Hello!
When we last left you off, we were in Canmore, Alberta. After driving through Banff going east, we went back through toward BC. Our first stop was the Cascades of Time gardens in the city. Despite the fact they weren't fully realized as a result of the Depression, they were beautiful. We then took the scenic route from Banff to Lake Louise. On the way we stopped for a few hikes and scenic views. One of which was Johnston Canyon, a waterfall in the park. You could practically walk right up to it.
Then we went to see Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, two gorgeous glacier-fed lakes in the park. Despite the mass of fourth of July tourists, we managed to find a secluded place to eat our picnic lunch and take in the view.
We then headed back into BC through Yoho National Park. There we saw an even more impressive waterfall, Takakaw Falls, one of the biggest in Canada. We also saw a natural bridge made out of rock that was formed by the current running through. Waterways in these parks are constantly changing due to running water eroding the limestone. Eventually, this bridge will disappear.
In Field, the town in the park, we discovered that Yoho was home to the Burgess Shale, something Valerie had been searching for since the beginning of the trip. This prehistoric stream was crushed by mudslide millions of years ago, which fossilized thousands of extinct marine creatures.
We camped for the night in Martha Creek provincial park right outside Revelstoke. Wildlife count for the day was one caribou near the gas station in Banff.
The next day we visited Revelstoke, Glacier, and Kootenay National Parks. In Revelstoke, we drove the meadows in the sky parkway. We were only able to drive the first half due to snow, but we still saw some amazing views of the rocky mountains. We then took a walk in an old growth cedar forest. This forest is the most inland temperate rainforest in the world. Usually, they are closer to oceans, but because of BC's unique climate, this forest was able to prosper. The trees were really really tall.
In Glacier, we took a hike along an old train track used in the early days of the Canadian Pacific Railway. On the trail, we learned how this portion was abandoned due to the extreme mortality rate of railroad employees due to avalanches. The trail ended at Roger's Pass Summit where there is a memorial to the over 200 people who perished.
We dipped into Kootenay to see the spectacular entry way into the park. The road passes directly through a red canyon with cliffs towering over us on either side. We ended our day by visiting the wolrd's biggest truck in Saprwood, BC. It was huuuuuge!
We camped for the night in Pincher Creek, AB. Wildlife count was 3 ground squirrels, 4 antelope, 1 coyote, and 1 deer. It really is amazing how the animals come out right after all the tourists go back home.
On July 6th, we headed out to Waterton Lakes National Park. This park is special because it lies on an ecotone, a transition area between two different ecosystems. in this case, the prairies and the Rockies. This park also has the deepest lake in the Rockies. Overlooking that lake was the stunning Prince of Whales hotel which provided some great views. Since Waterton Lakes borders another park in the US, they cooperate together. They are the only park of this type and have been declared the world heritage sight. We also saw the first oil well in Western Canada. Although it wasn't that successful, it paved the way for further oil explorations in the area. We also took a walk along Cameron lake and the Red Rock canyon. They were both beautiful.
From Waterton, we drove to Writing on Stone provincial park. This area contains many Aboriginal petroglyphs. We took a walk to one that described a battle scene. Since we were in southern Alberta, we got our first glimpse of the Canadian Badlands.
We stopped for the night at a municipal campsite in Coalhurst right outside the city of Lethbridge. We saw one deer that day in the city of Waterton.
The next day we set out for Calgary! On our way, we stopped in Head-Smashed-In to see a Buffalo Jump. This was an old Aboriginal practice of hunting buffalo. They would run herds off a steep cliff so the animals would plummet to their deaths. This was a very complicated method. We learned about it as well as other aspects of Blackfoot culture in the museum there.
Upon arriving in Calgary, we went to the Chinese Cultural Centre and Museum. There, we saw life-size replicas of terra-cotta warriors and art from the many Chinese dynasties, including a magnificent image of a pair of tigers made entirely out of feathers.
After dinner, we enjoyed Petr's Drive-In's famous milkshakes. De-licious.
The next day was the Stampede! we headed downtown early in the morning to watch the parade (and get a glimpse of the duke and duchess, of course). We, along with over 100,000 other people, enjoyed several hours of floats, bands, and dancers. After exploring downtown a bit, and doing some cowgirl shopping, we headed over to the stampede grounds. There, we enjoyed a figure skating performance including Vaughn Chippeur, Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. We also saw an incredible high diving performance (one of the boards was 80 feet in the air!). Before going to see the chuck wagon race, we spent some time touring the rest of the grounds and soaking in the festive atmosphere. After the race, we watched a spectacular Grand Stand Show involving acrobatics, fireworks, singing, dancing, comedy, and an amazing trampoline act. The Stampede motto "the greatest outdoors show on earth" was no exaggeration.
Thank you to Duncan for hosting us, and to Melissa for the great suggestions.
The next day was DINOSAURS!! We started off at the Royal Tyrrell Museum where we took in the amazing displays of dinosaur bones, replicas and footprints, and other fossils. We also learned about the challenge of finding and extracting fossils. From there, we went to Dinosaur Provincial Park, where many of the fossils on display at the Royal Tyrrell had been found. Over 35 different species of dinisaur fossils have been found there, the most of anywhere in the world. We went on a hike and saw a fossil bed (ie a mass death site containing hundreds of bones per square meter) and a half-excavated dinosaur.
We then set out for Medicine Hat, our final destination for the day, and the site of the world's largest tipi (over 20 stories high).
See you next time,
Tal and Val
Are you a dinosaur?
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