Saturday, September 19, 2009
Update
Fort Steele
Our first BC adventure was Fort Steele—one of those restored pioneer villages—we’ve seen lots on our travels. Fort Steele was a real RCMP Fort. The town built around a ferry across the Kootenay River. Many of the building are real. Some are “imported”. We were off season so some buildings were closed and there weren’t many “interpreters” but the price was good and we had a good time though it was very HOT (90’s). Then we settled into an RV campground which we loved.
Canadian National Parks (whirlwind tour)
From Fort Steele we drove to Radium Hot Springs—with a side trip/shopping trip to Invermere, one of those touristy towns on a lake. Could find no reason to stop in Radium so bought a Nat. Parks Day Pass ($$$) ( No bargain passes here—and you have to be 65 to be a senior.) Drove up the highway through Kootenay NP with a few stops along the way. Arrived at Lake Louise (in Alberta and in a different time zone) and got a spot for 2 nights. ($$$ but we did get electricity and a nice view of the river) It was wonderful to have a no-drive day. In the morning we went on a loop trail around the Bow River and into the village.(almost 5 mi). In the afternoon we rode our bikes up to Lake Louise—on the tram trail—all uphill. A minute car ride took an hour and a half but was much faster coming down. So we sat with the tourists and oohed at the view and then turned around.
Lake Louise is in Banff Nat. Park by the way. We could see no reason to go to Banff the town. Another aside—of all the motorhomes, etc. in the campground at Lake Louise—we figure 75% or more were rentals.
Saturday morning we went to Yoho Nat. Park and had a wonderful hike around Emerald Lake. Lots of tourists but they mostly stay close to their vehicles. The weather was perfect—sunshine on the lake. By the time we got back to Ida, the clouds had rolled in. By the time we were headed out towards Glacier NP (the Canadian one) it was raining. There weren’t many places to stop and the one campground was full so we kept on driving to Revelstoke—and now we are at a KOA ($$$) because I was tired of travel. We gained back our lost hour which makes a long day.
Our first BC adventure was Fort Steele—one of those restored pioneer villages—we’ve seen lots on our travels. Fort Steele was a real RCMP Fort. The town built around a ferry across the Kootenay River. Many of the building are real. Some are “imported”. We were off season so some buildings were closed and there weren’t many “interpreters” but the price was good and we had a good time though it was very HOT (90’s). Then we settled into an RV campground which we loved.
Canadian National Parks (whirlwind tour)
From Fort Steele we drove to Radium Hot Springs—with a side trip/shopping trip to Invermere, one of those touristy towns on a lake. Could find no reason to stop in Radium so bought a Nat. Parks Day Pass ($$$) ( No bargain passes here—and you have to be 65 to be a senior.) Drove up the highway through Kootenay NP with a few stops along the way. Arrived at Lake Louise (in Alberta and in a different time zone) and got a spot for 2 nights. ($$$ but we did get electricity and a nice view of the river) It was wonderful to have a no-drive day. In the morning we went on a loop trail around the Bow River and into the village.(almost 5 mi). In the afternoon we rode our bikes up to Lake Louise—on the tram trail—all uphill. A minute car ride took an hour and a half but was much faster coming down. So we sat with the tourists and oohed at the view and then turned around.
Lake Louise is in Banff Nat. Park by the way. We could see no reason to go to Banff the town. Another aside—of all the motorhomes, etc. in the campground at Lake Louise—we figure 75% or more were rentals.
Saturday morning we went to Yoho Nat. Park and had a wonderful hike around Emerald Lake. Lots of tourists but they mostly stay close to their vehicles. The weather was perfect—sunshine on the lake. By the time we got back to Ida, the clouds had rolled in. By the time we were headed out towards Glacier NP (the Canadian one) it was raining. There weren’t many places to stop and the one campground was full so we kept on driving to Revelstoke—and now we are at a KOA ($$$) because I was tired of travel. We gained back our lost hour which makes a long day.
# posted by Carol Harma @ 5:09 PM 
