Our trip to the Rockies was amazing!
Sep 1st, 2006, 06:43 PM
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Our trip to the Rockies was amazing!
In case you are interested in hearing about my recent trip...
My husband and I just returned from our five night trip to the Rockies. It might sound cheesy, but the worst part is that we can never see it again for the first time. It was that spectacular!
WED- We arrived at YYC and the very nice folks at ENTERPRISE upgraded us to a PT Cruiser convertible for just $5 more/day. This was a steal because we found Enterprise to be the cheapest by far. I do realize that convertibles are not popular in the mountains but it gave us an amazing panaramic view. While in Calgary we stopped at a grocery store, liquor store and Canadian Tire (like Walmart) for a cooler. I am glad we had the cooler for our trip. The day we arrived it was cold and raining. That night we were staying at THE BEAR AND BISON INN in Canmore. Since we would arrive in town before check-in, the innkeeper recommended we take a scenic route through Kananaskis and Peter Lougheed(?) Provincial Park to the backdoor of Canmore. He said we had a good chance of seeing wildlife. We did not realize that this route would add over 2 hours to our drive and when we turned onto the last street (a gravel road!) that read "Canmore 85 kilometers", my husband almost lost his mind. Once we confirmed that this was indeed the right way I convinced my husband that we should not backtrack to the highway. We were about 2/3 of the way to Canmore and have not seen so much as a squirrel. All of a sudden...we spot a grizzly bear eating berries along the road! It was an awesome sight and set the tone for the rest of the trip. More good news, we were nominated for "dirtiest car in Canada"! We loved staying at The Bear and Bison. We met some interesting people, had good breakfasts and great picnic lunches. The first night we ate dinner at GRIZZLY PAW in Canmore. It was perfect for our casual needs and supposedly the crew from Brokeback Mountain frequently ate there while filming.
THURS.- We drove the Minnewanka loop, drove to the top of Mt. Norquay, hiked a little in Johnston Canyon, toured the Cave and Basin (we took the free tour and the tour guide was mean! We were the only ones on the tour and when we would ask her a question she would say, "I already told you that."!), took the Banff Gondola and walked to the weather station house (cool!), checked out the Banff Springs Hotel, stopped at the Upper Hot Springs (but chose not to bathe), and then made it back to the inn by 5pm for their complimentary cocktail hour. We had dinner in Canmore at TREO. It was upscale casual. A little pricey, but good food. The goat cheese fondue and duck tacos were great.
FRI.- We drove the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. We stopped at Peyto Lake, Mistaya Canyon (awesome!), Columbia Icefields, Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls. We did not ride the Snocoach. We did hike to the toe of the glacier. We heard the Snocoach was really cool but we didn't want to spend the time or money. We would love to come back with our kids when they are older and we will do it then. Definitely walk to the toe and read all of the signs along the way. We checked into BECKER'S CHALETS. It is impossible to miss along the river. It was much nicer than I expected. Our one room cabin was extra clean and appeared to be newly rennovated. We had dinner on the roof of JASPER PIZZA PLACE. The thin BBQ chicken pizza rocked.
SAT.- We drove to Maligne Canyon, Medicine Lake, Maligne Lake and rode the boat to Spirit Island (not to be missed), checked out Pyramid Lake and Patricia Lake (Patricia Lake Bungalows, especially the new suites, is great). We sat by the river and watched the rafters go by and then we had a great dinner at EVIL DAVE'S with our Irish friends that we had met at the Bear and Bison earlier. We ordered 4 different meals and they were all great. FYI, The chef at Evil Dave's also runs the restaurant at Tekkarra Lodge. We went back to Becker's to relax (not even 10pm on at Sat.) and turned on the TV to find a soft porn. I was horrified (not my husband, though!). I told the front desk the next day and she immediately got on the phone to fix the satellite feed.
SUN.- I woke up early so I wouldn't miss the BEAR PAW BAKERY. I still dream about it. We stopped at Mount Edith Cavell on our way to L.L. We did not realize that it would take so long to get there AND once you arrive you need to hike if you want to see anything. I wish that we had the time to do the hike as I am sure this would have been awesome. If you don't have the time to hike, you cannot "check it out" as I said. Our drive back was equally spectacular. We first went to Moraine Lake and then canoed on Lake Louise for an hour. We checked into our hotel, THE JUNIPER around 4pm. The Juniper was really nice and had many very interesting artifacts. We had dinner at Wild Bill's (outside) and walked around Banff. We are from Chicago and did not find Banff to be crowded. I guess it's all relative. We really liked Banff (the town) and found the complaints about crowds disappointing. If you think Banff is crowded stay away from Chicago!
MON.- Our drive to YYC was pretty uneventful but I swear I saw a dead mountain lion on the road outside of Calgary. That was the only dead animal we saw the whole trip! Our flight was delayed and then cancelled. American Airlines handled the whole mess very poorly and in order to make it home that day we had to fly through Dallas. It was a nightmare (and we didn't get our luggage for two days).
THOUGHTS- If you want to read our hotel reviews, visit tripadvisor.com and type in our hotels. This website was very helpful in planning my trip. The FODOR'S website and JUDY were very helpful also
Besides the first day, the weather was unbelievable! That certainly enhanced the trip. Besides the grizzly, we saw big horn sheep, mountain goats, elk and a deer (and squirrel!). I wish that we had more time but five nights was very doable. The drive to Jasper and the surrounding sights are not to be missed. Mistaya and Maligne Canyons are so much more impressive than Johnston. I think it was wise to see L.L and Moraine Lake on the backend. It really worked out well. One thing that I liked about the trip was that we kept seeing the same people! We met two sets of people in Canmore and then saw them in Japsper. And, every time we saw someone taking a picture we would offer "do you want us to take a picture of both of you?". We took pictures for people at one site and then would see them at every other site that day! There are so many foreigners, tour buses and tourists! The landscape is so beautiful and the air makes your lungs and skin feel great. I always thought geology was boring until now! This trip was absolutely amazing.
Negatives- gas prices in Chicago are the highest in the US and prices in Alberta were more than $1 more/gallon. Food is also very expensive.
MORE- The Bear and Bison made us a wonderful picnic lunch while there and on the other days (even when we were flying home) we made our own picnic (we went to the grocery stores). Speaking of grocery stores, the two little ones in Jasper are gross. We did find an awesome deli, though.
If the Canadian Rockies are on your list of "must see places" I strongly recommend you put it at the top of your list!
My husband and I just returned from our five night trip to the Rockies. It might sound cheesy, but the worst part is that we can never see it again for the first time. It was that spectacular!
WED- We arrived at YYC and the very nice folks at ENTERPRISE upgraded us to a PT Cruiser convertible for just $5 more/day. This was a steal because we found Enterprise to be the cheapest by far. I do realize that convertibles are not popular in the mountains but it gave us an amazing panaramic view. While in Calgary we stopped at a grocery store, liquor store and Canadian Tire (like Walmart) for a cooler. I am glad we had the cooler for our trip. The day we arrived it was cold and raining. That night we were staying at THE BEAR AND BISON INN in Canmore. Since we would arrive in town before check-in, the innkeeper recommended we take a scenic route through Kananaskis and Peter Lougheed(?) Provincial Park to the backdoor of Canmore. He said we had a good chance of seeing wildlife. We did not realize that this route would add over 2 hours to our drive and when we turned onto the last street (a gravel road!) that read "Canmore 85 kilometers", my husband almost lost his mind. Once we confirmed that this was indeed the right way I convinced my husband that we should not backtrack to the highway. We were about 2/3 of the way to Canmore and have not seen so much as a squirrel. All of a sudden...we spot a grizzly bear eating berries along the road! It was an awesome sight and set the tone for the rest of the trip. More good news, we were nominated for "dirtiest car in Canada"! We loved staying at The Bear and Bison. We met some interesting people, had good breakfasts and great picnic lunches. The first night we ate dinner at GRIZZLY PAW in Canmore. It was perfect for our casual needs and supposedly the crew from Brokeback Mountain frequently ate there while filming.
THURS.- We drove the Minnewanka loop, drove to the top of Mt. Norquay, hiked a little in Johnston Canyon, toured the Cave and Basin (we took the free tour and the tour guide was mean! We were the only ones on the tour and when we would ask her a question she would say, "I already told you that."!), took the Banff Gondola and walked to the weather station house (cool!), checked out the Banff Springs Hotel, stopped at the Upper Hot Springs (but chose not to bathe), and then made it back to the inn by 5pm for their complimentary cocktail hour. We had dinner in Canmore at TREO. It was upscale casual. A little pricey, but good food. The goat cheese fondue and duck tacos were great.
FRI.- We drove the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. We stopped at Peyto Lake, Mistaya Canyon (awesome!), Columbia Icefields, Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls. We did not ride the Snocoach. We did hike to the toe of the glacier. We heard the Snocoach was really cool but we didn't want to spend the time or money. We would love to come back with our kids when they are older and we will do it then. Definitely walk to the toe and read all of the signs along the way. We checked into BECKER'S CHALETS. It is impossible to miss along the river. It was much nicer than I expected. Our one room cabin was extra clean and appeared to be newly rennovated. We had dinner on the roof of JASPER PIZZA PLACE. The thin BBQ chicken pizza rocked.
SAT.- We drove to Maligne Canyon, Medicine Lake, Maligne Lake and rode the boat to Spirit Island (not to be missed), checked out Pyramid Lake and Patricia Lake (Patricia Lake Bungalows, especially the new suites, is great). We sat by the river and watched the rafters go by and then we had a great dinner at EVIL DAVE'S with our Irish friends that we had met at the Bear and Bison earlier. We ordered 4 different meals and they were all great. FYI, The chef at Evil Dave's also runs the restaurant at Tekkarra Lodge. We went back to Becker's to relax (not even 10pm on at Sat.) and turned on the TV to find a soft porn. I was horrified (not my husband, though!). I told the front desk the next day and she immediately got on the phone to fix the satellite feed.
SUN.- I woke up early so I wouldn't miss the BEAR PAW BAKERY. I still dream about it. We stopped at Mount Edith Cavell on our way to L.L. We did not realize that it would take so long to get there AND once you arrive you need to hike if you want to see anything. I wish that we had the time to do the hike as I am sure this would have been awesome. If you don't have the time to hike, you cannot "check it out" as I said. Our drive back was equally spectacular. We first went to Moraine Lake and then canoed on Lake Louise for an hour. We checked into our hotel, THE JUNIPER around 4pm. The Juniper was really nice and had many very interesting artifacts. We had dinner at Wild Bill's (outside) and walked around Banff. We are from Chicago and did not find Banff to be crowded. I guess it's all relative. We really liked Banff (the town) and found the complaints about crowds disappointing. If you think Banff is crowded stay away from Chicago!
MON.- Our drive to YYC was pretty uneventful but I swear I saw a dead mountain lion on the road outside of Calgary. That was the only dead animal we saw the whole trip! Our flight was delayed and then cancelled. American Airlines handled the whole mess very poorly and in order to make it home that day we had to fly through Dallas. It was a nightmare (and we didn't get our luggage for two days).
THOUGHTS- If you want to read our hotel reviews, visit tripadvisor.com and type in our hotels. This website was very helpful in planning my trip. The FODOR'S website and JUDY were very helpful also
Besides the first day, the weather was unbelievable! That certainly enhanced the trip. Besides the grizzly, we saw big horn sheep, mountain goats, elk and a deer (and squirrel!). I wish that we had more time but five nights was very doable. The drive to Jasper and the surrounding sights are not to be missed. Mistaya and Maligne Canyons are so much more impressive than Johnston. I think it was wise to see L.L and Moraine Lake on the backend. It really worked out well. One thing that I liked about the trip was that we kept seeing the same people! We met two sets of people in Canmore and then saw them in Japsper. And, every time we saw someone taking a picture we would offer "do you want us to take a picture of both of you?". We took pictures for people at one site and then would see them at every other site that day! There are so many foreigners, tour buses and tourists! The landscape is so beautiful and the air makes your lungs and skin feel great. I always thought geology was boring until now! This trip was absolutely amazing. Negatives- gas prices in Chicago are the highest in the US and prices in Alberta were more than $1 more/gallon. Food is also very expensive.
MORE- The Bear and Bison made us a wonderful picnic lunch while there and on the other days (even when we were flying home) we made our own picnic (we went to the grocery stores). Speaking of grocery stores, the two little ones in Jasper are gross. We did find an awesome deli, though.
If the Canadian Rockies are on your list of "must see places" I strongly recommend you put it at the top of your list!
Sep 2nd, 2006, 05:07 AM
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Loved your write-up - sounds like you had a terrific time! We had the same feeling last September when we made our first visit. We have our second visit (9 days!!) coming up starting the 9th of September, and can't wait! We are staying in the new accommodations at Patricia Lake, so I'm glad to hear you think they look good.
You mentioned gas prices - could you tell us how much it was? Either per liter or with the gallon conversion? Thanks.
You mentioned gas prices - could you tell us how much it was? Either per liter or with the gallon conversion? Thanks.
Sep 2nd, 2006, 07:47 AM
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Indeed, gas prices in Alberta are far too high but........
Here is a website that posts gas prices, hope this helps.
http://www.albertagasprices.com/
Here is a website that posts gas prices, hope this helps.
http://www.albertagasprices.com/
Sep 2nd, 2006, 07:55 AM
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Thank you for posting your report. I return there in my mind frequently and you brought back some wonderful memories. Mistaya Falls is beautiful. I even went so far as to name my dog Mistaya. Quite a tribute!
Sep 2nd, 2006, 08:06 AM
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Thanks for a terrific report. Full of all sorts of great detail-- really wonderful to read. I'm curious: You did not say one thing abt smoke in the air from the Washington wildfires. On several other sites (on Fodor's and elsewhere), I've read that it's fairly bad on some days, that there's a real haze in the air that obscures many of the sites. Did you not experience that at all? When I telephoned to some of our hotels to inquire about the reduced view, they even acknowledged that conditions haven't been all that great. You were fortunate, indeed, if you were unaware of smoke/fire problems. Glad you had such a fine trip. (We leave tomorrow, from Phila. thru your Chicago to Calgary. I'm praying for good weather-- warm, hopefully-- cause I've got a wicked cold.) Happy Travels!
Sep 2nd, 2006, 09:55 AM
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Poss, we live in the Crowsnest Pass which is about 100kms. as the "crow" flies from where you are headed. We are closer to the Washington fires.
Haze has been gone for about 10 days now, no problems at all with smoke.
Today is beautiful and clear. I hope that you have a wonderful trip.
Haze has been gone for about 10 days now, no problems at all with smoke.
Today is beautiful and clear. I hope that you have a wonderful trip.
Sep 2nd, 2006, 10:55 AM
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Glad to hear you had a good time in the Canadian Rockies, mominburbs.
Evil Dave's sounds like fun. We'll have to try it next time we're in Jasper.
Just one note to other travellers who may read this.
You do not <b>have</b> to use the dirt road to approach Canmore if you drive through Kananaskis Country. The road that mominburbs drove must have been the Smith-Dorrien / Spray Lakes Road. If Mr. and Mrs. mominburbs had stayed on Hwy #40, it would have been paved all the way, and it would have brought them to an intersection with the TransCanada Highway (Hwy #1) that also would have gotten them to Canmore.
Evil Dave's sounds like fun. We'll have to try it next time we're in Jasper.
Just one note to other travellers who may read this.
You do not <b>have</b> to use the dirt road to approach Canmore if you drive through Kananaskis Country. The road that mominburbs drove must have been the Smith-Dorrien / Spray Lakes Road. If Mr. and Mrs. mominburbs had stayed on Hwy #40, it would have been paved all the way, and it would have brought them to an intersection with the TransCanada Highway (Hwy #1) that also would have gotten them to Canmore.
Sep 2nd, 2006, 11:31 AM
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Sep 2nd, 2006, 11:56 AM
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Great trip report.
We did the Rockies in June and had a fantastic time.
My top 3 great memories.
The horse ride from Lake Louise upto the Agnes Lake Tea room
The Peyto Lake Lookout
Walking the perimeter of Emerald Lake
Finally the Bear Paw Bakery in Jasper is the finest baking establishment in the world. Miss it at your peril.
We did the Rockies in June and had a fantastic time.
My top 3 great memories.
The horse ride from Lake Louise upto the Agnes Lake Tea room
The Peyto Lake Lookout
Walking the perimeter of Emerald Lake
Finally the Bear Paw Bakery in Jasper is the finest baking establishment in the world. Miss it at your peril.
Sep 3rd, 2006, 06:02 AM
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Thanks to everyone who read my post. We did not see wildfire smoke anywhere. I think the gas question was answered. Judy, thanks for clarifying for future travelers (I don't want to confuse anyone)...we wouldn't have seen the bear if we took the 40 route (certainly no guarantees on that!)though
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