Day 14
Date: July 6, 2014
Total bear count: 9
Weather: sunny with some clouds and some rain 19-23 degrees
After another night with ear plugs we ate our breakfast again in our horrible room. For the coffee we went of course to the 7eleven around the corner. We were glad that we finally could leave the hotel.
Before we left to Yoho national park we first went for a geocache around the corner. It should have been an easy find but to no avail. The nano caches are extremely hard to find.
First stop in Yoho national park was Wapta falls. It was a nice trail with lot of mosquitoes (30% deet, eat that you little b**es). The falls were nice as well.
Next stop was the Natural Bridge. It is one of the first things me and my brother did. I was quite curious about this one. Especially with the amount of water there is in June. We were not disappointed.. a lot of water. What a power going through the natural bridge. But also: a lot of people. It was hard to get any good photos without people on them. The painter in the corner did not had that problem. She just did not painted the people.
Next stop was, something I was really looking forward too. Another of my pictures in the living room: Emerald lake. And yup, also with a lot of canoes. Again a lot of people and there were cabins build for lodging. I managed to get about the same picture I have on my wall. We walked around a bit before we went to Hamilton Falls. In 2001 there was nothing to see at these falls so that tinkled the curiosity. The falls were decent. Sadly the angle was never good to see them. On the way back we met a lovely couple Reinhart from Austria with his German girlfriend.
Next location was the Yoho valley. At the beginning of the valley there was a spot where you could see the long train go in a tunnel, making an almost 360 degree turn in the mountain and saw it come out while the end was also still visible.
Last stop in Yoho is Takakkaw falls. These falls were quite impressive. The water fell down with a huge force on a middle tier splashing it around heavily, making it rain in a wide area.
We had some time left, so we went back to Banff. We knew that there was a canyon near the Jasper border that we had missed, so we went for that one. On our way there a bear decided to pose for us!
After visiting the nice canyon Mistaya canyon we left to find a motel in Canmore where I stayed a lot with my brother. On the Highway 1 HW saw a pair of bears that I could not see.
In Canmore everything has changed! Apparently all the hotel chains are now also there next to Banff and everything was more expensive. After research in the accommodation guide we found a nice motel with an AAA/CAA rate with a kitchen. So we did groceries and we cooked our own dinner. Afterwards we went for the hot tub!
Day 15
Date: July 7, 2014
Total bear count: 11
Weather: Sunny with some clouds 22-27 degrees
This day we started with breakfast in our own kitchen. With good coffee of course! We left our hotel to find a nice and easy geocache around the corner. We drove to Lake Louise for a nice hike. This time the weather was good, I even managed to get a nice shot with not that many canoes. We started our walk to Lake Agnes what both HW and I did in our pasts. After just starting we met Reinhart and his girlfriend again. We had a nice talk while walking until we got halfway at Mirror Lake. Sadly the lake was not serene enough for a good reflection. Here our ways were divided with Reinhart and girlfriend, because there was another cache that needed to be found. After walking over rocks we finally found it. What a view over the lake on that location!
After finally getting up to Lake Agnes, we saw that the hut was open. It was not in 2001. Sadly no waffles with strawberries for HW. Only warm drinks and apple pie.
After the walk back we drove to Lake Moraine. It was crowded with people with people parking on the shoulders of the road. But we found a nice spot near the entrance. We took some photos and left for our long drive to HW’s uncle and aunt who lived in Cochrane near Calgary. We took the scenic route over the 1A. On this road we found a nice picnic area for lunch. Further on the road we spotted a pair of bears.
We ate a quick meal in the MacDonalds of Canmore before we arrived in Cochrane. There I met Sandy and Gary Kooistra and their son John. They have been living in Canada for around 30 years. That could be heard because they used Frisian, Dutch and English in all their sentences. Their house was beautiful. Build on a hill with a view over the fields with the Rockies in the background. We had talks and beers in the garden. There were beds for us in their basement section of the house.