Visiting Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

The Forks is a lovely riverfront area in the heart of downtown Winnipeg. A meeting place for thousands of years, it is the city's most popular gathering place, attracting nearly four million visitors each year.


Canadian Pacific rail car at the Forks in Winnipeg.


As a teenager Neil Young lived in this house on Grosvenor Avenue in Winnipeg. We are staying right down the street on Grosvenor Avenue.


Pedestrian bridge over the Red River in Winnipeg at the Forks.


This bridge is the only one in North America with a restaurant in the middle. We stopped for a bite at the Salisbury House restaurant on the bridge. Great views.


Jon and I both admired the Canadian postal boxes on the street.


Jon and friend at the Forks, Winnipeg.


Canadian Flag at the Forks.

Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

A very long day of driving from Calgary, AB to Winnipeg, MB with stops along the way in Moose Jaw, SK for this tourist shot. We drove 822 miles through the endless prairie of Saskatchewan and were very happy to arrive in Winnipeg.

Taking a break at 6,900 ft. in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

We did quite a bit of hiking in Banff National Park and were rewarded with some great scenery along with tired feet.


An interesting cloud over Peyto Lake.


View of Herbert Lake, Icefields Parkway.

Columbia Icefield Bus, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

We drove the Icefields Parkway up to the Columbia Icefield. We took the Brewster Ice bus out onto the glacier and walked around a secure area of the glacier.


The Columbia Icefield is located on the boundary of Banff and Jasper National Parks and is one of the largest accumulations of ice and snow south of the Arctic Circle.


There are eight major glaciers including the Athabasca, Dome, and Stutfield Glaciers, all visible from the Icefields Parkway. The Columbia Icefield feeds streams and rivers that pour into the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. It was an astonishing place.


Jon on the glacier.


Hiking on the glacier.


Front of the Brewster Ice bus.

Morant's Curve on the Bow Valley Parkway, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Morant's Curve on the Bow Valley Parkway, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. We had just stopped to take a photograph of this very famous view when a Canadian Pacific railway train started coming around the bend. Jon and I both dashed across the road to get into position to capture the train on the curve. It was an exciting momemt and a lovely scene to photograph.

Jon at Morant's Curve.

Icefields Parkway, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

We climbed up to Bow Summit (6,956 ft summit) and the water is really that color.



We left Banff early in the morning and drove up 1A towards Lake Louise. We spotted a family of Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep on a cliff and I got this photograph with my Nikon 400mm lens.


View of Banff from the road leading up to Mt. Norquay.

Bow River, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

The Bow River in Banff National Park.


We were driving south on the Icefields Parkway and kept stopping to take photos of the sunset which kept getting more beautiful each minute. We finally settled on this spot by the Upper Waterfowl Lake and watched as the sky became more and more dramatic.

Trail Ride in Banff

We rode horses along the Bow River in Banff. The horses actually crossed the river in two places.


Jon getting acquainted with his horse.


The trail up the "rockpile" provided a great view of the aquamarine colors of Moraine Lake, a glacially fed lake in Banff National Park. Moraine Lake is about 8 miles from Lake Louise and is located in the Valley of the Ten Peaks at an elevation of approximately 6,183 feet.


The water color is due to the refraction of light off the rock flour deposited in the lake on a continual basis. I had never heard of rock flour until this trip.


We canoed Moraine Lake (that's Jon in the bow in the Lewis and Clark hat).


Jon surveying the rapids ahead.


We stopped for lunch at the far end of the lake and had some time to do some macro photography.


Wild mushrooms growing near the far end of Moraine Lake.


We hiked around Moraine Lake near Lake Louise but stuck to the trails which did not require parties of four or more due to grizzly bear activity. Bear bells and pepper spray canisters were de rigueur.


On the other end of the wildlife spectrum, however, was the extremely friendly Moraine Lake chipmunk.

Lake Louise and Banff

I got up at 6 am to try to make the sunrise at Lake Louise. It took me a bit longer than I had anticipated to drive from Banff to Lake Louise but I got several good post-sunrise shots.


I took several fish-eye lens shots. The morning light on the water is amazing. The reflected mountains add a lot of interest. I revisited Lake Louise a few days later in the late afternoon and the scene was so entirely different I didn't recognize it. It is well worth getting up early to make take photos of Lake Louise around 6:30 a.m.


Closeup of the Victoria Glacier which feeds Lake Louise. Lake Louise after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848-1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria.

Jon at the Fairmont Banff Springs

Kootenay National Park

We drove from Spokane, Washington to Banff and passed through beautiful Kootenay National Park. There were so many great places to take photographs and camp I don't know how anyone can choose here.

Robinson Lake, Idaho

Robinson Lake, Idaho

We hiked around this lake and stopped to pose for a photo at the sign so all the Robinsons back home would get a kick out of this.

Dinner at Castello's at the Fairmont in Banff, Alberta

After a long day we had a lovely dinner at Castello's at the Fairmont Banff Springs. After road and camping food this was a rare treat.

Stopping for fresh peaches in Eastern Washington

We stopped for peaches and the most delicious plums we ever ate. We bought FRUIT t-shirts from the vendor and promised to email photos of ourselves wearing them in Jasper National Park. I hope we remember to do this.

The flat, rather stark Eastern Washington landscape went on for miles.

Crossing the Columbia River in the hot afternoon.

Lake Easton State Park, WA

We stopped for lunch at Lake Easton State Park and had a great view at lunch!

Lunch at Lake Easton State Park, WA

Jon cooked pasta with pesto and salmon for lunch. Although it was from a dehydrated mix it came out great. We had a spectacular view of the lake.

Jon's new hiking boots

Diana at REI