Day 14 – 04-Oct-2007
I was up and gone by 06:30ish. I knew it would only be about 200km of driving but it would be a long one with all the places I wanted to stop at to take pictures. I was heading eastward to Banff National Park. I had decided during the planning of my trip to avoid the town of Banff as it was nothing but a concrete jungle and not worth visiting for me.
I made a quick stop at the Spiral Tunnels. This was basically a set of tunnels that spiraled through the mountain sides to decrease the amount off grade on the railway line through the Kicking Horse Pass.
I then reached the lovely village of Lake Louise. I avoided all the touristy stuff and headed right up to the lake. I spent about an hour taking pictures and walking through the Chateau Fairmont hotel.
After that it was off to Morraine Lake. Personally I think this lake is more beautiful than Lake Louise. It has more of a turquoise colour but you have to be at the right angle to see it. I managed to get some really nice reflection shots while walking alone the beach shoreline.
I stopped off at Bow Lake for a snack break and then off to the Bow Summit trail which leads to Peyto Lake. The elevation is about 7000 feet and you are definitely in the snow line. Luckily I had my fleece and winter boots with me. This lake is supposed to be the most turquoise colour of all the lakes in the Banff/Jasper Park system. On the way back down the trail I met a nice young lady from Spain who asked me to take a picture of her with her camera. I said sure why not. I took a picture of her later on with my camera just before she slipped and fell coming down the trail.
I was just about to leave the parking lot when this guy comes up to me and says my car is on fire just around the corner. He wasn’t kidding. The funny thing about this story was that Adam wanted to take his moms van but she told him to take his sisters car as the van might break down. Angie was from Portland Oregon and was visiting her boyfriend Adam from Edmonton. He decided to take her on a trip through the Rockies.
I decided I was not going to miss a great photo opportunity and decided to stick around. The ranger finally showed up and started asking Adam questions about what happened. I asked Angie if she would be interested in a hot chocolate and fired up the stove to make her one.
It took the fire department a half hour to come from Louise Louise. By that time the car was basically crispy crittered. It was a 2001 Grand Prix. I was surprised in all the time it was burning that the gas tank did not blow at all. One of the fire fighters wanted his picture taken after it was all put out. I will put a DVD with all the pictures on it and send them to the fire department when I get home. I gave Angie my email address and will email her the pictures later.
I continued my journey northward and reached Sakatchewan Crossing. I took some pictures in various spots of the river with water in it and some time next to nothing in it. I also managed to take some pictures of some goats.
I reached the Columbia Icefields campground around 6pm. The temperature was starting to drop and it was supposed to hit -10C. The only other people in the campground were Louis and Louise from Gatineau Quebec. I made dinner and a fire in the wood stove in the dinning shelter. I should the other couple the pictures from the car fire. They were quite impressed. After that is was an early night as it was going to be a cold one.
Link to pictures
Pictures part 01
Pictures part 02
Pictures part 03
Pictures part 04
