mdod

My husband and I will be going on our first trip to Canada May 19-29 and will be flying in and out of Calgary. I've already gotten a lot of information here but I'm trying to get a better feel for an itinerary so that I can start making hotel reservations.

We have friends in Calgary and Vancouver and were originally going to make a round trip between them but it's just too much ground to cover adequately so we'll do the Vancouver area some other time.

For some background information on our vacation style. Wherever we go, we plan with the assumption that we will not be coming back. Just too many places we want to see. We also are what I would call power travelers. Our vacations are anything but leisurely. Knowing that we won't be back, we fit in as much as we can wherever we go. We like to get up early and go all day so we typically fit in a lot more than most people in a day. We are in our mid 40s. I wouldn't say I'm in great shape but I rise to the challenge on vacation. We can handle moderate hikes and short bouts of strenuous hikes but I'm no hard core hiker. Hiking is a means to an end for me, I don't do it just to do it. We typically don't like tours unless that's the only way to experience something. We don't like crowds so we try to beat the tours to a location. We're very causal and fancy hotels and restaurants are not our thing. We typically only sleep and bath in the hotel so as long as the place is clean and comfortable and in a convenient location, I'd rather spend my money elsewhere. I hate checking in and out so I prefer to venture out from a central base whenever possible. We enjoy good food, but don't care that much about the dining experience unless it is something unique to the area.

The Canadian Rockies are our primary focus but my friend in Vancouver offered to meet us in Kelowna if we can work it out. Apparently there are a lot of wineries in the area. However neither of us drink wine so if wine tasting is the main attraction of Kelowna, I'd rather not spend much time there. She also suggested Penticton and Osoyoos.

So...here's where I am right now!

May 19th- flight arrive 2:30 pm. Visit friend in Calgary then drive toward Banff. I'm thinking about the Lady MacDonald Inn in Canmore. MOneygirl mentioned a sleigh ride. I asumme that is winter only, correct?

May 20th- Johnston Canyon upper falls, Lake Minnewanka and Suplhur Mountain, etc. Overnight in Canmore again.

May 21st- Drive the Icefield Parkway to Jasper- ALL day with stops along the way.
Overnight in Jasper- no ideas where yet.

Any reason to choose one tour over another when going to the Athabasca Glacier? Also, do they drop you off and you catch another coach when you are ready to go back or is the tour a set time?

May 22- Mouth Edith Cavell full circuit, Maligne Canyon, Malinge Lake. Overnight in Jasper again.

Mot sure if the Spirit Island cruise will be running that time of year. If it is, does this offer views we can't get elsewhere?

May 23rd- Drive back to Lake Louise. Visit there and Moraine Lake. Probably overnight in Field, BC. No ideas where yet.

May 24th- AM Whitewater rafting on Kicking Horse River. Any recommendations on rafting cos? Explore YoHo afterward. Overnight Field again.

May 25th- Explore more of YoHo then across Roger's Pass to Revelstoke.

This is where I get stuck. Our flight out of Calgary is ~3:00 PM May 29th. Do I have enough time to go to Kelowna, Penticton and Osoyoos and back or am I better off spending more time in the Canadian Rockies? It sounds like a totally different area so it might be a nice change of pace but I have no idea how long it would take to see the sites there. Most itineraries I've seen cover those areas pretty quickly. OTOH, my friend in Calgary is encouraging me to spend a couple of days in the backcountry at Skoki Lodge to get a true Canadian Rocky experience. My main concern with that is that you have to hike in and out which would not be much fun if the weather is bad. She also recommended hiking around Kananaskis which I assume we could easily do from a base in Canmore.

How about timing? Are there any places that are best seen at a certain time of day? If I do go to Osoyoos, does it make any difference if we go there first or last?

Thanks in advance for any comments/suggestions.
Marcia

ltt

well, personally i would add another night onto canmore & jasper but since you sound like you like to go, go, go...maybe not.
if you want to meet your other friend, kelowna would be the most convenient for you. it would be about 1/2 day's drive from revelstoke. so you could get there on the 26th, spend two nights there. night of the 28th stay somewhere around banff again (sunday night you may not even need reservations, just drive till you want to stop) then the next morning head to calgary.

Judy_in_Calgary

Hello Marcia,

You have asked a lot of questions, and I'll try to answer them, but it will probably take several posts to get through them.

I personally don’t think you have time to take in the <b>Okanagan</b>. In my opinion there are two ways of enjoying the Okanagan:

(1) You can stop there for a night or two en route from Calgary to Vancouver. It makes for a pleasant break in the journey.

(2) The Okanagan is a vacation destination in its own right, and you can spend a week or so there. I suppose some people might spend two weeks there, but a week is long enough for me. If you do that, it’s a relaxing place to be. You can do beach and boating kinds of activities, which are especially fun if you’re travelling with kids. There’s wine tasting, as you’ve already found out. There’s the Kettle Valley Railway’s steam train (albeit it will be operating on its reduced spring timetable and will not yet be functioning on its summer timetable). There also are golf courses.

I feel that neither (1) nor (2) meets your needs. In my opinion the drive there and back in the short time you have will be too long to deliver a reward that is worth it (unless you place a high value on meeting your Vancouver friends there – but then how long are you willing to spend with your Vancouver friends in the Okanagan given that you seem to want to drive by and wave at your Calgary friends? Sorry, I don't mean to be rude. I'm just trying to tune into the detailed and useful description of yourselves that you provided and using it to predict what may appeal to you.)

<b>If</b> you go to the Okanagan, it would be ideal to go there first, as it warms up sooner than the Rockies do.

Judy_in_Calgary

<b>Kananaskis Country</b> is a great place to hike. The beautiful Highwood Pass, however, is closed to cars until June 15th.

If you don’t want to hike into a <b>back country lodge</b>, you could consider lodges that are a little out of the way that nevertheless are accessible by road. The ultimate place to stay, I think, is Lake O’Hara Lodge in Yoho National Park. You park your car in a parking lot just off the TransCanada Highway, and catch a bus to the lodge. However, it has become frightfully expensive, and on top on that it’s usually reserved at least a year in advance.

Other lodges that would give you good experiences, but that would not force you to hike in, include Mount Engandine Lodge (in Kananaskis Country, to the south of Canmore), Num Ti Jah Lodge (overlooking Bow Lake, just off the Icefields Parkway, about half an hour north of Lake Louise), and Aurum Lodge (some distance east of Saskatchewan Crossing and about 1.5 hours from Lake Louise). Aurum Lodge overlooks Lake Abraham. It’s located just off Hwy 11, on the way from Saskatchewan River Crossing to Rocky Mountain House. You would have access to great scenery and good hiking country from any one of those locations.

Since you would be going early in the season, you would have the best chance of finding snow-free hiking trails in the Front Ranges at the eastern edge of the Rockies. I would think that either Aurum Lodge or Mount Engandine Lodge would serve you well for that reason. However, the hiking country that you could access from Mount Engandine Lodge also would be accessible from a base in Canmore, so I don’t really see the purpose of switching accommodation. Aurum Lodge, on the other hand, would expose you to a different area.

Further research would bring up lodges around Golden and Revelstoke. Another area to consider is <b>Waterton Lakes National Park</b> in the SW corner of Alberta.

Judy_in_Calgary

If you are unlikely to visit this area again, have you thought of including a visit to the <b>Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology</b> in Dyrumheller? The dinosaur skeletons are amazing. Besides that, you can find out a lot about the Rockies if you visit the Tyrrell. For example, the museum has a model of the ancient ocean that now is the Burgess Shale formation near Field, BC in Yoho National Park. The models of the sea creatures are ten times actual size so that it’s easy for you to visualize them. They also have a greenhouse that contains living plants that belong to species that were contemporaries of the dinosaurs. They know, from pollen spores in the fossil record, which plants existed alongside the dinosaurs. Grass had not yet evolved. All other things being equal, it’s better to visit the Tyrrell before the mountains. It’s located in the prairies, and that scenery feels underwhelming if you see it after the mountains.

Yes, the <b>sleigh ride</b> that Moneygirl mentioned is a winter activity, and will no longer be available.

Judy_in_Calgary

Don’t know what you meant about choosing one tour over another when you go to the <b>Athabasca Glacier</b>. If you drive yourself there, there is only one vehicle, the Brewster’s Snocoach, that takes you onto the glacier. (The Snocoach takes both the passengers of various companies’ escorted coach tours and tourists who are visiting the area on a self-drive basis.)

In fact there are a few Snocoaches. They are leaving the Visitors’ Centre and retuning to it all the time. There is no set schedule. You just show up and buy a ticket. If you arrive just after a tour bus disgorges its passengers, you can end up waiting half an hour or more before you actually manage to get onto a Snocoach. However, there will be <b>far</b> fewer visitors and tour buses in May than there are in July and August. I don’t believe you’ll spend much time waiting.

I’ve re-read your question about the Snocoach Tour, and I think I understand what you were asking. You stay with the same Snocoach vehicle on your way up onto the glacier <b>and</b> on your way back from the glacier to the Visitors’ Centre. Once you’re on the glacier, the driver lets you out to walk around for a few minutes. However, you are not allowed to stay behind on the glacier and return with a different vehicle.

Every time I’ve been on the glacier, there has been a cold wind blowing across it, even on an otherwise hot summer’s day. The glacier is interesting, and you certainly want to have a look around, but I have never felt tempted to linger. The few minutes that we’ve had in which to walk around always has been enough for me.

Something that I have not done myself, that gets great reviews on the travel discussion forums, and that is a new-ish offering, is a guided hike onto the glacier. I don’t know how long it takes, about half a day I would guess. But under no circumstances should you attempt to hike onto the glacier on your own. Once in a while someone kills him/herself trying to pull that stunt.

Judy_in_Calgary

About the <b>time of day</b> at which you should see this or that sight …… I don’t think you can afford to be a control freak on that score. The weather in the mountains is so unpredictable that you just have to be grateful if you see a specific sight at all. If the stars are aligned in your favour, and if you care a lot about photography, these are a few preferences:

Sulphur Mountain gondola – best done before late afternoon when the mountain throws a shadow over the valley and renders it more difficult to photograph

Lake Louise – best photographed in the morning, as the view is towards the west, and it’s better to have the sun behind you in the east

Spirit Island -- best photographed in the afternoon, as the view is towards the east

Judy_in_Calgary

<b>Moraine Lake</b> will look like crap when you visit, if indeed the road to it is open. The park wardens open the road when they deem it is safe to do so, i.e., snow is sufficiently melted, danger of avalanches has passed, etc. The earliest I’ve known the road to open is the Victoria Day long weekend (when you’ll be arriving in Calgary), and the latest I’ve know it to open is the middle of June. Spring has been arriving earlier in recent years, which I attribute to global warming. The road has been opening in time for the Victoria Day long weekend. However, even into the first week of June, the lake has been a third full, and some of it still has been frozen. If you get to the lake, you won’t see the glorious turquoise colour of its water, or at least you won’t see it to full advantage. However, the Valley of the Ten Peaks is scenic, and I still think it’s worth a visit if the road is open.

You may or may not be able to get to <b>Mount Edith Cavell</b>. The road to it typically opens around the beginning of June. The Cavell Meadows hiking trail typically opens the middle of July. I love the drive to Mount Edith Cavell. I hope you’ll be able to get to it. But in any case it would be ambitious to do the Angel Glacier / Cavell Meadows hike, which is considered a half-day hike, and also go to Maligne Canyon and do the Spirit Island cruise all in one day. Maligne Canyon can take anything from a few minutes to a full day, depending on how far into the canyon you want to walk. Since you won’t be able to do the Cavell Meadows hike, you could afford to spend at least half a day in Maligne Canyon.

About the cruise to <b>Spirit Island</b> …… First of all, I think there’s a good chance that the cruise will be available during your visit, but I’m not sure. Jasper is at a lower elevation than Banff and Lake Louise, so Maligne Lake usually thaws earlier than Lake Louise. Let’s suppose the cruise is available, the next question is whether or not it’s worth doing. Opinions on that are divided around here. Several posters have said they’ve been underwhelmed by it. I personally like it. And, yes, I do think it gives you a view of something that you wouldn’t really be able to see from another vantage point (unless you were willing to do a multi-day hike along the shores of a long narrow lake, such as I have done at Lake Minnewanka outside of Banff townsite).

Judy_in_Calgary

This post details with timing logistics.

About visiting with your Calgary friends and then continuing to Canmore ....... If your flight arrives at 2.30 pm, you probably won’t emerge from immigration and customs before 3.30 p.m. Then where will you be visiting with your friends? Will they come to the airport to see you, or will you drive to their home? If you drive to their place, and depending on where in Calgary they live, it may take you up to an hour to reach them. Then how long do you want to spend with them? I'm guessing you'd want to spend at least a couple of hours with them. That would take you into dinnertime. Then you may as well have dinner with them. If you left them at, say, 8.00 pm., you would be in Canmore by 9.30 pm or 10.00 pm, again depending on the quadrant of Calgary from which you’ll be departing. If you live on the eastern seaboard of North America, it will feel like 11.30 pm or midnight to you. But it is feasible.

If you have spent the night prior to your departure in Banff, I recommend you leave Banff at 10.00 am on the day of your departure. This will get you to Calgary Airport around 12 noon. Have lunch in the airport’s food court or, if you want a nicer meal, eat in the restaurant of the Delta Calgary Airport Hotel, which is right inside the airport complex. If you'll be boarding a US-bound flight check in at 1.00pm for your 3.00 pm flight. You do need to check in 2 hours prior to take off, because you clear US immigration and customs at Calgary Airport. Then your plane is treated like a domestic flight when it lands in the States. I recommend eating before checking in for your flight and going through immigration and customs. The food selection at the departure gates is not great.

The above assumes you'll be catching a US-bound flight. In that case you need to leave Banff 5 hours before departure. If you'll be catching a domestic flight (e.g., if you'll be connecting in Toronto or Vancouver before continuing home) you can leave Banff 4 hours before departure.

Judy_in_Calgary

Finally, I agree with ltt's suggestion to spend an extra night in each of Jasper and Canmore. If you had an extra day in Jasper, you could visit Mount Robson Provincial Park from there. If you had an extra day in Canmore, you could visit Kananaskis Country from there.

Please feel free to check out my web site:

http://groups.msn.com/CalgaryandCana...kiesTravelTips

Hope that helps.

saltymuffin

I wouldn't head deep into BC. Use your time to improve your itinerary.

Firstly, I would not drive to Canmore the same day you arrive in Calgary. Where are you flying from? Will jet lag be an issue? Do you actually want to spend more than 1/2 an hour seeing your friends in Calgary? At best, by the time you get yourself out of the airport and to wherever your friend is, it will be 3:30. I would spend the evening with them, the night in Calgary, and then start out fresh the next morning. I suggest the following:

19th - arrive, see friend in Calgary and stay the night, perhaps in the west end of town near Canada Olymipic Park (Four Points?)

20th - get up and head to Canmore. If you aren't into hiking for hikings, sake, I wouldn't recommend Kananaskis hikes. Start on your Banff itinerary, be sure to at least include a stop in Banff townsite. (sleep Canmore)

21st - Complete your Banff itinerary (sleep Canmore)

22nd - Drive to Jasper (sleep Jasper)

23rd - Do your Jasper itinerary (sleep Jasper)

24th - Drive to Field via Lake Louise. This isn't a bad idea, but places to stay in the town of Field itself are VERY limited. Consider one of the places off the highway rather than in town. ( sleep Field)

25th - Rafting (sleep Field)

26th - Drive to Revelstoke (sleep Revelstoke)

27th - Explore Revelstoke and Glacier Parks (sleep Revelstoke)

28th - Drive back to Calgary (sleep Calgary)

29th - see Calgary and fly home

Alternatively, delete Revelstoke, and
from Field, drive back to Calgary, then spend a couple of days exploring Drumheller and the &quot;badlands&quot; of Southern Alberta. I would do this, it gives you a whole different adventure. I don't really think the drive all the way to Revelstoke is worth it in your case.

saltymuffin

Obviously, I was posting at the same time as Judy! We said a few of the same things!

I like her suggestion of doing the badlands first, then the mountains.

stanbr

If I might just put in a word. I have only stopped at Field for a coffee and a quick stop at the tourist info booth, but I don't remember seeing anything resembling a hotel there. If you are camping then there is Yoho Park.
I have stayed at Emerald Lake Lodge which is about 10 minutes west and north of Field. It is a lovely location a 4 star facility and also a bit on the pricey side.

mdod

Thanks to everyone for the comments so far. Judy, I've already used your website and your many posts. What a treasure trove of info. The first question I want to ask is, given the time of year, do you think we'd be better off visiting Vancouver instead of Alberta? Although I'm getting really excited about seeing the Canadian Rockies, we picked it over Vancouver because it offered better flights with our frequent flyer miles. My tickets are on hold for another week so I may still be able to switch to Vancouver. For the next 3 years, the end of May is the only time that we can travel, but after that we'll be able to go whenever we want so if you think we'll be missing out on alot, it might be worth a change in venue. My friend said we probably wouldn't be able to get into the high country then but there would still be plenty to see and do. It appears that the backcountry lodges that my friend recommended are all closed from mid April to mid June, as is the Mount Engandine Lodge. However it looks like the Num Ti Jah Lodge and Aurum Lodge are open then. So what do you think?

If we did stay 2 nights at the Aurum Lodge, would you still recommend adding another night in Jasper?

Stanbr thanks for the heads up on Field. I just listed it because one of the itineraries I looked at said to overnight in Field or Lake Louise and since we were interested in going to YoHo and a rafting trip out of Golden at 8:30 AM, I figured it would be smart to overnight in Field.

I saw the posts about the Royal Tyrrell Museum and it does look interesting. We went to Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado several years ago and really enjoyed it but I wasn't sure where Tyrrell would fit into our travels. One post recommended spending at least 2 hours at the museum. With the museum opening at 9:00 am and a 90 min drive each way to Calgary, I had been wondering if it would be feasible to do that the morning of our flight back home (departs at 3:16). Judy, all of your itineraries seem to just hit the museum. If we went at the beginning of our trip, are there enough other things to do in the Badlands to warrant spending the night there or would a day trip to Drumheller be enough?

I think we'll give up on Kelwona but I'm still wondering about Revelstoke Salty. Many itineraries mention it. Do you think it's mainly a place to stop along the way but not worth a special trip? Would you still drive to Roger's Pass?

Judy, when I look at your sample itineraries, it looks like YoHo and Roger's Pass are covered in one day. Asssuming we spend the night in Golden (are there more places there than Field?), would we have enough time to drive to Roger's Pass and see the sites in YoHo after a morning raft trip or should we plan on spending the next day at YoHo too?

I'll check out the glacier tours but if you live in Calgary and you get cold on the short snocoach tour, I doubt this NC girl will enjoy an extended visit

As to the timing question, I don't schedule every minute of my vacation. I just wanted to know if there was something that was particularly special at a certain time of day so I could try to work around that.

Thanks again for all your help.
Marcia

bob_brown

You will arrive out there full early in the season.

Mount Engadine Lodge does not open until June 18.

Lake O'Hara Lodge also does not open until mid June, as soon as the snow is off the road leading up to the complex.

Skoki Lodge ends the winter season on April 8. I don't know when the summer season begins, but I doubt if it is in mid May.

Twin Falls Chalet usually opens in late June or early July depending on the snow cover and whether or not an avalanche has blocked the road!!

All the lakes around 5,000 feet in elevation will be frozen over in mid May The lakes around 6,000 feet are not ice free until July.

You will still be able to enjoy the Icefields Parkway.

In Jasper, the Angel Glacier loop will be closed even if the road out there is open. It is often restricted to protect the fragile environment until July when the terrain is dryer.

The sno coach that goes onto the glacier starts operating in April. You normally stay with the same coach both going and coming.

I don't think you want to go wandering around on a glacier without knowing how to use crampons, an ice axe, and how to negotiate slippery terrain while roped together for safety.

Even though early, there will still be much to enjoy. I would not venture off on any trails in the mountains during late May and early June without first checking avalanche conditions with the warden staff.

Judy_in_Calgary

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;The first question I want to ask is, given the time of year, do you think we'd be better off visiting Vancouver instead of Alberta? Although I'm getting really excited about seeing the Canadian Rockies, we picked it over Vancouver because it offered better flights with our frequent flyer miles. My tickets are on hold for another week so I may still be able to switch to Vancouver. For the next 3 years, the end of May is the only time that we can travel, but after that we'll be able to go whenever we want so if you think we'll be missing out on alot, it might be worth a change in venue. My friend said we probably wouldn't be able to get into the high country then but there would still be plenty to see and do. It appears that the backcountry lodges that my friend recommended are all closed from mid April to mid June, as is the Mount Engandine Lodge. However it looks like the Num Ti Jah Lodge and Aurum Lodge are open then. So what do you think?&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;

That is a really tough question to answer. The mountains are beautiful on any day of the year. The end of May certainly would have the advantage that the mountain resort towns would be quieter from a tourist point of view.

Some people travel to the mountains just before the lakes have fully thawed and still have a thin sheet of ice on them, and they find that enchanting.

My own preference is to visit the mountains during the last half of June or else during the month of September – if a person has the choice.

Three years is quite a long time to have to wait if you really want to see the Canadian Rockies. If you could go to Vancouver this year and to the Canadian Rockies next year, I would vote for going to Vancouver this year.

Even with the three-year wait, I might vote for delaying your visit to the Canadian Rockies. If you did that, though, it would be nice to know that you were guaranteed a visit to the area after the three years were up. But who can foretell the future and what might happen between now and then? I don’t know. Those are the kinds of choices I face too.

Although it’s difficult to vote one way or the other, I lean slightly towards Vancouver this year and the Canadian Rockies during a future year when you can see the lakes to best advantage. That assumes that, if you were to visit them in May 2005, you would not visit again because, as you say, you don’t make a habit of re-visiting places.

However, I'll answer your other questions in case you do choose to visit the Rockies in 2005.

Judy_in_Calgary

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;If we did stay 2 nights at the Aurum Lodge, would you still recommend adding another night in Jasper?&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;

It depends. You could do 2 Aurum, 2 Jasper and 3 Golden, or else 2 Aurum, 3 Jasper and 2 Golden. Look at the suggested itinerary in the post below and see what you think.

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;Stanbr thanks for the heads up on Field. I just listed it because one of the itineraries I looked at said to overnight in Field or Lake Louise and since we were interested in going to YoHo and a rafting trip out of Golden at 8:30 AM, I figured it would be smart to overnight in Field.&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;

You could also consider staying in or near Golden, and indeed that was an idea that you came up with later in your post.

Judy_in_Calgary

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;I saw the posts about the Royal Tyrrell Museum and it does look interesting. We went to Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado several years ago and really enjoyed it but I wasn't sure where Tyrrell would fit into our travels. One post recommended spending at least 2 hours at the museum. With the museum opening at 9:00 am and a 90 min drive each way to Calgary, I had been wondering if it would be feasible to do that the morning of our flight back home (departs at 3:16). Judy, all of your itineraries seem to just hit the museum. If we went at the beginning of our trip, are there enough other things to do in the Badlands to warrant spending the night there or would a day trip to Drumheller be enough?&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;

Something you could consider doing, if you’re still going to go ahead with the Rockies trip towards the end of May, is visiting the Tyrrell on the morning of Saturday, May 20th. If you were to spend the night of May 19th in Calgary, you could drive to Drumheller on the morning of the 20th, go through the museum from 9 am to 11 am, have lunch in Drumheller, and then set out for Banff. It would take you 3 hours if you bypassed Calgary’s traffic by driving Drumheller – Beiseker – Airdrie – Cochrane – Canmore – Banff.

Or else you could spend that night at Aurum Lodge, as per the suggested itinerary in my post below.

Your other option would be to spend the last night of your trip in Calgary or Drumheller, go through the museum from 9 am – 11 am, and then drive back to Calgary for your 1.15 pm check in. This option would make me feel a little less comfortable, because it would leave no room for error.

Drumheller is a great place for kids to spend extra time. Also, if you had several more days to spare, you could spend a couple of days in Dinosaur Provincial Park, which is a couple of hours from Drumheller, near Brooks. Since you will be two adults with limited time, I would recommend that you just spend a couple of hours at the museum and leave it at that.

Judy_in_Calgary

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;I think we'll give up on Kelwona but I'm still wondering about Revelstoke Salty. Many itineraries mention it. Do you think it's mainly a place to stop along the way but not worth a special trip? Would you still drive to Roger's Pass?&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;

The drive from Golden to Revelstoke and back again is very worthwhile. It goes over Rogers Pass in British Columbia’s Glacier National Park (not to be confused with Montana’s Glacier National Park). Revelstoke Dam is an interesting place, and Revelstoke has a railroad museum if that sort of thing interests you. There is a beautiful drive called the Meadows in the Sky Parkway just outside of Revelstoke, but it usually opens to traffic around the beginning of July.

The inland temperate rainforests around Revelstoke are an interesting phenomenon. They are amongst several patches of such forest that are unique to British Columbia. Many places in the world have temperate rainforests, but the other places that have them are at the coast. Only BC has them inland.

If you were to base yourselves in Golden, and do the white water rafting from there on one day, you could drive from Golden to Revelstoke and back again on another day.

Just a thought.

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;Judy, when I look at your sample itineraries, it looks like YoHo and Roger's Pass are covered in one day. Asssuming we spend the night in Golden (are there more places there than Field?),&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;

Yes, Golden has more accommodation than Field.

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;would we have enough time to drive to Roger's Pass and see the sites in YoHo after a morning raft trip or should we plan on spending the next day at YoHo too?&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;

Depending on which white water rafting expedition you’ve chosen, it’ll take you half a day or a full day. Even if you go on a half-day rafting trip, you won’t have time to do that, go to Revelstoke (which is 2 hours west of Golden) <b>and</b> do stuff in Yoho National Park (which is east of Golden – it takes about an hour to drive from Golden to Lake Louise, not counting stops).

However, I feel that my suggested itinerary (below) resolves those issues.

Judy_in_Calgary

Okay, here’s the suggested itinerary I was threatening to provide:

19 – Land in Calgary, visit friends, overnight in Calgary. Hotel in NE quadrant, e.g., Greenwood Inn, would give you a good start the next morning.

20 – Visit Tyrrell, then drive to Aurum Lodge. (It would take about 4.5 hours to drive from Drumheller to Aurum Lodge via Rocky Mountain House.)

21 – Explore area around Aurum Lodge.

22 – Drive Icefields Parkway to Jasper.

23 – Explore Jasper’s environs.

24 – Drive Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise. Stop to see Peyto Lake, which you would not have seen if you’d approached Aurum Lodge from Rocky Mountain House and other points to the east. Then visit Lake Louise. Afterwards turn west, drive through Yoho National Park, stopping to see Emerald Lake. Overnight in Golden.

25 – Rafting in the morning. Visit Revelstoke in the afternoon.

26 – Explore Golden’s environs. I’ve read on the Internet that there’s a wolf sanctuary near Golden. I’ve never been to it, but have read positive reviews of it. You also could go to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and have lunch in the Eagle’s Eye, Canada’s highest restaurant. (Or else you could do one of these activities on the afternoon of the 25th, and make a full day of your outing to Revelstoke on this day, the 26th.)

27 – Drive Golden – Radium – Kootenay National Park – Castle Junction - Banff. (This would expose you to new scenery instead of double backing from Golden through Yoho National Park to Lake Louise.)

28 – From your base in Banff, visit Johnston Canyon, go up Sulphur Mountain gondola, and stroll through Banff townsite.

29 – Drive to Calgary Airport and take off for home.

Hope that helps.