June 28 – Day 7 Alaska Trip

Our hotel last night was situated right next to a Canadian version of Denny’s where we went for Breakfast since there was not a free one offered where we stayed. Boy, I just can’t get over how expensive restaurants and hotels are here. I think the “0” fell off the “Super 8” Hotel sign, because there is nothing less than 80 bucks a nite. It was chilly when we started up the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Our first “Wow!” of the morning came when we spotted a big moose standing right beside the road. His Animal Spirit spoke to me: “…Go In Peace, Head-Smashed-in-Buffalo-Collision – and take Leroy with you”! I thanked Brother Moose and on we went. We soon got to Hot Springs and went into Kootenay National Park. The road is roughly 200 miles of scenic parkway that straddles the line between British Columbia and Alberta, following the Rocky Mountains north. This whole route is worthy of the “Pretty as a Picture Postcard” cliché, but the trump card is Lake Louise, an alpine resort area complete with Aspen-like shops, lots of tourists, and breathtaking scenery. The lake was created 2 million years ago when glaciers carved out a huge basin and piled the debris up to form a natural dam. The melting glaciers filled the lake. I included a pic but it really doesn’t do justice to the beauty of the area. The color of the water is almost indescribable, sorta like the blue eyes of a Siamese cat, and due to the water clarity, you can see through to the bottom of the lake. We had our picnic lunch there in the town center at a table we shared with a Japanese mother visiting her son, who was a foreign exchange student here in Canada. I practiced my limited Japanese with her and she practiced her limited English on me, and we all got along just fine. Then it was time to bug out because we still had a long way to go. Riding up the greenbelt, we spotted two bear, two Dall Sheep, and several mule deer. It hadn’t gotten above 65 degrees all afternoon and the closer to Jasper we got, the lower the temperature plummented. I was really getting cold when it got into the lower 50’s and had to stop to put more clothes on. Finally, on the top of one of the mountains Leroy and I had to stop again for me to put more clothes on. By this time, it was 42 degrees, raining, and cold enuf to freeze the nads off a brass monkey! The only way I could get more clothes on was to take off what I had on, and redress. I got down to my underwear while cars whizzed past. By this time, the deluge had gone chunky-style with stinging pellets of ice mixed with wind blown rain. I got more clothes on as quickly as I could and we pressed on. Leroy has heated pants, jacket, gloves so I don’t think he was suffering as much as me. I took a picture up top of the mountain where we made our last stop. BTW, the pictures really look like crap on the blog unless you double click on it and blow 'em up to screen size... I think Canadians are clean people – not that I have been smelling any lately! What I mean is, they keep their roadsides really clean of litter – not at all like Texas. I like that about Canadians. Another thing; I like their Road signs – “Watchable Wildlife Ahead” – does that mean they have animals that are unwatchable? Mebbe if you watch those animals, it will make you sick? I know there are man-eating animals in the woods that are untouchable and perhaps unwatchable? “Swinging Logs May Impede Your Driving” (Logging Trucks?) In the words of Mr. Owl; “…The World May Never Know…” Our final destination was Grande Cache in Alberta with distance traveled 468 miles. Hey!!! It’s Cold Up Here! Really Nice to be in a warm bed!