Diary of a trip Through The Rockies

Day 1–Kelowna to Golden

Left Kelowna at 9am, passed through Vernon and Enderby. Had a quick rest stop at Mara Lake. Reached Sicamous at 11.20am, apparently it is the house-boat capital of Canada. 75km to Revelstoke, 215km to Golden.

11.45am stopped at Crazy Creek suspension bridge and falls. The bridge is 250ft long and 85ft tall. Very bouncy on the walk over, not fun if you're afraid of heights!

Back on the road to Revelstoke. Trees and mountains make for a very scenic drive. Stopped at the Three Valley Gap hotel to take some shots. Lovely location on the water.

1pm arrived at Revelstoke. The dam had 4 tubes open, 5th opened in 2007, 6th opening in 2010. Dam is 176m wide at bottom, 9m thick at the top and 126m tall. Produces 500 megawatts per tube.

3.30pm en route to Golden. Stopped to take a couple of scenic shots at Rogers Pass (1330m - summit is 1382m).
Reached Golden at 7pm and checked into the Ramada. Quick freshen up and out to dinner at the Kicking Horse Grill. Run by a couple of Dutch guys. Food was very good.

Day 2–Golden to Jasper

7.30am - had a little trouble working out exactly what time it was as we had crossed a time zone and didn't realise! It was a chilly morning with mist all around us. On the road we arrived at an info centre where we had to wait to purchase our park passes then we stopped in Field which is a very small but pretty town with lots of A-frame houses.

Into Yoho National Park and stopped at Takakkaw Falls. Very quiet, the air was so clean and cold it hurt our noses. The falls have a 254m drop shooting out of the top. 11.20am crossed into Alberta. Next stop, Columbia Icefield, Athabasca Glacier which is 6km long and 300m deep in places. Very cold at the top and glad we had our heavy gear unlike some people in shorts and sandals!

Back on the road to Jasper and travelled along the Endless Chain mountains which run for 30km. Bruce spotted a wolf near Horseshoe Lake but we didn't get a good sighting. On the road I suddenly shouted out to stop. He thought I'd seen a bear but it was a spectacular double rainbow as we'd just had some heavy rain. Arrived at the Chateau Jasper at 6pm. Good meal in the hotel at Le Petite Marché. Crashed out into a great big comfy bed for the evening.

Day 3–Jasper to Banff

Up early for our trip down to Banff where we stay for 2 days. First stop Athabasca Falls. The falls have a 23m drop but the noise is thunderous. Standing next to them you could just feel their power. The area was absolutely stunning and we spent 1.5hrs here.

Arrived in Banff at 2pm. It's a very busy tourist town. Checked into our hotel, Rimrock Resort, which was very nice. The breakfasts were something else!

Day 4–Banff

Weather looked a bit iffy this morning so we decided to visit Minnewanka and Vermillion Lakes with a visit to Banff Gondola later in the afternoon.

As it turned out the weather was lovely so we had a nice walk around Lake Minnewanka up to Stewart Canyon. It was a very picturesque area and amazingly quiet. Met a French-Canadian couple who told us one of the routes was closed due to a mother bear with young cubs. Would've been good to see but very dangerous as they are very protective of their cubs. Drove over to Two Jack Lake, passing some mountain goats on the road, and stopped off at Johnstone Lake.

Had some lunch and then visited Vermillion Lakes. Bruce spotted a pair of mating dragon flies which was pretty cool. Apparently the lakes used to be quite populated by Heron but not anymore due to the fisheries not stocking the lakes, although it looked like the Heron were coming back. Drove to the top of Mount Norquay, a ski resort in the winter, and got some great aerial views of Banff.

Day 5–Banff to Lake Louise

8am headed up on the Gondola which was amazing. The sky was crystal blue with not a cloud in sight. Took 8 mins to get to 2281m and the panoramic views were stunning. We then headed into town stopping off at the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel to see Bow Falls. Very pretty location with the hotel resembling a fairy castle.

Left Banff on our way to Lake Louise. We took the scenic route driving through the forests. Turned off for Moraine Lake and the views along the route were incredible. The glaciers and mountains just got better and better and when we made it to the lodge the setting was just spectacular. The sun was on the water and it was pure turquoise which reflected the mountains and trees. Had a walk along the lake shore and then went out in a canoe which was hard work but lots of fun. We were only supposed to be staying the one night but we were so taken with the place we extended our trip one more day. The hotel is only open between June and October due to the levels of snow.

The cabin was rustic with its own log fire and a massive comfy bed. That night the sky was crystal clear and we saw 2 shooting stars and 2 satellites (one being the space station). Perfect end to a terrific day.

Moraine Lake

'No scene had ever given me an equal impression of inspiring solitude and rugged grandeur'
1899 - Walter Wilcox

Nancy Stibbard and Dave Hutton purchased the lodge in 1991 after redevelopment and design by Arthur Erickson, who was commissioned to design the lodge and cabins to suit the environment.

6,200ft from sea level the lake is fed by the Wenkchemna Glacier and the rock powder formed by the glacier refracts the blue colour in the lake. Maximum depth is 22.9m, surface temp is 6 degrees celsius and water stays in the lake for only 14 days.

Day 6–Lake Louise-Kelowna

7am climbed the rock pile to catch the sunrise over the lake. The sun was perfect and we sat up there for about 45mins just drinking in the view. There were 3 or 4 other photographers up there also making the most of the sunrise.

Went on a hike to Constellation Lake which took was about 2hrs round trip. Had to go in a group due to the threat of grizzlies in the area.

Headed into Lake Louise and stopped at the Fairmont to view the lake. This was not fun, very touristy and nowhere near as nice as Moraine Lake. We were extremely glad we didn't stay at the Fairmont.

On the way back we ran into some heavy traffic and it turned out a black bear was at the roadside. After it wandered off and Bruce had the idea of driving down to the railway tracks and sure enough, after a while, the bear turned up and we watched it on our own for about 30 mins before a truck driver called the ranger's office who came down to see it off.

I was very glad we got to watch a bear up close and it was a marvellous end to a particularly marvellous week.