2007 USA Seattle Route 3-4

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Aug 30 Monday Banff National Park

25º 160 km route:
Hurray, another day in Banff! Today we decided to explore the ”’Lake Louise”’ area. In the morning we did some shopping and got ice & drinks for the Cooler in our car. The lunch at Lake Louise was magnificent. After a 20km drive we arrived at Moraine Lake. You see pictures of Moraine Lake and you think “sure, they put ”the” best picture ever in this brochure”. Not true! It actually ”is” as beautiful!.

At “Moraine Lake” we met another couple and an old women who wanted to do the same trail. ”You can only walk in groups of 4 or more people because of the bears”. The hike was great and the older women kept going and going. If we only had half the energy she had at her age we would be happy!
After the hike we had a drink at the lake and we drove the older lady back to her hotel where we had another drink. She was one interesting and enjoyable person!
Back in Banff we had a great Cheese Fondue dinner at a Swiss/Italian restaurant.

Location: Banff
– Lake Louise
– Moraine Lake & Valley of the Ten Peaks
Hike: Larch Valley Trail (nr 43, elevation 600 meter, 6km)
Restaurant: Ticino Swiss / Italian

Aug 31 Friday to Jasper National Park

15º 300 km route:
Checking out of the hotel today. We have a 300km trip to Jasper ahead. The weather looks very nice, but expecting some rain in the PM. After our first 10 stops to take pictures we drove on to ”’Mistaya Canyon”’. This shows you the power of water: a 20 meters deep canyon carved out by glacier water, very impressive.
Our next (lunch) stop was at the ”’Columbia Ice fields”’. This is a >250 square km ice field of which we visited one glacier. The tour was a great experience and we were able to fill up our empty water bottle with real glacier water ;-) (So typically Dutch!)
As we had to move on to Jasper we stopped at a few other sites like Athabasca falls. By the time we arrived in Jasper it was raining and we quickly checked into our hotel.

Location: Jasper
Hotel: The Whistler’s Inn
Mistaya Canyon
Athabasca Falls
Columbia Icefield (oppervlak 250 square km!)
Columbia Ice fields Tour (fantastic tour on the Glacier)
a couple of other falls

Sep 1 Saturday to Kalispell

27º 730 km route:
Today we had a long drive from Jasper to Kalispell. Fortunately we only had a 30 minute delay at the US Border. Driving through Jasper NP , Banff NP, Yoho NP and Kootenay NP provided an excellent driving environment. Incredibly beautiful nature!
When we arrived in Kalispell we got upgraded at the Hampton Inn. Great room! Living room with fireplace, kitchen, dining area and a huge bedroom with large jacuzzi ;-) !

Location: Kalispell (statistics)
Hotel: Hampton Inn Kalispell
Yoho National Park
Kootenay National Park
Dinner: Sizzler (don’t ever go there – McDonalds on steroids)

Sep 2 Sunday – Glacier National Park (USA)

31º 160 km route:
Because of the long drive yesterday we decided to take it easy. First stop: nearest Starbucks (which is ”never” difficult in the US). Then we did some shopping and drove off to Glacier NP.
On our drive to the Lake McDonald Lodge we had a traffic jam. 12 cars in front of us a Dodge Minibus (Mercedes) ran off the road (driver had a seizure). Fortunately the driver was ok. At Lake McDonald we enjoyed a guided boat tour in nice sunny weather.