Some of our favourite memories from our time living in Calgary include time spent in The Rocky Mountains. Luckily for Calgarians, these dazzling peaks, turquoise lakes, towering waterfalls and lush green forests are only a short drive away. During those days, we spent a great deal of time in the National Parks. We often went there for hiking and camping in the summer, and skiing in the winter.
After being away from this area for some time, we were excited about going back. The mountains were calling and we were more than ready to go.On Thursday July 6th, we got up bright and early, left Edmonton, and drove west to Jasper. We set up camp at the Kerkeslin campground, just south of Athabasca Falls, on the Ice Fields Parkway. We ended up staying there for three nights.
Here we did a couple of short walks behind the campground and spent some time at a small beach area along the Athabasca River. The weather was really warm so it was a nice spot to cool down.
Early Saturday morning, we did a short hike up the very steep Sulphur Skyline trail, before we gave in and headed to the Miette Hot Springs. Even though the air was hot, the water still felt great and we did opt to spend some of our time in the cool pool.
On Sunday July 9th, we packed up and headed south on the Icefields Parkway. This is one of our favourite drives in the world and has to have some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet.
We stopped at Saskatchewan Crossing to get some ice and other supplies, before moving on to Yoho National Park in British Columbia. We tried to stay at the Kicking Horse campground; however, it was full, as were others we had tried along the way. We ended up going all the way to Banff, where we found a site at the Two Jack campground just outside of town. We ended up staying there for two nights.
On Tuesday July 11th, we went to the Banff Hot Springs. Words can not properly describe how good these hot spring visits feel, after a few days of hiking and camping.
After an hour or so of soaking away muscle pain and camp fire smoke, we drove on to the Canyon Creek campground in Kootenay National Park. Here we did a short hike at Marble Canyon, the day we arrived, and a longer one the next day. Although the air was a little smokey at times, we weren't really affected by the much talked about forest fires in the area.
On Thursday July 13th, we moved on to McCloud Meadows, which is just east of
Radium Hot Springs. The next day, we took a drive into Radium, where we went to the Hot Springs and picked up a few supplies. That afternoon we hiked into Dog Lake. The 5km hike was one we had done many times before and were glad to do again.
Sher, Jamie and the boys arrived around 4pm in the afternoon, and Mum and Dad made it a few hours later. It was wonderful to have everyone at the campground, and that evening we celebrated Sher's birthday.
On Saturday July 15th, we had a big campground breakfast in the morning. It's hard to beat bacon, eggs and coffee in the fresh, crisp mountain air. After a very relaxing morning, we went for another hike into Dog Lake. This time everyone came along.
The evenings were a time for stories and silly songs by the campfire. Wieners were roasted and, except for the odd stray toy arrow and one firey flying marshmallow, the fun and games were enjoyed in a relatively safe and calm manner.
We all went to Radium Hot Springs on the morning of Sunday the 16th. We picked up a few supplies and headed back to the camp ground.
On Monday the 17th, we all made our way to Cobb Lake. It was a pleasant hike into the very peaceful, picturesque lake. At the lake we took a rest and ate our lunch.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the hike, although maybe some more than others. At this point honourable mention must go out to Jamie. Despite being offered assistance numerous times, the mightly man trudged along with great heroic determination and he courageously completed his self-inflicted challenge of carrying Timmy on his back during the entire hike.
The next day, we woke up to a cool, crisp morning. We went back to Radium Hot Springs again. On the way back to the site, we noticed that a fire ban had finally been put in place in our area. Our last night of camping there, would be one without a fire.
On Wednesday July 19th, we woke up to another cool morning. It had been our 13th night in a row sleeping in a tent and time for us to go back to Edmonton; however, a couple of weeks later, Jueun and I went back to the mountains again, this time for only three nights.
On Monday August 7th, we drove from Edmonton to the Columbia Ice Fields. We stayed at the 'tent only' campground there for one night. Here we were able to do about 4km of the Wilcox Creek Trail and the foot of the Glacier trail.
The next day, we headed south to Rampart Creek, where we found a beautiful spot to camp. We stayed there two nights. The first day, we were able to do a 14km hike around Bow Lake and up to Bow Glacier Falls.
The next day, after another big mountain breakfast, we tried to burn off the bacon by doing a very nice 9km hike in from Waterfowl Lake to Chephren Lake.
On Wednesday August 9th, we spent our last night in the tent. The next morning we got up before sunrise, and headed back to Edmonton.
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