight – wow! What a life!

We truly love the area around Jasper. Although Banff and Lake Louise get all the publicity and hype, it is Jasper, we think, that reflects the true nature of this magnificent area. Jasper is a working town of about 5,000 people, not just a tourist trap. The crowds are much smaller and there are so many outdoor things to do here. I guess the difference is that both Banff and Lake Louise were built as tourist attractions. Jasper was a town, long before it attracted tourists. Our only "ouch" here was when I washed clothes. The cost was $4 per single-load washer and $4 per single-load dryer. It cost $56 to do our laundry! Anyway, for what it’s worth, if you come to this area – don’t spend all your time in Banff/Lake Louise. Come experience Jasper. You won’t regret it.

On Monday, July 2 we took a leisurely drive back down the Icefields Parkway and camped two nights at Lake Louise. We visited Emerald Lake and the Chateau Lake Louise, along with Moraine Lake. We also took a drive into the Yoho National Park and stopped in at the little town of Field to visit one of our favorite restaurants from our 1999 trip. We then hiked to Takakkaw Falls and spent some time at Emerald Lake Lodge, where we stayed on our last visit, stopping off to see Natural Dam on the way.

On Wednesday, July 4, we moved to the Banff Tunnel Village Campground where we spent the next nine nights. We spent quite a bit of time bringing our website up-to-date but also found time to enjoy the sights in this area. We were most excited to spend Thursday, July 12 with our dear friends, Ashley and David Coldiron, and their daughter, Jill. They were vacationing in Banff and we were lucky enough to meet up with them.

It was also during this time that we learned that our friend, Cheryl, had fallen and broken both her ankles. She and Carl were at the Calgary Stampede and she accidentally tripped and fell. She had to have surgery on one of her ankles and will have to spend 12 weeks on crutches. So, needless to say, they are not going to Alaska with us, as planned. We will certainly miss them!

Friday, the 13th, we headed north to Jasper again where we planned to pick up Canada 16 to Prince George, BC then turn north to Hyder, Alaska. Unfortunately we had a bit of a mechanical problem while crossing our final high mountain pass of the day. Bubba’s transmission overheated and, even after hours of cooling down, it still wouldn’t shift into first or second gear. Luckily, we didn’t have any more high passes ahead of us so Jerry babied it for the 70 or so miles into Jasper. Tomorrow, we will attempt to limp into Edmonton where there is an Allison transmission service center. Hopefully, it can be fixed in a day or so and we’ll be on our way again. So, Friday, the 13th turned out to be Friday the 13th, for sure!

Notes about this area: Stuff is expensive. Years ago, when the Canadian dollar was worth about 60 cents US, it wasn’t as noticeable. But with the Canadian and US dollars close to par, you notice! For example, a big roll of paper towels is $4; four single rolls of toilet tissue is $4.49; a square box of Kleenex is $3.79; beer is $11 a 6-pack with little price differentiation between brands or countries of origin; wine is about 30% higher here. But it is beautiful country and worth every nickel.

Hopefully, we will be headed toward Alaska by Tuesday. Keep your fingers crossed!

Until next time, happy trails to you . . . til we meet again!