Mountains everywhere...........

 We're home.    We were on the road for about 18 days.   When last we chatted, we had been in the Tetons and then up to Waterton NP.    Paul had meticulously planned this trip, getting NP campground reservations 6 months ago.    We were looking forward to the late summer/early fall that can be so beautiful in the Rockies and usually less crowded.    Two things we didn't consider....Canadians celebrate Labor Day the same time as we do and that the western fires and Canadian weather would impact us as much as it did.        It left us wanting and thinking that we need to go back............someday.  

 This is one last view of the Tetons at sunset.    We never had brilliant sunsets but the mountains still managed to shine.    Ignore the blurry boats.......... my photography skills were probably at their worst this trip and often I did not even carry a camera in the rain.

Leaving the Tetons, we drove thru Yellowstone, which is right next door.     I'm sure it was scenic later in the day, but we hit morning fog.

We crossed the Canadian border with no issues and the smoke was thick and acrid on our way to Waterton.     There actually are mountains here and quite prominent but not for us.   

After Waterton, which really is a beautiful area and where we enjoyed the hike across the border to BC, we headed farther north to Banff NP.    I had been there as a member of our HS band when we went up to play in the Calgary Stampede.   And P and I went back probably 20+ years ago and spent a night altho he denies he was ever there.      Banff is very pretty but it was so busy.    And the various languages heard on the street are impressive.     Japanese (or Asian) seem to be in the majority and again , the tour buses were everywhere.    

It was drizzly or raining and very chilly all 3 days.    We didn't hike but the Canadians are a stalwart bunch and there were many many tents in the CG and the parking lots for the hiking trails were always jammed despite the weather.   

 

We did see a couple of bears...this one was actually quite a large one.  

 We headed over to Lake Louise one rainy cold day.   The hotel, built by the railroads in the 1920's is impressive.
 

Yes, it was really that gloomy ..........I couldn't even enhance this for a brighter view.  

Mostly, we read a lot, wandered thru some stores and finally bought a new sim card for the iPad so we could check email now and then.    The Visitor's Centers were about the only places with reliable WiFi.    It's really a sad commentary on our lifestyle when we find it so hard to be disconnected.   Our reliance on the internet for answers to basic questions and directions is crippling when it's not available.   We put the phones on Airplane mode and turned off the data in order not to get hit with exorbitant fees.    

After having our iPad activated, we realized that the weather was not going to improve and we vacillated for a day on whether we would venture farther north to Jasper NP.    It is a 5 hour drive and we couldn't see much advantage of sitting in the rain in another campground.    But, since we had the reservations and one young man somewhere said it was one of the most beautiful rides, we packed up and headed farther north.  

 We were on the Trans Canada highway and these are the many crossovers they have built for the wildlife.  

 The ride is a picture postcard around every corner.   Of course, it rained, snowed and hailed and was cloudy the entire way.

We came upon this glass walkway jutting out over a canyon.   Called the Glacial Skywalk, it was quite popular but you'd never get me on it.    I grabbed a fuzzy pic as we sped by.


 As we got closer to Jasper, the skies began to clear a bit.    Note the contrast in the water color, which was turquoise in all the streams, rivers and lakes and the blue sky.   An unedited picture.....
I'll talk more about Jasper in my next posting.