Canmore and surrounds Canada

We traveled from Spokane to Canmore in Canada - about a five hour trip with speedy access through  border control.


Our apartment, about a 15 minute walk from the main town of Canmore was great and the views spectacular - giving us a taste of what was to come over the next five days.


Local Wildlife
When the information in the apartment indicated we could use their bear spray and had instructions on how to deal with encounters with grizzly's and black bears we took them seriously.

We hoped but did not expect to see at least one in our travels. As luck would have it after looking for numerous rivers down in Kananskis County looked what crossed our path.

Lucky we were in the car so neither bear spray nor black bear defensive tactics were needed.


As many of the road signs indicated lots of other sightings occurred with rocky mountain goats and deer on our travels.

Allan - Steve wondered whether your reputation had spread to Canada given the presence of these signs everywhere (below left).

Banff, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake

Just 15 minutes west of Canmore was Banff, set beautifully in the Canadian Rockies. Built at the end of the 19th century to bring tourists to the Rockies, the famous Fairmont hotel stands grandly on the outskirts of the town.

It is evidently so big they are not sure whether they have 800 or 801 rooms. Capturing its size in one camera shot from within the grounds proved difficult and had to resort to a number of different shots.

A trek across the valley allowed us to capture its size and grandeur in one shot.

Lake Louise is a further 30 minutes west from Banff. Renowned for its turquoise blue glacial lake we were there on an overcast day but it was still spectacular although not captured well on photos.

The colour is evidently most vibrant in summer month with the light reflecting the glacial grit in the water. The Victoria Glacier looms over the lake with Mount Victoria next to it.

Just a short drive from Lake Louise is Moraine Lake, in another spectacular area of the Canadian Rockies. The lake, a similar blue to Lake Louise, with glacial moraines is surrounded by ten peaks. This image has been on the Canadian $20 bill.


Lakes in the Rockies
The lakes in the Rockies provide the most beautiful back drop for the scenery - especially when looking for rivers and rises. Upper Kananaskis Lake is one of a series of lakes in the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. It was on the backroad from this Lake through the edge of the Kootenay National Park that we had the bear encounter.

 Not far from Canmore is Lake Minnewanka (unsure of the pronunciation with locals having different versions!!). This is another glacial lake with lots of boating and hiking trails in the area.



Last day in Canmore
Our last day in Canmore was spent walking to the local farmers market. A hive of activity in beautiful sunshine, we filled our bags with local corn, parsnips, beets and blueberries. But we forgot about the border crossing back to USA.

The afternoon was spent by the river near the main street - spectacular scenery showing the mountains and autumn colours.
But no fishing success!