1
Seattle

Day 1 - Seattle to Bellingham to stay with Paul, Jill and Miles

Drizzly morning for packing up

Clean car for the start of our trip

2
Barkley Village

We played Dominion and Wingspan

Jacqueline and Miles picked Asian Pears from the yard and made a crumble!

First day of school

3
Sumas

Rolling into Canada at Sumas crossing

Pretty dead there

4
Kekuli Café Coffee & Bannock- Merritt

Lunch and charging stop - Merritt, BC

5
Kamloops

Driving through British Columbia

6
64 Westside Rd, Revelstoke, BC V0E 3K0, Canada

Stopping in Revelstoke, BC

Interesting cocktail choice…

Columbia river and Mt. Begbie

Days Inn - meh

7
Hemlock Grove Boardwalk, Columbia-Shuswap, BC V0X 1R0, Canada

Trees!

First stop after leaving Revelstoke was Glacier National Park (British Columbia, not Montana)

Hemlock Grove Boardwalk

8
Rockgarden Trailhead

Rocks! \240Rockgarden trail

9
Loop Brook Trail, Columbia-Shuswap, BC V0X 1R0, Canada

Some people rented this camper van inVancouver but had no idea who King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizards were…

Old pillars from abandoned railroad trestles

10
Arthur O. Wheeler Hut Federal Heritage Building

Meeting of the Waters hike

Driving

Charging at Rogers Pass Discovery Center

11
Golden Skybridge

Stopped in Golden (British Columbia, not Colorado) to visit the skybridge

12
Wapta Falls

Wapata Falls in Yoho National Park

13
Emerald Lake Lodge

Staying at Emerald Lake Lodge for two nights

Stellar’s Jay that likes to hang out on our deck

View from our deck

14
Mount Burgess Dining Room at Emerald Lake Lodge

Foggy morning at Emerald Lake

No driving today!

Walk around the lake

Bridge to the lodge- a shuttle bus picks the guests up at a parking lot up the road and drives them over

Jay stopped by again

15
311 Stephen Ave, Field, BC V0A 1G0, Canada

Stop at Natural Bridge on way out

Jacqueline learning things at Yoho National Park visitor center

Kicking Horse river

Town of Field, BC

16
Takakkaw Falls

Takakkaw Falls

Jacqueline asksfor LOTS of selfie shots

More red chairs - kind of a thing with Canadian National Parks

Yoho Glacier

17
Mountaineer Lodge

Staying at the Mountaineer Lodge in Lake Louise Village for 4 nights

Also we are now in Alberta

New record for shortest distance to unload the Tesla- 6 feet!!!! \240So excited

18
1 Whitehorn Rd, Lake Louise, AB T0L 1E0, Canada

On the shuttle bus to go to Lake Louise

19
111 Lake Louise Dr, Lake Louise, AB T0L 1E0, Canada

Lake Louise

20
Plain of the Six Glaciers Tea House

Hike to Plain of the Six Glaciers today

(9 miles)

Lake Louise

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

Glacial silt flowing into lake

Near the top there is a tea hut!

Lunch - potato and mushroom soup, cheese sandwich (looked much better at the beginning), tea and chocolate cake! \240

Avelanche!!

21
1 Whitehorn Rd, Lake Louise, AB T0L 1E0, Canada

Catching the shuttle again - early start today

Lake Louise sunrise

22
Moraine Lake

Moraine Lake

Coffee and protein bar breakfast on the shore

Color coordinated

On top of the Rockpile at north end of lake

Tower of Babel

Mt Temple behind Moraine Lake Lodge

23
1 Whitehorn Rd, Lake Louise, AB T0L 1E0, Canada

Even earlier start today on the shuttle bus

Happy Birthday Jacqueline!

24
Lake Louise

Back to Lake Louise

The Big Beehive (bright bulgy lump) in the background is our goal for today

25
CQ74+PJ Lake Louise, AB, Canada

The Big Beehive from Mirror Lake

Lake Agnes

Long line for the Lake Agnes Tea House

We picked up a sandwich and banana bread for the top

Hiking around Lake Agnes

Looking back across the lake to the tea house

Climbing up switchbacks above Lake Agnes

Shelter on top of Big Beehive

Lake Louise from the top

Did someone say Hummus and Pickle sandwich?

How old are you today?

Banana and banana bread for dessert

Another bird

And one more bird!

Lake Agnes from top

Also tamarack trees changing color (deciduous conifers)

26
Bill Peyto's Cafe

Dinner after long day of hiking

27
101 Village Rd, Lake Louise, AB T0L, Canada

Driving north to Jasper today - lots to see along the way

Heading to the bakery across the street for some lunch supplies

28
Bow Lake Viewpoint

Stop by Bow Lake and Crowfoot Glacier

29
Peyto Lake Upper Viewpoint

Peyto Lake

30
Mistaya Canyon Trail Head

Mistaya Canyon

We don’t know those people

31
Mistaya Canyon
32
Norman Creek Campground

More driving - beautiful scenery the whole way

Lunch

Elk - only wildlife sighting so far

33
Stanley Falls

Hiking to Stanley Falls

Sunwapta Falls

Pit toilets with skylights - very nice

34
Athabasca Falls

Athabasca Falls

35
Jasper Pizza Place

Made it to Jasper!

Pizza for dinner

AirBnB

36
Maligne Lake

Maligne Lake - we are doing a boat cruise this morning

Rain on the lake - fortunately it didn’t last long

Saw another elk in town, they are pretty common

But we had our first moose sighting! \240With calf

Our boat for the cruise

Monkhead mountain (do you see it? \240He’s looking up)

Spirit Island

Giant hole dug out by a rotating glacier

We found some more of the Canadian Parks red chairs at Maligne Lake. \240Coffee and a maple cookie for a snack

37
Maligne Canyon

Maligne Canyon hike - it was pretty crowded but we loved it there

First bridge ( there are 6 altogether crossing the Maligne River in this area)

Second bridge…

The river has carved out very interesting formations throughout this narrow canyon

Third bridge…

Fourth bridge!

Fifth bridge (so we didn’t actually hike this far… the first 4 bridges are beautiful but then we hopped back in the car, ate lunch, and drove to the last 2)

… and sixth bridge

38
Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge

Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge

Canadian Canadian Geese

39
Pyramid Island

Mount Edith Cavell

Pyramid Mountain

Pyramid Lake - not as cold as Lake Louise

Bridge to Pyramid Island

40
Jasper

Some more exploring in the town of Jasper

So, it’s mandatory that we stop at signs like this to take a picture.

Free charging at the train station! \240We haven’t paid to charge the Tesla since Golden a week ago! \240Also one of the few places with free parking we saw downtown

Bill is a little tired of having his picture taken at this point… also the happy hour special was gruel so Jacqueline had to try it.

Visitor center where all our questions were answered

Jasper has nice free lending libraries

Back at our AirBnB - apparently they make maps where the U.S. isn’t in the middle….

41
Edith Cavell Trail

Early start to get to Mt Edith Cavell

Elk are up early too

The temperature was 32 degrees F when we started out - brrrrr

Cavell pond in front of Cavell Glacier

Mt Edith Cavell

Ice floating on the pond - no dipping a toe in this pond!

Is it a glacier or a giant slab of mint ripple ice cream?

View from higher up

Angel Glacier up above the pond

42
Valley of the Five Lakes Trail

Our next hike was Valley of the Five Lakes ( and the temperature is now over 70)

Fifth Lake…

Fourth lake…

Third Lake…

More red chairs!

Third Lake with Fourth Lake behind

Second Lake…

And First Lake!

We sat here for quite a while and enjoyed the beautiful weather

Aspens on the hike out

Saw another van - they did the same two hikes as us today (and yesterday)

43
Goats and Glaciers Viewpoint

Driving back south to Banff today

Views along the Icefield Parkway

Athabasca Pass

Mt Edith Cavell

44
Stutfield Glacier Viewpoint

Stutfield Glacier

45
Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure

Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure - we rode on one of these special 6-wheel drive buses out on to the Athabasca Glacier

Gathering glacier water

Athabasca Glacier - one of six glaciers fed by the Columbia Icefield up above

This is a group from NASA testing a robot explorer in crevasses, to eventually be sent to Saturn’s moon Titan.

46
Columbia Icefield Skywalk

Columbia Icefield Skywalk - giant glass walkway jutting off of a cliff

47
93 Icefields Pkwy, Jasper, AB T0E 1E0, Canada

After the Skywalk, we continued the drive to Banff. \240Beautiful scenery the entire way.

Waterfowl Lake

48
Johnston Canyon, Lower Falls

Johnston Canyon was the final stop of the day

A lot of the hike was cantilevered over the canyon

Upper Falls

Lower Falls

49
Banff

Eventually we made it to Banff

Dinner at Saffron Indian Bistro

Our AirBnB for next four nights!

50
Lake Minnewanka Cruise

Lake Minnewanka Cruise this morning

After our cruise, we rented a kayak for an hour

Stewart Canyon Bridge

Division of labor

We found a beautiful spot for our picnic lunch on the shore…

… and then a wedding started right next to us! \240(Congratulations Jess and Meg!)

Feet in the lake

Crowded paddle board

Red chairs!

Our happy hour destination

Fondue- thank you Swiss guides for bringing this cheesy goodness to Banff!

Someone made a little trail between the cheese pot and their mouth

51
Banff Gondola

Going up the Banff Gondola this morning

Started out with some light rain

Living dangerously

Up on top

City of Banff and Cascade Mountain

Short hike to the Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station (no longer in operation, because satellites)

Mount Edith and Mount Louis behind in sun

Looking back at the boardwalk we hiked

Hopefully minor maintenance work on the gondola support…

We stopped by the Fairmont Banff Springs next

And Bow Falls

52
Fenland Trailhead

Walk around town

Mount Rundle

Our AirBnB

Visited the Whyte Museum

Some of the art was broken and had to be put back together

53
The Grizzly House

Dinner tonight

Vegetable broth fondue with chicken and beef

Chocolate fondue for dessert

54
Vermilion Lakes

Time to say goodbye to Banff

Going to Calgary for two nights

Vermilion Lakes

55
Canmore

Canmore

Just a short drive from Banff - very nice and much less crowded

Policeman’s Creek Boardwalk

Ducks practicing synchronized swimming

Three Sisters

Four Sisters and One Brother

Driving into Calgary

View from the AirBnB

Little washer and dryer…

…10 days worth of dirty clothes

Evening stroll

Prince’s Island Park

Peace Bridge

Undergoing some repairs on the inside of the bridge

56
128 2 St SW, Calgary, AB T2P 4V9, Canada

A day in Calgary

Matcha Latte

Calgary Tower

On a walking tour

People that we did a walking tour with for three hours - some Canadians, a German, one Aussie, a Swiss and can you spot the 2 Americans?

The Central Library

Stop to buy chocolates at Cochu

Studio Bell - music museum, closed today though

Devonian Garden - indoor city park on top of a mall

Stopped by a free art exhibit of Gathie Falk

57
Scotsman's Hill

Time to leave Calgary and head south

Saddledome and downtown Calgary from Scotsman’s Hill

58
Roy's Place

Claresholm, Alberta

Need to pay to charge up - we went 15 days without having to pay to charge

Roy’s Place - That is a big cinnamon bun!

59
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site

Indigenous people as far back as 5800 years ago would drive bison herds off the cliff here in order to have enough meat to last the winter

Bison about to go over…

… but this guy is waiting for the elevator instead.

Some unhappiness when our route included a long stretch of gravel road afterward

60
Waterton Lake Red Chair - Marina Point

Waterton Lakes National Park

It borders Glacier National Park in Montana

Prince of Wales Hotel

Some more unhappiness as it closed that same morning for the season and we couldn’t go inside

National Park Visitor Center

Our home for two nights

61
Goat Haunt Ranger Station

A cold and rainy day at Waterton Lakes National Park

We went on a cruise to the other end of the lake. \240It was more crowded than expected because a Rotary club was on board for a peace pole ceremony.

The clear cut marks the Canada/U.S. border

Back in the US of A! \240The cruise went to the south end of the lake, which is in Glacier Park in Montana.

U.S. customs

62
Waterton Park Cafe

Trying to warm up with some soup

63
Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

64
Cameron Lake

Cameron Lake

65
Cameron Falls

Cameron Falls

66
Bear Mountain Motel

The wind switched directions in the night, and we have some clearing in the clouds this morning

Still socked in to the south

Bighorn sheep

67
Bonnetts establishment

Driving through Alberta

68
Medalta in the Historic Clay District

Medicine Hat

First stop is the Medalta historic pottery factory- now a museum

Old giant kilns

69
Saamis Tepee

Worlds largest teepee

70
Wakamow Heights Bed & Breakfast

Driving in to Saskatchewan today

Staying in Moose Jaw tonight

World’s tallest moose

We did a fairly corny tunnels of Al Capone tour

Staying at a B&B tonight

B&B

Driving in Saskatchewan