Exploring Alberta

Jasper NP, Alberta to Edmonton, Alberta (sightseeing)

August 15 - August 19, 2016

So, what to see in Alberta???  We didn't know much about the province so we consulted our AAA travel guide and looked at their list of  Gems ("Great Experience for Members") - i.e. the places they think are the most outstanding for tourists to see.  We narrowed down the list to the places we were the most interested in then circled the locations on a map of Alberta.  That put us on the path to 9 different locations from Edmonton south to the US border.

Edmonton - We chose to visit 2 "Gems" in Edmonton.  The first was TELUS World of Science and the second was Fort Edmonton Park.  We didn't take any pictures at the World of Science but we spent 4 fascinating hours in two galleries.  One concerned environmental issues and the other demonstrated interesting ways our bodies work.  We found them to be very interesting and informative.

The next day we visited Fort Edmonton Park which is so big you simply can't see it all in one day unless you were to race walk through the place.  It consists of 4 sections, each depicting Edmonton in a different era.  We were there practically all day and we still only saw two of the 4 eras.  The first was the 1846 Fort established by Hudson's Bay Company and the second was Edmonton as it might have been in 1885.  Both were really interesting.  Throughout the park they have people in period costumes to help explain how life was back in those days.


Inside the fort.  The high walls were predominantly to keep the bears out. 
Relationships with the First Nation peoples was for the most part very good.

Inside the fort.  As you can see it's a big place with lots of buildings.

This is the "home" of the Fort's top man and his family.
It consists of typical rooms found in any house plus lots of guest rooms for visitors.  The place is huge



This was a typical room for married men.  They weren't allowed to marry back
east and bring their wives to the Fort.  As a result most married Native women.
This resulted in people of mixed blood who were called Metis people in Canada.

This is half of the kitchen where meals were prepared for the working people who lived at the Fort.
Everything was cooked in the fireplace.

This is the other half of the kitchen where food was stored, prepared, etc.

The storage room for Rum. 

The dining room in the "big" house where the boss and his family lived.

Guest room in the "big" house.

The trading store where furs were brought to trade for money or items.

Outside the Fort there was an example of the Cree Indian Camp.
The tripod of poles on the left was where they dried meat while
the tripod on the right was basically a sort of table.

 

A tipi at the Cree camp.

From the Fort we walked over to the 1885 Edmonton town site.

Looking down the street.  All the buildings were moved here from other places and
each building has a plaque describing the original Edmonton business and it's owner(s).

The buildings represent a wide variety of business from the 1880's including the ones shown below.

Typical one room school house.

Gift items.

Household items.

Hardware store

Fur Trader

General Store

Livery Stable

Saloon

Druggist

Doctor's Office

Doctor's tools.

Bakery

Harness Maker

Printers shop.

Unfortunately we ran out of time before we could see the other two sections of Fort Edmonton Park.  It also includes a versions of Edmonton in 1905 and 1925.  The whole place is wonderfully done and worth every minute you spend there.
























Ko-Ba-Yo-Ja

Radium Hot Springs, BC to BC and AB's NP's (sightseeing in British Columbia and Alberta's National Parks)

Kotenay-Banff-Yoho-Jasper

August 9-14, 2016

Having never been to Calgary we decided to head in that direction but at the last minute we changed our minds and decided to revisit Banff and Jasper National Parks.  The road from Radium to Banff is a beautiful drive through Kootenay NP.  Since it was "high season" we figured we might have a hard time getting a camping spot anywhere near Banff so we dry camped in Kootenay's Marble Canyon Campground, a nice wooded campground as far north as we could get.  It was a good choice and we used it as a base to visit the town of Banff and the attractions in Kootenay NP.  Laura was not at all happy with all the trees in the campground and the multiple bear warnings posted around but we managed to stay several nights and got all our Banff sightseeing done.

This small stream ran between the highway and Marble Canyon Campground.
The water was so clear it looked like liquid ice.  You could see every rock under the water!

The town of Banff.  We were last here in 1983 or 84 and the town has grown tremendously.
Lots of people, lots of traffic but a very cute town.  The tourist issues we have on Whidbey
are nothing compared to what they deal with here!

Typical Banff NP scenery.  It is truly a beautiful place.

More of the mountains in Banff.  These are the younger mountains
in the area with sloped sides and jagged ridges.

These mountains are older with more vertical sides having been worn down by water, wind and ice.

This "little" hotel was built in 1887 by the Canadian Pacific Railroad to lure travelers to the area
to enjoy  the hot springs.  It is one of Canada's grand railway hotels.  The Canadian Pacific
smelled money and wanted to cash in.  It's now called the Fairmont Banff Springs.

The falls on the Bow River in Banff - just below the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.
I wanted someone to cruise through on a kayak but no one obliged.

The hot springs that put Banff on the map.  They are no longer used, except as a tourist site.

The exterior of the hot springs.  Definitely up to standards as a tourist destination.

From our Marble Canyon campground we drove a short distance to Yoho National Park and dry camped in another beautiful campground called Monarch near the town of Field.  While the Marble Canyon campground in Kootenay NP had never filled up, we were lucky to get a spot in one of Yoho's dry campgrounds.  Laura loved this place because it was open and spacious with a beautiful view.  Although we still saw bear warnings I guess she must have thought she would at least see it coming.  You never hear anything about Yoho NP but it is quite worthy of a visit on it's own right. 

The view from our Monarch campsite in Yoho. The main highway along with
 railroad tracks aren't too far away but what a view.

One of the unusual sites in Yoho are the spiral railroad tunnels at Kicking Horse Pass.
The original railroad followed a steep grade of 4.5%, well over the recommended maximum grade
for a railroad.  There were many train accidents as a result of the steep grade.
To fix it they used an idea that had been used in Switzerland.  They dug two long spiral tunnels in the
mountains which flattened the grade to about 2%.  If you follow the black line on the left side you see it
enters a tunnel then curves around coming out of the tunnel at a higher elevation.  It then heads back the way it
came (middle black line) where it enters another tunnel (red curved line), curves around and comes back
out at a higher elevation heading in the original direction.  It was a remarkably effective solution.

The Kicking Horse River near the town of Field, BC.
I just love the name Kicking Horse.  It creates quite a visual doesn't it?
It came about when one of the early explorers in the area was kicked by his horse.

A natural Bridge over the Kicking Horse River in Yoho NP.  The river drops over a waterfall then
flows under the natural bridge which it has created over the centuries. The water flows
fast and furious here.  Falling in would be deadly!

Emerald Lake at Yoho NP.  Isn't it stunning!  It was so peaceful here.

Takakkaw Falls in Yoho NP.  This was in August. 
Can you imagine what the flow must be like when it's early spring?

It was virtually impossible to get a good picture of the confluence of these two rivers
but the coloring in this sign displays it very well.    The Kicking Horse river is a beautiful
blue color when it runs into the Yoho River but literally, in a matter of seconds,
all the blue is completely gone as it mixes with the milky white Yoho River. 

Fairmont Chateau Hotel at Lake Louise. 
All the rooms on this side of the hotel have the view below.

 

Lake Louise

Lake Louise tourists!  Pretty popular place eh?
Trust me - they aren't all staying at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
Trying to find a parking spot here was almost impossible.



Lake Moraine in Banff NP.  The color of the water was amazing.

From Yoho we drove the icefield highway up to Jasper and kept our fingers crossed that we would find a spot in one of the campgrounds but no such luck!  Happily we were directed to an overflow area where we could dry camp.  As overflow areas go this was pretty nice.  You basically just park wherever you want and it was interesting watching people try to figure out exactly where they wanted to be. 

The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.

Beauvert Lake at Jasper Park Lodge.  What a setting!  This was our favorite of
the "Fairmont" hotels.  Not so pretentious - more relaxed and casual.  Also a lot fewer people.

Athabaska Falls in Jasper NP.  Very impressive to say the least.

An old water pathway at Athabaska Falls.  The river is constantly
cutting new channels and leaving old ones high and dry.

Angle Wing Glacier in Jasper NP.
I hate to be jaded but it looked more like a moose head with it's antlers stretched out to each side!

Maligne Lake at Jasper NP
It's a long drive out but worth the time.  We had some bad weather that day
but the lake was still beautiful to see.

 



Big Horn Sheep along the roadside having a conference.
There was a group of 15-20 females and young males.

The overflow campground in Jasper NP.  It can accommodate a lot of RV's
belonging to people like us who don't have a reservation but hope
 they'll get a spot in one of the regular campgrounds.  The cost is the same - either way!