Banff

So after leaving Glacier, we headed north to Canada. It took us half a day to drive to Banff, and the country we were driving through was just beautiful.Banff itself actually reminded me a lot of Boulder - the mountains are obviously the same, and Banff has a big jagged range not far from the city, similar to the Flatirons. Banff the town was cute, if a little touristy.

Since it was our anniversary, we took a break from camping and stayed in a hotel not far from the center of town. The other two major groups at the hotel were, oddly enough, a tour group of Mennonites and large group of Harley-Davidson riders.

On our anniversary, we went river rafting on the Kicking Horse River. We had selected the "classic" trip, and it was plenty exciting (Mike sat in the front of the boat and was continuously soaked) - I can't imagine what the "extreme" trip would be like.After the rafting trip and a delicious bbq lunch, we went to Lake LouiseThen we rode the Banff gondola and went for a short walk on the summit.The next morning before we left town, we stopped at the Banff hotsprings, which I totally recommend!

The Backpacking trip

After a few days in the frontcountry at Glacier, we were ready to try some backpacking. Well, some of us were more ready than others - one of us was, the other one of us was a bit more unsure about heading into grizzly bear country (also, did you know that grizzly bears can stalk people and attack them at night in their tents? I'm just saying . . . .).

But, anyway, after realizing that we could get a permit for one of the most spectacular hikes in the park, AND that this hike involved crossing the Continental Divide, it did seem hard to resist the opportunity.

We hiked from Lake McDonald (the lake on the left in the map below) over Gunsight Pass and past Gunsight Lake (the lake on the right in the map below) out to the road. The trip totaled 21 miles, and Mike calculated that in the two days it took us to hike it, we hiked over a vertical mile.
Here were just starting outNot to stoke fears of bears or anything, but this was the sign on the trail as we began (you might have to click to enlarge for the full fear factor)
We hiked up all morningWe had lunch looking at this view Just after lunch we passed Sperry Chalet (and it looked very nice - too bad reservations fill up years in advance)We kept going upThe views were amazing (that's Lake McDonald, where we started, way down below)And then we crossed Sperry Pass and came down on the other sideFinally, Lake Ellen Wilson came into view. This is where we spent the night.Time for a little restOnce we arrived at the lake, we made camp, made dinner, and hung our packsAnd then we went to watch the beautiful sunset reflected on the amazing rock walls surrounding the lakeI didn't sleep well at all that night - it was a combination of things: first, fearing the bears so much, I didn't want any part of me touching the side of the tent (not so easy in a small backpacking tent), and, second, although I'd planned for it to be quite cold during the night, it was strangely hot (perhaps all those rocks radiating the heat from the day?). I just couldn't get comfortable.

The next morning we were off to cross the Continental Divide. First, a treacherous waterfall crossingThen we met some goats on the trailFinally, Gunsight Pass - and the Continental Divide

Also, an actual conversation with some people we saw at the top of the pass:
people: Did you see those goats?
us: Yes - weren't they great. They were just trotting down the trail right toward us.
people: Did you see the grizzly they were running from?
us: Um, no . .. .
people: Yeah, the grizzly woke up and saw us and took off running up over the pass [the way we were headed]. The goats took off running in the other direction.
us: Uh, great to know.

The other side of the pass was also really prettyThis is Gunsight Lake, our lunch spot - way, way down below. The hazy look is due to smoke from a distant forest fire (although we were later told that forest fires in Glacier were a big problem, this was the only evidence we ever had)
Finally, we reached the lake - the view back up from where we'd come was amazingAfter lunch, we descended into the forest, so the views got less scenic (although the descent was more gradual: I now understand why people prefer to hike the trail east to west rather than west to east!).

Note that there is no after picture - we were both too exhausted to remember to take it!

We never did see any bears, much to my relief!

Would I do this trail again? Despite the fact that I cried tears of relief when it was over, the answer is a resounding "yes" - the scenery was beautiful! I would do it in three days, though, not two. All that elevation gain and mileage should be spread out a little more.

Montana

The second phase of our trip took us to Glacier National Park.

Glacier is a really, really beautiful park. We did more exploring and hiking on the west side than on the east side. The Continental Divide runs right through the middle of the park, and the park has only one (treacherous!) road through it, so getting around isn't that easy. But it doesn't really matter, since everywhere is so beautiful!

We stayed in a lovely frontcountry campground for the first four days we were there (well, as lovely as a campground that doesn't have showers can be!). Following our Idaho experience in which a moose welcomed us to our campsite, this time we saw a doe and a fawn right across from where we were setting up our tent.We did some great day hikes. We hiked to Avalanche Lake one day. Mike and I agreed that this may be the most beautiful lake we've ever seen! It was so amazing to eat lunch and watch all the waterfalls drain from the glacial cirque into the lake.We also took the park's free shuttle bus and rode up to Logan Pass on the Continental Divide. From there, we hiked the highline trail for a few hours. Not long after we started the hike, we ran into some goats.The views from this trail were also amazing.We ended every afternoon by swimming in Lake McDonald. The water was warmer than you'd think, but if you got out deep enough, there was a pretty steep thermocline.

A map of our trip

Click here for a map of our trip.

Idaho

We left Seattle in the pouring rain, but once we climbed over the Cascades and drove east a bit, we found the sun! We stopped for lunch at this lovely state park near the Columbia River. Since eastern Washington is mostly a rainshadow desert, this park was definitely drier than views of the Columbia that we'd seen in the western part of the state.The first destination on our big road trip was a state park in northern Idaho. This part of Idaho is really beautiful - tall green trees were everywhere. As we were driving to our campsite on the first day we saw a moose.The big attraction of the state park - which used to be a military training base in WWII (how's that for swords into plowshares?) - is that it is right on Lake Pend Oreille. Lots of people bring their own boats or swim toys (since there's a dedicated, shallow, warm swimming spot).The lake is really, really beautiful, and really, really big - I feel like these pictures don't really do it justice.

The hiking wasn't amazing at this park, but there's one trail that goes all the way to the top of nearby mountain, and a ton of shorter trails.Our campsite was great - perfect for relaxing in the shade.And, come dinner time, Mike cooked dinner using our fancy new stove.And he drank the tuna juice.

We're baaaackk!

We arrived home late last night - a day earlier than planned. Why the change, you ask? Well, the driver's side window on our car went down just outside of Jasper and wouldn't come back up.

It turns out you need your car windows for all of the following things:
1. Making it less noisy when you drive
2. Keeping you warm (and keeping the cool in the car, as needed)
3. Keeping the rain off you
4. Providing security for your car and the stuff in your car.

So, without a functioning window, we decided that we should just drive straight through and come on home in one day. So we did. And the car is now at the shop.

As for the last leg of our trip, Jasper was wonderful - it did rain a fair amount, but we beat the rain the day we went hiking and we also rigged up a genius little tarp system to keep us dry at our campsite. Of course, it was wonderful to see our friends from Japan, Christine and Antti.

All told, we (mostly, me) took over 500 pictures on the trip. In a few minutes, I'm going to start loading them on to the computer, then I'll edit them, upload them to flickr, and write about each phase of our trip, complete with pictures (the last part will probably take a few days). I promise you this: everywhere we went was beautiful!

Jasper the Friendly Trip

We have been having a fantastic time on our trip (which we have named after our last destination, as per the subject).

We have very limited computer access right now, so no pictures until we return on August 6, but here are a few highlights:

- celebrating our third anniversary by white water rafting in class 4 rapids with a funny French Canadian guide

- backpacking over the continental divide in Glacier, on a 2 day trip where we hiked over 20 miles and climbed about a vertical mile (in retrospect it might have been a little better as a three day trip...)

- seeing many mountain goats, including a mother and kid who we later learned were fleeing a grizzly bear.