GOLDEN, B.C. TO HINTON, ALBERTA

We pulled out of the Whispering Spruce RV Park (not a good place for big rigs) yesterday morning, turning east on The Trans Canada Highway.  We immediately started climbing into the Canadian Rockies, where we entered Banff National Park near Lake Louise.  The very steep road up to Lake Louise almost gave someone an anxiety attack, but she didn't even call me on the radio to question my sanity.  Once at the lake, we oooed & aaaawd at this world renowned beauty, taking some pictures of the magnificent scenery.  We all wondered what a room costs at this famous hotel.

We dealt with light rain all day, including our brief time outside at Lake Louise.  Once we had some pictures, we headed back to the motor homes,  then drove back down the hill to Hwy 93 (ice fields parkway).  The drive north through Banff & Jasper National Parks is filled with incredible scenery, and despite the clouds covering the snow covered mountain tops, we still got our money's worth.  We paid a fee of $19.50 to drive through the parks.

I can't remember the name of this lake, but it was still frozen.  Against the mountains on the other side, several small glaciers were clearly visible.

 The climb up to this viewpoint was pretty steep.  Looking south, you can see the road below.

 

I suspect the ice fields parkway got it's name from the area where the road travels right below the huge Athabasca Glacier.  We stopped at the visitor's center, had lunch, and took in the view from the deck of the lodge.  Not too many centuries ago, this glacier filled the entire valley, and building a road through here would have been impossible.

These ice buggy buses transport folks up onto the glacier, but we weren't interested, so didn't check into prices.  These things are definitely buses on steroids!

 The two dots are those big snow buses on the glacier.

 All of these temporary signal lights should have a countdown window like this one.

So far, wildlife that we have seen while driving include - Black Bears near Lake Louise, Deer, Elk, Moose, Bighorn Sheep, and a small flock of wild Turkeys.  This Elk was munching on the grass in Jasper National Park.

We parked last night in the WalMart parking lot in Hinton, and had no Internet connection.  I'm posting this from the Northern Lights RV Park in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, where we'll be for a couple of nights.

Diesel Petro Canada, Hinton @ $1.179 per liter = @ $4.46 per Gal (71.7 Gals)

MPG - 7.5  Cumulative average - 8.1

Miles traveled - 249  Cumulative - 2,620