Western Canada Trip, August 2003

Leo Chan

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Banff

We stayed in Banff for two days. On the first day, we toured around the downtown area, visited the Whyte Museum and went horseback riding. The horseback riding was quite a memorable experience as the group of about twenty horse-riders rode for one hour in the Bow River Valley. We rode pass a trail which was alongside the beautiful Bow River, with its green water offering a clear reflection of the mountains nearby.

On the second day, we took the cable car up the Sulphur Mountain. The view from the top of the mountain was breath taking. Although there were quite a bit of smog in the air, we could still see the mountains from far away, and the town of Banff underneath the mountains. We visited the sulphur cave, and soaked ourselves in the hot spring in the afternoon.

The top row of pictures are the family photos in Banff and up in the Sulphur Mountain. The bottom two pictures show dad and Leo on horseback.

Lake Louise

Lake Louise is about 45 minutes north of Banff and is a jewel inside the mountains. It is a lake with crystal blue water, and snow-covered mountains in the background. The following pictures are taken in Lake Louise.

Along the Bow Valley Highway and the Ice field Highway

Driving from Banff to Japser, we passed through the Bow Valley Parkway (or known as highway #1a), and the Ice field Highway (or known as Highway #93). Many wild animals live inside the forests on both sides of the highway and they might come out without a warning. We were fortunate to witness two deer crossing the Bow Valley Parkway, and all the cars stopped to give way, and to take pictures.

Along the two highways are many tourist attraction points. Because of the limitation of time, we were unable to stop at every one of them. We stopped at Johnston's Fall, Bow Lake, Icefield, and the Canyan.

Columbia Icefield

The Columbia Icefield is truly a must-see attraction. We didn't have time to go up to see the glacier, but below is a photo that I took from the Icefield center. The view is simply gorgeous.

Jasper

Jasper is our last stop in the province of Alberta. It is a quiet, small town, and is much much less commercial than Banff, which is full of tourists. We rented a motorboat and boated in the peaceful Lake Pyramid. We arrived at Lake Pyramid fairly early in the morning and there weren't too many boaters to compete for space with us in the lake. We pretty much had the whole lake all to ourselves (as evident in the panoramic picture below). We did horseback riding for the second time in our trip in Jasper.

Victoria

We left Vancouver early in the morning and drove for about 40 minutes to the BC Ferry terminal at Tsaswassen, and took the ferry to Victoria. We visited the Butchart Garden, which is a private garden full of beautiful flowers. The follow picture offers a glimpse of what it is like.

Complete Itinerary

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