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Calgary Stampede time. My sister Mary, brother-in-law Jon and nephews James and Jonny came over a few week's ago. Their first full day here coincided with the first day of the Calgary Stampede. Rather than drive straight to Banff, we had a night in Calgary and headed to the afternoon rodeo after watching the opening parade. |
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In between the serious rodeo events there were some slightly less serious competitions - in this one, after a team caught a cow they had to milk it. I say only slightly less serious as one cowboy didn't look too enthused as he was dragged behind the cow across the arena. |
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I told the family that the hats were mandatory - well, they might as well be. After the rodeo we visited the Indian Village - a part of the Stampede since it began. |
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After a couple of nights in Banff we headed for Jasper along the Icefields Parkway - stopping at some of the lookouts along the way. We also took a walk onto the Columbia Icefields. |
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One of the highlights in Jasper was Maligne Canyon. From the road you would never know the canyon was there. While all of these areas are highly accessible, busy and therefore highly maintained - they are no less impressive and really worth a visit. |
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On the drive back to Banff we stopped off at the Athabasca Falls. My housemates passed here during the winter when the falls were frozen - with probably 20 other people around rather than 200. |
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As much as I love being out on my bike, it was nice to have the opportunity to do some walking - especially as many of the wildflowers were in bloom when Mary and the guys were here. This is a Western Wood Lilly. I saw a sign on one of the trails in Banff describing how the area around the trail used to be covered with these - unfortunately if you pick them you tend to kill the bulb - why wouldn't you want to leave them for someone else to enjoy in the first place?
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On the way back to Banff we spent a night in Lake Louise. In the evening we went for a pre-dinner scramble onto the boulder pile at the head of Moraine Lake. Although the pile gives the Lake its name, some geologists think the debris is from a rock slide rather than left by a glacier, others think a rock slide onto a glacier which then left it behind - so moraine of a fashion! Either way, a nice pile of rocks to play on. |
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While we messed about on the boulders, Mary went for a stroll along the shore. We had hoped the lake might be a little calmer for those classic reflection shots. Many people rate Moraine Lake over Lake Louise for a visit, I'd be inclined to agree - but as they're very close together you don't have to choose one or the other for a visit. |
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A Gold-mantled ground squirrel - these guys are everywhere. Very inquisitive and unfortunately many of them close to the trails will be habituated to tit-bits from us - often unintentionally. |
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Our next wildlife shot. Spot the Pika. Pikas are actually a member of the rabbit family. In a guide book they're called a tennis ball with ears. Apparently they are usually heard rather than seen - so Jon was quite lucky to spot this one as we walked back to the car from Moraine Lake. We were able to watch this one for 10 minutes or so as he collected food, which they store in the boulder pile for the winter. |
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Slightly bigger is the Columbian ground squirrel. Again a very common sight - especially along the highways - I even saw one right on the dividing line between the 2 east bound lanes of the Trans-Canada as I was heading for the airport to pick up the family. |
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The weather was a bit of a mixed bag while the guys were here. Some thunder and fairly heavy rain almost made us turn back as we made our way up Mount Fairview - a great hike to one of the lower peaks over looking Lake Louise. We are just approaching the Saddle - from there you can climb Fairview or drop down into Paradise Valley - the first hike that I did in Lake Louise almost 10 years ago. At the moment you need to be especially careful heading into areas such as Paradise as there is a very real chance of running into bears - a minimum group size of 6 is in force for entering into these areas. |
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I'm glad that we didn't turn back. Although Fairview is certainly not one of the dominant peaks in the area, you get a real sense of being 'up and in it'. In fact the weather really added to the experience - cloud was continually boiling over the summit from all sides; very atmospheric. |
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What ever floats your boat. I've never been passionate about white water rafting - sooner be in charge of my own destiny. Will admit that from this photo I appear to be enjoying this trip. You can see Jon's helmet behind my strategically placed arm, Jonny is just behind him and Mary is back left by Steve the guide - unfortunately you can only see James's helmet. Shame that we couldn't have a camera in the raft - we passed under a mountain goat teaching her kid how to climb on a cliff above us. |
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Last but far from least. The guys were disappointed not to see a bear while they were here - but not many people get to see a moose. Rather than drive straight back to Banff after rafting we continued along the Kickinghorse Pass down to Golden, along the Rockie Mountain Trench to Radium and back over via the Kootenay Parkway. We were lucky enough to see 2 moose along the Parkway - and I'd wondered if it was a good idea to drag out the drive!! |
