Village Country Inn Radium Hot Springs

... that bears had been frequenting the campsites, now this is a normal speach that you get in most of the National parks, but apparently they have been seen recently where we are camped so lets hope they pay us a visit . The mighty Columbia River starts here, and flows all the way to Portland Oregon, but here it is about 10 feet wide and two feet deep.

... I can always snuggle together for added warmth.

Despite a brief rain during the night, the morning was dry with clouds breaking and glimpses of blue sky. The fact that it wasn't raining (life is so much easier when not drenched) made the decision to continue our trip a foregone conclusion.

Our alarm rang at 06h15 but we didn't roll out of our tent until 07h00. Due to the cold air, we ...

3 day trip
27 km ..... and a scramble

Animal sightings: Lesser Yellowlegs (bird) , deers, grouse (but no grizzlies hehe)

Flowers: lots of common fireweed throughout burned forest, indian paintbrush and other alpine wildflowers

Theme song: Buffalo Soldier (Bob Marley)

Note to self:

Go with the Floe ...... get it ? ah!

C'est quétaine Annie :P

Today we entered into Canada via Kootenay National Park. Although we only spent a few hours there, Kootenay was a great first impression of a Canadian National Park. There were several scenic photo ops, as evidenced by the attached photos. We stopped at Hector Gorge, Numa Creek and Numa Falls, Vermillion River and hiked the short Paint Pots trail to see fields of ochre.

The drive from Kootenay ...

... a moose near the road. He was quite skittish. As soon as we pulled over for a picture, he trotted off into the woods. Then we stopped for a dip in the Radium Hot Springs Pool. The warm pool is 103° F and the cold pool is 84°F. We sat in the warm pool for almost an hour – a well deserved treat after the strenuous hike. To cap off the day there were half a dozen Bighorn Sheep along the road at the last curve back into our campground.

... accommodation, Monument. We set back off for the T-Bar and to be honest i don't remember alot, altitude 'Blackouts' i call them now. Quite common but so it getting retarded drunk so I think there is a flaw in blaming the altitude. A lot of dancing and engaging in conversation with the opposite sex ensued and once again, before i knew it, the lights came on and immediately I began my search for the 'Donkey Dome', the after party where a staff guy lives. It was pumping, I ...

The four national parks Jasper, Banff, Yoho and Kootenay run into each other like four interlocking puzzle pieces. We had been to the first three, so it was time to visit the fourth to finish the quartet. We turned off toward Radium Hot Springs from Lake Louise and spent the night in a car park just inside Kootenay, amazed at the constant stream of big trucks we could hear going by. On the ...

... the tour of the refurbished luxury cars, which he said was really interesting. Overall I'd say that Cranbrook is definitely worth seeing if you're in the area, don't judge it only by the main highway! The campsite where we stayed was right on Moyie Lake, just 15 min south of Cranbrook. There weren't any bighorn sheep in Moyie Park, but it was a nice spot all the same. The park operators here were some of the friendliest we've met, they were ...

... the years and am glad to see that it still has its small town charm. We chatted with the very personable and friendly shop people munching on our ice creams. I remembered when you would see the occassional deer walking through the parking lot or feasting on someones flower garden. In the winter before I left cougar warnings posted by the park rangers were plastered all over...now they are replaced with planning and development advertisments. I noticed an article in the local ...

I managed to take three separate shots of windmills: a row of them across the mountains, an old windmill and a new windmill turning with its' mystic beauty in a field. When I got home I "photoshopped" the 3 shots into one. A fun learning experience.


The mountains ...