CANADIAN ROCKIES TRIP

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This is the Cayoosh River - glacial fed and roaring along quite well even though it was August. I got up in the morning, looked out at the scene and there was Jon standing in the freezing water washing his hair. Those Brits are either pretty tough or pretty ....! This is a bridge over the Cayoosh. Don't know why I took the picture other than this is where we camped the first night out. On the road into Barkerville Elaine spotted this young moose happily grazing away in a marshy pasture. This is the same guy but after a bit of manouevering for a better shot. He (or she) is quite young maybe a yearling or a two year old I think, it still has a lot of growing to do. This is the resident blacksmith in Barkerville. <br><a href='http://www.barkerville.ca/plan_visit.htm' target='_blank'>What's Barkerville</a> you say? Well, go no farther! It's a must for the history buffs. It has some really good information that describes and shows what life must have been like for the miners back then. Scene from the dentist's office at Barkerville. Picture taking time after the Theatre Royale's 20's show at the Barkerville Theatre. The fellow in the costume in front row center??? Well, you kind of had to be there! Just taking time out to ' Sniff the roses.' ... or whatever. I thought the shading looked kind of neat. Jon and I got there just at the end of his talk but I'm pretty sure that he is one of the authentic prospectors still working claims in the Barkerville area. This is the smaller of the two churches in Barkerville. I believe they still have services in there. A small view of the Fraser River near Prince George. We found it surprising how fast the current was flowing and yet how quiet the water was. Lots of good fishing in this river. Anybody interested in a <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_George,_British_Columbia' target='_blank'>bit of history</a> about the early homesteaders of the Prince George area will probably find this site very interesting. I discovered it purely by accident and then ended up spending far too much time meandering through it. Aahh, we're finally getting into the Rockies. This was taken near the town of Tete Jeune Cache. I'm pretty sure everybody is familiar with the <a href='http://www.heroinyou.ca/Content/Student%20Area/Module1/L7%20Terry%20Fox.asp' target='_html'>story of Terry Fox</a> and his accomplishments. I wonder what Jon could be looking at?? Aha!! This is what Jon was trying to see! I think that smallish 'bump' on the right is Mount Robson, the highest peak in the BC Rockies. I guess Jon just couldn't believe his eyes and had to resort to a pair of king-size peepers. Oops. God, the things that a 'professional' photographer will do just to get that perfect photo! But, then again, maybe that perfect photo just depends upon the content?? Yup, I think it is all about content! Want to guess the name of this hill? Just a typical scene down the not-so-open highway going towards Jasper. I think this was taken from the top of the trail down along Six Mile Canyon - I'll check on it and get back to you. I think this was taken from part way down the trail down along Six Mile Canyon - I'll check on it and get back to you. I think this was taken from a lookout on the trail down along Six Mile Canyon - I'I think this was taken from a lookout on the trail down along Six Mile Canyon - I'll check on it and get back to you.ll check on it and get back to you. I think this was taken at about the halfway point down the trail along Six Mile Canyon - I'll check on it and get back to you. We were trying to figure out what kind of glue was used to hold those two rocks, stacked just to the right of centre, in place - check the next photo. Same rocks with picture taken from the backside. Just a scene along the road into Maligne Lake. This is the opening scene for Maligne Lake. Maligne Lake is the second largest glacial lake in the world, the largest being in Russia. Maligne Lake Maligne Lake Maligne Lake Maligne Lake<br> I don't think it is necessary to try to write a description of it ... do you? Wendy has a friend - lunch stop along the road back from Maligne Lake. I think Jon was trying to get his teeth to stick together by feeding him peanut butter. Somewhere along the Icefield Parkway heading south towards Banff. This is the Athabasca River. We camped in a small campsite here and be damned if Jon didn't do it again - washed his hair in the river. This river is fed by the Athabasca Glacier which means it is BLOODY cold. Jon did NOT try to wash his hair in this one! This is the start of Sunwapta Falls. This was the next bend in the river after the start of Sunwapta Falls. Nope, the falls aren't finished yet. The next few pictures follow the falls as the river heads downstream. The next couple of drops of the falls. And yet another drop. At this point we got bored with following it and decided to let it go off on its own! And here we are now in warm sunny Spain - oops, wrong slide! This is atop the Columbia Icefield or at least as close to the top as the Snow Cats would go. It's a busy place up here! There're lots of glaciers up here. OK, where do we set up the tent? They cater to almost everybody here. At the rear of this Snow Cat is the wheelchair lift. Neat, eh! This is Peyto Lake. It’s a short uphill hike to the lookout point and the view is beautiful. The haze you see is the smoke from the forest fires (2003) that were burning. The glacier feeding the lake is at the left hand end and except for the receding factor it would be right there. And this is Lake Louise. Once again the haze is due to forest fires. Another shot of Lake Louise. Chateau Lake Louise Lake Louise and a happy trio. The walkway between the Chateau and the Lake. Note the green glacial colour of the lake. This is Moraine Lake, the same one that was pictured on the back of the old twenty dollar bills. That's an enlarged picture of it on the marker. Once again the haze is from the forest fires. Moraine Lake in the Valley of the Ten Peaks. Although, you sure wouldn't know it by looking at these photos. The smoke was really bad this day. Check out the back of the old Canadian twenty (they're everywhere). I wasn't able to find another website that had any really good photos to link you to so I guess we'll just have to go back there another time and do it again, our ownselves! This happy fellow was munching lunch along the Bow Valley Parkway when spotted by Wendy. No, these two weren't cloned. They were also along the Bow Valley Parkway. Not really spotted by anybody as they were almost on the road, you had to be alert to not run them over. This group of animals were found eating lunch in a park at Banff. Generally considered safe to approach but if drinking beer or wine do NOT try take it away from them. The view of Banff from the top of Sulphur Mountain. Nope, we didn't hike up although the threat was made but not carried through, the gondola was a much wiser choice as we were then able to stay up later that night and eat, drink and laugh longer. A closer look at Banff, the Bow River winding its way through and the Banff Springs Hotel in the lower center. Lake Minnewanka. It has qite an interesting history and I don't think any of the web sites that I was able to find really do it justice. This one seemed to be the best of the pick. Jon and I went looking for dangerous animals and left the kids playing on the beach at Lake Minnewanka. Here, Jon the Explorer, is examining one of the lower mountain peaks surrounding Lake Minnewanka. Once again, the haze was due to the forest fires. Lake Minnewanka This was the view as we walked back to the parking lot from Lake Minnewanka. This was a common site along the Lake Minnewanka loop. ... as in 'What are you all looking at? Never seen Mountain Goat before or what? Hmmmm, I wonder what they’re thinking????? Decisions, decisions!   Is this the one we want for supper or should we pick a younger one? What? All those people - naw, just ignore them. They're tourists, they'll all get bored and leave pretty soon. Don't worry about it, just carry on eating like they aren't even there. For those of your that don't know, that orange and white vehicle in the background is 'The Pumpkin'. The dark blotches are part of the distinctive paint job and are actually leaves and vines. The name 'Pumpkin' is painted on the back and can't be seen in the photo. Bigfoot is parked behind the motor home in the foreground. Sorry but I had to take just one more picture of this guy because of the way he was just kind of standing there overlooking 'his domain'. As an aside, boy, did he ever have BO, hopefully he was contemplating a dip in the lake with a bar of soap. Darn, another lake that I can't remember the name of. Is that a sign of ??? or just too many lakes? This is looking in the other direction from the last picture. And there's Miss Wendy walking up the path. We sent her off to look for bears but I guess she didn’t have any luck. We're now on our way back to Vancouver. Jon and Wendy flew out of Calgary to continue their trip back to the UK via Florida and Washington, DC. We dropped off the Pumpkin at Lesser Fish Lake as originally planned and then headed off on our own. In our quest for a nice private campsite we found a small forestry site on this lake - Beaver Dam Lake. We never did find the dam but it sure was picturesque and peaceful. We had hoped to be able to do some star watching but there were quite a few clouds as you can see but this is the interior of BC so the weather can change very quickly. Here's another picture of peace and tranquility. Keep your eye on that log floating in the lake as you go to the next picture. This heron became our source of entertainment for the next hour or so as he sat out there preening himself and getting ready for bed, I suppose. It doesn't take much to keep us amused sometimes, seems particularly true when we’re out camping like this. Beaver Dam Lake just as the sun managed to poke through the clouds as it was setting. This lake is west of 70 Mile House and a bit north of Big Bar. Still Beaver Dam Lake. We were able to put our lawn chairs up on a small dyke which gave us nice view in both directions. Yep, that's the sheesha box sitting on the table along with the rainbow in the background. Oops, he's still there. Like I mentioned he was out there for over an hour. Of course we didn’t just spend all our time watching him - there were also squirrels, woodpeckers, otters, etc. to keep us occupied. Everything but a beaver, at least none of the four-legged variety. Remember what I said about the cloudy sky and the weather changing - well how do you like this! So at this point the heron had gone and we were able to relax a bit - fire up the sheesha - wait for the stars to appear and view Mars on August 27th - the day that it was closest to Earth. Man it's tough life. Sure am glad that the person in the next photo is ready, willing and able to help share the load. There she is - binoculars in hand just waiting in anticipation for the next unsuspecting heron, woodpecker or whatever to land nearby. A final shot, just before the stars and Mars came out in full force. Does this give you good thoughts about life after work or what?! ... And the dawning of a new day (I've always wanted to use that phrase). I came out of the camper and the first thing I saw on the lake was an otter right in front of me swimming off to who knows where. Couldn't get to my camera in time though. " /> And a final look in the other direction. This place was a real winner and one that we'll return to soon.