Category: Rocky Mountains

Lake Louise, Banff and Calgary

~ Cat ~ Leave a comment

We arrived in Revelstoke in the late afternoon. We stayed in a Best Western on the outskirts of town which had, to me, a bit of a typical North American motel style to it. The breakfast room was diner style with these really cool stained glass windows.

We had dinner in the town centre, which was surprisingly bustling for the mid week. There was live music being played in the square and lots of people around and about. We had a nice dinner and then, as was becoming traditional on this group trip, we had ice cream for dessert.

The next morning we set off to Lake Louise. Still very smoky, and if I’m completely honest, I was slightly underwhelmed when we got there. As expected, it was very busy on the lake front with lots of people trying to get photos, and trying not to get other people in their photos. And the lake didn’t look as blue as I’d expected it to be.

A smoky Lake Louise

We all did a hike to Lake Agnes teahouse, which was a more strenuous walk than I was strictly prepared for, and the most strenuous hiking I’ve done since hiking in the Grand Canyon and Zion in 2019. It was quite a humid day and certainly the first part of the hike, up through the wooded sides of the lake, was quite hard work. Eventually I got into a rhythm. One of the best things about this hike was the glimpse of the lake from above, which showed it to be very blue, turquoise really, so I’m really glad I ended up doing this hike. This was much more like I’d imagined the colour of the lake to be.

A more turquoise Lake Louise from the Lake Agnes hike

It probably took me about an hour and a half to reach the teahouse, which had an enormous queue that I didn’t bother joining. I sat by the lake and ate my snacks and watched the chipmunks darting around. A few in the group carried on to do the ‘Big Beehive’ hike, which I decided against as I was almost out of water and couldn’t face any more uphills!! After a short rest I headed back down with the rest of the group and as it was late afternoon by now, the crowds had thinned so it was a good opportunity to take more photos while we waited for the others.

Still smoky Lake Louise

Our overnight stop in Banff was only a 45 minute drive away and we arrived in the early evening. We had dinner at a Japanese karaoke bar where, for once on my travels this year, I did not subject my fellow travellers to my terrible singing voice!! Though I did join in from the sidelines sans microphone! This restaurant served food and drinks in the karaoke rooms which made for a very enjoyable evening.

We had a free morning in Banff the next day so I had a leisurely breakfast and enjoyed wandering around the small town of Banff. It is surrounded by peaks, and has amazing views from almost every angle. I walked all the way down the main street, to the Cascades of Time gardens just over the river. There are some lovely views of Banff and its surroundings from here as it’s slightly elevated. After buying some more unnecessary souvenirs, I headed back to the hotel and we set off for Calgary in the early afternoon.

Banff

We made a stop at Canmore, about 40 minutes from Banff. Another very pretty Rockies town with lots of independent gift and souvenir shops where I bought yet more things I don’t really need! It had got really hot by the mid afternoon, which was quite a contrast from the morning when it was raining and cool in Banff as I went for breakfast!!

Canmore

We continued our way to Calgary and suddenly the mountains gave way to fields with neat hay bales dotted around. And then in the distance, the tall buildings of the city. We arrived late afternoon and had our final dinner together in a lovely Italian restaurant. I had just about enough time the next morning for a quick walk around the downtown area before getting an Uber to the airport. I’m sure Calgary is nice but it just felt like a built up city centre, and so I didn’t feel too bad about spending less than 24 hours there…

Calgary

Home time, and no issues from Westjet this time. A couple of weeks rest in my own bed before the final leg of this year of travelling kicks off…

Whistler and Kelowna

~ Cat ~ Leave a comment

First full day of the group trip and we started with a final drive through the main sights of Vancouver before heading north on the Sea to Sky Highway, which took us on the stunningly beautiful drive between Vancouver and Whistler. We stopped off at a couple of spots on the way – Shannon Falls, lunch in Squamish and a short hike just outside of Whistler called the Train Wreck hike, where a number of train carriages were dragged into the woods after a train crash in the 1950s. They’ve all subsequently been covered in graffiti. It’s a fun, short hike and good to stretch the legs.

We arrived in Whistler in the mid afternoon and I enjoyed a wander around the town. With its wooden lodges, wide array of restaurants, cafes and drinking venues and bustling streets, it did remind me of several other ski resort towns I’ve been to over time, though I’ve yet to actually go to one during ski season!

A delicious dinner at The Brickworks (slow cooked bison) with some Canadian wine, which was a noticeable feature on wine lists on my trip. I’m not sure I’ve ever really clocked Canadian wine in the UK but I’ll certainly be looking out for it in the future.

Everyone had different plans the next day. A couple of us started with a visit to the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Center where there was a video and guided tour informing us about the indigenous populations of this region, the Squamish and the Lil’wat. We learnt about how they live off the land and what the mountains and forests in this region mean to these peoples. There were also exhibits depicting the traditional ways of life which were really interesting, I’d definitely recommend a visit if you’re in Whistler.

Afterwards I took the gondola up Blackcomb mountain to get to the Peak2Peak gondola, which crosses the valley between Blackcomb and Whistler mountains. Some spectacular views on this gondola, which is the longest unsupported cable span in the world. It takes 11 minutes to cross between the 2 mountains. After taking some photos, I went for a short wander before taking the chair lift up to the top of Whistler mountain. On the way I bumped into some of my fellow group travellers who were on their way back down and off to do some zip lining which is very popular activity here.

I’d never been on a chair lift before, and was clinging onto my rucksack as though my life depended on it! But I negotiated it safely and was deposited at the top of Whistler mountain, where you can then make your way across the Cloudraker Skybridge which was really quite wobbly in the middle! There are a bunch of hiking routes up here, and whilst some other group members opted to do some longer hikes, I stuck to a short one which did give good 360 views from the mountain. It was quite hazy due to wildfires in the region, so I don’t have the sharpest photos but I will never tire of looking at mountains.

On the chair lift
The Skybridge
View from the top of Whistler mountain

I made my way back down the Whistler mountain gondola and back to Whistler village in the mid afternoon where I found a cafe for a cuppa and a cookie. I filled the rest of the afternoon with a bit of retail therapy before relaxing by the pool at the hotel. In the evening, our guide drove us a short distance to Creekside where we got takeaway Japanese/Korean food and sat watching the sunset over the water – so serene. I really liked Whistler, definitely somewhere I could go back to and spend a few more days exploring.

The next day was a relatively long driving day (though nothing compared to those in Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania!!) as we left Whistler and drove to Kelowna. It was such a beautiful drive, with pockets of snow hanging on to the tops of the mountains and milky blue rivers cutting through the landscape. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Seton Lake which was a simply stunning backdrop to enjoy my cheese and crackers!!

Seton Lake

There have been lots of wildfires in this region, and as we continued after lunch, it steadily got more smoky and hazy. The landscape also changed, it looked a lot drier, more arid, and more rolling than mountainous, with brush a bit more like you’d find in desert regions. A type of landscape I don’t think I’d ever considered I’d find in Canada.

There are some hills in the distance, behind the smoke

We had a brief coffee stop in Kamloops (my second visit after the very brief fresh air break on the train) before continuing on and arriving in Kelowna in the late afternoon. Kelowna has a very beautiful setting, on a lake and surrounded by more mountains. It was quite hazy with the smoke which made for a moody sunset which we watched from the open air top floor of a local restaurant.

A leisurely morning in Kelowna where I had a wander around the town and lakefront before we headed off to a local winery in the late morning for a spot of wine tasting. We had a glass of fizz, 2 whites and a red. As usual, I much preferred the whites! After a reasonable amount of wine, it was back to the lakefront in Kelowna for a picnic lunch arranged by our guide before we hit the road for the drive to Revelstoke which was basically an overnight stop before we continued east into Alberta – more on that next time!

In and around Kelowna