Monday 10

Well here we are on English soil with typical English weather, rain!!! We have forgotten what it is, supposed we will have to get used to it. Slightly over weight (not personally just our luggage). After re packing and wearing our walking books we managed to get the weight down to an acceptable level. The flight home was great arriving an hour early.
Canada was just great, as you have probably guessed from the previous blogs. We completed 2600 Km in a Mazda 6 (a great car). Driving was very easy, no traffic jams or hold ups. We had a very busy 3 weeks and certainly packed a lot of sight seeing in whilst in British Columbia and Alberta.
We would recommend a visit to Vancouver Island and if any one is passing through the Rockies then a trip up to Mount Edith Cavell to the glacier is well worth a trip.
Loads of photos so will get them sorted and posted up in due course.

Saturday 8

Well we reached our last day so we decided to have an easier day. We took the Roamer bus down to Banff gondolas. It was the first time we had to queue for anything and it wasn't for very long. The ride to the top of Sulphur Mt took 8 mins and then we hiked up to Sampson's peak where there is a national historical site which was established in the 1950s to investigate cosmic rays. The views were amazing as we could see all around the mountain - and again the weather was great. Later we took a bus to Banff Springs Hotel which looks like a Scottish castle but this time I only spotted one man in a kilt. We looked around the shops and found ourselves in an art gallery. We went to see the Bow Falls which are near the hotel. We finished the day wandering around the shops and a meal before heading back to the hotel to pack ready for our final leg - Calgary airport and flight to Manchester tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks for reading this blog and see you all soon.

Friday 7

The Fox and Suites is a great stopping place in Banff. We have been given complimentary breakfast for the 3 nights here. There is a fantastic hot spa, sauna and gym underneath the hotel so look out after all the walks and weights!! we are as fit as fiddles!!!
Took a drive out to Lake Minnewanke where we were able to walk about a mile along the side of this beautiful lake (the rest had been closed off due to an aggressive female grizzly and 2 cubs in the area). We then drove to Johnson Lake for another walk (2.8km). After sitting a while and lunch we drove about 20km to Johnston Canyon and on the way we encountered a herd of Elk grazing on the hill side. We took a walk into the canyon to see the waterfalls, a very impressive 5.4km. What a day, total walk of about 11km. All this walking really tired Caroline out so we had to come back and relax in the hot spa and sauna, what a life.
Well one more day to go then it's back to the real world (maybe).

Thursday 6

Had to have breakfast in the Deer Lodge dinning room as we had run out of breakfast food and there was no supermarket handy. The dinning room was exceptional where everything was made out of wood and there were deer heads on the walls and a huge log fire. Had an amazing walk climbing nearly 2000 ft up to Lake Agnes tea room (the highest tea room in Canada) and on up to Little Bee Hive (a rock shaped like a bee hive). The tea room was established in 1901 and specialises in different sorts of tea. The weather was great again and it was lovely to see Lake Louise so blue looking under the sun. Left Lake Louise at around 3pm and drove to Banff on the minor road (1a) where we saw a coyote crossing the road in front of our car unfortunately we did not have the camera to hand. Arrived at our next stop, the Fox and Suites in Banff where we will be for the next 3 nights.

Wednesday 5

Another amazing day today. We left Jasper and set off along the Icefields Parkway (the main road to Lake Louise). On the way we decided to do a U turn and go up a mountain road towards Edith Cavel Mountain. The road was very steep with some breath taking views and near to our destination we came across a grizzly bear foraging in the verge (see photos). We drove as far as the road would go arriving at a car park and did the three glacial trail. The valley had been covered in a glacier which had only melted in the 1920s leaving behind it an inhospitable landscape of amazing coloured rocks but growth of trees and bushes were now beginning to appear. (see photos) After this we returned to the Parkway and stopped at the Athabasca Falls and the Sunwapta Falls - also taking the time to walk down to the lower falls. We arrived at Lake Louise in the evening and had a great meal in the restaurant. We just managed to get to the Lake before sundown and a thunder storm.

Link to some pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/steveford53/Cannada

Tuesday 4

Been having such a great time and been out so late haven't had time to write the blog. Jasper was brill. We took a more sedate trip on Lake Maligne and landed at Spirit Island. From there we hiked to Lakes Lorraine and Lake Mona. Stephen was hoping to see as much wild life as poss, Caroline was hoping not to see much wild life - certainly not the 'big animals', so Stephen had to be content with birds!! Anyway not to be disappointed - on the return journey we came across a black bear quite near to the road side and Caroline even ventured out of the car too - some good photos were taken. Next on the itinary we travelled about an hour, stopping to photograph some big horned sheep on the way, in the opposite direction to the hot springs at Miette. This was a new experience and we alternated between the hot, cold (but not for very long) and the very hot. Feeling relaxed we returned to Jasper for the night stopping for a hamburger on the way.

Link to some pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/steveford53/Cannada

Monday 3

Left Valemount and set off for wild activities on the River Fraser after we had signed our indemnity forms (see photos of us in life jackets!!!!!) after negotiating the rapids we saw a bald headed eagle and brilliant views of Mount Robson (the highest mountain in the Rockies. We then made our way into Robson Provincial Park and hiked to Lake Kinney. After a lunch of just crisps today, we returned to base and set off for Jasper stopping to see these wild animals on route (see photos). The weather has remained very hot throughout our time here and we as if we have an attack of the measles!!

Link to some pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/steveford53/Cannada