Pincher’s Creek

While in Pincher’s Creek we visited the Bar U ranch where all the massive ranches were carved out of the open plains.  Problem was for every square mile you had to put X number of cattle on it!  It was quite an undertaking but produced a lot of opportunity for folks arriving in this wilderness.

From there we road to Logan’s Pass at an altitude of about 7,000 feet.  Though the snow had all melted, a recent storm had brought some back in the highest elevations. 

We continued on at a lower elevation to ride the gondola.  They said 6,000 people per day ride this to the top.  The views were gorgeous. 

Because Jasper hotels had burned down two years ago, we were staying in Banff 4 nights instead of 2 and 2.  It was nice not having to move but it caused some backtracking in bus travel.  But the scenery was so mesmerizing we didn’t mind the longer rides.

We visited a beautiful garden that Ted named Mini Buchart after the glorious gardens in Victoria we saw in 1999 on our way to an Alaskan cruise.

We took a raft ride on the Bow River.  There were 3 rafts and one got hung up on a rock.  Our captain had to walk in ice cold water to help pull it loose!  His feet were so red when he got back to us!  I felt so bad but he shrugged it off.  We are #2 and #3 on the right side.  

Our next adventure was to the Columbia Icefield where we walked on the Athabasca Glacier.  It was very windy and you are walking on crushed ice so your footing is unsteady and we didn’t stay out there too long

Our only bad weather day was on our visit to Peyto, Moraine and Louise Lakes.  It rained pretty steady so limited the time off the bus and wasn’t great for photos.  

Our last day was driving back to Calgary to have a farewell dinner and spend the night at the Hilton Garden Inn in preparation for flying home.  We had a 9 am flight so we were instructed to catch the 6 am shuttle.  

As we approached Calgary we were given an opportunity to visit Heritage Village.  We took advantage of the train ride, sternwheeler ride and a horse carriage ride.  After purchasing an ice cream we boarded our bus for the last time.

We had no problems with the shuttle, checking in, maneuvering through Security, Immigration and Customs.  Ted took this photo of a herd of buffalo.  We enjoyed a huge breakfast flying home and arrived in plenty of time to go to church at 6 pm!

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