Falls into spring day five

Tuesday, May 2nd

This is the last day of our little getaway. We had a leisurely start to the day with breakfast at the hotel and a stop at one of our favorite places, Crossway Community Thrift Store. My brother is a railroad enthusiast and I found a book from the fifties about the Pennsylvania Railroad for him.

We decided to take the scenic route home via Highway 1A rather than the busier, albeit faster, Trans Canada Highway. Highway 1A is a two lane road that mostly follows the Bow River as it flows eastward through or past Exshaw, Seebe, Morley, into the Ghost Resevoir and then to Cochrane, Calgary and beyond.

It's a beautiful stretch of road with a sedate speed limit of 80kph for more than half the route. We stopped in Cochrane for a snack then made our way back to Calgary. A short day on the road but enjoyable nonetheless!

Three Sisters

Along the banks of the Bow River

Ghost Reservoir with the dam in the background

 

Eastward to Cochrane AB

Approaching Calgary

As much as we enjoy our time away it's always nice to get home!  If you have any suggestions for road trips, long or short, close or far, please share them in the comments section below!

Falls into spring: day four

Monday, May 1

Today was to be a day of driving with our next overnight in Canmore, AB. Our route would take us over Kelowna's William R. Bennett Bridge. Opening in 2008 it replaced an older, smaller bridge across the lake providing more traffic lanes and 18m (almost 60ft) of clearance under its navigation span.

Approaching the William R. Bennett Bridge from West Kelowna.

Once we passed through Kelowna we made our way north on Highway 97 along the shores of Wood Lake and Kalamalka Lake.

Passing through Vernon, Armstrong (famous for its cheese), Enderby, then Grindrod; along the eastern shore of Mara Lake to Sicamous where we stopped to top up the gas tank. But before stopping for gas we made one slight detour to one of places we've been meaning to see for a long time. A short 400m (1/4 mile) drive off the main highway to the trailhead and a strenuous 67m (220ft) hike brought us to Sicamous Creek Falls.

Trailhead sign for the Sicamous Creek Falls Trail

 

Sharon at Sicamous Creek Falls

Turn around 180º and this is the view!

In the traihead parking lot

This little hike is well worth the stop. There are couple of picnic tables and washrooms so it would make a really nice lunch stop.

From Sicamous we headed east through Three Valley Gap and on to Revelstoke where we stopped to pick up a snack.

Through Three Valley Gap

In downtown Revelstoke.

First of the eight snow sheds through Rogers Pass

Made it through Rogers Pass without incident, on to Golden, past Field, over the Kicking House Pass into Alberta, past Banff ending the day's travels in Canmore.

Out of Golden and up Ten Mile Hill and over the Park Bridge

Not much construction to deal with but there was some....

Picturesque Field BC

Always like it when numbers line up.

Past Banff and Rundle Mountain

We spent a relaxing evening in Canmore to end the day's adventure. Tomorrow we head home, but not after a couple of stops in town.... stay tuned.