Mountains....big mountains

View from atop Johnson Canyon

ink pools atop Johnson Canyon.

Some sort of grounds squirrel.  JELLY!

Well, I made it!  I am now blogging from a starbucks cafe in downtown Banff, a small summer tourist town surrounded by enormous mountains in Banff National Park, located on the border between Alberta and British Columbia.  As I turn around now and look out the window to a beautiful sunny sky, I see the 8,000 foot peaks of 3 mountains, all still snow-capped.  I arrived here last night, and it's been beautiful the entire time.  For once, the weather is cooperating and I can really take advantage of it in such an unbelievable place.

Getting here was no cake walk.  The drive from Assiboinia, Saskatchewan was a rough day with the car, and the binoculars being on the fritz.  Not to mention, over 3,000 miles of driving left my lower back feeling achy.  I drove 3 days ago to Cypress Hills PP on the far western side of Saskatchewan.  This is the only location in Saskatchewan that has lodgepole pines, a forest community common in the western mountains.  The hills in the area are tree covered, which was exciting enough for me to camp the night.  Some birding in the morning produced 2 new life birds, McGilivray's Warbler and Dusky Flycatcher.  I continued westward from there, into Alberta, to Medicine Hat, where I hiked around a local park on the shores of the Little Saskatchewan River.  This area provided nice views of cliffs that went down to the river, but they were no Rockies.  Plus my phone fell out of my pocket while I was photographing some cactus on the top of one of the bluffs.  After realizing I was missing it, I had to run the half mile or so uphill, in jeans, to the top of this bluff to find it. 

Suddenly, the prairie ends and there are trees! at Cypress Hills PP

lookout from Bald Butte in Cypress Hills.  1275m? Child's play. 

I spent the night in a small provincial park in central Alberta, just trying to chip away at the miles between me and the rockies without putting to much strain on my body.  After a great night of sleep, a little more birding preceded the rest of the drive to the rockies.  I passed through Calgary, the site of the Winter Olympics some-odd years ago (don't know the Olymipcs date locations off the top of my head, sorry).  I actually took a 45 minute stroll through the U of Calgary campus.  I walked into the Olympic oval, where many of the indoor olympic sports were held, like speed skating.  There were quite a few people around, lots of families with parents.  I walked through some open doors to a big convention area where everyone was gathering.  Little did I know it was graduation day at the University of Calgary.  I would have stayed to see what a Canadian graduation ceremony was like if my parking meter hadnt already expired.

U of Calgary Convocation.  Actually had a 200 meter track going around it.  Memories of Barton Hall came creeping back.

This is a sink in the bathroom at the Olympic oval.  I saw two guys use it successfully, but could not figure it out myself.  It think it was motion sensitive, but I don't know.

After passing Calgary, signs for Banff began to pop up.....120km to Banff....100km to Banff...90km to Banff....WHERE WERE THE MOUNTAINS!  Then about 20km outside of Calgary, I saw them.  Big stinking mountains.  It was a bit hazy at first, and being the tourist that I was, began snapping photos of these mountains from 30 miles away even though I was about to drive right through them, at which point the views would be breathtaking anyway.  I'm not going to lie, I literallsy almost cried.  I was so happy to see something besides a farm field, something besides the monotony and trucks and dirt that IS Saskatchewan and most of Alberta.  I was antsy!  Just get me in those mountains and let me at'em.  Hiking, camping, bird watching, bears, elk, little ground squirrels, and Pika!  I just wanted to see it all!  I made it to Banff around 4, got my bearings in town by purchasing some hiking maps, went to my camp site about 20 km north of Banff, spotting a black bear and some mountain sheep along the way, and went for a hike.  Banff's a BIG national park park, over 150 miles long and covered everywhere by mountains, most capping out around 9000 feet, but some in the northern part of the park reaching over 11,000.  This is also the area of the park that hosts the Columbian Icefields, the largest icefield, or glacier, in North America that's south of the Arctic circle.  But that would have to wait.  I just did a "quick" 4 hour hike up the Johnson Canyon, where waterfalls abound, and views of the mountains with the sun hitting them are out of this world.  I've been told that you can't die until you see the Canadian Rockies.  That might just be true.  I cannot wait to see what the rest of the rockies have to offer.  But the states have their work cut out for them if they want to compete with the magnitude of terrain in Banff.  I've got my hands full with stuff to do here.

There they are!!! 

entering the Canadian rockies.  Pic taken from highway

A mountain