Alaska 2014 Week 3

On 9 June we headed out for Glacier National Park following I89N.  As we were going to check in we found out that the Road to the Sun was closed down after about 2 miles in.  We were pretty bummed about that.  We were going to stay at St. Mary’s Campground but Larry didn’t like the looks of any of the campsites; he was worried about getting TV satellite reception and Mem and Larry wanted WiFi so we went to a Campground that had WiFi and full hooks across the street from the Glacier National Park called Johnson’s RV Campground.  It turned out to be a little pricey at $50/night but the people were very nice. It was up on a hill and had an awesome view of the Glacier Mountains and the lake below it so we all agreed the price was well worth it.

The next morning (10 Jun) we headed toward the Chief Mountain Border Crossing into Canada which connected to the Cowboy Trail (Canada 22).  Both Jim and Larry were a little nervous going through the border crossing because they were going to check their shotguns thru.  They completed all the appropriate paperwork before hand but at the campground there were some stories going around about people having difficulties getting through the border crossings.  So they were prepared to go to the next crossing if they had any problems.  Both Jim and Larry felt that it was a case of one of those stories “that get bigger with the telling” but they were still concerned.  Well we got to the border and it turned out just fine.  Their paperwork was in order, and the two border control officers couldn’t be any nicer.

We stayed on the Cowboy Trail and stayed the night in a town called Longview and stayed at the Tails and Trails Campground.  It was a very small town.  After we got set up, we walked into town, mailed some postcards and went to the saloon which also serves as the café, and laundry mat and had a piece of pie and coffee.  The campground was full of prairie dogs and our dogs were going crazy trying their best to catch them.  I think those prairie dogs were tormenting the dogs, they kept coming up out of their holes and screeching and as soon as the dogs would see them they would go down and pop out of another hole.  Baxter was fascinated by them and determined he was going to catch them.  It was so funny.

Jun 11 we headed to Banff.  Larry decided he wanted to get gas at a Flying J in Calgary.  It looked pretty easy to get to by looking at the map.  So we got off the Cowboy Trail and went through the city traffic.  I started teasing Larry; here we left this beautiful terrain to get in this city traffic to save how much money?  Anyway we finally got to Banff and got

setup in the Banff National Campground.  We drove downtown and got the lay of the land for touring tomorrow and then we went over to the Starbucks and we all got on the internet and had an enjoyable afternoon drinking coffee and updated our blogs and facebooks,

Jun 12, we took a day trip to beautiful Lake Louise.  This turquoise lake never ceases to amaze me.  It gets its beautiful color from the Victoria Glacier that reaches toward the shoreline.  We decided to have lunch at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.  It was a beautiful hotel.  The prices were very high so we opted to eat at the deli which was also high but we were there and we were hungry and after all it was the Fairmont Chateau.  We will probably never have the opportunity again. Haha!

June 13, we are still in Banff.  We were going to ride the Gondola today to the top of the Sulphur Mountain.  Its one of the highest mountains in Banff.  But it rained all day and when it finally stopped the clouds were so low we wouldn’t have been able to see anything so we decided not to pay the $45 just to look at the clouds.  We went back to Starbu

cks and drank coffee and got on the internet again.  Then we went for dinner.  We went to this restaurant called Wild Bill’s Legendary Saloon.  Jim misread the menu and thought one of the items said Horse Pecker Burger, when it actually said Horse Packer Burger.  We all got a good laugh out of that one.  Anyway, Jim and I order the Horse Packer Burger and it was really good.  After dinner we strolled around the various stores and had a very nice evening.

June 14, we left Banff on Canada 93 North for Jasper National Park.  On our way, we stopped at the Columbia Icefield Glacier Experience which is about an hour and a half south of Jasper.  We got to explore the Athabasca Glacier.  We boarded a massive Ice Explorer bus with giant rubber wheels and rode right up onto the glacier.  It took about an hour and 20 minutes to do the trip.  The wheels of the bus are about 5 ft high and 4 ft wide they are huge.  The guy told us the part of the glacier that we rode on was as deep as the Eiffel tower is high.  It was an awesome experience.   

We also experienced the new Glacier Skywalk that just opened up 2 weeks ago.  It is a fully accessible cliff-edge walkway that leads to a glass floored observation platform 918ft. above the Sunwapta Valley floor.  It was an awesome feeling to walk out on this glass walkway and look down.

By the time we got to the Jasper National Park Campground (Whistlers Campground) they only had dry camp sites available.  It’s a busy weekend because of the Skywalk opening this week.  So we took it even though we were hoping to get full hook up.