29 August 2016, Monday Again we wake early. I manage to get the tent semi-dry with a towel after a night of light rain, and we are searching for breakfast by 7:15. We finally settle on a bakery in Lake Louise where we share some pastries and coffee. After breakfast we drive still further north on route 93, the Icefields Parkway. The weather is cloudy with intermittent showers, and many
28 August 2016, Sunday The morning is cloudy at Crandell Campground but there are enough breaks in the clouds for the sun to turn their undersides golden. As we drive down to Prince of Wales Hotel for our last breakfast at Waterton the cloud cover thickens. We are seated right by the window overlooking the lake. The clouds, lake and distant mountains are varying shades of silver. On the lawn
27 August 2016, Saturday This morning we have no schedule to keep and no shuttle to catch. We sleep in until 7 am and take our time over breakfast. By 11 am we arrive at the Red Rock Canyon parking area to begin our hike up to Goat Lake. This is described in my “Don’t Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies” book as a “moderate” 8 mile hike that
26 August 2016, Friday We are again up at 6 am, this time to ensure we catch the shuttle up Akamina Parkway to the start of the Carthew-Alderson Traverse. Waffleton supplies our early breakfast of buttermilk bacon waffles with maple syrup. We manage to get our gear organized and show up 10 minutes early for the 8 am departure. The two shuttle busses are full but many people get off
25 August 2016, Thursday We are up just before sunrise at 6 am. It is a cold 5 degrees C this morning. We warm our apple pastries and saskatoon pie (which turns out to be blueberry pie) on the Coleman stove. We make coffee with our new pour-over carafe. It’s very good. We clean our campsite carefully and return everything to the car. Just as we are about to walk
24 August 2016, Wednesday Josh, the owner of Rocky Ridge B&B, which is down the road from Mountain View Inn, is keeping an eye on things for the owners of Mountain View. They were called away unexpectedly to Calgary. Josh asks if we would mind coming to his B&B for breakfast. Of course we wouldn’t. We wake early so we can get there by 7:30, the appointed time. It’s a
23 August 2016, Tuesday We are up with the sun. We wrestle the tent into its duffle as it tries to blow away in the wind. We are on the road by 6:40 am. The wind buffets our car as we drive. We stop in Shaunavon for breakfast at Checkers Cafe. We figure the six local pick up trucks parked outside are a good sign. Inside, we find six older
22 August 2016, Monday It’s a cool morning with just a slight cloudy haze over the blue sky. After breakfast we head for 70 Mile Butte to hike there before the day becomes too hot. As we drive up the access road I notice cell reception is pretty good, and there is a text from S asking if we are “beyond the Verizon.” I reply that we are temporarily back in
21 August 2016, Sunday We are the first ones up in the Frenchman’s Creek campground this morning. We bake our breakfast quietly. Soon others are awake. Most are packing up to leave. A little before 9 we are finished cleaning up the dishes. As we wander over to the grey water disposal repository, an official parks Canada car pulls up. I approach the car to inquire about officially checking in.
20 August 2016, Saturday Our tent is quite soggy this morning with several slugs on the outside wall and two in my shoes. Ugh!! I wipe down the outside of the tent as best I can and flick the slugs from my Ahnu’s. We depart Moon Lake and drive down to Wasagaming. Along the way we pass one moose and several deer. After breakfast at Whitehouse Bakery we fill Jazz