Our Alaska Trip Part VI Banff & Lake Louise

This is the sixth in a continuing series about our trip through Canada to Alaska

It’s been raining off and on all day, and speaking of off and on, we still managed to have an interesting day getting off and on a tour bus for about eight hours today as we toured the resort areas of Banff and Lake Louise in the Province of Alberta, Canada.

The Water at Lake Louise is Really That Blue

“Be aware!  Nothing’s for Free!” or as the locals abbreviate it, “B-a-n-f-f,” according to our tour bus driver.  Banff is your typical, quaint tourist town in the summer when the skiers have gone home.  We spent hours circling the sights to see, including the hotel and falls, which were included in yesterday’s blog.  Today, most of the members of the caravan rode together on a field trip.

From Banff we traveled to the incredibly turquoise Lake Louise, where we spent almost two hours viewing the lake and chatting leisurely with people visiting the area.  Beautiful, of course, but since I still can’t find enough picturesque words to convey what we experienced, I’ll let a few pictures help and get on to other topics.  The photos are random shots, not the postcards you can see elsewhere.

First and related, as we trekked along Canada Hwy. 1, our driver explained that the entire length of the 4-lane is getting fencing on both sides.  This is because of how often migrating wildlife is killed on that stretch.  What they have done is build “wildlife underpasses,” which are favored by deer, elk and bighorn sheep wanting to cross the roadway, and “wildlife overpasses,” like bears and wolves.  Considering the investment, it had better work.

Juvenile Bighorn Sheep: Is "Sheep" Singular or Plural?

We find the construction underway amazing, and it brings up another point – VALUE.  Whether you embark on a trip to Alaska on your own or with a caravan, as we are doing, it’s expensive.  How expensive depends on your rig’s fuel consumption, your penchant for spending money for food and trinkets, where you plan to camp, etc.  You have to decide.  You’re still going to pay for fuel, food and shopping, but signing up with a caravan adds a hefty amount to your outlay.

With that in mind, I think your decision has to be made based on value.  Do research, including digesting what these blogs have to say, and then make up your mind.  We chose the group approach because it relieved Monique of the intricacies of planning each day including deciding what to do and where to go.  Today we found value in learning things that we found fascinating.

Despite the weather this was another good day.  We did some touring we probably wouldn’t have wanted to do conserve on diesel.  We hopped on the bus at 7:45 a.m., which was included in the cost of the trip, and that was it.

As I mentioned earlier, we are not a convoy; we have ample opportunity to do our own thing and don’t travel like ducks in row — there can be 10 miles between rigs.

Site of an Avalanche in the Making Above Lake Louise

In addition to explaining about the wildlife fencing, our driver told us that scientists predict that the glaciers, which are retracting, will begin expanding again in 10 years.  We are happy for any hopeful news along those lines.

If you come up through British Columbia, you might go through the

Okanagan Corridor.  When we started the trip, we pronounced it “O-kanagan” until I changed to “o-KAN-nagan.”  I now think it is really “okan-NA-gan.”  If you’re not coming this way, don’t worry about it.

From the “Never-Bored RVers,” We’ll see you on down the road.

Continue to Part VII – “Our Alaska Trip – Inspirational Moments” >>