Bye to Waterton as we head to the USA & Glacier National Park.
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| Maskinonge Lake near Waterton |
Saw some bison near the exit to the park & also some cranes & an osprey. Staying at the beautiful 100 yo Many Glaciers Hotel.
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| Many Glaciers hotel |
Lots of wood beams, creaking & uneven floor boards & the strangest shower operation yet (they even have instructions on the wall with 8 steps to turn on & 3 to turn off - very quaint).
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| Shower instructions |
Weather a bit overcast & cool but headed off on a walk to Red Rock Falls - a nice gentle walk with the statutory rivers, lakes & high mountains with snow.
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| Red Rock Falls |
As a treat this time we had a huge bull moose sitting right on our walking track - needed to head off into the scrub to get around him - though he just kept munching his grass & ignoring us. Quite a site up so close - boy they are big!
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| Hi there! Our friendly moose. |
Saw another bull moose at a small lake on the way back plus some mountain goats. Oh, & the water falls were very pretty. There was also a bear on the hill above the hotel when we got back.
A morning walk around the Swiftcurrent Lake out front got us started. Was a bit chilly (4 degrees) but a pleasant walk with beautiful views of the lake & surrounding hills shrouded in mist - snow forecast for tonight?
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| Swiftcurrent Lake |
Then headed off for a drive over the Going-to-the-Sun Road which winds its way up & over the rockies. A spectacular piece of engineering (1st built in 1933) with tunnels, bridges & cuttings into the cliff sides with vertical drops to the valleys way below. A little scary for me but "thankfully" there was heavy fog at the top so didn't have to see all the drop off's.
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| Going-to-the-Sun (with fog) |
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| Going-to-the-Sun Road (no fog) |
The mountains, valleys & waterfalls are stunning. Then past a few nice little holiday towns & lakes plus a walk along Avalanche Creek surrounded by huge Western Red Cedars. Spent the night in Whitefish which is a reasonable size & located on the banks of the Whitefish Lake & River.
Kept awake 'til 4.30am with revellers in the room above. Woke to a cold & wet morning so had a slow start before heading back to Canada. Caught glimpses of the snow capped peaks through the rain as we arrived in Cranbrook, another fair sized town. Visited the railway museum to keep out of the rain & it was fantastic. They are restoring a whole bunch of old carriages from the early 1900's to 1970's - some are really grandiose affairs. They even had a model train chuffing through giant snow capped peaks & tunnels. The rain is forecast to continue for a few more days with temperatures close to zero??
Another cold & overcast morning. Planned to drive straight to Banff but after a stop at the Invermere tourist info office we changed plans slightly & travelled via the Sinclair Gorge & over Kootenay Crossing, stopping at the beautiful Olive Lake, Paint Pots & Marble Canyon along the way. Despite cold & some rain these stops were amazing. The road & river run through the narrow & deep Sinclair Gorge.
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| Sinclair Gorge (the river runs deep down between the road & cliff on the left) |
The paint pots are weird pools of water with a greeny tinge & ochre coloured soil/mud. The Marble Canyon was very narrow & deep with water raging through the canyon. Tonight back in Banff & hoping for a clear day to see the new snow.
Our wish is partially granted with clouds moving rapidly across the scenery but plenty of views of the new snow. Started with a gondola ride up Sulphur Mountain - clear when we started at the bottom but snowing on top which was very pretty but meant the views were coming & going between the clouds. Then headed to Banff Springs hotel to see the views we missed before through the smoke haze.
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| View from Banff Springs without smoke |
Finally to Johnston Canyon - another amazing gorge with multiple waterfalls & an amazing path hanging off the edge of the canyon walls - a bit scary but worth it.
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| Johnston Canyon (path top centre) |
Back to Lake Louise without smoke ended a cool day.
Off to Morraine Lake the next morning for a walk up to Larch Valley. The parks people advised that only groups of 4 or more with bear spray (capsicum cans) can take this trail (grizzly season) so we needed to find at least 2 more hikers. After a short wait we joined a young couple from Calgary who are both research graduates at the uni - one researching bats & the other spider monkeys. A very nice couple & interesting to hear about their research. A fantastic walk through fir & spruce forest with views down to the aqua waters of Morraine Lake before cresting the ridge & entering the beautiful Larch Valley. The Larch have just started to change colour for Fall (Autumn) & have a beautiful bright yellow/green colour which looked great against the other green trees & the snow which had fallen over the past few days - just wonderful.
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| Larch Valley |
The walk continued above the tree line across a snow covered meadow to another lake at the base of Sentinel Pass where we were supposed to see the "ten peaks" - which we did in stages through the clouds & light snow. The climb up the pass looked too steep & slippery with the snow cover so we had a snack & headed back. Didn't see any grizzly's.
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| Larch Valley below Sentinel Pass |
Finished with a walk along the lake shore & up to the lake lookout on the morraine pile.
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| Morraine Lake |
Another great day.
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