Hidden Ridge Chalet Banff

So here we are in Banff, its the day before the long labor day weekend, and its gonna get busy. We have a nice campsite at Tunnel mountain, and last night were visited by some roaming deer.
the scenery here is amazing, and although we have been before, and in Jo's case many many times it is still a beautiful ...

Temps overnight were in the low 40's. Great for sleeping!! Left the campground about 6:30,then stopped to get gas for the van. The price of $2.99 per gallon is the lowest I'm likely to see for quite some time.

Going through Customs was a breeze, then on into Canada. The morning was beautiful. Saw 3 mule deer and 16 bighorn sheep.

Right now I'm in the public library in Banff. (None of the public campgrounds have WiFi.) I'm camped at ...

... to catch a ride to Sulphur Mountain Gondola. We had just missed a bus, and with a 30min wait decided we would walk along the bus route, and catch it at the next stop. We walked along a beautiful tree lined suburbia, while gazing at the wonder we walked passed our turn off, realising this later on we decided to keep walking to view the grand Fairmont Resort Hotel, and then take a trail (1.5k) through the pine forest to the Gondola. The ...

... the HI Alpine Center in Lake Louise is great - friendly staff, a brilliant cafe for breakfast and dinner and the possibility to use the showers even after we checked out. The room was OK for one night ... The next day was glorious again. We hiked the 4km up to Lake Louise which we had last seen some nine years ago. The last few meters we sprinted to the lake in eager anticipation to see the unique turquoise color - just to see that the lake was frozen ... what a "shock ...

... hard to coordinate - communication was key! I could not believe quite how much stuff I had accumulated, I knew I had got a bit but ended up being nearly a whole new suitcase full! My big backpack I sent onto Max in England (not a cheap exercise) and a box I sent home. An expensive exercise, but I felt it was necessary - I also send a box back home. I ended up giving a bunch (and I mean a bunch) of stuff to Amanda and Brendan (2 Australian's ...

... than the tourist lookout, but I'm not sure that it was bluer than Lake Louise when seen from above. Once again, we didn't see it with sun on it, so perhaps that would make a difference. Our final stops were next to the Mistaya Lake and Canyon. Our drive along towards Edmonton was surprisingly pretty. We had expected the pretty scenery to end once we crossed the national park boundary but it continued for some way. There were lots of nice mountains around pretty Abraham Lake. N.

... criss-crosses over the canyon, with some scary views downwards! I'm always amazed by how blue the water is. The second hike was to the Paint Pots - little patches of water coloured orange by ochre. It made for some pretty dramatic scenery, as the photos will show. Both hikes were only about half an hour, but I was pretty tired by then end of the day as I'd spent the whole week climbing up and down hills in Montreal and Quebec City.

... ve cleared again....however, they are solidly booked so we couldn't have opted for a later flight....so......the tour guide for the Wildlife Discovery tour was supposedly an excellent guide so Dale recommended we go on that instead....apparently they cost around the same but the Wildlife discovery is not off-road in a 4-wheel drive (as the brochure indicated to some people) and there is no guarantee of seeing any wildlife. It was a shuttle bus and some of us piled onto this shuttle bus ...

A big fat M**ry Christmas and Happy 2008 to ev**yone! I thought the time had come that I make anoth** entry, before I forget any bits and pieces that I wanted to say.... Firstly, we had a really warm day yest**day. I think it was around +2 degrees, but it definitely felt warm** than that - I did feel that I needed to wear my gloves the entire time I was outside! It was lovely! Today is cold** again and receiving some more snow, but not so light and fluffy ...

... my favorite Canadian musicians on their home turf. I missed five of my favorite acts by a week. I guess that means I will have to head to Canadian music week in Toronto this March. I am looking forward to heading home tomorrow to settle into Albany. My first task will be looking over the TWO offers I have received on my house in this past week. It has been a fantastic trip and I have had a lot of fun blogging my adventure. Thanks for following along.