Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Lists and Restrictions

It is good to be home even if I have a long list of things to do.  We all have errands, chores, etc. waiting for us when we return from being away from home for several days.  I am detailed about these things and try to put them in order of importance.  This becomes a joke because I end up doing the easy things first, always.  I am currently down to my last load of laundry.  Mail and bills are all done.  Birthday gift for granddaughter is wrapped.  Food has been replenished and produce bins cleaned.  Photos are sorted and many deleted. I have not looked at the weedy flower beds, but since it is currently raining pretty heavily, I feel no guilt for that.

We set Calgary as our base of operations.  We were going both east and west from there.  Years before we stayed in Canmore which is the gateway to Banff National Park but this restricts touring to the park itself.  This year the park entrance fees were all waived because it is Canada's 150th anniversary.  



The weather was perfectly warm, mostly hot some days!  Banff was flooded with tourists (mostly from Asia) and Canadians.  The main attractions had little if any parking and we finally tried the major features on a Thursday early in the morning just to get in.  The remote trails and lakes were more available.  



Everyone above is waiting in line to see the waterfall up close through a hole in the rocks at Johnston Canyon.  When we came here years ago there was only a handful of people.  Not exactly the experience one hopes for on a mountain vacation.

In addition, further south and west there were hundreds of large and small forest fires.  Some started by lightning storms and others by careless campers.  Ranchers had evacuated leaving behind sheep and dogs to watch the sheep and only taking a few horses.  Large parts of the park were closed due to that.





The air was not difficult for breathing and you could just barely smell smoke, but when the wind shifted the scenery disappeared.  My eyes were red the next day.  Fortunately, later in the week, we got rain followed by some lovely scenery.





To make things even tighter all the Bears were down by the valleys eating the berries to get fat before winter and those parts of the park were closed off with "crime" tape.  Of course, the bears were not following the rules and sometimes pulled away the tape to get at more food.  One local Canmore woman who jogged each morning with her dog wandered into the restricted area and was attacked (only slightly injured) by surprising an eating Bear.  There was some talk about her being charged for entry into a restricted area, but then the Park realized the tape has long disappeared and she would not have known.  What an insult that would have been, a wounded shoulder and then a Park fine!  Park Rangers do not get paid enough.  It was an adventure.

I had seen the popular spots (Lake Louise, Bow Lake, etc.) years before and did not care, but my son and DIL had not, so we braved the crowds.  Quite frankly I could have closed my eyes and imagined I was back in NYC, it was so crowded in those places.  We spent some days going to the eastern "badlands" area and even those places were well visited.  Maybe everyone who had planned to come to America decided Canada was more friendly.

Next a view of the "cowtown" of Calgary.

20 comments:

  1. Love your pictures! Thanks so much for sharing with us.

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  2. Such magnificent scenery. Thanks.

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  3. Beautiful photographs
    The crowds are a surprise, but with free admission, I can see where that will attract more visitors.
    The picture of the cliffs and the river, for some reason gives me the chills. What river is that?

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    1. That cliff is at Lake Louise. You can see the expensive lodge as a small white square in the lower left.

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    2. Thank you Tabor
      The view from the lodge is the one I've seen before.

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  4. That is some beautiful territory. I agree that there admission was probably a big draw

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  5. I can imagine the crowds this year. You were brave.

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  6. Great pictures! I'm astounded at the huge number of tourists. Not my idea of fun, for sure! Glad to hear that lady was not terribly injured from her run-in with the bear! :-)

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  7. It looks like you had a fun time. Welcome Home!

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  8. I was in Yellowstone, lots there too-- so maybe just more people with the money to take tours or travel

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  9. I imagine Canada IS more friendly.

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  10. Welcome home. I'm glad you are here for a short while, and glad you managed to tour despite the crowds. I frankly think the weather was better up there.

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  11. It's hard to enjoy the experience of being surrounded by natural beauty when you are instead surround by crowds of people and smoke. I haven't been to Banff, but this looks like a good reason to wait to go in the fall.

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  12. Enjoyed your photos and the scenery. I've often thought in parks I've visited how nice it would be to be the only visitor at some of the sites for just a little while.

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  13. Sorry that this wasn't better for you. It was pretty much a lifetime experience for me almost 20 years ago. Did you drive the Icefields Parkway to Jasper? Fantastic drive, and Jasper may be less crowded than Banff and quite wonderful?

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  14. Lovely scenery and a pity about the smoke. It brought back memories of our visit some years ago. There was smoke then too.Shame about the tourists too but I guess that is an industry we have to put up with after all we are part of it.

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  15. Nice photos . . . but it seems no matter where you go these days, there are lots of people.

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  16. Great n pretty pics! Lots of folks tho- The free thing attracts them like bears to berries, I guess.

    Looks like a good time! Welcome home

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  17. Beautiful photos, I am not quite sure what to say about all the tourists but it is a world wide phenomenon.

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Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.