Into Alberta and the flat windy plains.

To comply with our USA visa we had to leave the country before May 31st although the motor home could remain until July.

 As there were two holiday weekends it seemed prudent to leave just a bit earlier-just in case!

 At the Canadian border we were just asked a few questions about guns and liquor.

 Then our passports were stamped and off we went ready and eager to visit another country.

We spent our first night at the Barndance Camground near Cardston and found out that this part of Alberta is very windy.

 Known as the Chinook the wind comes off the Rockies and while it keeps the area warmer in winter it as a lazy wind and blows straight though you.

At Fort McCloud we looked around the North West Mounted Police museum in the old fort.

These men patrolled the ranches in the area and were themselves farmers who tried to bring law and order amongst the settlers.

Later the force would become the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP

Our next visit was to the World heritage Site at Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump.

 Here we could see how the Aboriginals used the cliffs to kill their winter supply of buffalo.

  From the path was a good view across the flat plains to the river below where the families processed the catch.

An excellent interpretive centre explained the way all the tribes worked together and what a good site they chose.

  The artefacts found in the fields and beside the river indicate the site was used for 5700 years.

We spent many hours walking through time back to when the dinosaurs roamed the earth.

 Until they vanished along with many other species.

 No mention of humans at all!

Most of the exhibits were from the nearby site at Dinosaur Provincial Park.

The displays were informative and well presented and should be a 'must visit place' for everyone!

We crossed the river on the Bleriot Ferry one of the few cable driven ferries left in Canada.

It is named after the brother of Louis Bleriot (first man to fly across the English Channel) who lived in this area.

          Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks.

Then when the weather changed we set off  to  visit the Rocky Mountains where we stayed at the campground at Lake Louise. .

Here we would meet other Europeans over in their motor homes

   This is Lake Peyto formed by a glacier which has melted

The weather in the mountains was very changeable and we had to sit out a few very wet days but some people liked all the water!

The low cloud obscured most of the high peaks which were still covered in snow.

No dirt roads are open in the National Park so we had to ride the tarmac to visit Lake Moraine.

We could fill a whole web site with pictures taken in the fantastic scenery.

It is everything and more that you have ever imagined the Canadian Rockies to be-forests, snow topped mountains, lakes and glaciers.

  The Hot Springs have been used for bathing for a long time and Dot enjoyed a dip in the Banff pool-

in the rain.

Just a few days later at Radium the sun was shining and the swim in the hot springs was much more enjoyable!

          Across the Continental Divide into British Colombia.

   In the campground at Radium this long horn sheep wearing a radio tracking collar stood guard over a flock of females.

These mountain goats were playing on the highway concrete barriers.

 At last we saw a bear in the wild!

After all the time in the USA where there were plenty of warning signs but no bears.

On the road through the park we crossed the Continental Divide into British Columbia.

Our route took us along the Columbia river valley beside the biggest wetlands area in BC and into the town of Golden.

At the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort we boarded the Eagle Eye chair lift.

The views  at the summit of the mountain ranges was breathtaking.

Mountain bike riders have lots of bikes tracks to ride down to the base station!

No dirt bikes allowed and we were jealous of this ATV rider when he arrived at the top of the dirt road.

Now we drove up through the Yoho park to rejoin the Ice fields Parkway.

This time it was a big brown bear, a grizzly, that caught our attention.

Down in the town of Field we saw all the trains waiting to cross the Rockies.

Then we spent a night spent at the Kicking Horse Pass before visiting the spiral tunnels viewpoint.

These spiral tunnels allow the long trains to climb or descend the steep gradient over the Kicking Horse pass.

This photo shows the locomotives about to enter the upper tunnel entrance.

A marvel of engineering they were built in the without the aid of modern machinery!

Now you see the locomotive exiting the lower tunnel entrance

 before the end of the train had gone into the upper entrance-awesome!

          Walking on the Athabasca Glacier in Jasper Park.

Now we had to return along the Icefeild Parkway through spectacular scenery.

At an overnight stop there was a traffic jam caused by European motor homes as we all stopped for a chat.

The  Iveco from Germany and the Komet from Holland and our Kalbarri Silverstream for GB!!

 Next morning we were up early in an attempt to avoid all the tourist buses that would arrive.

 This is one of the special vehicles that take visitors onto the Colombia Icefield.

   We took the shuttle bus up to the base of the glacier and boarded a snocoach that would take us right onto the Athabasca glacier.

   The ice here is 300metres thick!

This is the railway station in the town of Jasper

The Queen and Prince Philip had just been here for the weekend on their trip to help Alberta celebrate the Centenary year.

The train standing in the station was pulled by an unusual locomotive.

One of the carriages had this observation roof.

At the Whistlers campground one unfortunate camper had a fire in the motor home and the fire engine had to be called out.