<![CDATA[Amateur Radio, Traveling in Blanquillo AND MORE - 2018 Banff-Jasper]]>Sun, 14 Jun 2026 12:41:26 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Banff, June 16, 2018]]>Sat, 16 Jun 2018 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.dornbush.net/2018-banff-jasper/banff-june-16-2018Picture
For our last day in Banff, we toured the town and surrounding area.
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We first took the loop around Lake Minnewanka.  It is a large reservoir just outside of Banff.  If you look closely at the right side of the first photo, you will see several Red Chairs at the end of the dock.  Red Chairs point out great places for scenery and a view and just a place to relax in the park.  They are throughout Canadian National Parks and we saw a number of them in our travels.
We went to Banff Springs Hotel, THE elegant place in town.  Each of the towns has a hotel built by the Canadian Pacific Railroad as a way to encourage tourists to take the train to really scenic spots.  Long after the railroad was THE way to travel, the hotels are still here and are truly elegant places.  We had lunch at the Banff Springs Hotel overlooking a great view of Bow River, the mountains, and the valleys.  We took the self guided tour of the hotel and noted that there was a wedding planned for that day and thought how great a place to have a wedding.
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We went to the Cave and Basin National Historic Site.  This is the place that started the National Parks in Canada.  It was a hot spring with mineral water in the basin where at one time, you could relax in the pool.  The sulfer in the water didn't seem pleasant to us but I understand that there was also lithium in the water which is great for relaxing you.  

We drove out the Vermilion Lakes drive among the lakes that were adjacent to the Bow River.  They are a great place to just relax and enjoy the mountain scenery all around you.

We drive along the other side of the Bow River from the Banff Springs Hotel which provided a great view back at the hotel. We continued up Tunnel Mountain Drive and stopped at the Hoodoo viewpoint where we could also look back at the hotel.  The hoodoos were cute, but when you've seen Bryce Canyon, they seem, well, underwhelming.
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Then it was back to our condo, and time to pack and reflect on our great week in Banff National Park and other parks, and the next day, we returned to Calgary to fly back to the Bay Area.
]]><![CDATA[Jasper National Park, June 15, 2018]]>Fri, 15 Jun 2018 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.dornbush.net/2018-banff-jasper/jasper-national-park-june-15-2018Picture
After breakfast at our motel and checking out, we started for Maligne Lake.  It is a bit of a distance from Jasper town, but the scenery was excellent.  We arrived at Maligne Lake and walked a little on the shore then went into the dining room to warm up and get some coffee.  There is a 1-1/2 hour cruise available that takes you up the lake but we realized that we didn't really have the time to take it without having a really late return to Banff, so we satisfied ourselves with the view from the dock.
​We started back down the road toward Jasper, and stopped at Medicine Lake, so named because in summer, because of the porous rock under the lake, it disappears into the gravel bottom until the winter arrives and snow melt fills it up again.  There were signs of a wild fire and we learned that it had burned there in 2015.  But the forest is resiliant and signs of growth were there.
We went on down the road to Maligne Canyon, which resembled Marble Canyon in that there was a waterfall at the top that then went into a deep canyon.  There were several bridges to cross that let you see the canyon and the waterfall and the river above the waterfall.
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Then it was back to Jasper for lunch at L&W Restaurant (recommended) and we started back up the Icefields Parkway to Banff.  We stopped at Athabasca Falls and then continued to retrace our path back to Banff.
]]><![CDATA[Icefields Parkway, June 14, 2018]]>Thu, 14 Jun 2018 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.dornbush.net/2018-banff-jasper/icefields-parkway-june-14-2018Picture
Today, we started for Jasper National Park.  We managed to get a reservation at the Best Western in Jasper (recommended) so we decided to take one day and drive through the Icefields Parkway from Banff to Jasper, then tour a little of Jasper the next day and return to Banff.
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We started off driving from Banff toward Jasper on the Icefields Parkway.  We had two mountain passes to cross.  As we approached the first, Bow Pass, the rain started changing into snow, and I wondered what this trip was going to be like.  But as we crossed the pass, it didn't drop below 1 degree Centigrade, so it was still above freezing, and the weather improved as we crossed the pass.  The next pass was Sunwapta Pass, the border between the parks, and the weather was fine all the way except for being a little cold, but not as cold as it was when we took the tram to the top of Lake Louise ski resort.
After crossing Sunwapta Pass, we arrived at Icefield Centre.  We had lunch there, then went to the walk to the foot of the Athabasca Glacier.  It is one of the largest glaciers and the one that you can walk almost to the toe.  There are shuttles that will take you onto the glacier, but we didn't like the packages they offered.  You could not get just the shuttle but had to also get the walkway which we didn't want, so we declined the rides and walked instead.  As it turns out, this was great and we were glad that we took this way.

The walk is not far but it is a little steep in places.  You walk up the path maybe a quarter mile and you are right in front of the toe of the glacier.  They advise you to not go onto the glacier as you might fall through a crevasse so we walked close enough to get a good view.  It is a massive thing.  And it is much smaller than it was in the past thanks to global warming.  There was substantial flow of water out of the glacier which you would expect since it was above freezing.  The longer we stayed, the more the skies cleared and the nicer were the views of the glaciers.  We also saw evidence of the glacier wearing grooves in the rocks, which were also very interesting with their colored layers of sedimentary deposits.
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After walking close to the glacier, we started down the Icefields Parkway toward Jasper.  Along the way, we stopped at Sunwapta Falls, then continued into Jasper.  We found our motel and checked in, and explored Jasper town center.  We stopped at the Jasper Brewpub and had a pint and a nice dinner.  We also found a nice liquor store and got several bottles of Canadian wine.  Wine there is more expensive than back in the States and I don't think Sonoma County needs to worry about being passed by better wines from Canada.
]]><![CDATA[Yoho, Kootenay National Parks, June 13, 2018]]>Wed, 13 Jun 2018 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.dornbush.net/2018-banff-jasper/yoho-kootenay-national-parks-june-13-2018Picture
Today, we decided to visit some other smaller national parks adjacent to Banff National Park.  There are two just west.  We started to make a grand loop through Kootenay and then up the Columbia River valley to Yoho but we realized that this would be a very long day.  We changed our plans and drove into Kootenay to see the sights just across the pass, then retrace our path back to Banff and up to Yoho.
​The first stop was at Marble Canyon.  This is a canyon cut into the rock.  It was surprisingly deep when we first got to the end of it.  And narrow!  The trail went up one side of the canyon and then across a set of bridges over the canyon and ended up at a bridge across the waterfall at the top of the canyon.  The rock structure was such that there was very tough rock where the waterfall was, and gradually it has been worn down.  The rock under this top layer is softer so when the top is gone, the canyon rapidly appears.  Whatever the geologic cause, it is beautiful to see.
After Marble Canyon, we went on down the road to the Paint Pots.  These are places along the creek where the mud or whatever it is is colored red or green.  You could really stain something using this mud.  We didn't see all of the paint pots as we were not ready to get our shoes coated with all this mud without having other shoes to wear.

Since it was now a very long drive through a beautiful canyon / valley to the end of the park, we went back onto Banff and up to Yoho.  This is an even smaller park with a few good features to see.  Of course, the summer road construction on Route 1, the trans-Canada Highway, was full speed just into Yoho.  We drove down to the town of Field as we were hungry and it was lunchtime.  We stopped at Truffle Pigs Bistro in Kicking Horse Lodge and had a good meal.  We stopped at the visitor center there, and learned that the road to Takakkaw Falls was closed until the weekend which was disappointing.  The road to Emerald Lake was open, so we went there next.

Just after we turned onto the road to Emerald Lake, we stopped at Natural Bridge.  This is where the water had worn a hole through the rock and the tough top layer was still intact, so the water flowed through the hole, creating a natural bridge.  Then we went up the road to Emerald Lake, a beautiful lake nestled in among the mountains.  Around the lake and many other places, we saw the wild rose which is the motto of Alberta.

In these parks, it seems that wherever there is a natural lake or feature, there is a lodge.  This was the case at Emerald Lake.  In the US National Parks, there don't seem to be as many lodges scattered through the parks.  Of course, at this point, we care more about the campgrounds, and all the parks had lots of campgrounds in addition to the hotels and lodges.

While returning to Banff, we passed the spiral tunnels on the Canadian Pacific Railroad line.  When they built the railroad through this mountain pass, they needed to do something to make the grade less steep, so they built two tunnels where the exit just about crosses the entrance to the tunnel but up above the entrance.  The result is that the railroad picks up elevation without taking up more track.  We were fortunate to arrive just as a train was approaching as it was coming uphill.  We saw the engine enter the tunnel and then emerge from the other end of the tunnel and then loop back close to us, so we saw the beginning, middle, and toward the end of the train all in front of us.  Then the train continued under the highway and through another spiral tunnel on its way up the mountain.  Fun for us railroad fans to see.

If you look closely at the last photo in this set, you can see three parts of the same train as it goes through the lower spiral tunnel.
]]><![CDATA[Moraine Lake, Lake Louise, and Tramway, Banff National Park, June 12, 2018]]>Tue, 12 Jun 2018 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.dornbush.net/2018-banff-jasper/moraine-lake-lake-louise-and-tramway-banff-national-park-june-12-2018Picture
On day two of our trip, we took the advice of the fine fellow at the Visitor Centre and went straight to Moraine Lake.  We arrived at about 8:15 am to find that the parking lot was already full.  After waiting to drive through the lot, I dropped Jennifer and Leslie at the entrance, then went looking for a parking space.  Fortunately, just after that, an RV pulled out and provided parking space for another car and me, very close to the lake.
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Moraine Lake is misnamed.  It was not created by a glacial moraine, but by a rock fall off the mountain which created a natural dam.  This lake is beautiful, perhaps as beautiful as Lake Louise.  We walked partway around the shore but decided to leave as it was bitterly cold with a stiff wind.  The temperature was about 9 degrees (Centigrade, of course).  We wanted to get a cup of coffee to help warm ourselves but were told at the lodge that only overnight lodge guests could sit inside.  Given how cold it was, we opted to move on - to Lake Louise.
It was now about 10 am, and the parking lot at Lake Louise still had space, so we parked and then went to the shore.  Same crowds as yeaterday, but Leslie remembered her phone/camera, so she took the photos she had hoped to take the day before.  I am amazed how many people use only their cell phones as their cameras.  I wouldn't be satisfied with photos taken with a fixed lens, although the quality of cell phone camera photos is darn good these days.

After taking our photos and a little stroll, we decided to head across the highway to the Lake Louise Gondola, which carries you up Mount Whitehorn to Whitehorn Lodge in either open or enclosed lifts.  Given the temperature, we chose the enclosed lift.  It took a while, maybe 15 minutes to get a seat on an enclosed gondola, which seats 4.  So we were even colder.  When we got to the top, we walked down to the Lodge, a very cold walk and windy.  Fortunately, the lodge was open and welcoming.  We got a table and had a great luncheon.  The food was excellent, although the server was slow.

The view from the top of the ski lift was amazing.  We could see down to Lake Louise and across to the glaciers and mountains around it, and to the many mountains across the Bow River valley.  The view was probably the best of our trip.

After coming down from the top, we drove up the Icefields Parkway toward Jasper National Park.  The Icefields Parkway goes from Lake Louise in Banff National Park to Jasper in Jasper National Park.  Along the way, you pass numerous lakes, waterfalls, mountain peaks, and, of course, icefields with their glaciers.  We drove up to Bow Pass and hiked to the overlook for Peyto Lake which is far below you but gorgeous to look at.

On the way back to Banff, we stopped at Bow Lake and the Crowfoot Glacier that is above the lake.  As is happening everywhere, the glacier has shrunk from its former glory so that the glacier now has but one foot.  Still marvelous to see.  Then we stopped at Lake Herbert, of course.
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Just outside the town of Banff, we stopped to see the Vermillion Lakes and the peaks around it, including Mount Rundle, which looks like a large table slanted at about a 30 degree angle.  The mountains here have obviously been uplifted by a lot of tilting.
]]><![CDATA[Bow River Parkway, Banff National Park, June 11, 2018]]>Mon, 11 Jun 2018 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.dornbush.net/2018-banff-jasper/bow-river-parkway-banff-national-park-june-11-2018Picture
We traveled to Banff National Park, and hope to see it and the surrounding Canadian National Parks along the Canadian Rockies.  This was a fly-to trip and we stayed in a timeshare condo in the town of Banff with our neighbor, Leslie.
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On our first day at Banff National Park, we drove up the Bow River Parkway.  It parallels Route 1, which is a 4 lane freeway, but Bow River Parkway is a two lane road and therefore much more relaxed.  Our first stop was at Johnson Canyon and waterfall.  We walked up the trail and catwalks (not as scary as they sound, not scary at all) to the lower falls, and decided we were more interested in moving on than going to the upper falls.  We stopped at the overlook for Castle Mountain, and were disappointed that it was rather foggy so we couldn't see the top of Castle Mountain.
We then proceeded up Bow River Parkway only to discover that it was closed for road construction.  We had missed any signs they posted about this, which weren't very noticeable at least to us, and had to backtrack to Castle Junction where we continued up Route 1 to Lake Louise.  When we got there, we stopped for lunch at a pretty forgettable restaurant in Lake Louise Village, and learned that the village is a distance from Lake Louise, andthere were so many people driving there that the parking lot at Lake Louise was full, so we stopped at the visitor centre (note their spelling) and learned that we needed to go 5 km back toward Banff and take the shuttle.  We also learned that the parking lots at Lake Louise and Moraine Lake fill very early, Moraine Lake by 8 am and Lake Louise soon after.  We made plans to go early the next morning.
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We arrived at Lake Louise by shuttle (a big yellow school bus) and walked down to the lake.  The lake is gorgeous and the crowds were oppresive, especially those taking selfies at the lake shore.  After gawking a bit, we decided to go into Fairmont Lake Louise and get something to drink.  We ended up in the bar with a great view of the lake through a perfect iconic window.  After our imbibing, we walked partly around the lake shore.  Then we went back to our car at the overflow parking lot and headed back to our condo at Banff Rocky Mountain Resort, which was a great place to base our travels.  We really aren't using the resort facilities, but the suite is working fine for us, with a kitchen so we can have breakfast and snacks there.
We went to one of the restaurants listed in our Moon Guide Book as a starred place, Ticino, which has traditional food as well as fondue.  Leslie had the cheese fondue and we had regular dinners.  It was good but not great.  We then found the local IGA after realizing that it was the former Safeway we were looking for.  We got our provisions and learned that alcoholic beverages are not sold in the store, so we visited the liquor store around the corner.  We asked the checkout clerk at IGA if it would be open after we left the grocery store at about 9, and she laughed and told us they were open until at least 11 pm.  Good to know.  We decided to buy all Canadian wines, which were expensive as were all wines.  I didn't know that we were used to such bargain wine pricing back in California.
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