Winter Wonderland
May 2, 2006
It was so chilly overnight that it was hard to vacate our warm cocoon of a bed, but a sliver of early morning sunlight sneaked through the blinds urging me to greet the day. I was up and running at 6:30am and what a reward I received when I ventured outside and the vista of glaciers and snow-covered mountains dazzled me.
I ran back in to get my camera and to rouse my lazy bones husband. “Quick, come and see the beautiful sight” I summoned, only to receive a muffled snorting and groaning from beneath the covers “Go away!” is what I think he uttered. But did I give up? No of course not. I needed to share the moment.
We were on the road early heading through the Kicking Horse Pass, only to be met by a series of construction delays. However, it meant we could enjoy the scenery so much more. “Danger! Do not leave your vehicle” the sign proclaimed as I watched a trucker ahead of us checking his tires and the stability of his load, seemingly unaware.
We discovered that several major landslides were the cause of the hold-ups and thanked goodness we’d stopped at Golden for the night instead of venturing through the treacherous stretch of highway in the rotten weather. Huge boulders had separated from the cliffs and fallen across the roadway. I wondered how and where they would get rid of them but right beside the road, an assembly line of rock crushers pulverized the rocks to fine gravel with conveyor belts delivering the stones to waiting dump trucks.
The heavy rains and the melting snow pack made for overflowing creeks and gushing waterfalls; water cascaded over the cliffs beside the highway, droplets gleaming in the early morning sun.
The mountains were immense with their glistening white peaks etched against the pure blue sky. Puffy cotton ball clouds clung to the crevasses as if glued in place. A chubby black bear sat in the middle of the main railway line munching on his breakfast.
In Yoho and Banff National Parks, the highway is lined both sides with fences to stop the carnage of vehicle and wildlife collisions. Every few miles, wide bridges span the road to allow the animals to cross. They are covered with soil and are planted with small trees and shrubs so as not to intimidate the animals. Gone are the days when black bears and their cubs would saunter up to the cars begging for handouts.
In Field, we pulled into the Parks Canada Info Centre and encountered several busloads of Chinese tourists. “Ooohhhh! He’s so cute” a young couple squealed in halting English “Can we take his picture?”
Caesar unaware of the adulation afforded him enjoyed the fuss of ear tickling but as usual wouldn’t look at the camera. The young couple were delighted anyway, as they snapped a few photos. They waved and smiled widely as they climbed aboard their bus. I picked up some brochures inside the Info Centre and talked to the staff about an annual pass. It made sense to purchase one, as it means we can visit every National Park and Historic Site in Canada until next May. So many times, we decide not to pay the admission to visit sites but with a pass, we’ll not miss any of them.
Near the summit, fresh snow swathed the trees and blanketed the ground, muffling the sounds of nature – a winter wonderland in May; a little further on gentle snowflakes floated down but thankfully didn’t stick to the pavement.
We pulled into Banff and found a spot to park Maggie and unhook the Honda. There weren’t too many people on the main street as we pulled in to park. We discovered why when we got out of the car; the wind whistled down the street blowing sheets of freezing rain. 
So our window-shopping was curtailed after walking a block or so. Caesar elected to stay in the car and watch us bend into the wind – smart dog.
We got a chance to use our new Parks Pass at the Banff Park Natural History Museum. Here we got to meet the wildlife we didn’t encounter in the park; I just hope that these stuffed exhibits died a natural death – I guess that’s doubtful and naïve of me but the thought of trophy hunting turns my stomach. I decided to read the brochure “Most of the specimens were collected between 1890 and 1930 when it was common practice for scientists to kill animals for identification and study”. That doesn’t make me feel better, but I’m thankful that such a practice would be frowned upon today.
Still wanting to avoid too much time in the open air, we drove up to Banff Springs Hotel and wandered through the maze of corridors and curving staircases marvelling in the design.
It’s a monstrous, sprawling building with wonderful restaurants and appealing little nooks and crannies, high-ceilinged Victorian lounges with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the meadows and mountains. The shops of course, stocked the usual array of over-priced merchandise.
Banff originated a few miles west of the Banff Springs Hotel where three explorers stumbled upon a cave with a bubbling cauldron of sulphurous hot springs. It is now the Cave and Basin National Historic Site – we normally wouldn’t pay the fee to visit such a spot (cheapo that I am) but with our new Parks Pass of course we did. The sulphurous fumes greeted us as we walked into the cave that was hiding deep inside it the most alluring hot springs pool, with a small natural vent above it. Those early pioneers must have been thrilled to chance upon it.
We were looking forward to getting out of the mountains and getting to some warmer weather, so we traipsed onwards.
As we approached Calgary, we could see numerous dark patches that indicated isolated squalls but we figured they’d pass over pretty fast. Wrong………
We found a large empty parking lot near the airport at the Deerfoot Outlet Centre, adjacent to a Walmart. We pulled in beside a row of trees, which gave us a bit of a windbreak. A couple of truckers pulled in later along with another motorhome flying a Calgary Flames flag – and they were from BC – Go figure!. Marvellously, we found we had a strong unsecured WIFI signal and had fast internet all night – a blogger’s paradise. We huddled inside Maggie while storm after storm roared about us. We were afraid to put out the large slide or the satellite dish. Later, when the winds subsided slightly, we attempted to find a satellite signal with no success….Yikes! Was it the wind? Was it the trees? Do we just not know what we’re doing? Luckily, we were able to access three channels with our antenna. This makes us sound like extreme TV addicts…….maybe we are, but mostly it’s just so comforting when we’re shut in by weather. The fridge wouldn’t work again on propane, so we ran it off our portable generator for a few hours and when I tried it on propane just before bedtime, Voila!
All of the above were not conducive to our loving the city of Calgary. I hadn’t visited for about thirty years; Fernie more often but always for business. I don’t want to offend any Calgarians but as a Vancouverite used to green – mountains and trees – I was taken aback at Calgary’s brown barren hills and the wide expanses of concrete and brick – the depressing new subdivisions, which obliterated any sign of nature. Where they found room to plant trees, they were awfully puny and sparse. To top it off, on a bare stretch of road, a car flicked a rock up and chipped our windshield, driver’s side. There wasn’t even any construction around.
It’s May and the bitterly cold north wind, driving icy rain ahead of it, bit right through my multiple layers of warm clothing. My legs were numb after just waling across a parking lot. A sign declared that the temperature was 38 degrees F (don’t they believe in metric?) but it felt like 10 degrees below F. In Vancouver, we rarely experience such weather in January.
On the positive side, Calgary is booming. Construction everywhere and they can’t fill the vacant jobs. Gas is cheaper, about $1.05/litre on average. There’s no provincial sales tax. The highways are good and handle the rush hour traffic admirably. They try to fool the tourists though, by irrigating the sides of the highways. That way, visitors surmise that the rest of Calgary is green too – Hah! Vehicles sport Calgary Flames flags, flapping wildly in the wind. Many more than I’ve ever seen in Vancouver. It is obviously a hockey-crazed city – not that I think that’s an admirable trait but many would disagree with me.
It was so chilly overnight that it was hard to vacate our warm cocoon of a bed, but a sliver of early morning sunlight sneaked through the blinds urging me to greet the day. I was up and running at 6:30am and what a reward I received when I ventured outside and the vista of glaciers and snow-covered mountains dazzled me.
I ran back in to get my camera and to rouse my lazy bones husband. “Quick, come and see the beautiful sight” I summoned, only to receive a muffled snorting and groaning from beneath the covers “Go away!” is what I think he uttered. But did I give up? No of course not. I needed to share the moment.We were on the road early heading through the Kicking Horse Pass, only to be met by a series of construction delays. However, it meant we could enjoy the scenery so much more. “Danger! Do not leave your vehicle” the sign proclaimed as I watched a trucker ahead of us checking his tires and the stability of his load, seemingly unaware.
We discovered that several major landslides were the cause of the hold-ups and thanked goodness we’d stopped at Golden for the night instead of venturing through the treacherous stretch of highway in the rotten weather. Huge boulders had separated from the cliffs and fallen across the roadway. I wondered how and where they would get rid of them but right beside the road, an assembly line of rock crushers pulverized the rocks to fine gravel with conveyor belts delivering the stones to waiting dump trucks.The heavy rains and the melting snow pack made for overflowing creeks and gushing waterfalls; water cascaded over the cliffs beside the highway, droplets gleaming in the early morning sun.
The mountains were immense with their glistening white peaks etched against the pure blue sky. Puffy cotton ball clouds clung to the crevasses as if glued in place. A chubby black bear sat in the middle of the main railway line munching on his breakfast.In Yoho and Banff National Parks, the highway is lined both sides with fences to stop the carnage of vehicle and wildlife collisions. Every few miles, wide bridges span the road to allow the animals to cross. They are covered with soil and are planted with small trees and shrubs so as not to intimidate the animals. Gone are the days when black bears and their cubs would saunter up to the cars begging for handouts.
In Field, we pulled into the Parks Canada Info Centre and encountered several busloads of Chinese tourists. “Ooohhhh! He’s so cute” a young couple squealed in halting English “Can we take his picture?”
Caesar unaware of the adulation afforded him enjoyed the fuss of ear tickling but as usual wouldn’t look at the camera. The young couple were delighted anyway, as they snapped a few photos. They waved and smiled widely as they climbed aboard their bus. I picked up some brochures inside the Info Centre and talked to the staff about an annual pass. It made sense to purchase one, as it means we can visit every National Park and Historic Site in Canada until next May. So many times, we decide not to pay the admission to visit sites but with a pass, we’ll not miss any of them.Near the summit, fresh snow swathed the trees and blanketed the ground, muffling the sounds of nature – a winter wonderland in May; a little further on gentle snowflakes floated down but thankfully didn’t stick to the pavement.
We pulled into Banff and found a spot to park Maggie and unhook the Honda. There weren’t too many people on the main street as we pulled in to park. We discovered why when we got out of the car; the wind whistled down the street blowing sheets of freezing rain. 
So our window-shopping was curtailed after walking a block or so. Caesar elected to stay in the car and watch us bend into the wind – smart dog. We got a chance to use our new Parks Pass at the Banff Park Natural History Museum. Here we got to meet the wildlife we didn’t encounter in the park; I just hope that these stuffed exhibits died a natural death – I guess that’s doubtful and naïve of me but the thought of trophy hunting turns my stomach. I decided to read the brochure “Most of the specimens were collected between 1890 and 1930 when it was common practice for scientists to kill animals for identification and study”. That doesn’t make me feel better, but I’m thankful that such a practice would be frowned upon today.
Still wanting to avoid too much time in the open air, we drove up to Banff Springs Hotel and wandered through the maze of corridors and curving staircases marvelling in the design.
It’s a monstrous, sprawling building with wonderful restaurants and appealing little nooks and crannies, high-ceilinged Victorian lounges with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the meadows and mountains. The shops of course, stocked the usual array of over-priced merchandise.Banff originated a few miles west of the Banff Springs Hotel where three explorers stumbled upon a cave with a bubbling cauldron of sulphurous hot springs. It is now the Cave and Basin National Historic Site – we normally wouldn’t pay the fee to visit such a spot (cheapo that I am) but with our new Parks Pass of course we did. The sulphurous fumes greeted us as we walked into the cave that was hiding deep inside it the most alluring hot springs pool, with a small natural vent above it. Those early pioneers must have been thrilled to chance upon it.
We were looking forward to getting out of the mountains and getting to some warmer weather, so we traipsed onwards.
As we approached Calgary, we could see numerous dark patches that indicated isolated squalls but we figured they’d pass over pretty fast. Wrong………We found a large empty parking lot near the airport at the Deerfoot Outlet Centre, adjacent to a Walmart. We pulled in beside a row of trees, which gave us a bit of a windbreak. A couple of truckers pulled in later along with another motorhome flying a Calgary Flames flag – and they were from BC – Go figure!. Marvellously, we found we had a strong unsecured WIFI signal and had fast internet all night – a blogger’s paradise. We huddled inside Maggie while storm after storm roared about us. We were afraid to put out the large slide or the satellite dish. Later, when the winds subsided slightly, we attempted to find a satellite signal with no success….Yikes! Was it the wind? Was it the trees? Do we just not know what we’re doing? Luckily, we were able to access three channels with our antenna. This makes us sound like extreme TV addicts…….maybe we are, but mostly it’s just so comforting when we’re shut in by weather. The fridge wouldn’t work again on propane, so we ran it off our portable generator for a few hours and when I tried it on propane just before bedtime, Voila!
All of the above were not conducive to our loving the city of Calgary. I hadn’t visited for about thirty years; Fernie more often but always for business. I don’t want to offend any Calgarians but as a Vancouverite used to green – mountains and trees – I was taken aback at Calgary’s brown barren hills and the wide expanses of concrete and brick – the depressing new subdivisions, which obliterated any sign of nature. Where they found room to plant trees, they were awfully puny and sparse. To top it off, on a bare stretch of road, a car flicked a rock up and chipped our windshield, driver’s side. There wasn’t even any construction around.
It’s May and the bitterly cold north wind, driving icy rain ahead of it, bit right through my multiple layers of warm clothing. My legs were numb after just waling across a parking lot. A sign declared that the temperature was 38 degrees F (don’t they believe in metric?) but it felt like 10 degrees below F. In Vancouver, we rarely experience such weather in January.
On the positive side, Calgary is booming. Construction everywhere and they can’t fill the vacant jobs. Gas is cheaper, about $1.05/litre on average. There’s no provincial sales tax. The highways are good and handle the rush hour traffic admirably. They try to fool the tourists though, by irrigating the sides of the highways. That way, visitors surmise that the rest of Calgary is green too – Hah! Vehicles sport Calgary Flames flags, flapping wildly in the wind. Many more than I’ve ever seen in Vancouver. It is obviously a hockey-crazed city – not that I think that’s an admirable trait but many would disagree with me.
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