Valemount B.C

Sept.27

Left Jasper and crossed into BC. Stopped to take some pictures of Mount Robson.

Pretty tired so decided to hit a Super 8 in Valemont BC. Got a nice room, 2 beds, TV, hot shower, free breakfast and a place to do our laundry. The place was so small there was not 1 stoplight in town.

However we had a good sleep and clean laundry.

Jasper

Sept.26

Take highway 1 A and  highway 93 ,the scenic routes from Lake Louise to Jasper. Every stop along the way would make a great postcard.

Off course we had to stop at the Columbia Ice fields, take the tour and sample the pure glacier water. I'm glad I did it once but wouldn't pay to do it again.

We stayed at the Whistler campground in Jasper National Park. We received the standard warning a bout bears; leave your campsite clean, leave no food out and hide your coolers ( the ones made by Coleman not Smirnoff). Also beware of Elk. it is the "rut" which, for you non naturalist. means mating season. Say at least 30 meters away from any Elk. Males will attack you as well as your car or RV. Great advice. We leave the office make a wrong turn and come face to face with Elk1. Get back on track make a correct turn and meetElk 2. Find our parking spot and find Elk 3 crossing the road towards our campsite. Perhaps the Elk should be told to stay 30 meters away from people.

Took a ride on the Jasper tram (gondola) to 7472 ft. above sea level. ( the only other time I got that high was on an airplane...that's my story and I'm sticking to it). Jan, closed her eyes and joined me and the girls Great view of Jasper and Mount Robson ( the highest mountain in the Rockies). Spent some time in town but didn't find it that interesting. good place to go if you're looking for expensive outdoor gear and Clothing.

Lake Louise

Sept 24,25

Tried to visit Moraine lake day 1. Couldn't get near the place, parking lot was full and cars were parked 2 miles up the road. On the way there had to stop and let a partridge family cross the road. ( no not that one, actual birds)
The next day we got there and the place was almost deserted. ( maybe because it was raining on and off ).

Did take a few pictures and enjoyed the view. Actually it's a much nicer place to visit than the more famous Lake Louise

Banff

Sept.21,22,23
Will that be a day pass or seasonal pass? Day pass $20.00 per/day required for everyday you are any where in the national park ( not just campgrounds) or a yearly pass for $136.00? Opted for the 136.00 pass.

Stayed in the Mountain Campground which was fairly busy especially by foreign tourist driving rented RV units. lots of Germans, Swiss, French and Brits. I also eaves dropped on a pair of ladies from Holland. Then I walked by and said "hello ladies from Holland" One lady looked at me and asked " can you tell that by just looking at us?" No I said, but I can tell by listening to you.

We were warned about bears and coyotes in the park. Of course we didn't see any. The first night there we walked a trail along the bush and stumbled upon a female Elk, her calf and a bull Elk.The bull grunted angrily and ran of with the calf. The female stood her ground and gave us the evil eye. She was wearing a collar which I assumed was for tracking purposes. We stayed a few minutes and left her alone. Later I learned a collar is used to identify overly aggressive Elk . mmmm.

Although buses run into Banff from the Park, they don't take dogs so we drove the camper in. Loved the town, lots of nice shops and restaurants.saw the Banff Springs Hotel. What an impressive building.
we finished of the day with a tour of the Museum of animals.

Great place to send a few days.

Calgary West

Sept. 19, 20

Calgary' rush hour now is as bad as Toronto. It took us over a hour to cross the city at 4:00 pm. The park is appropriately named “Calgary West Campground”

This is our last stop before we hit the Rockies and provided us with a good 2 day rest. My cousin Marion and her grand pup Alfie came for a visit and a delicious dinner of hotdogs and frozen Spinach

salad.

me and Alfie

Where the dinosaurs roam

Sept. 17, 18

Dinosaur provincial park is just an amazing park. Totally different than any place we were ever been in. Located North east of Brooks Alberta, this park recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The land scape is referred as the badlands and seems it's from another planet.

This park contains one of the world's richest dinosaur fossil fields. Quite the feeling knowing you are walking on bones that were deposited here some 75 million years ago. Jan had a chance to hold an original dinosaur vertebra which she said was very, very heavy. Current day critters in the park include mule deer (seen), coyotes (heard), rattle snakes (maybe heard) scorpions and black widow spiders (neither seen or heard)

Despite the unsavory current inhabitants, we will definitely come back here again and stay longer.

Gas City (aka Medicine Hat)

Sept 16

We pushed on a little further than planned and ended up looking for a camp site in Medicine Hat.

Found a small sign giving directions to a “Gas City” campground. Although the name of it didn't sound very exciting, we were tired and decided to gibe it a shot. A small little dirt road past a factory took us to a nice little park overlooking the city. We lucked out as we were there the last day of the season.

looking down from the park

Sunset at Gas City

Well worth a stop if you are going through Medicine Hat.