Banff, Alberta

Tuesday 28 July 

So the saying goes........,

measure life, not in the number of breaths you take,

but in the number of times your breath gets taken away

and its been happening all day in the 180 odd mile run down from Jasper to Banff along the Icefields Parkway.

It rained for the first 20km, but the clouds lifted to reveal the peaks

I'll let the pics describe them, I'm speechless

I took a zillion, good thing my Nokia has an 8 gb card.

First stop was Athabasca Falls

the river piling into, and charging down, a 10' wide chasm.

The blurb said there were 14 species of fish downstream

and 1 above, a type of trout.

No-one knows how it made its way up there, where the others couldnt

one possibility being an early Indian had the brainwave to try stocking upriver with fishing stock.

Athabasca Falls

Then on to Sunwapta Falls, similar sort of deal

and into the cafe for breakfast, smorgasbord cooked breakie for $20

dear enough, but we did the consumption compensation, and had the cook quickly back on the job

doing more eggs, bacon, and sausages

french toast and croissants too, standard fare for any North American breakfast.

You do get well fed in the america's, but I think its more of a hospitality thing.....

I give you a good serve, you give me some money

and speaking of, obese Americans are a supposed legend, but I havent seen many

certainly no greater/worse than back home

so far anyway.

Canadians look better fed than Americans.

A bloke told me the glacier used to come right to the road

Then up to the Columbia Icefield, les Champs de Glaces Columbie

gee, I'm enjoying the dual language signage, brush up on my francais

Right amongst it same-level wise, the glacier that is, but probably a km off the road

although a bloke I spoke to couple of days ago  said when  he first came up here the terminus was right at the road.

There's a chateau thing there, and as I departed I got a whiff of the septic tank outlet

same as at Top o the Bruce

maybe they dont work so well in the cold

and I suppose the global warming manics, oops pardon, CLIMATE CHANGE, protagonists amongst you will tut tut about the recede of the glaciers

but I think I'd sooner adapt to 2-3deg warmer climate than to the glaciation that the Ice Age wrought around here

we'd be grinding paste, if not icicles

mega-violent geologic upheaval on every quarter.

Lake Louise

Then the compulsory to Lake Louise...

very pretty, hordes of tourists there, but seamlessly managed with walks etc

Usual bumf about who discovered the place, bloke got lead in by an indian

bit like Capt Cook discovering NZ with Tupaea on board the Endeavour.

Morraine Lake

I did a little 22km side trip up to Morraine Lake

gee, I'm impressed with the imagination North Americans apply to naming places

every state so far I've seen at least 2 Elk Rivers.

Yesterday I passed a lake called Moose Lake, and bugger me, running out of it was....

Moose River

had me singing, Moose River....., wider than a mile.......

but I suppose if Indian names had been picked up on

it'd be something like "the place where Running Elk stubbed his toe and met Swift Bear on his way home from a bad day trying to catch trout in the green lake"

and even then it would be all in glottal stop stuff the local first nationers use.

Anyway, I digress...

Morraine Lake was also very pretty

like Lake Louise, the glaciers terminate hundreds of feet above the lake head

3-4 story thick chunks breaking off and crashing down the cliffs

but none happened while I was there.

Bow Valley

From there the logical route into Banff was down TransCanada 1

but I'm enjoying the paths less travelled and took Bow Valley road, the original track in, and where the rail got built

its on the sunny side see, more pleasant, less swamp, drier ground to build roads on, more game etc

the tourism board or whoever have done a great job along here

pull-offs all the way with story boards for turkeys like me to read

a canadian pacific train thundered past as I read, 118 wagons, a second loco positioned at wagon 42

she's all big round these parts.

Back to the story, which goes that in the beginning there were elk

but they were getting hunted out and diminished by predators

so, there followed a big drive on clearing predators and stopping hunting.

The elk grew in great number and started to eat the trees out

which was being assisted by fighting forest fires.

As in Australia, natural fires are part of the tree's life cycle for seed set and regeneration

so they knocked off controlling predators, and instituted a policy of controlled fire-setting

and now everythings hunky dory 

the predators have plenty of elk to hunt and eat, so the elk arent eating the  trees

and the occasional fire begets new trees for the elk to eat, plus all the mountain pasture so triggered providing grazing for the bears.

I really dont think we're going to see much road wild-life

the story boards say theyre human and road vehicle shy

and its only where humans are silly enough to feed them that they make their presence.

There are also recommendations for how to drive through wildlife reserves

perfect transcripts for driving the Parapara's as I mentioned a couple of days ago.

So thats my first real big taste of Canada

Oh Canada...

I have slaked my soul deep on your cold waters (and Canadian Light)

and breathed deep on your cool air

and the part of me thats regenerating

I want you to be part of.

I wrote that

deep huh...

Well, my washing should be just about dry now

I've been doing this letter in the hotel laundry on my EeePC

then off to look for a steak

last nights was a 16oz T-bone

with so much rehydration drinking going on, the old tum needs some binding.

By the way, my USA cowboy boots are great, roper work boots

warm, waterproof, and really interesting to note, the flat soles totally stable on wet granite

I imported them landed in my mailbox for half the price theyre available at home, if you can find them.

Now to sort out which of the hundred pics I took today, to attach to this.

Adieu

ps, add to the Lillooet story, bit of a hole as I said, was also an internment camp for Japanese nationals during WWII

one of them, a doctor, liked the place so much he stayed and became one the first Japanese to hold public office

a town alderman

takes all sorts...