Miles and Miles of Mighty Massifs

This morning was our typical start – a cup of Tom’s AeroPress “handcrafted artisan” coffee and the NYT Spelling Bee. Once we achieved Genius status we got ready to hit the road.

We decided to try Tim Horton’s for a quick bite on the way out of town. Being fans of Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series, we thought we had to give Tim Horton’s a try. After searching for a parking space, we settled for a fifteen-minute space with a twenty-minute line out the door. While in line we visited with a local man who told us the coffee at Starbucks was better and it would be a lot quicker. We went to Starbucks.

Having something in our bellies, we said goodbye to Jasper and we hit the road. Our first stop was Athabasca Falls. These falls are a torrent of silty water and spectacular sprays.

Back on the road we were surrounded by massive mountains on either side of us. The Canadian Rockies are simply breathtaking.

We stopped again at the Columbia Ice Fields for a stretch and to use the “washroom” (which is what they call restrooms in Canada). We both felt like the Athabasca Glacier had retreated since our last visit. Back on the road, Cathy was busy capturing the many peaks and glaciers we passed.

We came to Bow Lake which is a beautiful silt-filled oxygen-starved body of water. The color is unreal.

We stopped again to stretch and have an energy drink at Saskatchewan River Crossing. We met a local man who was driving Ural with a sidecar. He was on his way to a family reunion in Hinton outside of Jasper. He gave us some good information about the area and was a pleasure to talk to – especially since every one of his sentences ended with “eh?”

Feeling revived, we carried on. We tried to go to Lakes Louise and Moraine but they were at capacity and were not allowing vehicles down the roads. We’re going to try again tomorrow and need to get an early start. Instead, we took the Bow Valley Parkway for a distance toward Banff to get off the freeway. It was a beautiful alternative to the freeway but really, there are no bad roads here.

Once in Banff, we checked into our hotel and walked back into the bustling downtown. Again, it was full of foreign tourists speaking a variety of languages. It’s so cute to hear the tiny children speaking French or German. Whining however, is a universal language.

The only wildlife we saw was an unfortunate little kit fox that hadn’t made it successfully across the road. We decided that it was probably okay that we didn’t see wildlife near the roads if that is the result.

Tomorrow we will head back up to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake and hopefully be able to get in. Then we’ll head southwest to Nelson. This will include a ferry crossing!

No barns today but a few beautiful buildings in Banff.