When we first started out I thought the site of a gravel road would be our sign of an adventure. Little did I know that there would be a bigger sign....in the form of a flood! So, to make a long story short, the day we left Hillsboro, Canmore and Calgary were getting a ton of rain. In fact, they received a whole year's worth of rain in just 36 hours! Well, there are a lot of creeks and rivers that run through both towns and you can imagine what happened. The road south from Jasper to Calgary was closed (they've since opened it to Banff) and Canmore is completely shut down except for residents. Canmore is where we had plans to stay the longest (10 days) and do all of our day trips and the Calgary Stampede from.
We got into Jasper on Saturday and continued on with our regular plans only changing one reservation for the Jasper Tramway due to the weather. And, boy, are we glad we did! It was perfect weather and the views were spectacular! We decided to see if the campground had any sites available for a longer period of time but it turns out we could only get an extra night and we'll have to move sites. We are learning to be very flexible and enjoy every minute no matter the circumstances. We decided to see if Radium Hot Springs had any open sites since we had reservations there on July 7-9 and they did so we took them. They couldn't guarantee us full hookup though so we continued to look for campgrounds closer to Banff. The problem is that this coming weekend is their long weekend (Canada Day is Monday, July 1) so a lot of campgrounds are booked solid. Our final plans are staying at the Lake Louise Banff campground from June 28-July 4 (only electric hookup, no water!) and then move on to the Tunnel Mountain Trailer Campground in Banff from July 4-7 (full hookup) and then down to Radium Hot Springs as planned. They say that the Calgary Stampede is still on but we're just not sure how we're going to get there unless they open the road.
We are loving the scenery here in Alberta. There is nothing that compares! We took a wildlife tour and cruise of the Maligne (ma-leen) Valley on Sunday, including the Maligne Canyon and Maligne Lake (if you have a chance, look those up on the internet). They were beautiful! And then that night, we took the Jasper Tramway up to the heavens (at least that's what it felt like to me!).
OH! And I almost forgot one of the most important things we saw! The first night in Jasper, right in front of our trailer in a grassy area, an elk gave birth to her calf and we watched the whole thing! Truly amazing.
Yesterday we visited the Columbia Icefield and Athabascar Glacier. Another amazing trip. First, the scenery driving down the highway was breathtaking. And no one was on the road. It was as if we were all by ourselves. And the glacier itself was mind boggling. Too much to write here but I'll try to post pictures. On our way back to Jasper we stopped at Sunwapta Falls and Athabascar Falls. Again, too much to write here but look up on the internet if you have a chance.
Okay, I'll try to go post some more pictures now in another post! Miss you all but we're having a great time and loving Canada!
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