Glacier National Park - Highline Trail

We're back in the Good Ol' US of A - and winding down our incredible summer vacation. We'll spend another week exploring Glacier, then most likely backtrack to Ketchum for a few days and then finally head for home. We expect to be back in Southern California on August 11th. Until then, though, we plan to make the best of our meander south...

So here's a bit more of Glacier - the Highline Trail - which starts at Logan Pass on the Continental Divide - and meanders through forest and meadows on a one-way hike for 12 miles. The views were spectacular - and we were treated to close encounters with mountain goats, deer and bighorn sheep. The last four miles of the hike were a death march descent... super steep and knee grinding. But well worth the effort!

We ended up many miles down the Going to the Sun Road and picked up one of the new shuttle buses back to Logan Pass. In 2007, Glacier added a free shuttle bus system which is wonderful! It allows point-to-point hiking, but also makes for less traffic in the park. Gotta love it!

Glacier suffered a devastating fire in 2003... but has quickly recovered and is green and beautiful amongst the blackened trees.

Waterton National Park - Crypt Lake

The second of the two premier day hikes in Waterton National Park is to Crypt Lake. It's 11 miles out and back with over 2,500' of climbing- and you have to take a shuttle across the lake to the trailhead.
About 2 miles into the hike we saw a grizzly bear; but of course, our camera doesn't have a big enough lens to get a decent picture - so we'll just tell you that we saw it and not bother to post the picture of the woods with the brown spot in the middle... It was actually the second grizzly bear we've seen in Waterton. But darn! Those elusive bears just don't want to be photographed. So here's a great scenery shot, with the moon, instead.
The waterfall that flows down from Crypt Lake.
Brian climbs the metal ladder up to the tunnel.
The flash really lit this up! It was pitch dark in the tunnel; and super, super narrow. Brian had to take his pack off to get through. And this was the wide/tall part!
We exited the tunnel onto a narrow ledge that dropped several hundred feet down to the canyon floor. Then we had to scurry up the mountainside to the trail that ultimately led to the lake.
Ah! The lake! Time for a brief rest and some snacks!
The 2 of us enjoying Crypt Lake!
The trip down over the loose shale was sometimes a challenge!
After 11+ miles, we re-boarded the shuttle for the short trip back to town. Another incredible day!

Waterton National Park: Carthew-Alderson Hike

The first of two premier day hikes in Waterton is the Carthew-Alderson hike. It's 12+ miles one way, with about 2,200' of gain (most of which is in the first 5 miles). We drove the van to the trailhead at Cameron Lake. Here we are, ready to go! Our first photo stop at Summit Lake. It wasn't even close to the summit! It was straight UP from here!!!
Looking down on Cameron Lake. We've come up a long way... And there's way more climbing to go!
Views from the summit follow. Unfortunately, it was raining when we made it to the top; and it was too cold to sit around waiting until it passed. So we started down, trying to get out of the wind. The sun eventually came out - and it was a perfect day for hiking!Ah...! Waterton Townsite down below! Less than a mile or so to go!!!
Oh yeah... We had to ride our bikes to get the van... It was only 10 miles -- but with over 1,300' of climbing! Not so easy after hiking 12.5 miles! No doubt we're going to get a GREAT night's sleep!

Banff: Lake Morraine - Paradise Valley & Giant's Steps

The highlight of our time in Banff National Park was this 12.6 mile hike in Paradise Valley out to the Giant's Steps. It was Deb's longest hike ever; but well worth every exhausting step!!!
Beautiful Lake Annette:
The Giant's Steps!
Here's what they look like from the top!

Banff: Lake Louise - Plain of Six Glaciers Hike

Starting at beautiful Lake Louise, we hiked an incredible 10 miles on the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail, with a little extra to Mirror Lake on the return.
About 3.5 miles into the hike we came upon the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House. They serve sandwiches, hot beverages and home made chocolate cake - all prepared without electricity or refrigeration. They have propane ovens and stoves- and that's it. The folks who work there, live there five days at a time. They bring all the food up on pack horses.
Here we are at Mirror Lake. The sun wasn't really in the right place for the lake to be a mirror - but it was pretty anyway...

Columbia Icefields

The Columbia Icefield is located on the boundary of Banff and Jasper National Parks. One of the largest accumulations of ice and snow south of the Arctic Circle, it covers an area of nearly 325 square kilometres. The continuous accumulation of snow feeds eight major glaciers, all visible from the Icefields Parkway (the scenic road from Banff to Jasper). The Columbia Icefield is a true "hydrological apex," - meaning its meltwater feeds streams and rivers that pour into the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. We got up close and personal with the ice via the Ice Explorer!
Sort of like Disneyland, on ice...

Wildlife Sightings in Jasper

We've had such great luck in our wildlife encounters! We've seen black bears nearly every day - but, alas, couldn't get a decent photo (but we're still hopeful, as bears are plentiful in Banff we hear). These are just some of the great shots we took:

Cavell Meadows & Angel Glacier

Our last two days in Jasper we did two hikes at Mt. Edith Cavell: First on the Angel Glacier trail, and then the long hike up to the Cavell Meadows (about five miles out and back - with 1500' of gain to the top).

More Incredible Mountain Biking in Jasper

Another wonderful day of mountain biking. We did a loop on "Trail 7" (sorry, no fancy name for this one) with an added out-and-back on the Overlander Trail. It was an amazing 30 miles. Most likely this will be our last off-road ride in Jasper, as there are still some long hikes we want to do.

Our connection at the RV park is HORRIBLE - which is why you're having to wait to see what we've been up to. Hopefully Banff will be better as far as internet goes. We'll try to post one more time before we leave Jasper, though. Enjoy these!

Jasper Mountain Biking

Canadian National Parks, unlike our own, allow mountain biking on nearly all trails. The scenery is outstanding - the trails are challenging and sometimes very technical - with pitches so steep, NOONE could ride! The only downside is the unbelievable mosquito population. They laugh at the DEET! Check it out:

Portions of the trails, for long stretches, are full of roots. These are the small ones.

Maligne Lake - Jasper National Park

Jasper National Park is one of the most beautiful places we've ever seen. We've been exploring the park on bikes, on foot and by car; and we also gave in and did the "must-do" touristy thing - the Lake Maligne Cruise. We thought it might be cheesy... but it turned out to be quite incredible! We totally lucked out on the weather for our cruise, as it had been raining all day. The sun came out for us and we were treated to these spectacular sights (and more, of course)!
This is "Spirit Island" - a very popular postcard sight - and the only stop on the cruise.

Brag Creek - Elbow River Ride

About half an hour west of Calgary is the cute little town of Brag Creek, where we started a 50 mile out-and-back along the Elbow River in Kananaskis Country, in the foothills of the Rockies. It's cowboy country... Texas Gate? Uh...
There's Brian, far off on the lookout to Elbow Falls.
We dodged the rain and had a beautiful day. We had a delicious hot chocolate at the Cinnamon Spoon and then headed back to Cochrane to pack up. Tomorrow is a travel day -- the long drive to Jasper National Park. We can't wait!

Canadian Badlands

We took a road trip out to Drumheller, gateway to the Canadian Badlands, and home to the largest dinosaur in the world.
We hit the road on our iron donkeys, and before embarking on the North Dinosaur Trail, we stopped for some spiritual guidance at the Little Church, which serves 10,000 people, 6 at a time!
The Canadian "Grand Canyon" - Horsethief Canyon - rumoured to be a place the horses wandered into and disappeared... only to return many moons later with a different brand.
We crossed the wild river on the Bleriot Ferry. It was FREE!

We took a side trip to the Canadian Hoodoos. NO comparison to the hoodoos in Utah. Puny. Really puny.
A photographic optical illusion on it's grand size!