Parkway Moose

It was starting to get late, and the sun was beginning to set when we left the Icefield Center on the final stretch to Jasper (130Km). We had to restrain ourselves from stopping anymore, as the road is unlit and we didn't fancy driving in the dark! Then, we spotted a moose! I drove right past it and had to do a quick stop and reverse along the hard shoulder in order for Nozomi to snap some photos. Fortunately, we pretty much had the road to ourselves so this wasn't a problem. We arrived in Jasper at around 8PM as the sun was setting. We are staying at the Sawridge Hotel, on the edge of town. It's a Ski Lodge type place, with a very large and well furnished room. The restaurant service leaves a bit to be desired though. They didn't seem to have enough waiting staff so there was a bit of waiting about. To be fair, once we got assigned a waitress, she did look after us very well. I am not sure why the chef decide to dollop a gerkin on the top of my Caribou Stroganof, but anyway the Kokanee beer was nice, being brewed with glacial melt water.

A Ride on a "Sno Coach"

Continuing up the Icefield Parkway, we were lucky enough to reach the Icefield Center just in time to purchase tickets for the last "Sno Coach" at 5PM, which took us right up onto the glacier itself. The Sno Coach is a coach designed specially for traversing the glacier. We spent about 20 mins or so on top of the glacier enjoying yet more spectacular scenery. It was a bit nippy though!

Icefield Parkway

After checking out of the hotel, we drove down to Lake Louise village to buy a packed lunch and to top the car up with gas. Then we hit the Icefield Parkway, heading towards Jasper. The drive to Jasper, at about 240Km, should, in theory take about 3 hours. Hahaha. No chance. The eyes are not big enough to take in the seemingly endless procession of mountain, lake and glacial views. There are many stopping places at specific beauty spots, and it is almost impossible not to stop at all of them. Particular highlights were The Crow's Foot Glacier, Bow Lake (where we had our packed lunch), Peyto Lake and the Athabasca Glacier, which is on the edge of the Colombia Icefield. We stopped at many more places along the way and passed by many that we wished we had had the time to stop at. (There is always next time).
Peyto Lake

Lake Agnes

We started the day early with a walk up to Lake Agnes. Again, the weather was fantastic with clear blue skies. Lake Agnes sits above Lake Louise and is accessed via a trail starting at the lake front. As early birds we pretty much had the trail to ourselves for most of the morning. We took the long route to Lake Agnes, hiking via the Mirror Lake and the Little Beehive. The views were stunning although we were both breathless from the exertion. It was just the two of us on the trail for the best part of the morning, and it was all the better for it. The total distance was about 5Km each way and took about 3 hours, including a stop for tea at the tea house next to Lake Agnes. A bottle of water there cost $4, but considering they have to hike or helicopter supplies in, the cost is understandable. Anyway, the walk was thoroughly enjoyable and the views from the top made the effort well worth while. Incidently, I am sure I saw some bear tracks alongside the horse hoof prints next to Mirror Lake. What do you think? Below is a shot of Lake Agnes.

Bow Valley Parkway to Lake Louise

Mule Shoe
After a quick breakfast at Mac D's we hit the road, heading towards Lake Louise. We travelled via the Bow Valley Parkway, stopping off at several beauty spots. The photo above shows a scene from a spot called Mule Shoe. We had very good weather. It started off pretty chilly, but the skies were clear and blue. We stopped off for a hike along the Johnston Canyon Trail. This consists of a walk along the path of a river via a well trod, but not overly busy trail, punctuated by a series of waterfalls, culminating in the fall you see in the picture.
Johnston Canyon (Upper Falls)
After the hike, we stopped at the diner near to the parking lot for a refueling stop. We also purchased a couple of caps since the sun was making us squint quite a bit. Then, back on the road heading towards Moraine Lake. To reach this, we drove along a winding mountain road with some spectacular views.
At Moraine Lake, we rented a canoe, and spent an hour paddling around the lake. Definately recommended activity, if a tad pricey at $35 for an hour.

Moraine Lake
Then it was back on the road for the short drive down to the Fairmont Chateaux Lake Louise. This hotel (as posh as it sounds), is a bit of an eyesore by the side of Lake Louise. However, that aside the lake and mountains surrounding it are truly a sight to behold. No photo can do justice to the vista. Our car was valet parked, and our bags delivered to our room! (That cost me a few $5 notes in tips however). The room itself has a picture window overlooking the lake.
Lake Louise
After some refreshment in the bar downstairs, we went for an evening stroll around the lake. It was starting to cool down by then, but it was a very pleasant end to a very long day! We had a meal in one of the hotel's restaurants. I had salmon cooked with maple syrup. Unsurprisingly it was rather sweet. I much prefer Nozomi's salmon. Incidently, it was really difficult choosing photos for this blog today. We took over 150! The scenery is just mind bogglingly beautiful. The photos I have posted are just a tiny taster.

Moose Jam

Upon opening the curtains this morning we discovered that the mountains were sprinkled with a dusting of snow. I had heard some thunder in the night but wasn't expecting snow. Yesterday it was 25C (80F). This morning it was 3C (36F). Who would have thunk it?! We wandered into town and had some breakfast and did a spot of shopping. I bought a new fleece. (It was chilly after all). After a couple of hours ambling about and spot of lunch at a pizza joint, we drove up to the Sulphur Mountain Gondolar. The weather was just starting to clear up and we were one step ahead of the crowds. We rode the gondolar up to the mountain. Words cannot describe the panoroma. Suffice to say that it is breathtaking in its scale and beauty. The snow frosting on top only adding to its granduer. It absolutely has to be experienced. I don't think I could ever tire of the view. After a couple of hours ambling about at the top of the mountain, we descended via the gondolar and then drove on to Cave and Basin. To be honest, it was a touch disappointing. It is the site of a hot spring and historically was the reason that the Banff National Park exists, but compared to Japanese onsen, it is not much to look at. The smell is however sulphurously impressive. phew! On the way back to town, we hit a Moose Jam.
A moose (or is that an elk?) had decided to invade a local resident's front garden for a snack and pretty soon a minor traffic jam built up as people stopped to take photos. Actually, we started the jam.. However, everyone was good natured about it, taking the opportunity to snap the greedy moose. Anyway, we drove back to town then had a couple of drinks at Wild Bill's whilst enjoying the sunset. Then it was on to a Japanese restaurant called Sukiyaki where we had some delicious sushi and yakitori. The food was fabulous. The tuna especially so. The view of the mountains must placate the very busy sushi chefs somewhat. Then it was back to the hotel, and so ended another great day in the big C.

Drive to Banff

Flew from Toronto to Calgary to pickup our rental car. A few dodgy right turns aside, we arrived safely in Banff at around 4pm. The drive to the mountains was fantastic. We had sunny weather, and very little traffic. A very pleasant drive. We checked into the Banff Internation Hotel, then went for a walk along the Bow River to see the Bow Falls. After a steak dinner at The Keg, we turned in for an early night. It was quite a tiring day, with the 4 hour flight and another two hour time difference to boot. Here is a picture of the Bow River taken from the bridge on Banff Avenue.

Three showers, one naked.

Today we took a Greyhound bus tour to Niagara Falls. We were fortunate with the weather. It was very sunny and reached about 25C in the afternoon. It took a little over an hour from Toronto to the Falls. There was some chaos deciding who was going on what bus at the bus station but in the end we arrived at the falls at around midday. The surrounding town is very touristy (as you might expect), but there is no denying the beauty of the falls themselves. After the scheduled buffet lunch, we trooped down for the Maid of the Mist boat ride which takes you right up to the falls. Fortunately it wasn't terribly crowded and there was very little waiting around. Everyone was issued with, for want of a better description, a blue bin liner with a hood and a couple of sleeves. Boy did we need it. As the boat approaches the falls, it is like stepping into a shower. Anything exposed to the air got soaked! It was great fun though, and the raw power of the falls and the spray filled air was very refreshing.

After the boat ride, we had a drink overlooking the Falls, then it was back to the bus via a very pleasant walk along the sidewalk overlooking the falls. Whilst passing by the Horseshoe Falls (the Canadian part of the Niagara Falls) we received the 3rd dowsing of the day. It was well worth it though as the mist combined with the sunny weather to reward us with a splendid rainbow. Anyway, it was back on the bus and on to ..... a helicopter ride over the falls! :-) :-):-) Fanbloodytastic!! Ok, it only lasted 10 minutes, but it was very exciting and the view was absolutely amazing. I was grinning a maniac for the duration (and for about an hour afterwards). Unfortunately, Nozomi felt a bit queasy towards the end. (Bit too much like a rollercoaster for her taste). However, I would definately recommend it.

After the chopper ride, it was back on the bus where we stopped briefly to look at the whirpool. Then on to the Floral Clock (ok if you like that sort of thing). The nearby hydroelectric damn we passed was very impressive. The scale of the engineering and the forest of pylons clustered around the facility was awe inspiring in its own way. We stopped off for some wine tasting at a local vineyard. I tried the famous "Ice" wine. It is a renowned local vintage. The grapes are harvested duing frosty nights, -10C or so (hence the name). It is a pudding wine, and very sweet.

We got back to the hotel at around 7pm, and went hunting for some Chinese food. We found a place on Yonge St and discovered that the portion sizes were way more than we can handle. I am now nursing a bloated stomach and have sworn to eat nothing tomorrow.. We will see.

Toronto

It's our second day in Canada. We arrived last night, and after a fabulous steak dinner in the hotel restaurant we hit the hay. This morning we went to the gym and worked up a healthy appetite for breakfast. Then it was a quick bus ride from the Sheraton Hotel to the Delta Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto. This photo was taken from a cruise boat on Ontario Lake. As you can see it was a touch cloudy so we were unable to ascend the Toronto Tower. (Well we could have if we wanted to see the inside of a cloud). We may try again tonight. We spent the day wandering around the city. They have these amazing underground malls. It's like a city under the city. It gets very cold in winter so it makes sense. Nozomi and I had lunch at a Japanese restaurant called Ichiban. Afterwards Nozomi started talking about maybe moving here. Ha ha. I got whacked by jet lag when we got back to the hotel and slept for about 10 hours. My plan to go swimming in the hotel pool went somewhat awry due to my ravenous hunger upon awakening. Will try and go tonight.

Today we are going to the Niagra Falls. Ta ta for now.