Travelogue #22

OK, so I can't count! This little blog will cover Hoodoos, Lake Louise, Athabasca Glacier, Athabasca Falls and maybe some critters!

So, a hoodoo is a silly name for rock formations.....

This sign can tell you all the details...bet you've seen hoodoos and didn't know it!

Jack went to great lengths to get this shot...at least that's what he told me....

This is the closest the elk have come...

Haven't been this close since Yellowstone...

Jack's shaking hands with one of the discoverers of Lake Louise

I didn't think I'd be excited to see the lake after the disappointing Banff, but I'm so glad Jack persisted! It's awesome! It makes Tahoe look puny...

The gardens at the Fairmont Lake Louise are all poppies of different species....

And we had lunch @ the hotel...everything is pretty pricey so we just ordered soup and a nacho appetizer-took half of it home!

Pictures don't do it justice-you just have to see this in person!

Then on the way to Athabasca what did we see? Bears!

This is our first glimpse of Athabasca glacier.

I made a new friend....RCMP Moose and I are BFF.....

We took the tour on the glacier...this is the road we had to go on to get to the glacier itself...

It's about a 15 in. ride and all the time the driver is telling us about the glacier, and safety rules. Just before we depart the bus we are reminded that we go on the glacier at our own risk...

So Jack LAYS DOWN ON THE GLACIER TO BETTER DISTRIBUTE HIS WEIGHT to get glacier water-he brought about 6 bottles with him....

I'm glad he got back up-but he's soaking wet!

These buses are specially made for the ice-the tires are five feet high and there's 6 of them. The bus costs about 1.5 mil. There are 14 in existence, 13 at Athabasca one in Antarctica at the Naval Base.

There are many suggestions why the glacier is receding, but nobody knows for sure.

Not giant crows, tire tracks!

Look carefully-not hoodoos, mountain goats going back into the forest after a salt lick...can you see the babies? How many goats do you see? 4? 5? 6? 7?

There they go!

The falls were truly beautiful-I'm on overload!

So, we found a great little stop complete with fireplace-After showering, it didn't take us 10 minutes to sleep!

Travelogue #20, I think

This is the crack in the mountain-on the way to Radium Hot Springs. I added this to the blog to show you we did have a rainy day....

It is actually a big crack! I believe this is highway 93....

This little bridge is on the Kootenay River...our campsite is to the right and we could look out our bedroom window and watch the river go by.. It was one of the few chances Jack had to fish...

And it was THIS BIG...Actually, he did catch two fish but had to throw them back...

Just another stunning view of Kootenay Nat'l Park

This rock reminded me of Vally of Fire, near Las Vegas....

One of many beautiful views of Kootenay Nat'l Park

On the way we were treated to a show of mountain goats....I'm going to have to do an animal blog one of these days....

Obviously, there will be no pictures of us soaking in the hot springs! But, this is what going back to the rig looked like....

This is the result of a prescribed burn way back in 1963.....it takes a while for re-growth...

Our first sighting of Banff....

The road to downtown Banff..I wasn't really impressed-after all the pictures I'd seen I thought I'd be more enthusiastic....

The gondola ride was pretty....

Do you hoodoo? I do! These are hoodoos.......

Cranbrook,McCloud Meadows,Crowsnest Pass

It's been a while since I blogged...I haven't had an internet connection in a week! But that's because we've been so busy...Stunning scenery, Wow! factor everywhere we go...and then there's more wow....But let me try to catch you up....

WE got into Cranbrook, B.C on July 1st, Canada Day, parked in the Wal Mart parking lot (with about 16 other rigs) and found where the celebration was....

We were treated to local entertainment before the fireworks...very local

But once the fireworks started we forgot about the wait and the cold...

Next day we headed for Sparwood, Fernie and Crowsnest Pass. Jack is standing in front of the largest truck...

Coal mining is the most important industry today, as it was 35 years ago when Jack worked here on an environmental project and had an accident that almost cost him his life.

We went on one of those "wonder what's down this one" roads and ended up at a sulphur springs that had nothing else! Jack needed the four-wheel drive to get back....

Again, and I know I repeat myself too often, stunning scenery...this is the pass (Crowsnest) that connects British Colombia to Alberta. It's one of three passes through the Canadian Rockies.

At 4:09 am the town of Fernie heard a great rumble and twenty minute later the face of Turtle mountain came down, killing 90 people.

Try to blow this up-it's interesting info...

The slide took the rocks clear across the road...

I'll have to do a special blog on critters-these are elk

Didn't see the badgers, but Jack saw their trail...He said he'd never seen a badger sign....