On to Calgary

On Wednesday we boarded the bus to Calgary.  We stopped at Bow River waterfalls and the driver pointed out some things of interest on our route.  We then went to the gondola for a scenic ride to the top of Sulfur Mountain. With the fresh snow it was beautiful. We had a lunch break and some scenic stops on the way to our helicopter ride. We were in the air about 12 minutes over the mountains and it was great.  From there the bus had 5 hotel drop offs in Calgary.  After we checked in to the hotel we went to the Calgary Tower to see the city from above. We had an early call in the morning to get to the airport. Thursday was a long travel day losing 2 hours from the time zone change but we are home safe and really enjoyed our trip.

top of Sulphur Mt

from gondola

waterfall 

from helicopter 

our hotel from the Calgary Tower Hotel Art

Calgary city hall, to the left is Olympic Park where medal ceremonies were held

Banff 2

Tuesday was a free day in Banff.  We went into town & walked around checked out some shops. Our souvenir purchases are limited by our full suitcases: need items that are small.  We are staying at the Caribou Lodge which is designed like a lodge/chalet with small courtyards. It has been snowing on and off most of the time. The courtyard below us has snow covered trees. We had a delicious steak dinner in their restaurant.

Banff

We left Lake Louise Sunday afternoon. On the way

to Banff we made a few stops. The first was at a lookout of the spiral tunnels which we had passed through on the train. They were built into the mountain to reduce the steepness grade of the mountain. If there had been a train passing through it would have been a good picture. Next we stopped at the natural bridge where water has washed out the rocks.  Then we went to Emerald Lake which is very busy in the summer. Some of the ice has melted and it was pretty. An interesting part of the day was that we crossed paths with the other Paul Palmer and his wife Paula on the bus. We had a chance to chat some more. They left today and we leave tomorrow but we had some laughs about the confusion!

Columbia Ice Fields

After the snowfall Sunday dawned clear and cool. The bus picked us up at 9 so we didn't have to set an alarm. On the way to the ice fields we stopped for pictures at scenic areas and had a nice lunch. The Columbian Ice Fields are glaciers at about 7000 feet altitude. An ice explorer bus with monster tires takes groups up to walk on the glacier. It was very clear and quite bright with the sun reflecting off the ice. We then went to the Skywalk which is a glass bottom half circle out over the valley. I didn't expect to be able to do it since I am not a fan of heights.  The first step was hard but I  stayed in the center, walked slowly and did not look down. The temperature was probably about 30 so we layered up & were comfortable.

Kamloops to Lake Louise

We had another early call Saturday morning and woke to a very cool and cloudy morning.  It rained some but turned to snow as we gained altitude in the mountains.  By lunchtime the skies had cleared and some snow remained. We reached an altitude of about 5200 feet at the continental divide which was the highest point for us before descending to Lake Louise.  We saw beautiful rivers and lakes and snowy mountains. Our hotel on the lake looks like a Christmas card covered in snow. Until today the high temperature has been about 60 but today it was probably about 30.

this is frozen Lake Louise with glaciers in background from our hotel

Canadian Rocky Mountaineer

It seems that another Paul Palmer (wife Paula from Pittsburgh) was at the same hotel and on the same bus to the train. Someone switched our boarding passes-a little confusion but they corrected it. The train was great - beautiful scenery and more food than anyone needs!  I didn't switch my phone to airplane mode soon enough so the  battery ran down & I took most pictures with my camera so I will have to download them when we get home. These are from the journey from Vancouver to Kamloops on Friday.

Stanley Park

This is the area around the pavilion in Stanley Park