The first week of July we jumped in the car and headed off to the Rockies. It was a trip we'd wanted to do since before we left NZ, so it was about time! We decided to camp, so had the car fully laden with all our gear. We drove from Vancouver up to Jasper, for our first two nights. It's about a 10 hour trip, so it was a long day, with only a quick stop for gas and a drive-thru lunch stop. We set up camp, and then went into town to pick up something to cook for dinner. We did well - salmon & steamed vegies, not bad for a camping stove! The photo gives you an idea of how the campsites are here - heaps of space, you're not right next to another camper. Some also have a fire pit, which we had, and made use of every night!
Jasper was a town which obviously benefitted a lot from having tourists - it was very much geared towards them. I wouldn't say it had a lot of character, but the surrounding area was gorgeous. We went for a drive the next day to do some walks around this lake, and saw our first bear! We took far too many photos to be sane, but we were so happy to finally see one (from a safe distance, mind you!). It was a black bear, which we ended up seeing a few more of, but still haven't seen a grizzly.
The next morning when we woke up, it was raining. Not ideal when you're camping, but even less so when you have to take down the tent and pack everything up! Luckily it wasn't too heavy, so off we went down the Icefields Parkway, towards Banff. The rain was on and off for the first hour or so, but the best stuff was further south so we didn't mind too much. We did have to slam on the brakes at one stage for a bear to cross the road in front of us - bear number 2! We stopped at a waterfall, and a lake that was supposedly good for moose-spotting (fruitless as always), and a glacier. Some of the best bits though were the scenery along the way though. We did also see another bear, this time a Mumma bear and two tiny little cubs. So cute! They were just on the side of the road - some people got waaaaaay too close for comfort though. We got more photos!
We stopped at Peyto Lake, which was sunny at the carpark, and by the time we walked the 10 minutes up to the lookout, was hailing! You can see why they say alpine weather changes so quickly. So we got out of there pretty quickly, and the next stop was Lake Louise. My friend had been there a month before us and the lake was completely frozen over. When we were there it had thawed and there were people kayaking and swimming - so to compare our photos is quite funny given the time difference of only a month!
We carried on to Banff for the night, and set up camp for the following four nights. Luckily our stuff wasn't too wet, and by the next morning everything had dried out. Another great campsite - although we were a bit cautious when we pulled up and there were warning signs of cougars and coyotes that had been spotted in the campground........ I had been cautious about camping, due to the wildlife - it's a bit different than back home, where we don't have anything to harm you! As long as you pack away all food and cooking equipment into your car whenever you're not at the campsite, and at night, it's not really a problem though. You can see from our view from our campsite here that it was great to wake up to every morning!
Our time in Banff was spent going for some walks, exploring the extremely touristy town, and hanging out by the campfire reading and drinking. I had brought some home baking with us and we had our coffee plunger so we were quite the well of campers, really! We did treat ourselves to two lunches out, while we were in Banff. Other than that, we gave the camp stove a workout. We did also go to Calgary for the day, which was a bit of a non-event really. Whenever we asked a local what we should do for the day, they would suggest going to Banff, or a mall!
We did see lots of elk, but no moose. We were very happy with out bear haul though - 3 bears and 2 cubs! We did also see some bighorn sheep, which were pretty mangey looking. We both really enjoyed the camping, and we're hoping to get more camping in next summer, even if it's closer to home and just for weekends.
From there it was on to Christina Lake, about 9 hours drive, which is a tiny little place (smaller than Takaka!), for a friend's wedding. We arrived on Thursday and the wedding was on Saturday, so we had a day to relax and catch up with our friends. The wedding was gorgeous - lovely location, lucky with the weather. We even got an ice cream in between the ceremony and the reception! It was fantastic to celebrate such a lovely day with all our friends and dance the night away - lots of great memories!
It was a long drive back to Vancouver on Sunday, both of us a bit hungover, and it's about an eight hour drive. We stopped for a snack in Osoyoos, and picked up some fruit from a roadside stall, and then just kept on going - at that stage we just wanted to get home! Andrew had to go to work the next day, I at least had another few days off.
No comments:
Post a Comment