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Frank and Marg's visit to Alberta

In July my cousins Frank and Marg came to visit me for a week. Initially we spent some time exploring around Calgary. We went to Fish Creek Park, Reader Rock Garden, and Scotsman's Hill, overlooking the Stampede Park and Scotiabank Saddledome. After that we went out to Kananaskis Country to Elbow Falls and Forget-me-not Pond. At the pond there is a great view of four mountain peaks, including Mount Glasgow, a pyramid shaped peak that can be seen from nearly anywhere in Calgary. Frank and Marg were impressed at how rugged and scenic the country is around the pond and along the Elbow River. On the way back to Calgary I went just south of highway 22X to show them a small buffalo herd on a ranch right at the edge of Calgary.

     

                Elbow Falls and River                      Forget-me-not Pond and Mount Glasgow            Buffalo in pasture near Calgary

We drove northeast of Calgary to Drumheller to see Horseshoe Canyon, the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, and to drive down highway 10 following the Red Deer River downstream from Drumheller all the way to Dorothy. The canyon would have been fun to discover except the mosquitos practically carried poor Frank away! Marg and I were bit a few times, but they loved Frank. So we decided to take a break and went inside to tour the museum. This world class palaeontology museum houses an amazing display of dinosaurs. After we were done there we drove to Rosedale to have a picnic and then explored the suspension bridge that crosses the Red Deer River. From there we drove to see the little hamlet of Wayne so I could show them the Last Chance Saloon. Along the way we crossed the 11 bridges that cross the Rosebud River, in only 8 kilometers. After checking out the saloon we drove further down highway 10 to the hoodoos that are on the east side of the highway. We explored around them for a while then drove on to the Atlas Coal Mine, an interpretive center that depicts the coal mining that was done all along this stretch of the Red Deer River. Our last stop was the semi-abandoned hamlet of Dorothy. We checked out the two old churches, (that are now being restored), and the old grain elevator, before I drove across the bridge to the west side of the river valley to show them the incredible view of the river valley.

      

                  Horseshoe Canyon near Drumheller                          The Red Deer River from the suspension bridge at Rosedale

                  The Last Chance Saloon at Wayne                                          Exploring the Hoodoos near Rosedale

We spent the next several days in the mountains. We drove up the Icefield Parkway to Jasper where we stayed overnight. Along the way I stopped frequently to show them the many beautiful views along th Parkway, including Bow Lake, Crowfoot Glacier, Waterfowl Lake, the Weeping Wall, the Columbia Icefield and Athabasca Glacier and Athabasca Falls. Just south of Jasper we came across a herd of mountain goats right on the side of the highway, the first time ever I have found them within camera range. Of course, we had to stop! I got a few action photos of two males who were quarreling. At Jasper we took the Maligne Lake boat tour to Spirit Island, and were rewarded with seeing the island in near perfect conditions. On the way back to Jasper Frank spotted a black bear near the road as we drove along the shore of Medicine Lake. Before we got back to Jasper we stopped to explore Maligne Canyon. The canyon is steep and rugged, but there is a good hiking trail that decends into the canyon, with six bridges that cross the river. We started at the Information Center then hiked down from bridge two to five. The next day we rode the Jasper Tramway (gondola) up the Whistlers to view the valleys Jasper is nestled in. Frank decided to stay at the upper visitor center while Marg and I hiked up to the south summit. We got to see an incredible view of the Tonquin Valley to the southwest, with Mt. Edith Cavell in the background. Marg got me to take a shot of her with her arm around "Frank" so later he could be edited into the picture if they want to. To the northwest we could look up the Yellowhead highway valley all the way to Mt. Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. I have added more pictures and comments of this trip on the Jasper Gallery page.

 Athabasca Glacier and Columbia Icefield             Spirit Island on Maligne Lake                Marg and "Frank" on top of the Whistlers

There is more to their visit than I can cover here. We went to Lake Louise on our way back to Banff, drove down the Bow Valley Parkway, toured around Banff, went to Elbow Falls, and drove around the Lake Minnawonka Loop. When we got back to Calgary we went to Heritage Park for a day, the last day before they headed off to Vancouver. I really enjoyed spending time getting to know these wonderful people. We had a great time and I cannot wait to go on another trip with them again!