Canada We tried so hard not to visit Canada in November for the fifth time in six years, but ended up giving in almost at the last possible minute having been unable to agree on somewhere else to go. Doh! Must try harder next year.
Heathrow Saturday - Turned up to Heathrow for a mid-afternoon flight. All seemed to be going well until we arrived at the gate to be told that the gate had been "double booked" (?!) and we'd need to go to another gate at the other end of the terminal.At our alternate gate was a bus that drove us around the airport for several minutes before - I kid you not - dropping us off next to a plane literally 400 metres from where we started.Moments after leaving the stand the plane broke and two hours later they managed to fix it - again I kid you not - by turning it off and on again.
Departed So it was dark by the time we finally left Heathrow (I think this is a photo of Slough, just as we were taking off), which meant that the flight was all in darkness, which was a shame as I very much like seeing Greenland and the wilderness of northern Canada.Having arrived safely, albeit a bit late, into Calgary, we picked up our hire car and drove to our overnight stop - the Sheraton Eau Claire.Although we were majorly shattered by the time we checked in, we managed to pop across the road for a bite to eat in Joey's before flaking out for the night.Lovely beers sampled today:- Granville Island Pale Ale
Hot Tub Sunday - With our brains still working on UK time, we were awake bright and early. Far too early for breakfast in fact, so we popped down to the hotel's pool for half an hour. Here's Judith in the hot tub.
Sheraton View By the time we'd finished a very nice breakfast, the sun was just starting to come up. This was the view from our room just before we checked out.
Clouds As we did last year, we headed south out of Calgary on highway 2, then turned off onto highway 2a to Okotoks before taking highway 7 to Black Diamond. From there we took highway 22 south to highway 40, which took us into the mountains.It had been overcast since we'd left Calgary, but as we turned onto highway 40 we literally drove out of the clouds, as you can see in the photo.By the way, that's our Jeep Wrangler in the photo. Hertz think that's a "Jeep Grand Cherokee or similar". Pffffff. It did have mud and snow tyres though, which were very well suited to the conditions.
Kananaskis Country We were well and truly out of the clouds and into the sunshine and mountains now. This is a photo of the place where the road closes for six-and-a-half months. Fortunately it was still open when we passed through, which was handy as it would have been a hundred mile detour if it had been shut.
Bridge Out They'd finally got round to repairing the bridge that was washed away in the floods two years ago, so the "Bridge Out" barriers that they'd been using to block the road were now just blocking access to the temporary road they'd built as a detour.
View A magnificent view on highway 40.
View Another magnificent view on highway 40.
Highwood Pass The Highwood Pass is the highest paved road in Canada and I try to take a photo next to the sign post when we pass. However, this year the sign post had either been knocked down or blown over. I've still more or less managed to get my photo though.
Spray Lakes Reservoir We turned off highway 40 onto the wonderful Smith Dorrien Spray Trail. I limited myself to taking just this one photo to remind myself of the route we'd taken (as I have many, many photos of this road).From here we drove through Canmore and on to Banff, where we checked in to the Banff Park Lodge before heading out for some dinner in the Elk and Oarsman.Lovely beers sampled today:- Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale- Sleeman's Honey Brown Ale
Banff Avenue Monday - I was up early(ish) and out for a walk up Tunnel Mountain. This was the view down Banff Avenue as I crossed.
Banff View Despite Tunnel Mountain being right next to Banff, the views of Banff from the trail are fairly limited. Here you can just about see Banff through the trees.
Squirrel There were quite a lot of squirrels about.
Tunnel Mountain View Approaching the summit of Tunnel Mountain there are several excellent view points overlooking the Banff Springs golf course.
Mount Rundle There were excellent views of Mount Rundle.
Selfie Me with the Banff Springs golf course on the left and Mount Rundle on the right, taken using the handy little phone tripod I got from Amazon.
Trees On the way back down I took this black and white photo of some interesting looking trees.
Fenland Loop Back in town I met up with Judith and we headed off to walk the short Fenlend Loop, which is on the edge of town near the Vermilion Lakes.
Interesting Trees Some interesting trees on the Fenland Loop in black and white.
Judith Judith on the Fenland Loop
More interesting trees Again in black and white.
Bridge Judith on a bridge near the end of the Fenland Loop. Having finished the trail we headed back to the hotel to pick up our car.
Highway 1a We decided to go for a drive up to the resort at Baker Creek to see what their availability was like for the next few days as we were thinking of relocating to there when we left Banff.Here's our Jeep on highway 1a.
Highway 1a I finally managed to force Judith to put her book down for one minute and get out of the car for a photo. This stretch of straight road on highway 1a is very impressive in the snow.
Jeep Highway 1a runs close to the railway line in places and it was at about this time that I heard a train approaching. So I parked the Jeep off the main road, as you can see here...
Train ...and scrambled through fifty metres of knee deep snow in the woods to the railway line. Having been in so much of a hurry to get to the railway line, I'd left my SLR camera in the car. Doh! So I took this with my phone, which was okay but far from ideal.
Vermilion Lakes On the way back to Banff we stopped in at Vermilion Lakes as it's a) quite a good place to see some wildlife, and b) got some nice views. We saw no wildlife but the views were excellent.
Mount Rundle A view of Mount Rundle from Vermilion Lakes.
Banff Ave Brewing Back in town, we dropped the car back at the hotel and headed to Banff Ave Brewing for dinner ("classic" poutine - yummy).Lovely beers sampled today:- Banff Ave Brewer's Oar Cream Ale- Banff Ave Naked Nut Brown Ale- Big Rock Session IPA
Cave and Basin Tuesday - We'd heard there was going to be a beer festival at Cave and Basin later in the week, so we decided to pop in and see if they had any information. Unfortunately it was shut on this day. However, the boardwalk trail was still open so we thought we'd pop in for a look.
Hot Spring Cave and Basin is famous for its hot springs, of which this is one in the photo. What the photo is not capturing is the awful smell of sulphur wafting from the pools.
Hot Spring It's strange seeing these hot green pools amongst all of the snow and ice.
Cave and Basin A view across the hot springs.
Highway 1a Having left Cave and Basin, we headed up highway 1a to Lake Louise for some lunch. Here's our Jeep on highway 1a.
Truck I saw this interesting looking truck while we were on highway 1a.
Truck But look where it is!!! I've seen a few trains go past at Morant's Curve over the years, but I've never seen anything like this.
Truck On closer inspection it appears that the front wheels are off the ground, but the back wheels are still on the ground providing propulsion.
Morant's Curve Anyway, here's a more conventional view of Morant's Curve.
Morant's Curve And the view in the other direction.
Chateau A short while later we arrived at Lake Louise, where they appeared to have had significantly more snowfall than the surrounding area.
Lake The lake itself was frozen and covered with snow, although there were signs up warning of thin ice. I checked the webcams a few days before we travelled and the lake wasn't frozen at all, so it must have been a pretty quick transition.
Fairview Mountain A view of Fairview Mountain on the south side of the lake.
Big Beehive A view of Big Beehive (on the right) on the north side of the lake. Judith and I walked to the top of that a few years ago. You need to have advanced avalanche survival training to try it at this time of year.
Lunch It was time for a spot of lunch in the Chateau/hotel. This was the magnificant view from our table.
Skaters While we were having lunch this intrepid couple (that you can just make out in the far distance) decided to ignore the thin ice warnings and skated the entire length of the lake (and back). Very brave.
Not quite what it seems Slightly surprisingly, this photo was taken in the evening/night time outside our cabin at Baker Creek. The combination of full moon and snow had made it remarkably daylight-like outside.
Cabin On the one hand the illumination was quite exciting. On the other hand it had completely washed out the sky and any chances I had of repeating the amazing star photos I took from here a couple of years ago. You can just make out a few stars in this photo.
Fire Having been out in the cold taking photos for twenty minutes it was nice to settle down in front of the fire in our cabin for an hour before bed.Lovely beers sampled today:- Grizzly Paw Grumpy Bear Honey Wheat Ale
Brrrr! Wednesday - It seemed a bit nippy when I went out to take a few photos and a check of the car's external thermometer confirmed that the temperature had dropped to a rather bracing -24C.
Baker Creek View A view of the almost frozen over Baker Creek just before sunrise.
Sunrise A few minutes later the sun was just starting to illuminate the surrounding mountain peaks.
Train On the one hand, I was expecting this train because I could hear it approaching for about ten minutes. On the other hand, I still managed to completely fluff up the exposure settings when I took the photo as I didn't allow for the bright snow in the foreground and the extremely bright sky in the background, so the train itself is rather underexposed. Fortunately a bit (!) of post-processing has improved the situation a bit.
Train
End of the train The exposure is slightly better in this photo as I was pointing away from the bright sunrise.
Bye Bye Train
River View Given that there was unlikely to be another train passing for at least an hour, I wandered across the railway line and down to the Bow River.
Mist on the river Given how very cold it was, I'm not sure what was causing this mist over the river.Anyway, having nearly frozen myself solid whilst taking photos for three quarters of an hour, it was time to head up to Lake Louise for some breakfast (the only downside of staying at Baker Creek being that they only provide food in the evenings).
Avalanche! Having had a nice breakfast in the deli at the Chateau, I decided to go for a bit of a walk up to Mirror Lake (whilst Judith decided to sit in the warm in the hotel and read her book). The first part of the trail is considered to be a class 1 avalanche risk, i.e. you could experience an avalanche, but it's sufficiently unlikely that no specific training or equipment is necessary.
Trail View Most of the trail was through the trees, but occasionally I would get a magnificent view down to the lake.
Mirror Lake After about an hour I arrived at Mirror Lake, which wasn't looking very mirror like on this day as you can see here. From here the trail continues to Lake Agnes and the Little Beehive. However, this trail is a category 2 avalanche risk and special training and equipment is required to tackle it, so this was as far as I could go.
Big Beehive There was a great view of Big Beehive across the (frozen) lake. Many years ago Judith and I walked to the top of that. I hope we (or I at least) get the opportunity to go up there again.
Baker Creek Later, back at Baker Creek, Judith joined me for a walk near the resort.
Baker Creek Judith by Baker Creek.
Rocks Some interesting looking snow covered rocks by Baker Creek.
Sunset I was waiting for the sun to set behind the mountains to try to catch a star burst of light in the moments before it disappeared completely, but the speed that it disappeared caught me unawares and I only managed to get this shot, which was taken about five seconds before the sun disappeared from view completely. Still, you get the idea of what I was trying to do.
Railway Line Alrthough I was out for the best part of an hour, no trains appeared. Very disappointing.
Sunset No lovely colours in the sunset this evening unfortunately.Lovely beers sampled today:- Grizzly Paw Rutting Elk Red Ale
Sunrise Thursday - We were checking out of Baker Creek and relocating back to Banff, so there was time for just one last look at the sunrise before we packed up the car and left.
Icefields Parkway Rather than head south straight to Banff, we decided to first drive north up the Icefields Parkway for a bit. As you can see, the conditions on the Icefields Parkway were considered to be "poor". But it wasn't snowing and there was no snow forecast so the condiions were unlikely to get any worse.
Icefields Parkway The views on the Icefields Parkway are properly stunning. It's easy to see why this is considered to be one of the most scenic drives in the world.
Peyto Lake Trail We drove about thirty miles up the Icefields Parkway to Peyto Lake. In the summer it is possible to drive pretty mich all the way up to the lake's viewpoint. However, in the winter one has to park just off the Icefields Parkway and walk up the snow covered road. Here's Judith on the snow covered road.
Trail There was a pretty good trail up the snow covered road and the views were magnificent.
Stay on the trail! We quickly learned not to stray off the trail as, despite appearances, the snow was pretty deep.
Peyto Lake Viewpoint It took about half an hour to walk to to the viewpoint and it was definitely worth the effort as the view was stunning.
Peyto Lake Panorama I took this mini panorama with my phone. I could have stayed up there looking at that view all day.Notice the tiny fence where Judith is standing. That would be chest high if it wasn't for the three feet of snow that she's standing on.
Trail Judith on the trail back to the car.
Icefields Parkway Here's our Jeep on the Icefields Parkway. It was coping very well with the snow and ice.
Where have they gone?! On the way back down the Icefields Parkway we were driving across a relatively open bit when I spotted these tracks leading directly away from the road. I wonder where they could possibly have been going?
Bow Lake On the way south we stopped at Bow Lake. Here's Judith on the trail to the Num-Te-Jah Lodge. If the mountain behind her has a name (which seems very likely), I can't find it.
Stay on the trail! What was it I was saying earlier about staying on the trail?
Num-Ti-Jah Lodge This is supposed to be a very nice place to stay in the summer, but it closes for the winter.
Num-Ti-Jah Lodge Num-Ti-Jah Lodge with Mount Jimmy Simpson in the background (I think).
Bow Lake View The view across Bow Lake from near the Num-Ti-Jah lodge.
Doh! To be fair, Judith is still on the trail here. But it doesn't seem to be making progress much easier.
Rimrock Resort So having managed to successfully dig Judith out and return to our car, we drove back to Banff to check in to our next hotel - the Rimrock Resort. Here's a view of the front of the hotel with Cascade Mountain in the background.The hotel is slightly inconveniently located three miles outside of Banff. However, there is a bus into town every 40 minutes and the hotel provides a complimentary bus pass.
Rimrock View This was the view from our room. The hotel call this a "partially obstructed view". Pretty much any other hotel would call this a completely amazing view. As it was an extra £100-a-night to have exactly the same room with an unobstructed view (which, to be fair, was very impressive) we decided to stick with this.
Deer This deer was resting in the woods outside our window.
Hotel Lounge The hotel's lounge is a very pleasant place to have a beer.
Hotel Lounge The views out of the huge windows are impressive.
Banff Avenue So we used our complimentary bus pass to get the bus into town before heading to the Tavern for a thoroughly magnificent pizza for dinner.Lovely beers sampled today:- Howe Sound Brewing Nut Brown Ale- Grizzly Paw Beavertail Raspberry Ale
Breakfast View Friday - After a couple of days at Baker Creek, where we needed to forrage for our breakfast, it was nice to be back in a hotel where one only needed to walk into the restaurant to find breakfast. This was the view from our table.
Lake Minnewanka After breakfast we took the short drive up to Lake Minnewanka to go for a bit of a walk.
Ice Most of the lake wasn't frozen over, despite the fact that the nearby Two Jack and Johnson Lakes both were. However, there was some ice cover in a sheltered corner of the lake and the ice was covered with these strange flakes of ice.
Trail Here's Judith on the trail to Stewart Canyon.
Stewart Canyon We followed the trail as far as the bridge over Stewart Canyon. If you look carefully you might be able to make out our shadows on the shadow of the bridge.
Stewart Canyon Bridge Here's Judith on the bridge.
Trees Judith on the trail on the way back to the car.
Spot the Judith She's in there somewhere, but is quite hard to see.
Minnewanka View A miscellaneous view.
Minnewanka View Another miscellaneous view.
Reflection Finally the wind dropped enough for there to be a reflection on the water.
Dam View I took this from the middle of the dam as we were driving back to town, moments before realising that I had probably dropped my phone in the snow back in the car park at Lake Minnewanka (since I couldn't find it in the car and we couldn't hear it ringing when Judith called it). Remarkably fortunately, the driver of the plough that had been clearing the snow covered car park as we left had spotted it and picked it up. I've no idea how he managed to spot it in the snow from ten feet in the air in the cab of his plough, but I'm jolly glad that he did.
Banff Ave Brewing We dropped the car back at the hotel and got the bus into town for a couple of pre-dinner beers in Banff Ave Brewing. This was the sign at the entrance to their establishment.
Park We went for dinner in the (fairly) newly opened Park restaurant, which turned out to be pretty nice. Then it was back on the bus to the hotel for our final go-to-bed in Canada.Lovely beers sampled today:- Sleeman's Original 1834- Banff Ave Lower Bankhead Black Pilsner- Banff Ave Head Smashed IPA- Tree Brewing Company Vertical Winter Ale
Smith Dorrien Spray Trail Saturday - Our last day, but our flight home wasn't until the evening, so we had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast and a meandering, scenic drive back to Calgary via the Smith Dorrien Spray Trail. The views were magnificent as usual, but it was a bit challenging taking photos as all of the scenes I wanted to take seemed to be looking directly into the sun.
Jeep Our Jeep in the snow on the Smith Dorrien Spray Trail.
Favourite Spot My favourite spot on the Smith Dorrien Spray Trail. I've now got photos of five different hire cars parked in this spot and one photo of a hire car parked a couple of hundred yards up the road because I misjudged where I was.
Favourite Spot My favourite spot from a slightly different angle.
Kananaskis Once we reached highway 40, we headed north to pop in to the Delta Lodge at Kananaskis to see if it had changed at all after being acquired by Marriott. It hadn't.As the weather was so nice (the temperature had risen to a balmy -5C by this time) we decided to have a walk around the Village Rim Trail, which is where I took this photo from (looking directly into the sun again!).Then it was back in the car, up to the pretty highway 68 (where dozens of people were out chopping down their Christmas trees) and onto highway 1 for the drive back to Calgary Airport.
Calgary Skyline As we'd managed to get business class tickets home, we were able to wait for the flight in the comfortable Swissair lounge, from where we had this lovely sunset view of the Calgary downtown skyline while we stuffed our faces with free sandwiches, crisps and muffins.We drove 629 miles during our stay and our 3.6 litre V6 petrol powered Jeep Wrangler had returned what I thought wan an acceptable 28mpg overall (although given that petrol was only 45p a litre we probably wouldn't have noticed too much if it had only managed half of that).And so ended another awesome week in the Canadian Rockies. But we really must try hard to find somewhere new to go next year.