My trip to Alberta in June

Old Sep 15th, 2006, 08:35 AM
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My trip to Alberta in June

We are planning a trip in June 2007. Here are my plans so far.

Fly in to Calgary on 6/7...arriving at 1pm. Rent a car (Enerprise) and drive to Field, BC.
My problem is that I can't get a grip on the distances between the places we have chosen to stay and the things we need to see. We do love to hike and relax in beautiful scenery and upscale lodges. We do NOT like lots of buses, people or changing lodges often. Sooooo, what I need to know is if I need to stay in three different lodges or would two be enough? If I need three nights, have I chosen ones that will afford the best opportunity to see everything? and how many days at each place will be best?

So, with that said, we will drive to Field. We are thinking about the Cathedral Inn as it sounds beautiful and less crowded than the properties around LL. Do we stay three or four nights????? Is this location close enough to LL to see all the attractions there?

Go to Jasper the next.....four Nights???? We are staying outside town at a place called Wynswept Inn. A three room b&b that sounds personal, quaint and friendly.

Next off to Canmore to the Bear and Bison.....3 or 4 nights? (any discount for extended stays?)

Spend one night in Calgary (Greenwood Inn) and fly out on June 19th.

So I guess I am saying I have sixteen nights in addition to the last night in Calgary and was wondering what is the best way to distribute the time between the lodges.

Also, where and when should I raft or canoe? Thanks so much for any help as I would like to wrap the planning up this weekend so I can just sit back and wait and dream....I hate the decision making.....
stru is offline  
Old Sep 15th, 2006, 09:12 AM
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You will love the Bear and Bison. You don't NEED four nights there (three would be fine), but if it works out that way it's fine. Make sure you get a room with a shower (opposed to just a tub). Regarding a canoe, Lonny at the Bear and Bison told us if you are ever going to rent a canoe in your life, Lake Louise is the place. We also saw them at Moraine Lake, Maligne Lake and Pyramid Lake. We took Lonny's advice and were not disappointed! We rented our car from Enterprise and they were great. Look for a 20% off coupon in the Entertainment Book. Book a subcompact and then when you are there ask what kind of upgrade they can give you. We got a convertible for $5 more/day. It gave us an awesome panaramic view of the mountains (we did have to bundle up in the morning though with windows up and heat on!). Good luck with all of your planning. You will have a spectacular time!!
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 10:35 AM
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Hello stru,

ACCOMMODATION

I do sympathize with your desire to minimize the number of accommodation transfers. When I vacation I like to stay in one spot and use it as an exploration base. However, the size of the territory that you’ll be covering means that you’ll be better off staying in three different bases. I think the Canmore – Jasper – Field combination is a good one. You need AT LEAST two bases, one in the Canmore – Banff – Lake Louise – Field corridor and one in Jasper. If you insist on dropping one base from the more southerly area, I suggest you retain a base in the Field / Lake Louise area and drop the Canmore / Banff base. However, in an ideal world, you’ll stay in all three areas.

Although I have not stayed in any of your chosen accommodations, I have read favourable reviews of all of them. Mominburbs has just confirmed previous reviews of Bear & Bison.

WYNDSWEPT B&B

There is one thing you should be aware of, and that is the fact that, while Wyndswept B&B has a splendid reputation, it is not in or near the town of Jasper. Rather, it is at the east gates of Jasper National Park, in an area known as Jasper East, and between half an hour and three quarters of an hour’s drive from Jasper townsite. Jasper East is a very small enclave, and it is not served by the same number of restaurants and other amenities that you would find in Jasper townsite. Also, it is not as central a location with Jasper National Park as Jasper townsite is.

The roads that take you to Jasper National Park’s landmarks radiate outwards from Jasper townsite like the spokes of a wheel. If you go northeast from Jasper, you get to Jasper East (where Wyndswept B&B is located), and that in turn leads to the road to Miette Hot Springs. If you go southeast of Jasper, you get to Maligne Canyon and Maligne Lake. If you go west of Jasper, you get to Mount Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia. If you go south of Jasper, you get to Whistlers Mountain (where you can do a tram ride) and Mount Edith Cavell. If you go still further south you get to Athabasca Falls and the rest of the scenic lookout points on the Icefields Parkway (the road that connects Jasper and Lake Louise). In order to get from one of these areas to the other, you always have to drive back to Jasper townsite and then out to the next area of interest. So, for example, you cannot drive directly from Miette Hot Springs to Maligne Lake.

People who like quieter locations sometimes choose Jasper East just BECAUSE of its location. You may fall into that category, and Wyndsweapt B&B may suit you perfectly. However, before you decide to stay there, I think you should be aware of what’s involved. Perhaps you already know, but I mention it in case you don’t already know.

CATHEDRAL MOUNTAIN LODGE

Cathedral Mountain Lodge also is a stand-alone property, not especially close to restaurants, etc. However, it is maybe half way between Field, BC and Lake Louise, Alberta, so perhaps 10 minutes’ drive from each. Although Field and Lake Louise both are small hamlets, they do have restaurants, and you will have some dining choices. What I’m trying to say is that, by staying at Cathdral Mountain Lodge, you will not be placing yourself at much of a disadvantage, from a dining point of view. In terms of access to amenities, staying at Cathedral Mountain Lodge is not so very different from staying in Lake Louise or Field.

More in next post .......
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 10:37 AM
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ORDER OF TRAVEL

I suggest you stay in Canmore first and Field last. The reason is that, at that time of year, a week can make a difference to Moraine Lake. In the first week of June it typically is only partially filled and still partially frozen. If you visit it just a few days later, it can make all the difference.

The road to Mount Edith Cavell typically opens at the beginning of June. This year (2006), it opened only in the middle of June. The Angel Glacier / Cavell Meadows hike does not open until July, often only the middle of July.

Yoho Valley Road, which leads to Takakkaw Falls, often opens only towards the end of June. Cathedral Mountain Lodge is located at the beginning of that road. Certainly you’ll be allowed to get to the lodge, but you may not be permitted to drive past it.

The Highwood Pass is closed until June 15th. I suggest you drive through it on your way back to Calgary at the end of your trip.

The hike to the Burgess Shale, which departs from Takakkaw Falls, and which I ordinarily would recommend to you, begins only in July. Other travellers who read this post should be aware that you HAVE to do this hike in the company of an approved guide, because it’s a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. People who want to do this hike typically make reservations 4 or 5 months in advance.

Although you will be visiting the area early in the season, by the standards of the Canadian Rockies, and although your timing will mean that a few hikes are closed to you, I actually think your timing is ideal. It’s a fine compromise to identify a time when side roads and certain hiking trails are open but there are not yet too many tourists in the area. In my opinion June (especially the latter part of June) and the month of September are ideal.

In the next post I will recommend an itinerary ..........
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 10:39 AM
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SUGGESTED ITINERARY

Thu 7 – Land in Calgary. Drive to Canmore. This will take about 2.5 hours (1 hour for immigration and customs formalities at the airport, about 30 minutes to drive across Calgary, and between 1 hour and 1.25 hours to drive the rest of the way to Canmore).

Fri 8 – From your Canmore base, do some hiking in Kananaskis Country.

Sat 9 – From your Canmore base, visit Johnston Canyon, drive the Minnewanka Loop, ride the Sulphur Mountain Gondola, and stroll through the town of Banff. If you want to make this a more active day, you could do the hike from Johnston Canyon to the Ink Pots.

The drive from Canmore to Banff townsite is 12 – 15 minutes. Johnston Canyon is about 20 minutes’ drive beyond that. If you walk into Johnston Canyon only as far as the Lower Falls, the round trip walk takes about 1 hour. Going to the Ink Pots and back turns it into a half-day hike.

Sun 10 – Drive to Jasper.

Minimal stops are Peyto Lake, Columbia Icefields, Sunwapta Falls, Athabasca Falls.

You might consider including a walk to Mistaya Canyon. If you want to make it a more active day, you could include the Parker Ridge or Wilcox Pass hike. Another option would be to do a guided ice walk onto the Athabasca Glacier at the Columbia Icefields instead of the more passive ride in the Ice Explorer that most tourists do. If you do the guided walk, advanced reservations are essential.

http://www.icewalks.com/

The drive from Canmore / Banff to Jasper takes about 4 hours, not counting stops. Add half an hour for each of Peyto Lake, Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls. The Parker Ridge and Wilcox Pass hikes are in the 3 – 4 hour range. Two different ice walks are offered on different days of the week. One takes 3 hours and the other takes 5 hours. If you ride the Ice Explorer instead of doing the guided ice walk, budget 1 hour (up to 1.5 hours during July and August line ups).

As you can see, the drive up the Icefields Parkway quickly can expand into a full-day exercise and indeed into a multi-day exercise if you stop at the many scenic lookout points and do the optional hikes. I suggest you do what you can on the way up to Jasper and do some more on the way back from Jasper.

More .........
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 10:41 AM
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Mon 11 - From your Jasper base, visit the Maligne Valley. Spend a couple of hours in Maligne Canyon (7 miles from Jasper townsite). Then visit Maligne Lake, further along Maligne Road from Maligne Canyon, and about 1 hour’s drive from Jasper townsite. If you like, do the 90-minute round-trip cruise across Maligne Lake to Spirit Island. I like it, but it gets mixed reviews on the travel discussion forums. If you don’t do the cruise, there is a hike in this area that takes about the same length of time as the cruise.

Tue 12 - From your Jasper base, visit Miette Hot Springs (about an hour’s drive from Jasper townsite or about half an hour’s drive from Jasper East. In addition to the hot springs (amongst the nicest of the commercial hot springs in the Canadian Rockies), there also are some nice hikes in this area.

Wed 13 - From your Jasper base, visit Mount Robson Provincial Park (about an hour’s drive west of Jasper townsite). Do some hiking in that area.

Thu 14 - Drive from Jasper, Alberta to Field, BC. On the way you could ride the tram up Whistlers Mountain (a short distance outside of Jasper townsite). That ride is enhanced if you can do the extra hike to the top of the mountain.

Then visit Mount Edith Cavell (about 20 miles from Jasper townsite). Even if you cannot do the lovely Angel Glacier / Cavell Meadows hike, the scenic drive to Mount Edith Cavell is still worth it. If you take Hwy #93A out of Jasper instead of Hwy #93, the turn off to Mount Edith Cavell will be on your route towards Field. Hwy #93A merges into Hwy #93 at Athabasca Falls.

The drive from Jasper to Cathedral Mountain Lodge is about 3 hours, not counting stops. If you add the Jasper tramway, Mount Edith Cavell and lunch to the mix, I think you’ll be up to 7 hours. So you probably would have time for one other activity, e.g., Mistaya Canyon if you had not already seen it, on your way down the Icefields Parkway.

Fri 16 – From your Field base, visit Lake O’Hara as a day tripper. You have to book your space on the bus more than 3 months in advance. But if you like hiking in beautiful, pristine scenery, the hoops are worth jumping through.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/yoho/activ/activ15a_e.asp


More ........
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 10:44 AM
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Sat 16 – From your Field base, visit Moraine Lake and Lake Louise. Do one of the half-day hikes in the area, e.g., the Larch Valley hike that departs from Moraine Lake or the Plain of Six Glaciers hike that departs from Lake Louise. If you do not do a hike, I would say it would take a couple of hours to do justice to each lake, that is, to drive to it, walk to a good lookout point from which to photograph the lake, and walk the lakeshore path. So the two lakes together take about half a day. Add a half-day hike and you’re looking at a full day.

Moraine Lake is 9 miles from the village of Lake Louise, and the lake of Lake Louise is 3 miles from the village of Lake Louise. But the side roads that lead to them are quite winding, and the speed limits on the side roads are 60 km/h (38 MPH). So getting to and from the lakes takes longer than first meets the eye. The same speed limit is in effect on the roads leading to Maligne Lake and Mount Edith Cavell, so the same comment is relevant in those cases.

Sun 17 - Go whitewater rafting on the Kicking Horse River (Class IV rapids) in Yoho National Park. If you want tamer rapids – Class II and Class III – you can do your whitewater rafting on the Sunwapta or Athabasca River in Jasper National Park instead.

If you go rafting on the Kicking Horse on this day, you should have time to visit Emerald Lake on your way back to your accommodation. Allow an hour, all told, if you just want to have a quick look at Emerald Lake. It does have a 2-hour lakeshore path around its perimeter, but I don’t know that you’d have time to walk it.

Mon 18 - Drive to Banff and then drive to Calgary via the newly opened Highwood Pass. Directions are on this page of my website:

http://tinyurl.com/eweud

Overnight in Calgary.

Tue 19 - Fly home.

MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

For info about mountain weather, what to pack, national park entry fees, etc., go to the TIPS page of my website to which I provided a link in one of the earlier posts in this thread.

Hope that helps.
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 10:53 AM
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We just returned from BC & Alberta and we stayed at the Kicking Horse River Chalets and they were beautiful! It is very quiet and the scenery was amazing! We also did the White Water Rafting on the Kicking Horse and it was a lot of fun!

The Chalets are located between Golden and Field.
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Old Sep 16th, 2006, 06:51 AM
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Judy,
If we don't stay at the Wyndswept where would you suggest? The only other one we can find is the Patricia Lake Bungalows...the Grove part, but it doesn't really seem very quaint. Thanks so much for your advise and I am sure I will be responding again. Linda
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Old Sep 16th, 2006, 07:57 AM
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While we were in Jasper we stayed at Becker's (not what you are looking for) BUT we did visit Patricia Lake Bungalows because it sounded so great (we couldn't stay there because we were only staying for 2 nights and they had a three night minimum). The new places (I think The Grove) are awesome! I think you would enjoy it (I know I would!)!
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Old Sep 16th, 2006, 08:10 AM
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On your itinerary one day was left out so now I have the nights of the 7,8 and 9 in Canmore, 10,11,12,13 in Jasper, the 14,15, 16 in Field and the 18th in Calgary so I have an extra day to put somewhere. The question is where...Canmore, Jasper and Field. We like canoeing and hiking but don't know about the weather...Where do you suggest we add the night?
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Old Sep 16th, 2006, 01:40 PM
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>>>>>>On your itinerary one day was left out so now I have the nights of the 7,8 and 9 in Canmore, 10,11,12,13 in Jasper, the 14,15, 16 in Field and the 18th in Calgary so I have an extra day to put somewhere. The question is where...Canmore, Jasper and Field. We like canoeing and hiking but don't know about the weather...Where do you suggest we add the night?<<<<<<

No, I did not leave out a day. I'm sorry I went from Thu 14 to Fri 16 and then to Sat 16. I had intended to say Fri 15. That was a typo. The potential for typing errors is one of the several reasons I try to include days of the week as well as dates when I suggest itineraries.

Sun 17 is in my suggested itinerary, above. If you go back and read the description you will see that I suggested whitewater rafting on the Kicking Horse River in Yoho National Park on that day. I assumed you would be based at Cathedral Mountain Lodge on that day. Although I did not name the base for that day, I thought it was self evident.

As I said, the rapids on the Kicking Horse go up to Class IV. Most active people prefer more exciting rapids.

If you want tamer rapids, like the Class II and Class III rapids that are to be found on the Sunwapta and Athabasca Rivers in Jasper National Park, then add one night to your Jasper stay and shorten your Field stay by one night.

>>>>>>We like canoeing and hiking but don't know about the weather<<<<<<

The weather in this part of the world is very unpredictable. Even the next day's weather forecast cannot be relied upon. You have to bring layers so that you can be prepared for all eventualities. That is explained in detail on this page of my website:

http://tinyurl.com/npoh2

Hope that helps.
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Old Sep 16th, 2006, 02:45 PM
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You have helped so much....we added a day ourselves..ha ha...so this is how it has ended up...June 7,8,9 Canmore-Bear and Bison, June10,11,12,13,14 in Jasper and still unsure of Wynswept or someplace else??? what would you suggest...the June 15,16,17,18 in Field at the Cathedral...to Calgary on the the 19th probably the Greenwood and flu out on the 20th. We did discover that we will have to do Ohara ride later as it didn't open so we moved it to the 18th and are planning the Athabasca glacier walk on Tuesday the 12th as they only offer the long one on Thursday....see how much help you have been....I am so thankful to have found you. So if you can give me advice about the Wynswept ...we do like off the beaten path, but don't want to spend the whole time on the road...Patrica Lake Bungalows??? Thanks again Linda
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Old Sep 16th, 2006, 02:47 PM
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I just noticed mominburbs reply on Patricia....thanks....it does sound nice.
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Old Sep 17th, 2006, 03:00 PM
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Judy .... help....just found out Bear and Bison is full. I need another accomodation. I read about Lady MacDonald B&B....do you know anything about it? Railroad tracks??? Also, the Paintbox...Any suggestions...thanks again Linda
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