The Canadian Rockies

By Eilene Lyon

Our time in Canada (9 days) was all about the scenery. But first, we had a problem to deal with. While driving over Beartooth Pass in Wyoming, we started hearing a grinding noise from the van’s rear brakes. Being a Friday, The Putterer arranged for a Monday emergency appointment at the Ford dealer in Canmore, Alberta.

We booked a hotel room for Sunday and Monday nights and unloaded our bikes while the dealer inspected our vehicle on Monday and replaced rear brakes and rotors on Tuesday. Canmore turned out to be a very nice town, though busy with tourists. They have trails running throughout and around the town.

Though touristy, Canmore is also a “real” town, much like our home of Durango. Contrast that to Banff, inside the national park, which is really just for tourism. We avoided it as much as possible. We enjoyed walking and riding around Canmore with Hunter in tow. The downtown has the usual art galleries and gift shops, plus excellent restaurants with dog-friendly patios.

I was able to book a campsite in Banff National Park for the next three nights, and two nights in Jasper National Park following that. On the downside, the air was filled with smoke from wildfires somewhere else (we never figured out where, exactly).

We put Hunter into doggie daycare for a day in order to do an hour of canoe paddling on the Bow River, then up the Banff gondola to take in the “view” of smoke-obscured peaks. Sadly, this was not a highlight as we hoped. We picked up Hunter and went for a drive to adjacent Kootenay National Park (over the divide into British Colombia).

The air was actually clearer here and we found an amazing short hike into Marble Canyon, a slot canyon with incredible waterfalls. The trail follows the rim and there are several bridges spanning the narrow declivity offering dizzying views to the falls below.

The next day we did a hike along the shore of Lake Minnewanka, not far from Banff. We did not go to Lake Louise or Moraine Lake, which draw so many people that the park requires you to book public transportation in advance (buses that don’t allow pets, for the most part). We tend to be crowd-averse, so it was no loss.

The most scenic part of the two main parks (Banff and Jasper) is the Icefields Parkway. Unlike the nerve-wracking mountain passes in Colorado, Canadian highways in the Rockies run through glaciated valleys and over low passes. No white knuckles. The hanging glaciers, Columbia Icefield, and near-vertical mountains are breathtaking.

We stopped to hike up near the foot of the icefield. They offer tours on the glacier, but the visitor center crowds did not appeal to us. I was glad we didn’t go, because the cold wind off the ice hurt my inner ears and I was glad to get back to the van.

We made another stop at Athabasca Falls. According to signage, every couple years someone climbs over the fence and slides off the slippery rocks to a watery death in this high-volume cascade.

We continued north and made a stop in the town of Jasper, which was mellow, compared to Banff. The town and surrounding area suffered a devastating wildfire in 2024, with many homes lost. We saw temporary housing set up on the edge of town. The weather got rainy (which helped with the smoke), and we spent a soggy evening in camp.

The next morning dawned clear and we did a short hike from camp to see another waterfall and do a bit of birding and wildflower viewing. We spent part of our day driving out the Maligne Lake Road through part of the burn area. There we had lunch on the restaurant patio with a lovely view of the lake.

We camped for the night just outside Jasper. The campground lost most of its trees and infrastructure in the blazes. But to make up for it, there were nice new restrooms with showers, and a resident group of elk cows and calves that grazed right next to our campsite.

We did a bit of mountain biking near town the next day, but it took several tries to find a suitable trail. Unfortunately, just as we were headed back, The Putterer got a flat tire. I had to enjoy the swoopy downhill ride back to the van alone, then pick him up.

Our last bit of time in the Canadian Rockies we spent driving through Yoho and Glacier National Parks and along the south edge of Revelstoke National Park to a welcome night of lodging at the Coast Hillcrest Hotel. Revelstoke is another small Rockies town in a stunning setting. We drove the road up into the park (closed near the top) and took a short hike, before heading back to the U.S. via Idaho.

Our next-to-last day of driving (scenic route, again) went from Idaho to Wyoming to Idaho to Utah to Wyoming to Utah to Colorado! Whew. Are you dizzy yet?

Feature image: Along the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada.