Beautiful British Columbia and Banff National Park
On our 9th day we left the US and enter Canada at the Vancouver border. We were invited to stay with another former IVSC friend and hiking buddy, Vern Blair, and his lady friend Pat. His elegant but comfortable home in North Van is the setting for several films over the years. We ferried to the City to explore on foot, and bicycle the perimeter of Stanley Park, the jewel of the city. We hiked a few trails in the forests of the north side of the Lions Gate Bridge, taking advantage of the wonderful summer weather.
From Vancouver’s cosmopolitan charm, we began the tour east through the famed Okanagan Valley, the bread basket of western Canada with abundant vineyards and horticultural delights. At Penticton we had 9-holes of golf, tasted wine, and savored some of the local cuisine. And then with its tapestry of natural wonders. the breathtaking majesty of the Canadian Rockies was before us. At Revelstoke we stopped to spend a day hiking in the stunning National Park named for it. The town is not large but becomes a hive of activity for mountain bikers in summer and skiing in winter. We had to be at the park entrance by 8am in order to ensure we had parking where the hiking trails begin. By 8:30, the road closed to more visitors until some had left. The 11-mile, 6-hour hike was spectacular. It wasn’t especially grueling but there were some boulder-strewn sections that challenge well-worn knees like mine. It was good practice for the next few days of hiking in Canada’s Glacier NP (still in BC, not the one that spans Montana and Alberta) and Banff NP.
Banff National Park and Lake Louise were the primary reason for our visit to the Banff area. We were lucky to get late accommodation during the high season and when we arrived at our Inn, we were even upgraded to a new condo. Since it was midday and we only had two full days to enjoy the area we immediately set out to snag an “advance reservation” shuttle (the only travel option to see the lakes in this area, no cars allowed) up to Moraine Lake. We managed to get a cancelled booking on the last shuttle of the day and from the drop-off we hiked up to Consolation Lake with its magnificent backdrop, the Tower of Babel. After this we walked back to Moraine Lake to more incredibly stunning scenery. Moraine is not on everyone’s bucket list but honestly, we weren’t sure it could get better than this. The next day we caught another shuttle to the infamous Lake Louise. The place was teeming with visitors like us, but many were only keen to capture a selfie. We took a path along the lakeshore which then led straight up to Mirror Lake and further still to Lake Agnes, following a stream of walkers of vastly different abilities. Both lakes were very pretty but the heavy foot traffic wasn’t our idea of a wilderness experience. Ultimately, we feel Moraine Lake is more impressive, making us realize how lucky we were to be able to visit it the previous day. The following day we went up to Jasper NP but the road wasn’t passable beyond a certain point because there had been a major wildfire that destroyed a lot of the town of Jasper. We still managed a hike which we were warned had had a bear cub sighting not long before. However, the “bear” turned out to be a porcupine…someone took a photo of it, which made it quite clear it was no bear! We finish off the day with a visit to the Banff Springs Hotel where Joe worked one winter in the 1970s to allow him to ski the area all season. This grand dame had been remodeled over the years and is now truly spectacular.
Our route from Vancouver to Banff
