Post 8 Banff

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Sept 12-17

We went directly to Banff from our stay in Glacier.  It was an easy border crossing and, with the exception of one construction worker we passed who flipped us the bird, the people have been lovely.




We camped in the national park for 3 nights, which gave us 2 full days in Banff.

We spent the first day on a full day tour of the beautiful lakes in the area.  Our first stop was at Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park in BC. It is a beautiful green color.



 

Next stop, Lake Moraine, a sapphire blue color, named for the many boulders or moraine left by the receding glacier. We climbed to the top of the moraine pile for a different view of the lake. Pictures just don't do the colors justice.




And finally, the famous Lake Louise, more greenish. 






The different colors are caused by the different types of sediment carried by the water flowing into the lakes.  Most are limestone which produces the greenish hues.  Granite dust gives Lake Morraine its vivid blue color.  The haze from the Canadian wildfires definitely affected the view of all the lakes, but especially Lake Louise.  It requires sunlight to reflect the beautiful colors and the haze put a significant damper on that.

We also stopped at Natural bridge, a rock formation carved out by the river water.





We starting our second day in the town of Banff walking around and catching up on some future reservations.  Then on to a scenic drive along the Bow River, which also runs aqua colored, similar to the lakes.  The river is a milky aqua due to the sediment, which they call flour, still being suspended in the water.





Our next few days were travel days across western Canada to re-enter the US in northern Washington state.  Kudos to the Canadians who know how to build a highway through the Rockies.  They didn’t just build a two-lane road hanging off the edge of a cliff.  They committed to a highway and came through- 4 lanes with additional break-down lanes.  And in addition to that, fencing along the whole highway with wildlife bridges and tunnels to minimize car collisions with large wildlife.  Well done, Canada!




We had been experiencing the smoke and haze from the wildfires but, today drove right through the wildfire area for several miles.




We also made a stop to hike through an old growth cedar forest.





A stop in Bellingham to do laundry and on to a tiny campground for the night where we enjoyed a glass of wine and a pretty sunset over the lake.





We were up early to catch the ferry to the Olympic Peninsula, where our next week of travels begins.







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