Travels of Geo Nova: On to the caravan

Glacier National Park, one of the Crown Jewels of our National Park System along with Waterton National Park, the Canadian side were designated the first International Peace Park. This designation was spearheaded by The Rotary Club in an effort to foster international cooperation.

In Glacier the scenery was spectacular despite the marginal weather that we were given. Driving the Going To The Sun Road was an amazing experience despite the narrow white knuckle cliff hanging serpentine path for what seemed like a significant portion of the road. This road bisects Glacier park east to west. The Park is heavily visited by both US citizens and people from all over the world. Here we met up with fellow Airstreamer’s. One of the outstanding hikes we did was the Beaver Pond loop. It passed through both forested and meadows filled with a multitude of wild flowers that provided a feast of vibrant colors. Driving along a road we got to see our first bear. In the camp ground we had a fox that liked to eat his breakfast next to us. It caught the local ground squirrel and had a feast.

Now on to the Canadian side. In Waterton we hiked through one of the only open trails. Because of the wild fires last year many roads and trails were closed. After seeing the devastation it really is amazing that the firefighters were able to save the town.

The other hike that David and two other Airstreamer’s went on originated from the Canadian side and transversed back into Glacier, Montana. This hike was lead by rangers from both the US and Canada. They hiked 9 miles following the shore of Waterton Lake learning the history, natural and geology involving both parks. At the 49th latitude the forest is opened to designate the boarder. This is kept open due to a treaty between both countries. Rangers have to back pack in all equipment to keep it clear, no roads here. After the 9 mile hike the way back was by boat. Diana and the other partners that didn’t hike met David and company on the boat for a trip back to town.

On the 4th of July we traveled to Banff. Here the campground wasn’t close to town but they had a bus service because parking in Banff is an issue. Banff is very commercial. Hiking trails were a drive away. We did the Conception Lake hike. This hike originates at the foot of Lake Moraine. Lake Moraine has a relatively small parking lot, maybe 100 spaces. We arrived at 6:30AM and got the last spot. Both Lake Louise and Lake Moraine are world known destinations. Bus load after bus load of tourists were deposited here. By noon there were throngs of people there. Very pretty but certainly not a wilderness experience. We got out of there as quick as possible. After which we drove up the Icefields parkway to have lunch and then explore some of the stops that we couldn’t stop at with the trailers. The next day was a trip to Lake Louise and a 2.5 mile hike up the side of the mountain to get to the tea house on a lake. Diana made it to the top in spite of the steep incline all the way up. The last struggle was the 60 steps to the tea house. After this hike we drove to Yoho National Park and learned about the switch back tunnels that were dug into the mountains to get the trains over the mountain pass. We drove then hiked to the second tallest waterfall in Canada. The switchback road was a challenge for our truck. We had to back up because we couldn’t make the turns. Thankfully no one was coming the other way.

On to Jasper NP our last stop before joining the Airstream Alaska Caravan in Dawson Creek BC. We left Banff and drove the Icefields parkway, so named because at the top you pass the Columbia Icefields. Again hordes of busses and people walking out to the tongue of the glacier. Jasper was much less heavily visited destination. Several well known spots were frequented by tourists buses but for the most part it was possible to go for a hike without throngs of Humanity surroundings us. We were able to find several new birds for our life lists. Each day we managed to hike somewhere around 5 miles. Laundry is done and we are ready for an early departure tomorrow morning.