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Posted On Wednesday, September 17, 2014 at
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8:33 PM
by Alvin
Perfectly locating itself along a 300KM stretch between Banff and Jasper, the stunning Icefield Parkway awaited our exploration - on a per kilometer basis, this road had to be one of the most photogenic places we had visited. Motoring along this road was tiring as we found it difficult to concentrate on the driving and not be distracted by the surrounding scenery of roaring rivers, snow-capped mountains, shimmering glaciers as well as enough wilderness and hiking tracks to last possibly a life time. We made frequent driving stops to take in the breath-taking views and satisfied our photography appetites. Every turn of a corner was a gem of a photo opportunity waiting - we stopped by the famed (and sadly retreating) Columbia and Athabasca Glaciers, Bow River lookouts, picnic spots by the numerous view points such as Mosquito Creek. Yeh, the Icefield Parkway could also be named the Ooh-Ahh-Wow-Jez Parkway !
Posted On Tuesday, September 9, 2014 at
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9:05 PM
by Alvin
We left Golden on an overcast morning and passed over The Rockies into the Province of Alberta, forwarding the clock an hour early on the way. Banff greeted us with flurries of snow to start with and then proceeded to dump on us 6 more inches ! It felt like Christmas and turkey for visitors like us but probably just another early snow fall for the locals. Banff town had a joyous atmosphere even though the mountains on our way to Banff looked moody, menacing and unforgiving in the thick dark clouds; luckily the wind was not blustery and we took a few great shots of Peyto and Bow Lakes in these conditions. We walked up Sulphur Mountain through a few snow-covered forests and visited The Cave And Basin to have a good sniff of the sulphur fume along the famed hotsprings. Interestingly, the unique Banff Springs snails flourished in these chemically-charged waters for thousands of years.
What a difference a few days made as the snow clouds cleared up and blue sky returned with blinding sun light and the snow looked inviting and the air was brisk. We went out for a couple of short hikes around Jasper and experienced solace in solitude in the peaceful environment. Our journey to and from Jasper was punctuated with frequent stops by the famous Jasper wild life traffic jam - we saw elks (a giant male and his not so giant harems), big horn sheeps (three), mountain goats (lost count), a lonely coyote and of course those fearless squirrels and chipmunks with immense poise and the knowing look; luckily (unluckily) we did not come across a grizzly bear. Jasper town was more spread out than Banff and had a frontier feel to it with the biggest "supermarket" looking like an overgrown corner shop stocked with camp food (well, actually with other goodies like lasagna as well). We loved the mountain chalet we stayed at, about 5km out of town - all gas fire and modern comfort - mega cosy and Mandy cooked a body-warming cheesy lasagna for us !
Posted On Saturday, September 6, 2014 at
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6:49 PM
by Alvin
We drove out of Vancouver on a clear blue day and were momentarily lost in the suburban traffic before finding our way onto the Trans-Canada Hwy. Spending the night in the lake-side town of Kelowna was nothing to write home about until we saw the lake the following morning - calm and tranquility with the Lake Okanagan casting a perfect self-reflection. We dragged ourselves away from such a pure blissful start to the morning and made some distance over Roger's Pass as we entered Glacier National Park whereby the friendly park ranger handed us a map to climb the 4-hours Balu Pass (and yeh she also handed us the Park Fee receipt as well...). We were slightly disappointed at first as the trail was mostly a walk in the forest but as we climbed further and out in to the sunshine, the Balu Pass slowly revealed its beautiful scene - a steep rocky path eventually led us up to the Pass with a viewpoint where we could look out to a few stunning glacier tongues shimmering in the blinding sun.
Having spent the night in the functional town of Golden to rest our limbs, we headed out to the picturesque Emerald Lake in the Yoho National Park. The lake lived up to its colorful name as it looked like a piece of jade lying in the sun. We walked around the lake in about 2 hours and we spent a further 2 hours hiking up to the Emerald Basin where we found the glaciers that fed water to the lake. As it was still pretty warm in the late Summer, the glaciers we saw were hollowed out by the warm sun and were just about 2 feet in thickness - yeh, danger zones to be avoided as hikers (especially children) had been known to fall in. We paid a quick visit to the only village in Yoho National Park, Field, that was packed house-to-house with B&B. Interestingly, Field was actually named after a prospecting financier who never paid up ! We also spent an enjoyable 2 hours walk (and a picnic lunch) at the Wapta Falls in the Yoho National Park where we witnessed the awesome vista of a 30 metres fall tumbling down into a turquoise lake. We headed back to Golden for the night after such a delightful day of hiking and laughing and were ready to cross the Great Divide the following day into Alberta Province and over to Banff.
Posted On Wednesday, September 3, 2014 at
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11:30 PM
by Alvin
Air Canada flew us into Vancouver in good time for a clear sunset and we took time to stretch our limbs after the 10 hours' flight. We noticed the air quality was pristine as we strolled along David Lam Park on the southern reaches of town and met joggers, canoe rowers and power walkers going about their sports amidst beautiful red maple leaves and golden hornbeam, robinia, ash leaves showing off their early Autumn colors. Vancouver was super laid-back, the downtown area was not huge like New York or even San Francisco and had a quiet and quaint appeal to it. We stayed near the main streets on Robson and Smithe but the traffic was quiet and the neighbourhood was even quieter. We had heard frequently that Vancouver could be an ideal place to retire and we were beginning to appreciate the peaceful surroundings. Vancouver had to be one of the most walkers- and cyclists-friendly cities we had visited as the following day we spent 6 hours walking around Stanley Park, Canada Place and back down the 3km long Georgia Street without having to fight our way through any major motor traffic.
The following days we spent time visiting Granville Island where there was an colorful Public Market selling local artefacts like native scuptures and decorative jewellery; there were also numerous food stalls selling delicious cheeses, sweets and seafoods. Our visit would not be complete without visiting China Town as Vancouver had apparently one fifth of its inhabitants coming from Chinese background. We wrapped up our days of Vancouver urban hikes by snaking round the Science World, Space Museum and over the Cambie and Burrad Bridges. On our way, we found near English Bay Beach, the figure of Inukshuk which was constructed (probably) as a navigational tool and had traditionally symbolised "the right path". After these day-long walks as a gentle warm-up, we were ready to pick up our car near Hornby Street and tackle more strenuous hiking activities in the world famous Glacier, Yoho, Banff and Jasper National Parks.
