BANFF!!!!

Wow! If you've never been to Banff or Jasper National Parks in Canada you must put them on your list of places to see. They are friendly even for the car traveling people, you can see LOTS without leaving your car or the parking lot.

In August we were able to take a wonderful trip to these two great parks. We left on Sat the 23rd and came home on the 29th. Originally we had planned to stay until the 31st but the weather wasn't the greatest so we came home a couple days early and went to our friends cabin. It only took us about 7 hrs to drive to the park entrance. Not too far at all! Once there we camped the whole time, hiked and drove to see the sights.

We entered the parks through Kootenay NP. Here's one of the first views we saw. A shot of the Kootenay River and and the beautiful backdrop of mountains.

The first day we just set up camp, planned the following day and checked out downtown Banff. Nothing too exciting. The next day we hiked in a wondeful area called Sunshine Meadows. In the winter it's a ski area so we had to pay for a shuttle to bring us up there. Then we got to hike all over at about 7700 ft elevation. We were there most of the day. Here's me at the begining of the trip where the trail splits. We ended up taking both paths at some point in the day.

Erik on the hiking trail:

A view of Rock Isle Lake:

Rock Isle Lake up close and personal:

A panoramic of one of the stunning views we saw that day:

And those are just a few of the great pictures we got! That was a wonderful day. We saw lots of great peaks, valleys and lakes. And if you're wondering... "Doesn't it get old?" NO! it always looks amazing and new! That's why we take so many pictures.
Later we went to Banff Springs Hotel. No great pictures there. And then driving back to our campground we stopped at a bridge to check out an osprey nest on top. Fun to watch them est some fish, even though we couldn't see that well. Right after I took this shot and turned to walk back to the car this guy flew off the nest!

Here's a shot of Castle Mountain and Bow River right near our campsite. Gorgeous isn't it!

Awww, aren't they cute?
More later..... that's all I can write for now!

Visitor and Tonya climbs her first peak!

Well, wonderful August continued as Erik's Aunt Ulla from Germany stopped by for a weekend visit Aug 8-11. We were able to do a few fun things with her. Erik took her to see a ghost town nearby while I worked on Sat. and on Monday we did a big driving tour to Philipsburg and Skalkaho Pass. We had a geat day. Here's a few of the pics from that day.

Erik and Ulla at one of the overlooks:

Tonya and Ulla by Skalkaho Falls:

Erik and Ulla by the falls:

Then the following weekend on August 16th we did a backpacking trip with our friends up to Carlton Lake. Then those of us so inclined climbed to the top of Lolo Peak. Unfortunately, Erik's knee was bothering him too much so he opted not to go. But I (Tonya) was able to make it all the way to the top! Yippee! My first peak! It's not like Colorado with all the 14ners and what not but it was a good gain in elevation and something difficult to accomplish. Here's a link to the stats: click here. Basically we gained 3300 ft on the hike, most of that happening in the last push to the top. It was great to do it with our friends and we had a great time camping with them, at least until the mosquites came out in droves!! (Worse than MN!!)

Here are some of the pics from that weekend:

Our crew starting out:

Here we are part way up. Carlton Lake is behind us, we camped there overnight:

Here I am at the top! The next day, there the peak is behind my head:

And in case you're wondering. I do wear the same clothes two days in a row. Less weight to carry on my back!

Stay Tuned. Coming up...Banff and Jasper NP plus Glacier NP!!