From Fairmont we drove up to and through the Kootenay National Park to Banff National Park were we camped in the Trailer Village which is a full hookup campground run by the national park service, Parks Canada.As soon as we got hooked up we hiked to the hoodoos overlooking the Bow River and back to the campground.
The next day it rained so we stayed put.
On Tuesday June 16th we hiked into Banff township ( a real town in the National Park) and went on the Cave and Basins tour at original Banff Hot Springs and the place where the park and the Canadian National Park System began and went into the cave that started it all in Sulfur Mountain and learned the history of the Park.
On Wednesday June 17th we hiked down to the Bow River trail and into town. While hiking it started to rain so we stopped to put on rain coats. When we got to town the rain had tapered off so we walked along the river to the Bow River Falls which aren't really falls. It is maybe a 100 foot drop which takes 100 to 200 hundred yards to occur. I couldn't get official measurements so that's my best guess. People come by foot, car and bus to see the last part of the drop about 25 ft. It's not a very impressive falls but the river with it's surrounding mountains and shore are quite scenic. While we were there a bus load of Americans I assume since the bus had Oregon plates came, got off the bus took a few pictures and hurried back to the bus shivering and it really wasn't cold although Debby and I had sweat shirts on .Unfortunately that's the way most people even some that rent class C motor homes see the parks both here in Canada and in the United States as well. The car and bus crowd that stops in parking lots and along the roads outnumbers those that hike and bike through the parks. A representative for Banff tourism told Debby that she has seen statistics that 95 % of the visitors to the US National Parks don't go very far from their cars buses or parking lots. They jump out take their pictures and jump back in. Having seen this elsewhere I can well believe it but believe me they are missing a hell of a lot. We miss a hell of a lot even though we do get out and hike away from the usual tourist sights.
After the falls we went to Melissa's a noted Banff restaurant for a second breakfast or brunch if you will and then back to the campground walking by the side of the road and a different path, the rain had not resumed.
The next day while my knee was killing me I took a chance and we drove into town and walked on the Fenland passed the bear warnings there had been sightings of a mother grizzly and her two cubs and around to the Vermillion Lakes.
There is no Vermillion Lakes trail just a light traffic road past the lakes. We walked on the road because we had been told of Eagle and Osprey nest in the area but we didn't see any active nests. Along the way we kept seeing a helicopter carrying a bundle on a rope beneath it. I thought maybe they were removing the bears to the wilderness so I kept trying to take a picture.
When a Parks Canada employee or ranger drove by I stopped and asked d him. He told me they don't do that anymore and were just delivering more fire fighting equipment to a different location. Since we never did get to the end of the road which doesn't go anywhere but the lakes so you go out the way you go in after going to Cows Canada's best Ice Cream according to Readers Digest we drove back to the Vermillion lakes road and went to the end. On that road we saw the three bears not far from where we had walked earlier. We didn't get a good view or a long view through the underbrush but we did see them.
On June 19th we hooked up and drove up the Bow River Parkway to Lake Louise hoping to see some wildlife but the wilderness and National Parks are not Disney land and there were no sightings. After we got into our site we went to the visitors center and get our email at the Post Office. Yes the Post office in the Park has wifi for $5 a day. On Saturday we drove up the mountain to Lake Louise and walked on the two Kilometer trail to the end of the lake.
I had planned to go back to the camp ground and if I felt up to it we would walk the 7 KM Bow River Loop. If that was successful then Sunday we would return to Lake Louise walk to the end of the lake and then the additional 3.6 KM 365 meter rise to the plain of the six glaciers. Instead when we got to the end of the lake we continued up to the Plain of the six glaciers to the Teahouse at the top and passed some marmots on the way.
I had home made tomato spicy soup and a slice of very good home made bread. Debby had two scones and a mocha coffee. The 3 person staff remains at the Teahouse and periodically hikes down and back with perishables. Non perishables are brought in by helicopter.
On Sunday June 21st we went to Poppy's in the Fairmont Lake Louise Hotel and had a buffet breakfast. After the meal we went up to the lobby and had a very nice conversation with the Assistant Front Office manager. I was interested in learning what happened to the metal mirror sphere that was outside facing the lake the last time we were there. It seems it fell into disrepair and removed. I had hoped to take some pictures with my telephoto lens as the camera I had in 2003 didn't have an adequate lens for the purpose. From the Fairmont we drove over to Moraine Lake and walked to the end of the lake about a mile.
After our short but time consuming walk because we stopped to talk to several people on the trail we returned to the trailer in a slight drizzle. When the rain ceased and the sun began to peek through we went on the 7 kilometer Bow River loop trail which runs to a bridge in back of the trailer campground through the tent campground which is now ringed by a electrified fence to keep the bears out over to another bridge that is near the Heritage Railroad Station Restaurant back past the the village center and through the camping area back to where we started.
Monday June 22, 2009 we drove from lake Louise to Whistler Campground in Jasper National Park.