One of the advantages of the RV life style is that generally we can stop where ever and when ever we please for as long as we please. So when we left the Glacier-Revelstoke National Parks area and the Canyon Hot Springs Campground we only drove a short distance and stopped in a small Canadian town called Golden. The attraction in Golden was a Timber Framed Pedestrian Bridge. You may remember from one of the early pages of this ongoing journal of our trip that our son Michael is into timber framing. The bridge was built by 300 local and non local volunteers from the Timber Framers Guild. I know Michael is a member of the Guild but he didn't come up to Golden to help build this bridge. None the less we were curious so we stopped for the night. It was interesting. We "Camped" in a Municipal Campground with only 15 amps of electricity instead of 30 behind the high school with our backs to the river.
The town also boasted an 8 kilometer walking loop which passed their small rodeo grounds. We walked the loop but the rodeo was not in session. It might be fun to attend a small town rodeo. We once attended a small town circus when the kids were little and it was fun. Nothing as elaborate as those I attended as a child in Madison Square Garden but fun none the less probably just as exciting for children. When I was a teenager the rodeo even came to Madison Square Garden although it was more like the Buffalo Bill Cody Wild West show then the rodeo we saw late last year in Cody, Wyoming. It's a shame that show is no longer around.
We walked across the bridge and I took several pictures. It is an interesting bridge with tongue and groove construction. There were several wooden pins but there were large metal bolts as well. Metal bolts are usually not used in timber framing occasionally engineers require them and I suspect that would be true of bridge construction.
We left Golden and drove to Lake Louise which is part of Banff National Park, the oldest National Park in Canada, on Monday June 9, 2003. We set up the trailer in a full hook up site and drove up to the lake. It was raining so we looked at the lake and ran back to the truck. On the way back to the campground the rain seemed to let up so we took the side road to Moraine Lake. by the time we got there it was only drizzling so we ventured out and shortly the rain stopped so we walked to the back of the lake.
On our way to the back of the lake we met some climbers who tried to climb to the glaciers but the rain deterred them so they came back to try again another day.
The next day while it was drizzling we decided to hike up to Lake Louise on the Tram Line Trail. Years ago a tram ran from the Canadian Pacific train station up to the lake. Now the tram is gone but the roadbed is still there winding its 4.5 kilometers up 195 meters to the lake. When we got to the lake we walked around to the back.
When we returned to the civilized side of the lake I tried to be creative but I should have used the telephoto lens.
In 1999 the Canadian Pacific Railroad honored the centennial of the introduction of the Swiss Guides to the Banff area. Notice how this guy is dressed, three piece suit with a tie and hat and pants tucked into his boots, real gentleman climbers not like today with all the modern paraphernalia.
We returned to the campground by way of the Louise Creek trail, which is shorter but steeper then The Tram Line Trail.
Originally we arrived in Lake Louise traveling east on Trans Canada #1. Had we stayed on Trans Canada #1 we would have arrived at the town of Banff which is the Southern most part of the park. Alternately we could have driven on 1A which is also called the Bow River Parkway. It is a scenic alternative to 1 and a good place to see wildlife. We took a drive on the Bow River Parkway as far as Johnston Canyon. We planned on driving the remainder of the Parkway from the town of Banff when we went there after going to Jasper National Park.
Along with the mountains and this fellah we saw a statue and plaques.
It also seems as if the United States is not the only country that interred people during a war. Canada also interred foreigners during a war.
I wonder whether Debby's grandparents and my father would have been interred in this camp if they had gone to Canada instead of the United States, although I think my dad came after the war.
Next: Columbia Ice Fields