Toni's Tribute to All Countries, But Mostly America

One way to travel north from Banff National Park to Jasper National Park is along the iconic and truly stupendous Icefields Parkway.  Oh my goodness, what a highway.  Only 143 miles long, it took us almost 12 hours because of all the jaw-dropping places we stopped at along the way, such as... ...Peyto Lake, one of five glacial lakes within the first 20 minutes of the road.  The impossible blue color comes in part from glacial rock flour, the fine silt left when glaciers grind rock to powder... ...Mistaya Canyon Falls, a massive waterfall crashing through a narrow twisted gorge... ...a steep hike up to Parker Ridge to overlook the Saskatchewan Glacier complete with a picnic lunch in a high-alpine meadow... ...another steep trip up the moraine left by the massive yet receding Athabasca Glacier.  Signage along the way shows how far this particular glacier has receded since reaching its zenith in 1860.  According to the markers, the glacier has receded almost 2 mile...

 Banff National Park deep in the Rockies is the most visited of all the Canadian national parks.  No wonder; it is simply spectacular.  As well as crowded.  We scored a campsite within the park just outside of Lake Louise but could drive to neither Lake Moraine nor Lake Louise because of the crowds and parking restrictions.  Undaunted, we rented e-assist bikes for the day and pedaled to both lakes, thereby thwarting most of the throng.  Good thing we rented the pedal assist bikes because what would have been one grueling uphill climb became a pleasurable couple of hours on a road high in the pristine Rocky Mountains traveled only by shuttle buses. And bicyclists .                                                                                 First we hiked aro...

 My Bucket List includes all of the national parks and LDS temples in the USA, not the ones in Canada.   However, when one passes through a Canadian town wherein is a temple (such as Calgary Alberta), one simply must stop in and attend, eh?    And we’re so glad we did.   It was a stunningly beautiful temple inside and out, and the folks we met there couldn’t have been more gracious.   All night I counted my blessings to have found a safe place to park Bambi for the night, all because of the kindness of LDS strangers.   We found it difficult to peel ourselves away from the gorgeous celestial room.   But Banff was calling, so onward we trundled.   It’s been 39 years since I last visited Banff, and I’d quite forgotten how utterly breathtaking the Canadian Rockies are.   Calgary sits amid bucolic green rolling hills of grain, but not far out of town rise the majestic Rockies, snow capped and cloud encased and spectacular beyond words to ...