The Rockies Road North

We weren’t prepared for it, the vista, as we rounded the bend at Bow Valley on Highway 1. The windscreen was filled with our first glimpse of The Rockies in all their immensity. We knew we were in for a treat and the contrast to all the different landscapes of previous provinces was dramatic to say the least. We’ll do our best to walk you through this part of our adventure but to be honest, the pictures should speak more volumes that I can write. Our first night was at Bow Lake, in the valley and now, writing this, we realise how naive we were as to what was to come. That being said, our first glimpse of the mountains as the sun went down on the water, with the fish jumping was kinda OK!

From Bow Lake we headed into Kootenay National Park and a spectacular journey via Canmore. Following tumbling aquamarine rivers (The Bow & The Vermillion) through forested sections, some recently burnt. It’s worth noting that we’ve seen burn but we’ve also seen a lot of natural re growth and nature certainly knows how to look after itself. We stopped for a walk at Firewood Trails where we could see this. This trail is also at The Continental Divide where the waters flow to The Atlantic on the Alberta side (Banff NP) and The Pacific on the British Columbia side (Kootenay NP) We only know of the Continental Quilt Divide, otherwise known as Jigsaw, so this was a first! Further along was the fabulous Marble Canyon, a stunning meltwater eroded limestone gorge with a cascade of waterfalls. So much so we thought we could feel a tremble as the water smashed the sides of the chasm below.

As we travelled we decided that the whole fleet of rental vehicles from Canadream and Cruise Canada were on the Rocky Roads and clogging up the campsites. It’s high season so we knew to expect it but Blimey O’Reilly, everywhere! On all the journeys through The Rockies there’s lots of hikes from roadside parking places. From where we overnighted at McLeod Meadows, we walked/hiked (not sure of the difference to be honest) to Dog Lake and saw a Muskrat munching away at the edge of the lake. We were starting to realise that Tiffany had been around, with their blue paint brush on the water.

Heading up towards Banff, and into Banff National Park, we had another hike at Paint Pots. An iron deposited orangeness to the water as it flowed through the forest to pools at the top of the most dramatic colour, hence the name. Following the beautiful Bow River, fed from the melt off Bow Glacier, we eventually arrived at Banff. A short ride into Banff for the evening and a downpour, was enough, it was like a tourist zoo. Everything designed around visitors, bit like Disney, it had no soul. It’s a great location in the mountains but that was enough for us. Vermillion Lakes drive nearby was great, saw our first Loon with a chick on glass like waters, reflecting the looming mountains! Some of the waters looked liked the painter had overdone the blue on the palette.

Continuing North, the trainspotter one of us wanted to stop at Morant’s Curve. Little known to me it’s generally one of the iconic Rockies photo’s as the train passes through. Couldn’t see it myself but I was starting to feel like one of The Railway Children with a certain person waving at the driver, hooting as he went… (and that was just the first occasion!)

Lake Louise, what can I say… it felt like every tourist in The Rockies was there. Coachloads of, and this is just an observation, South East Asians swarming to the side of the lake, taking 100’s of pictures of themselves and then leaving by said coach. We wondered where the days had gone when “Wish you were here” on a postcard was sufficient. More fool the tourists paying $140 for half an hour in a kayak, for that I’d expect a motor! What was interesting however was that, walk a km or so along the side of the lake, 90% of snaperazzi disappear. We enjoy the fact that most make no effort at all as if they did, they’d spoil it for us! We wondered if these places were popular before social media made selfie spots important to the meaning of life? Lake Louise with its ostentatious hotel wasn’t for us, shame as it is a beautiful spot that’s been ruined (IMHO)

The following day we rode up there early, ahead of the crowds so we saw LL in a different light, literally. The sun rising on it really brought out its colour. We hiked a very quiet trail (effort needed!) up to Mirror Lake at Big Beehive Mountain then up to Lake Agnes. Seems taking tea at The Tea Room, which has been there c. 100 years is important as there was a queue. We ran in the opposite direction, tripping over tree roots as we did (kidding, no chance of a run after that hike!)

Near Lake Louise, is Lake Morraine, an altogether different matter. We cycled up, 17km, it was a hard slog, with the “See the Bears from the Chairs” logo’d buses coming past. It was worth it though when at 12km the view opened up before us. The Lake is only accessible by foot/bike/tourist shuttle so it was so much quieter (the buses limit numbers) We actually think Lake Morraine is by far the more stunning lake but we’ll keep that quiet to keep it like that! Still the tantalising glacial water blue but more sedate and less showy.

It was tricky to get going after the ride the day before, but we wanted to get ahead of the rentals as we attacked The Icefields Parkway on the way up to Jasper. It’s one of the worlds most scenic drives and it needed us to give it the time it deserves. First stop Peyto Lake, at 7000ft another gorgeous blue, it looked like a painting. Being early, the effect of rock flour as they call it, the fine silt which reflects the light, made for a matt effect. A fab reward for the effort of getting there. Doing stop start travelling, it was Mistaya Canyon followed by the type of hike only mountain goats attempt. Parker Ridge isn’t particularly long but it’s steep, all the way but wow, the views of the Saskatchewan Glacier are fabulous and a super way to really see the glacial erosion effects in the wide valley.

Crossing into Jasper National Park we joined the tourists again with a walk to the Athabasca Glacier and a view of the Columbia Icefield from which many of the glaciers in the Rockies cascade. Why people wear flip flops on walks like this I don’t know, stumbling over the rocky remnants of a receding glacier, in a pretty icy wind. Shockingly, this one is receding at 10m per annum, a sobering fact as we walked past year marker signs. From there it was to a campsite near Jasper and our first encounter with an Elk. Our first ride out also presented us with a black bear, first on the shoreline and then swimming in the river, what luck! When we first had our dream, we’d talk at times about “what is enough?” We’ve always known that we have “enough” in life but when it comes to nature we’re not sure we’ll ever have enough of it!