2018 Calgary Road Trip: Day six

Day 6 August 14

Memories:

Grace: Chipmunk climbing onto my lap, collecting glacier water

Danny: me trying to move the log

Gordon: Hot Springs

Therese: Elk in the campsite, Danny finally admitting that he enjoyed the hike 

Last night we were able to see the tram ride all the way up to the top of the mountain - one of the highest in the park. It looked like a beautiful ride as well as a lot of cool things to see on the top. But by the time we woke up the next morning, the smoke was so thick we couldn’t even see the mountain! So over a leisurely breakfast of Crepes, Strawberry Compote, Sausages and Hashbrowns, we planned a new strategy for the day. One of the spots the tour guide app recommended was the Valley of Five Lakes Hike. It sounded like a pretty moderate hike with a lot of close up scenery. Before heading out, we drove into Jasper and stopped at another bakery to pick out some pastries to eat along the hike. 

We had the usual anti-sun screen temper tantrum which lasted about 20 minutes but did not slow down the hike. The first part of the hike lead us though a pine forrest which smelled just like Christmas the whole time. Then after a wooden boardwalk/bridge, we broke through to our first lake. The hike climbed up the mountain to reach each lake so there were some pretty challenging spots but the views were definitely worth it. We were able to dip our toes (those who wished to do this) into glacier fed lakes. The views were stunning. We’ve learned that the beautiful blue and green color of much of the lake water is due to “glacial flour” glaciers slowly grind away the mountain rock into a fine powder which is washed into the lakes. This material absorbs all colors on the spectrum except for reflecting the blues and greens that we then see in the water color.

The mid point of the hike and also the most scenic was over the prettiest lake - also the hardest to hike to. We stopped to eat our snacks and relax. Grace discovered that a chipmunk had set up residence under the red Adirondack chair (which are placed all around the park to mark scenic spots). She was eating her double chocolate brownie when the little creature peaked out for a look. Before she could make a move it was in her lap! We take the ban on feeing wildlife very seriously so Grace quickly grabbed her treat and I took a picture! We must be the only people who don’t feed that thing because it was fat!.

 

After soaking in all the scenery and beauty we headed back to our beautiful campsite. We had a camp favorite: camp pad Thai which Danny has decided he now likes. Instead of rice noodles we used ramen noodles (I didn’t tell the kids they were part rice flour but also part millet and some other healthy grains.) It was delicious although we agreed that our homemade sauce is better than the jarred stuff we brought along. 

During dinner Danny started calling out excitedly: “Look, look, it’s, it’s…” We finally looked for ourselves and saw three elk casually strolling through the campsite across from us.

After dinner, the adults were pretty tired and ready to call it a day, but the kids held us to an earlier promise we made to go to the Miette Hot Springs. It wasn’t appealing to me because it was already 7:00 and the drive was about 45 minutes. Fortunately, we had the tour guide app to point out attractions along the way. This brings us to my one regret which was not stopping at the sand dunes along the way to get some glacial sand. At least Grace braved the icy water earlier in the day to gather some glacier water from one of the five lakes. 

The hot springs are no longer located at the actual hot springs location, rather the water is pumped in, cooled off to a safe but still hot temp and then chlorinated. The result is two large hot tubs that resemble small swimming pools. One is shallow for kids and the over is about 5 feet deep. There is also an option to soak in a cold pool fed from a mountain stream to enhance the effect of the hot water. Needless to say, only Danny was brave enough to do this. After about 20 minutes, we were poached and relaxed. As fate would have it, there was an ice cream shop right there at the hot springs! So we fulfilled our daily obligation and headed home. It was well after dark and after bed time when we got back to our campsite, but the solar tent lights were on to welcome us home.

2018 Calgary Road Trip: Day five

Day 5: August 13

A lake crossed

An island visited

A canyon explored

A town visited

Memories:

Danny: Meeting Mr. Slug at the campsite. (Slug Slug), Ice Cream (Scoops and Loops) in Jasper Town, the Boat Tour that mom was right about, random piece of red hot charcoal coming out of the fire.

Grace: GIANT splinter and drama - would prefer to forget, 

Therese: getting up early and dragging everyone to the car, Maline Canyon, Danny complaining about everything in the morning, the $250,000 toilet

Gordon: Seeing Elk, driving around for 20 minutes looking for parking at Maligne Canyon, killer bears (not)

This morning was agony for the first two hours. I woke up freezing because the one thing I didn’t get done before we left was to buy myself a new sleeping bag. Grace has graduated to my bag which used to be Jane’s. I prefer the non-mummy configuration so I was in the market for a new sleeping bag. But we ran out of time and I packed up the cheap Walmart bag we purchased on our trip out west during sub-zero temps. Last night I could not sleep for more than about an hour at a time. I woke up at 5:30 thinking I might as well stay up since we needed to get everyone up at 6:00 only to realize about half an hour later that my watch is on central time and it was only 4:30. 

We got up at 6:00 and dragged the kids out of the tent to make our 6:30 departure time. Grace was grumpy. Danny was beside himself. His shoes were wet (I warned him about playing in water the night before) he didn’t want to ride on a boat. He didn’t want to get in the car, he didn’t want to leave the car. 

I was exhausted and the drive was long and foggy.

It was still cold at the lake when we arrived. We had hoped for breakfast at the chalet but had to settle for pastries. Although the coffee was good.

Then we got on the boat and headed down Lake Maligne and everything changed. The lake is stunning, even in our early morning fog cover. The water changes from a deep green to a stunning blue. On either side, the mountains rise up and the slopes filled with Ridge Pole Pines catch the sun. We arrived at Spirit Island, which is a very small, sacred site. People are not allowed out to the actual island. However, it was close to shore and we had time to take pictures and view it from a number of different perspectives. Our tour guide also pointed out that the bathroom on the mainland side where we docked was a $250,000 structure running on solar power and designed with a special filtration system to restore everything back to a pristine form.

As we returned to our starting point the sun broke above the clouds and above the clouds we could see the rocky peaks of mountains in the distance. It was truly a stunning sight.

We never would have taken this boat trip if a friend hadn’t suggested, or rather insisted, that we do it. It was expensive but worth every penny. And wonder of wonders: Danny had a great time!

On the way back from the lake, we took a detour to hike down Maligne Canyon. We drove around for about 20 minutes looking for a parking spot before we gave up. But lo and behold, there was an overflow lot just about a quarter of a mile down the road. So off we went. It was a beautiful hike, but a very steep climb on the way up. Various complaints were registered.

After another 45 minute drive back we headed into Jasper, the town in this national park. Jasper is like a less crowded, slightly less deliberate version of Banff. We grabbed the recommended ice cream and got some literature from the visitor center. The only big disappointment was that in order to actually touch a glacier, we would have to pay for a tour that cost about $300 for the whole family. We decided to skip that attraction although it was a bummer for all of us.

We hit the campsite and lit up the fire for our Hot Dog dinner followed by s’mores. We had talked about possibly heading down to the hot springs tonight but we were all tired after a long day and lounging around the fire sounded like a better bet especially since we would have time tomorrow since we weren’t going to truck all the way out to the glacier.

So here we are, tuckered out and burrowed into our sleeping bags. Tomorrow we can sleep in before heading to the tram ride and hot springs.

2018 Calgary Road Trip: Day 4

Today's Ice Cream - at Heritage Park

Day Four

Miles: 60

Calgary Attractions: 3

Weather: Perfect

Memories:

Danny: The terrifying Ferris Wheel ride, the train, caterpillar ride and the candy shop.

Grace: The Science Museum, the Blacksmith Shop

Therese: The bunny with the long ears, the pandas

Gordon: Apple Maps driving us in circles

We went to bed last night to temperatures in the 90s. When we woke up a sweet 60 degree breeze was wafting through the window. The perfect sleeping weather meant we left a little later then we planned. But at least we left with a plan and a cooler full of lunch.

We started at Heritage Park (https://www.heritagepark.ca). This is Canada’s largest living history museum. We convinced the kids that this would be a good place to start since the other two things on our list: the Science Museum and Zoo were places similar to attractions close to home. The park was a wonderful way to experience history first hand. It was divided into different themes all connected by a totally legit coal train. 

Riding the train to our first destination

All of the activities that are performed on the property are done just as they were 100 years ago. For example, the cook in the kitchen on the farm cooks a meal for 10 farmhands every day. She cooks on the original stove in enameled containers and also washes up the old fashioned way with water heated on the stove. The blacksmiths forge the horseshoes worn by the horses on the property.

We started out in the recreation of a small town complete with scary dentist, pharmacy, general store and of course a candy store. It reminded me of the Streets of Old Milwaukee in the Milwaukee Museum except that we could actually go into the buildings. We especially enjoyed the schoolhouse and blacksmith’s shop. 

After touring the town we headed to the old timey midway. All the rides were built in the early 1900s and everything was free. Fearless Danny and I rode the Ferris Wheel and suddenly Danny wasn’t so fearless. We also rode on the swings and a really cool ride called the Caterpillar. It was a circular rollercoaster type thing with a green canopy which came up and completely covered the ride. It was so cool we all rode it twice. 

Ferris Wheel

Riding the Caterpillar

The view from the Ferris Wheel. You can see Grace eating candy and Gordon on his phone.

From the midway we took the train to the settlement grounds were we played games passed down by the Blackfeet Tribe which were thousands of years old. We also toured some old wooden homes and the fort. Finally we took a quick walk through the farm and headed back to our starting point. We had an excellent lunch in the old time cafe. Our timing was perfect to get a booth with a curtain which could be pulled for privacy. I guess people at the turn of the 20th century like their privacy.

By this time we had just a few hours before the Science Museum and Zoo would close, but we were on a mission to check al the boxes so we headed out to destination number 2.

Happily our Minneapolis memberships provide reciprocity for both the Science Museum and Zoo in Calgary so spending an hour at each isn’t quite as frivolous as it might seem,

We’ve explored every nook and cranny of the Minnesota Science Museum. It’s always fun to find another museum in a new city and have a look around. We didn’t have much time so we split up according to interest. Danny enjoyed the huge outdoor “brainnaseum” which was a huge playground to climb and explore along with a cool maze made out of plywood and old doors. Grace tackled the inside of the museum. One of the coolest things we looked at were the exhibits demonstrating the many interesting facets of the human mind. For example, the exhibit contained a driving fountain in a toilet. The toilet was completely clean and never used. We were challenged to observe our reactions to the idea of actually drinking from it. I was reminded of Uncle Chuck’s story about getting water from the commode for his bossy older brother.

The exhibit on weather had a time-lapse camera which the user could scroll back day by day to see the different weather patterns. I scrolled back to the last clear day in Calgary before the wildfire haze set in.

After exactly an hour at the Science Museum we had 15 minutes to walk to the zoo across two parking lots and a field. The zoo closes at 6:00 but no one is allowed to enter after 5:00 pm. We needed to get to the zoo because of the special Panda exhibit on loan first to Montreal and now Calgary for 10 years total before heading back to China. Danny especially had his heart set on seeing pandas.

We got to the zoo in the nick of time and hustled over to see the Pandas. Even with our reciprocity, it still cost $60 to get into the zoo.  For all the grief I gave Danny about his desire to see the pandas, I have to admit: they were pretty cool. So even after spending a chunk of money for 30 minutes with the Pandas, we needed to purchase some panda souvenirs. 

On our way out of the zoo, we passed through the Dinosaur Exhibit which was also pretty cool even though Dinosaurs aren’t exactly zoo animals.

Finally, it was a 20 minute walk back to the car and off we went to the last night at our AirB&B. The drive home got interesting when our GPS navigator wasn’t aware of roads blocked by construction so it kept turning us around to try again for a road that didn’t exist. (Thanks Apple Maps) To make matters worse it started to rain. Luckily, the new windshield wipers Honda put on my car did the trick and visibility was as good as it could be. Finally after firing up the Waze we were on the right track to home.

We're pretty sure we're in Calgary. The smog makes it hard to tell sometimes. Note the death grip on the steering wheel. Stressful!

We are watching one last movie before getting as much packed as possible for an early departure time tomorrow morning. This is our last night of civilization before 5 nights of camping in the park.

Gasoline Alley also at Heritage Park