Glacier National Park

Headed up Going-to-the-Sun road. The day we went

it was more like going-to-the-clouds.

Although obscured by the haze this is an area that was

previously destroyed by fire and is now on the mend.

Glacier fed Bird Woman Falls in the distance.

Some rugged country.

Believe it or not this was taken from a car, not

a plane.

I believe this was called Cascade Falls. As you can see

it flows underneath the road. Lots of water flows from

the mountains.

Some spectacular views from the Road-to-the-Sun

This is called the weeping wall. Can you imagine dealing

with this while building a roadway? This was on the way

up the road.

Kind of a foggy,wet day on top.

Found the reading on this interesting.

Too bad mankind has such a impact on

the world that we have to  preserve

standards to measure against.

This small glacier put the move on that

little tree.

High mountain flora.

Imagine the journey these little drops

clinging to this tree have to look forward

to.

One minute that peak behind the flag

was clear. The next minute shrouded in

a cloud.

Charlotte looks cold.......

Goofy pesky happy camper...You've heard that saying

"where the rubber meets the road"?  This is where

the ice meets the road.

Looking down below where the ice meets the road.

The road etched into the side of the mountain. That

little old Ford bus coming around the bend transports

tourists free. They have a number of them crossing

the mountain.

Small but impressive.

See that car ahead how its staying toward the middle

of the road. Well, picture this: Charlotte sitting in the

passenger seat with the window down camera in

hand. Did I veer to the middle?????

Not........Splish,Splash

View from above.

Down in the valley.......

Across the valley....

Remanents of what we believe was a small avalanche.

One final view......

Remember those tiny drops of water clinging to that pine tree?

Here they come!!!!!!!

And this is where those tiny drops rest after

their thrilling ride down the mountains.

A week ago from this past Sunday, Charlotte and I drove north out of Missoula thru some beautiful Montana countryside up to Glacier National Park. It was a rainy day but due to our poor planning ended up being the only day we could go. Glacier is another one of those specticles you kind of need to see to get the full effect. The Road-To-The-Sun is an event to itself. Limited to vehicles no longer than 22' it climbs over 6000' winding its way along the steep mountain side. I can't imagine the view on a clear day. We made it to the summit and due to time constraints headed back the way we came rather that complete the path clear across. We saw no critters but definitely saw enough beautiful countryside to make us want to come back. Speaking of critters, I saw my first land bridge in the US. It was located on highway 93 not too far north of Missoula. We left Missoula on that Monday and headed just south of Livingston, MT to a campground on the Yellowstone river.

Canadian Rockies

Canada, here we come. At the boarder.

Oh, Canada...Oh, Canada

We've almost followed the Columbia River to its source.

Downtown Canmore, Alberta, Canada

A view from the highway and these views are all around you.

Oh, look over there!!!!

This is a land bridge built specifically to allow the

wild population to cross the highway. Never seen

in the U.S.

Lake Louise. Isn't she beautiful?

Those pesky "happy campers" had to jump in the picture.

She kept saying, "take my picture, take my picture"

A look across Lake Louise from a different viewpoint.

The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Talk about rooms

with a view........ 

Moraine Lake. Elevation 6183 ft and glacially fed.

Color is due to rock flour deposited from glacier flow.

Stunning

Guest greeter. Nice fella, but wouldn't say much.

Ya just don't want to stop taking pictures.

Charlotte says this is where we're staying the next time

we visit. You'd see that picture above everytime

you looked out your room window.

The glacier that feeds Moraine Lake

Mountain flora

That's a Grizz feeding on the bank. Didn't want to

get too close.

Looking across the glacially fed river that meanders

through the valley.

Another spectacular scene.

Downtown Banff, Alberta, Canada. Nessled in

amongst the mountain peeks you'd think you

were in Switzerland.

Whoa big fella.....1st bull elk siting.

Bow Valley Trail, Banf National Park

2nd bull elk siting.

Magnificent creatures.

1st Black Bear siting. 

Sun setting around 9:30 pm after an evening's

critter hunt along Bow Valley Trail, Banff

National Park

This is how dark it was at 10 pm. Taken without a flash......

Another beautiful lake scene south of Canmore in

the Kananaskis Country region.

Another view across the lake.

A golf course we ran across in the Kananaskis Country.

I don't think I could keep my mind on my game for some reason.

A view across the back nine.

1st Rocky Mountain Sheep siting.

Just another lake........

How about a picnic. Beware the mosquitoes, though.

They are like piranha. Don't think there'd be much

left of ya and you wouldn't even get to enjoy desert.

More mountain flora

Those things sticking up in the middle.....

HooDoos

"Bear" butt

2nd black bear siting.

2nd Grizz siting or is it a brown black bear?? 

3rd bull elk siting. 

2nd Rocky Mountain Sheep siting. This time as

we headed back to the US through Kootenay National Park.

"Charlotte, I'm not sure we could squeeze the motorhome

through there." Entryway through Kootenay National Park.

OK, this picture got outta sequence but it was too pretty

to cut. Hope you enjoy!!!

We took even more picture but I was afraid to post them all for fear of being banned from the blog site. We were torn a bit as to whether to make this trip into Canada this time around. We couldn't find a campground and were afraid to wing it and just take a chance on finding one. We did find a motel room in Canmore and our campground in Bonners Ferry said we could store our motor home for a few days, so off we went. And boy are we glad we made the trip. We had been told by others that if you get the chance ya gotta go and I can tell you, we'll be one of those telling all we meet the same thing, if you get the chance ya gotta go. This has got to be some of the most beautiful country in the world.

Monday we drove north through British Columbia on route 95 which followed the Columbia River valley. A beautiful area in its own right. We then crossed through the Canadian Rockies via the Kootenay National Park on route 93 to Highway 1, the Trans Canada Highway, south through Banff National Park and in to Canmore. A 6 hour drive through some awesome country side. Glaciers cap some of the mountain tops and fill the crevasses feeding down the sides. Where forest fires have occurrred you can see where avalanches have stripped the mountain side of the dead trees. Lush greenery growing where the trees once stood. Water from the melting glaciers seems to flow from all directions with a milky green hue. Its really hard to capture in words. Went into downtown Canmore that evening for dinner where Charlotte found one of the nicer quilt shops she'd been in. Believe it or not, she didn't buy a thing.......

Tuesday we drove north via Highway 1 to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. The entire length of Highway 1 through Banff Nat'l Park is boardered by at least 8 ft fencing in an attempt to keep the many animals that live in the area off the roadway and out of harms way. As pictured above, they have built land bridges every so many miles to provide a means for migration across the roadway.On our return to explore the city of Banff we found a two lane road called the Bow Valley Trail that paralleled Highway 1 but ran closer the base of the mountain and had no fencing. It was on that roadway that we got to see our first bear in the wild and a grizzly at that. No more sitings occurred that morning as we made our way into the city of Banff. Banff is a popular tourist destination year round. Skiing in the winter and just beautiful country in the summer to be enjoyed in many different ways, biking, hiking, rafting, zip lining, site seeing, etc,etc,etc....After dinner again in Canmore, we decided to take another trip up Bow Valley Trail to see if we could spot some evening animal entertainment. Success! We got to see bull elk and black bear that evening. These animals were right along side the road. Very enjoyable to see them in there natural habitat and from the safety of our car.

Wednesday we drove south to explore the Kananaskis Country. This is a park system situated to the west of Calgary in the foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. Again, just wonderful scenery. We found a golf course that looked too beautiful to play and many lakes and mountain vistas. That evening we returned to the Bow Valley Trail for more animal entertainment. This time, siting bull elk, black bear and maybe a grizzly. The jury is still out on whether that brown bear is a grizzly or not. If you know let us know. That pretty much sums up our Canadian Rockies experience. We both agree it was a wondeful one!!!!