Day 5 - Canyon Hot Springs, B.C. to Canmore, Alberta

The Curbs #5                                                                                                     Sunday, June 13, 2010

After a night of rest in beautiful Canyon Hot Springs Resort, we resumed our journey at 7 am. Shortly after leaving, we entered Glacier National Park and began to encounter snow sheds over the road. Crossing into the province of Alberta, we set our watches ahead one hour-mountain time. Mini waterfalls cascaded down the mountains by the road and the snow seemed very close. We passed two RCMP – they looked very official with their bullet proof vests on the outside. At mile 52.6 a good sized black bear crossed the road in front of us. The Blackberry River was the first river that we had seen that had that “milky” look from glacial flour.

At Golden it was time for a morning coffee break. We went to a place called LEGENZ – all about the fifties and cars. They had pictures and posters of Elvis, James Dean, etc. There were lots of restored pedal cars, a gas pump and all sorts of toy cars. The food was excellent and lots of it. As we crossed the Kicking Horse River, a train was going by below us. A nice waterfall and unusual slate looking rock formations appeared right after the bridge.

At Field, we stopped at the Visitor Center which was under construction – bathrooms outside. There we collected maps and info about Lake Louise, Banff and Canmore. At the Spiral Tunnel, a train came right on time but it was three or four cars too short to see “head and tail.”

On Hwy 1 between Lake Louise and Banff we saw what looked like a grizzly bear – size, color, and shoulder hump all looked right. We took the first exit to Banff and make our way through town to the Banff Gondola. The ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain and the view from the top were spectacular.

                               

 

After an easy drive to Canmore, we topped off our tank and made it into the campground in time for our meeting at 5 pm. Then, it was back to Banff for a delicious dinner at the Banff Springs Hotel. The waterfall behind the hotel was awesome. We finally made it back to the coach at 10 pm – a long day but a good day of travel and sightseeing.