Rockies Itinerary
Sep 5th, 2006 | 05:14 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 569
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Rockies Itinerary
I have my reservations in Rockies. 3 nights Deer Lodge, 1 Night Sunwapta Resort. Now that I reversed direction I need help again with the itinerary sight seeing. Thanks.
Sept 23 Saturday Arrive Seattle Seattle
Sept 24 Sunday Seattle Seattle
Sept 25 Monday Drive to ? ?
Sept 26 Tuesday Lake Louise Deer Lodge
Sept 27 Wednesday Lake Louise Deer Lodge
Sept 28 Thursday Lake Louise Deer Lodge
Sept 29 Friday Drive to Sunwapta Falls, Columbia Ice fields, Peyto Lake Sunwapta Falls Resort
Sept 30 Saturday Drive to ? ?
Oct 1 Sunday Drive to Vancouver Vancouver
Oct 2 Monday Vancouver Vancouver
Oct 3 Tuesday Vancouver/Drive to Seattle Seattle
Oct 4 Wednesday Depart Home
Sept 23 Saturday Arrive Seattle Seattle
Sept 24 Sunday Seattle Seattle
Sept 25 Monday Drive to ? ?
Sept 26 Tuesday Lake Louise Deer Lodge
Sept 27 Wednesday Lake Louise Deer Lodge
Sept 28 Thursday Lake Louise Deer Lodge
Sept 29 Friday Drive to Sunwapta Falls, Columbia Ice fields, Peyto Lake Sunwapta Falls Resort
Sept 30 Saturday Drive to ? ?
Oct 1 Sunday Drive to Vancouver Vancouver
Oct 2 Monday Vancouver Vancouver
Oct 3 Tuesday Vancouver/Drive to Seattle Seattle
Oct 4 Wednesday Depart Home
Sep 6th, 2006 | 07:12 AM
#2
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,501
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On Monday, September 25th, drive to Kamloops. Just use MapQuest, plug in Seattle as your starting point and Kamloops as your ending point and take it from there.
On Tueday, September 26th, drive from Kamloops to Lake Louise. When you reach Yoho National Park, take the detours to see Emerald Lake and Takakkaw Falls. You’ll lose an hour when you change time zones between Revelstoke and Golden. In effect, when you take the time loss into consideration and if you include lunch in the equation, this will be about a 10-hour day. A reservation in Kamloops would be prudent because this is a night on which the Rocky Mountaineer train has an overnight stop there.
On Wednesday, September 27th, visit Moraine Lake and the lake of Lake Louise.
On Thursday, September 28th, visit the town of Banff. Ride the Sulphur Mountain Gondola. I don’t know if you’ll be able to visit Johnston Canyon. There has been discussion here about a controlled forest burn being planned close to the Bow Valley Parkway (Hwy #1A) in the next while.
On Friday, September 29th, do your proposed list of activities, but add in a visit to Mistaya Canyon.
More ...........
On Tueday, September 26th, drive from Kamloops to Lake Louise. When you reach Yoho National Park, take the detours to see Emerald Lake and Takakkaw Falls. You’ll lose an hour when you change time zones between Revelstoke and Golden. In effect, when you take the time loss into consideration and if you include lunch in the equation, this will be about a 10-hour day. A reservation in Kamloops would be prudent because this is a night on which the Rocky Mountaineer train has an overnight stop there.
On Wednesday, September 27th, visit Moraine Lake and the lake of Lake Louise.
On Thursday, September 28th, visit the town of Banff. Ride the Sulphur Mountain Gondola. I don’t know if you’ll be able to visit Johnston Canyon. There has been discussion here about a controlled forest burn being planned close to the Bow Valley Parkway (Hwy #1A) in the next while.
On Friday, September 29th, do your proposed list of activities, but add in a visit to Mistaya Canyon.
More ...........
Sep 6th, 2006 | 07:13 AM
#3
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,501
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On Saturday, September 30th, drive to Kamloops, detouring if possible into Wells Gray Provincial Park to see Helmcken Falls. You will gain an hour on this day when you cross time zones at the border between Alberta and British Columbia, which also is the border of Jasper National Park and Mount Robson Provincial Park. This is another Rocky Mountaineer night, so again a reservation in Kamloops would be in order (although you could consider staying at the mountain resort of Sun Peaks instead of the town of Kamloops).
On Sunday, October 1st, drive from Kamloops to Whistler and on to Vancouver. Stop to see Nairn Falls just after Pemberton, which is the town before Whistler.
On Monday, October 2nd, visit Vancouver’s centrally located attractions, starting with Stanley Park. Vancouver Aquarium, which features marine life found in temperate and arctic waters, is located in Stanley Park. Admission to Stanley Park is free, but you have to pay to see Vancouver Aquarium. I personally think it’s worth the admission price. Vancouver’s aquarium is bigger and better than Seattle’s aquarium.
When it comes to markets, though, the situation is reversed. Seattle’s Pike Place Market is bigger than Vancouver’s Granville Island Market. Many people who visit Vancouver include a visit to Granville Island Market, but you may want to think twice about whether or not you do that.
Other popular downtown activities are strolls through Yaletown and along Robson Street.
Consult the Walk Vancouver website to see descriptions, photos and maps of these walking itineraries:
www.walkvancouver.com
More ...........
On Sunday, October 1st, drive from Kamloops to Whistler and on to Vancouver. Stop to see Nairn Falls just after Pemberton, which is the town before Whistler.
On Monday, October 2nd, visit Vancouver’s centrally located attractions, starting with Stanley Park. Vancouver Aquarium, which features marine life found in temperate and arctic waters, is located in Stanley Park. Admission to Stanley Park is free, but you have to pay to see Vancouver Aquarium. I personally think it’s worth the admission price. Vancouver’s aquarium is bigger and better than Seattle’s aquarium.
When it comes to markets, though, the situation is reversed. Seattle’s Pike Place Market is bigger than Vancouver’s Granville Island Market. Many people who visit Vancouver include a visit to Granville Island Market, but you may want to think twice about whether or not you do that.
Other popular downtown activities are strolls through Yaletown and along Robson Street.
Consult the Walk Vancouver website to see descriptions, photos and maps of these walking itineraries:
www.walkvancouver.com
More ...........
Sep 6th, 2006 | 07:16 AM
#4
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,501
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On Tuesday, October 3rd, I recommend that you visit Queen Elizabeth Park (free admission). If you appreciate gardens, you could add a visit to VanDusen Botanical Garden, which charges a modest entry fee. Finally, the Museum of Anthropology, which charges a moderate entry fee, is a HIGHLY worthwhile attraction.
I recommend against a visit to Vancouver’s "North Shore." You already will have driven past West Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay en route from Whistler to Vancouver. Other popular North Shore attractions include the expensive Grouse Mountain Skyride and Capilano Canyon Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. It costs 2 adults C$70 to do the Grouse Mountain Skyride (C$32 each for the Skyride plus C$6 to park for 4 hours). I don’t think Grouse Mountain is worth it if you’ve been to the Rockies and Whistler. I don’t know what the Capilano Canyon Suspension Bridge costs these days, but it too is not free.
Now it’s true that you can visit FREE Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge instead of Capilano Canyon Suspension Bridge. It’s also true that the temperate rainforest in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park makes for delightful walking. However, you will have seen this kind of rainforest en route from Whistler to Vancouver. If you will have stopped at Nairn Falls just outside of Pemberton, you will have walked through a similar forest to reach the waterfall. So my feeling is that a visit to North Vancouver’s Lynn Canyon would duplicate some elements of your October 1st drive. My feeling is that October 3rd would be better spent visiting the Museum of Anthropology, which I consider to be very interesting. Queen Elizabeth Park, VanDusen Botanical Garden, and the Museum of Anthropology all are south of downtown Vancouver, so they all are in the right direction if you’re going to be heading to Seattle afterwards. However, if you think the Museum of Anthropology will not interest you and/or if you do not want to pay the admission price, a walk in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park would be a good use of the morning of October 3rd.
Over and out.
I recommend against a visit to Vancouver’s "North Shore." You already will have driven past West Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay en route from Whistler to Vancouver. Other popular North Shore attractions include the expensive Grouse Mountain Skyride and Capilano Canyon Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. It costs 2 adults C$70 to do the Grouse Mountain Skyride (C$32 each for the Skyride plus C$6 to park for 4 hours). I don’t think Grouse Mountain is worth it if you’ve been to the Rockies and Whistler. I don’t know what the Capilano Canyon Suspension Bridge costs these days, but it too is not free.
Now it’s true that you can visit FREE Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge instead of Capilano Canyon Suspension Bridge. It’s also true that the temperate rainforest in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park makes for delightful walking. However, you will have seen this kind of rainforest en route from Whistler to Vancouver. If you will have stopped at Nairn Falls just outside of Pemberton, you will have walked through a similar forest to reach the waterfall. So my feeling is that a visit to North Vancouver’s Lynn Canyon would duplicate some elements of your October 1st drive. My feeling is that October 3rd would be better spent visiting the Museum of Anthropology, which I consider to be very interesting. Queen Elizabeth Park, VanDusen Botanical Garden, and the Museum of Anthropology all are south of downtown Vancouver, so they all are in the right direction if you’re going to be heading to Seattle afterwards. However, if you think the Museum of Anthropology will not interest you and/or if you do not want to pay the admission price, a walk in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park would be a good use of the morning of October 3rd.
Over and out.
Sep 6th, 2006 | 09:12 AM
#5
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,501
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Postscript. Read the threads here about the controlled burn that is being planned near the Bow Valley Parkway (Hwy #1A). That may preclude a visit to Johnston Canyon.
I suggest you go to the Visitor Information Centre in Lake Louise Village and ask staff about local conditions. If they tell you that you cannot drive the Bow Valley Parkway or that it would not be worth your while to do so, then include a visit to the town of Banff after Moraine Lake and the lake of Lake Louise on September 27th. (In that case you would drive to and from Banff on the TransCanada Highway / Hwy #1.)
Then use the 28th to do a drive through Kootenay National Park.
But basically keep an open mind about what you'll do, and be prepared to ask park wardens for their recommendations.
I suggest you go to the Visitor Information Centre in Lake Louise Village and ask staff about local conditions. If they tell you that you cannot drive the Bow Valley Parkway or that it would not be worth your while to do so, then include a visit to the town of Banff after Moraine Lake and the lake of Lake Louise on September 27th. (In that case you would drive to and from Banff on the TransCanada Highway / Hwy #1.)
Then use the 28th to do a drive through Kootenay National Park.
But basically keep an open mind about what you'll do, and be prepared to ask park wardens for their recommendations.
