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Mystic MK

After a week struggling with sleep patterns, the body clock is finally getting readjusted to UK time. Probably not the ideal occasion, one might think, to get up at 2am after 3 hours sleep and drive to Milton Keynes. “Milton Keynes?”, I hear you cry, “Why would you go there anytime, let alone at 2am?”.

Well today, of course, is the Summer Solstice and – as the cognoscenti know – Milton Keynes is a temple to the sun.

A new town born of the 60’s and 70’s, the chief architect for Milton Keynes clearly had a hippy streak as wide as Midsummer Boulevard. Given the option to create a street grid system oriented north-south east-west, the creators opted to shift the axis slightly such that the sun on the summer solstice would shine down Midsummer Boulevard. Kudos.

And so it is that we find ourselves stressing our way down the M1, through everpresent road works, wondering just how annoying it would be to get up at 2am and not arrive in time for sunrise. No need to worry, we make it to the light pyramid in time and are treated to a glorious sunrise, along with our fellow revellers…

Here comes the sun…
MK Light Pyramid
MK Light Pyramid

As the sun rose in the distance, we were expecting a cheer or clapping, but the atmosphere was subdued. In the distance, a lone percussionists had taken it upon themselves to drum in the solstice. Fair play.

Anyway, hands numb from the early morning chill, we went in search of coffee and a view along Midsummer Boulevard and yes, it does pretty much line up – although I am not privy to the exact calculations around timings and alignment. Pretty impressive though.

It doesn’t get more midsummer than this

So, mission accomplished? No there is more. Putting aside the fact that every building is a little weird

Pyramid Bingo
What shape shall we make the new bingo hall? As if you need to ask

There is a stone circle and a tree cathedral to visit. Well, we thought that the tree cathedral was likely to be less than impressive from the ground and so opted for the stone circle. Not an original neolithic you understand, just another recent addition. The “energy” line through various gates in the circle lines up with the Tree Cathedral and Midsummer Boulevard. Obviously.

Well it couldn’t not have a stone circle could it?

And then just through the trees this … because, why not?

pagoda

Milton Keynes may have a reputation for being dull, but that clearly doesn’t apply to the city planners. I suspect that beyond any hippy inclinations, it may be a stroke of marketing genius to get the conspiracy theorists all riled up. What3Words has the location of the Light Pyramid as

lifetimes.dangerously.imported

Probably a hidden message there I expect.

Clearly a town for the Age of Aquarius.

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Day 15 – 3 Countries in a Day

Big Rock

Up early after spending the evening cowering in our hotel room watching a spectacular thunderstorm over the Rockies. Also cowering in fear of getting charged another £9 a pint for cider … still they were very good, the Canadians really seem to have gotten the hang of the frozen glass enhanced drink.

Today we are heading out for a boat trip on Waterton Lake, for more fantastic scenery, and hopefully before the next set of storms hits.

The boat trip has the added bonus of allowing us across the US border (another state – Montana:  tick). The border is marked by the (real) monuments below. Apparently if you line the two up, that gives the line of the 49th parallel. Little border nerd fact there. Also of course, it means that we have the opportunity to be in 3 countries today.

Line up for the 49th parallel
Somone really wants to make the border clear

Also spotted a bald eagle on the lakeshore, so another tick on the Canadian fauna list. Still no moose though 🙁

Best not to look too closely at what is being snacked on…
Wonder if the US border people keep this here for symbollic puroses?

Of course we are still several hundred miles from Calgary with a full itinerary to get in post-boat trip.

Next stop, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. This appears to be be simalar to Creswell crags in that the hunting method was to chase the beasts over the cliff edge and then wander down and finish off any that are still alive. I had assumed that hte Head-Smashed-In part of the name referred to the Buffalo, but apparently it comemorates a young,curious brave who wandered a little too close to watch the Buffalo fall. Fail.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
Does what it says on the tin

Moving on to our final stop of the day, the Big Rock glacial erratic. Also very much as advertised, a couple of huge rocks dropped here by glaciers rolling over the Alberta prarie. As if to demonstrate the prairie point, the field in front is riddled with prarie dogs. I hope they haven’t tunneled under the erratic, or they may be in for a nasty surprise!

Big Rock
It is indeed a big rock

IMG_4286

So what have we learned about Canada in the last two weeks?

  1. It’s a remarkably friendly country
  2. The legendary politeness is real
  3. The country is so stunning that Canadians must be ruined for travel elswhere when it comes to viewing scenery
  4. Four seasons in a day is definitely a thing
  5. June is not summer in Canada

Finally, I think that this farmhouse spotted on the way back to Calgary just about sums it up…

IMG_4249

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Day 14 – The Long Road Home

Definitely feeling the effects of the rafting yesterday, so probably just as well that we have a day of driving ather than walking today. No chance of seizing up while sitting in a car for 7 hours 🙂

We are taking a long leisurely loop back to Calgary via Waterton Lake, several hundred miles to the south. I’m not quite sure how I was persuaded to take this route back, other than that it is close to to the US border and Ethan’s border geekery has kicked in, but it is a nice drive, through some spectacular and varied terrain, and largely free of roadworks – an unexpected bonus afer the last few weeks.

Obviously we need to stop for sustenance en route and deafult to our go-to fast food of the holiday – A&W and their Beyond Meat burger, the new gold standard for veggie burgers. They have also made root beer acceptable by serving it in iced glasses, which definitely hits the spot when it is 30C oustside.

AandW

On the road, we pass Frank Slide. I had no idea what this was as we passed through an area with vast piles of rock either side of the, some of te boulders looking like several tons. Post journey research confirms that this was the site of Canada’s biggest  landslide, depositing 121 million tons of rock on the town of Frank in 1903. Ouch.

Approaching Waterton lake, we started to get some quite nasty weather developing. As we circled back towards the Rockies, we watched the lightning stikes with ncreasing trepidation and Ethan’s doom filled meteorlogical prognostications around funnel clouds and mesocyclonic clouds had me ready to turn around and drive like a lunatic away from a forming tornado.

Personally, I think that the weird conditions were caused by a UFO hiding in this cloud…

ufo

Having made it to Waterton, against all the odds, we had to deal with the weather conditions, bear warnings, closed roads and extreme apathy blockng our path to the 8 mile hike to the Montana border and back.

Ethan is not happy. We have an opportunity to reach the border by boat tomorrow, but I’m told that it doesn’t count if you don’t set foot on land. luckily we found this by the lake. I think it is just a replica of the genuine monument, but we are claiming it!

border

Oh yes, and that now makes 7 national parks.

 

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Day 13 – The Kicking Horse Kicks Back

I can feel it will be a short entry today as I am exhausted from my heroic efforts doing battle with the rapids on the Kicking Horse river. Who knew white water rafting could be such fun? Fighting the urge to bail during the safety talk, we launched onto the river for an 8 mile adventure through 14 rapids – although only one class 4 I believe. Adventurous we may be, mad we are not!

I suspect that I may have not been as quick in reacting to some of the instructions as the guides would have liked as my old joints creaked into action, but the guides did a great job of making everyone feel (relatively) safe and comfortable.

Ethan even leaped over the side of the boat at one point for a quick swim in the icy waters. I was tempted but seriously doubted my ability to regain access.

Anyway, another one off the list. I feel that a stiff drink has been earned!

raft1
Nice day for a gentle drift down river
raft7
Dream team?
raft2
What could possibly go wrong?
raft3
Oh come on now!
raft4
Still smiling…
raft5
Well that’s just rude
raft6
Phew, made it
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Day 12 – Round & Round We Go

Up bright and early today for our intrepid ascent to the Plain of the Six Glaciers above Lake Louise. The idea is to get there in time to get a parking space rather than have to get the shuttle bus either side of an epic hike.

What were we thinking? Hold ups at 2 major road works put paid to that idea. In retrospect probably not the worst outcome. The weather forecasts and trail reviews were suggesting heavy snow (waste deep in some places) which would mean having to turn back. Avoiding a potential stroke from straining uphill at altitude is an added bonus.

Disappointing not to be able to get to see those views though. We are now used to adapting plans and decide to head toward Banff and walk up Tunnel Mountain instead. We will head there via the Bow Valley parkway and scout for wildlife.

Apparently Bow Valley is the gold standard for wildlife viewing. This will be out third pass and have only seen an elk so far. We are keen to spot a moose if possible to tick off in our I-Spy book of Canadian critters.

Sadly, no moose, but a couple of deer gave us attitude and we spotted a weird rodent which Google lens identifies as a Columbian ground squirrel.

Tunnel Mountain was a pleasant walk and probably more my speed. I can definitely feel the difference in altitude between some of the walks we have done. Some great views from the top too.

Back via the parkway again. Nada.

Getting back towards Golden we spotted a cluster of roadside tourists, the tell tale sign of something kicking off (although we have toyed with the idea of just pulling over and randomly pointing just to see how many people would follow us). In this case, the was a black bear inordinately fascinated with a train line. No idea what was there but hope it got around to moving before the next 5 mile long train came along. I don’t expect that those things can brake too quickly.

railbear1

So that brings out tally of bears in the wild to 10 by our reckoning. Not a bad haul, especially as non of them were waiting around corners for us while we were walking.

Anyway, walking done for now, tomorrow is white water rafting!

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Day 11 – Radium Hot Springs and Crossing the Great Divide

A little tired this morning, as I was kept awake by some critter scratching away in the night. When I took a look, I’m fairly sure that I saw the tell tale stripey back if a chipmunk disappearing behind the dresser. Could have been worse, could have been a raccoon on the face. When I mentioned it to Ethan he suggested that it could be rabid. Always one to see the bright side!

Chipmunk
Cute enough outside, but not as a house guest

Anyway, today we are off to Radium Hot Springs via Kootenay National Park, the 6th National Park so far. En Route, we stop for a photo op at the continental divide (the point from which water will flow either to the Pacific or Atlantic). We have been near the divide a number of times before, but this is the only point which is signposted and delineated up to Ethan’s standards.

Continental Divide
This could go either way…

Interesting fact: Canada has the only triple continental divide in the world (Mount Snowdome next to the Athabasca glacier). This means that if you were to relieve yourself at the top of the mountain, it could flow into the Atlantic, Pacific or Arctic oceans. Way to make your mark on the planet!

Back on the highway and there is a designated no stopping zone. Apparently people have been stopping in the highway to view the heavy bear activity. This indeed seems to be the case as we passed a black bear and a family of grizzlies in quick succession. I slowed down to a crawl whilst staying within the letter of the law. Someone in front had been pulled over, ironically for pulling over, so I felt it was best to err on the side of caution.

Into Radium Hot Springs and time for a hike before a soak in the eponymous springs. We were a little nervous setting off given the proximity of bears, but we’re suitably maced up and soon got into it. Now I can’t claim to be an expert on distinguishing animal poo in the woods, but Ethan seems to have become quite conversant with fauna fecal matter and clearly identified some bear spore. Got to have a hobby I suppose.

Anyway, we made it to the springs unscathed, but managed to sight another two bears on the way home – from the car which is my preferred viewing mode – both within a m.ile or two of our accommodation. The first one was down a steep bank and so no photo without getting out of the car, something we were both somewhat disinclined to do.

The second was more amenable and walked into the road in front of us, before sprinting off. Ethan thought that was a wuss move, but won’t even go from the apartment to the car without mace, so I don’t think he can take the moral high ground here.

blackbear2

Training wheels off tomorrow. We are going to attempt a more dramatic walk. The weather forecast is good, but we have experienced the four seasons in a day too many times to count our chickens…

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Days 9 & 10 – Towns, Canyons, Waterfalls & Lakes : the Whole Tourist Enchilada

Cramming it in for the last few days. Started on Saturday with another trip to Banff. Lovely place – very pretty, very touristy and not a little infuriating. Our itinerary for Banff was the Cave and Basin (original hot spring), souvenir shopping in town and possibly another attempt at Sulphur Mountain. Well the last of these was, of course, a non starter and the nearest we got to Sulphur Mountain was the sulphury reek at the Cave and Basin.

Parking it seems is not our forte. That said, the great wheel of driving karma did turn in our direction later in the day.

So, back to Banff, via quick views of the Banff Springs Hotel and Bow Falls. Time for souvenir shopping. I find it difficult to distinguish one shop selling tat from another selling the same, but Ethan needs to visit them all. I take to standing outside trying to get some photos. Pretty sure every shot anyone takes contains an image of some taking a shot of something else. Would make an interest network diagram thinks I. Such a geek.

Moving on from Banff, the plan had been to head back towards Kicking Horse and do a few walks there, but we are diveted by Johnstone Canyon. On a previous visit, this had been flagged as closed until te 15th June, but is now miraculously accessible – how can we resist? It is becoming apparent that the random closure of sites is common in Canada – whether due to conservation, avalanche risk or bear activity. You just have to roll with it.

Johnstone Canyon was well worth the visit, but very busy and I could feel Ethan’s anger level rising as he was jostled out of the way of decent views by parties of Chinese tourists. This is beoming a bit of a theme on the trip. I guess all that new found wealth has generated a travelling class.

Yeah that’s right, it’s my viewpoint now

Moving on from Johnstone, we are heading back towards Lake Louise. Getting late in the day, why not chance it? As I said, the parking gods have finally taken pity on us and we found our spot to go and view the famous Lake Louise.

Meh.
What’s all the fuss about?

Meh. All very scenic and turqoisey, but not overly inspiring. Maybe it was the lighting or the swarms of other tourists but, as we were shortly to discover, a few more miles up into the mountains lies Moraine Lake, which is far more spectacular, albeit a tad chilly…

Moraine Lake – Like Lake Louise, but better

 

Critters: a few spotted today although no more bears. We have discovered that the only we to summon critter into view, is to not have the camera handy and then to either make a sudden dive for it or grab a phone. This magnificent beast was just wanderng along the side of the road. It’s no moose, but good enough!

Elk
What the elk is that at the side of the road?

This less magnificent beast lead Ethan a merry chase, stopping frequently to pose and the move on on just at the wrong moment. How we laughed… at least until one of the locals suggested that you needed to keep an eye out as they like to run up your trouser leg. I think he was joking, but I have seen a lot of workmen with with their trousers taped shut…

Chipmunk
Don’t even think about it pal.

Phew, long day … and of course left us with the trips wo Wapta Falls and Hoodoo Creek to get in the next day.

This we duly did. Wapta falls was quite spectacular and you could get pretty close. Note to self, get fully waterproofed before approaching. Ah well, the shorts will try out soon enough. Not so sure about the camera!

From here onto Hoodoo Creek. A nice short walk we are led to believe. Short yes, easy no! It’s only a couple of miles, but all quite steeply uphill, the trail rising by about 1000 feet. I was fine of course, but had to keep waiting for Ethan to catch his breath 🙂

On the way back down, it seemed like a good idea to soak our feet in the creek. Very bracing but has definitely given me pause for thought about going rafting. Having felt how cold that was on my feet, I’m not sure i want to be dipping anything else in glacial waters.

Onwards.

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Day 8 – Snow Day

Wagon Train

Snow Day? Yep, snow day. In June.

We woke up to a sprinkling of snow and no mountains in sight. Could have been worse: apparently Banff got 25cm. Mad weather. It was 29C last weekend, down to about 3 or 4 today and forecast to go up to 30 by the middle of next week. Mad.

Wait a minute, it’s June!

So, not an ideal walking day. We decided on a day of rest,or at least a day of only driving 60 or 70 miles. We are on the trail of some good souvenirs. First stop, the shop in the Kicking Horse resort. Not bad, probably a solid 6/10.

We decide to branch out and look at Golden (the town in the valley below – 3/10) and also at Field – a small village that we have past several times on the road to Banff. Set in the middle of Yoho National Park, with a little trading post, it looked like just the place to pick up details of trails within Yoho Park, and potentially some good tourist tat. Much like the weather, things are not always as expected. 2/10

Historical interlude:

Apparently Field was originally a railway siding (original name Third Siding) on the CPR. It was developed into a community by William Cornelius Van Horne, railway magnate. Again flying in the face of appearances, the name of Field was not a nod towards a complete lack of imagination, but was in fact in honour of Cyrus West Field, a wealthy business man who Van Horne hoped to encourage to invest in the rather expensive business of building a railway across a continent. By way of a sweetener, Van Horne named the village and a nearby by mountain after Field, who subsequently decided to leave cheque book in pocket. His reluctance to get involved in the mad venture is now immortalised. So it goes.

At the trading post we are passed by a convoy of RVs who then manoeuvred around in a manner reminiscent of circling the wagons. We beat a hasty retreat before we were conscripted and forced to join a party of settlers heading to Nunavut.

Wagon Train
Circle them wagons
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Day 7 – Été? Non, c’est juin

We’re heading west today for a change. This presents us with an opportunity to maximize the use of our National Parks Discovery pass. Having ticked off, Banff, Jasper and Yoho national parks, we now head off through Glacier and Revelstoke Mountain national parks. Nothing like covering those extra hundreds of miles to make you feel like you are getting your money’s worth!

We are heading to Mount Revelstoke and the promise of being able to drive right to the top of the mountain. Before we get there we pass through yet more spectacular scenery and equally spectacular roadworks. I suspect that all the roads in Canada are resurfaced every year between April and June. Not surprising given the punishment that they must take from weather, avalanches and tyre chains. Amazing that they manage to do all of this without closing the Trans Canada Highway.

road

A brief stop to soak up some forest vibes in an old growth cedar forest. The trees here are mostly over 500 years old and it shows! The park services have kindly provided a board walk for those of us who like to enjoy nature without getting too close.

That’s right…it’s a big old tree

Onwards to Revelstoke and the great ascent. But of course that was never going to happen … the upper reaches are blocked by fresh snow. In June. Thwarted once again by Canada’s inability to get to grips with seasons.

Still, we can go part way up and get some decent views. There is also the opportunity for a brief, brisk hike up a trail to an old broken bridge. At this point we’ll take it.

Fun fact: Mount Revelstoke is not in the Rockies which means that we have completely traversed the Rockies from east to west. Tick that one off.

Take that Peak District.

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Day 6 – Doing the Bear Minimum

First sighting of a black bear in the wild today. Well I say in the wild, it was on the road down from where we are staying, about a mile from our apartment. A mother and cub which I believe is the combo not to be messed with, so it focused our minds on getting tooled up. Typically, this was the first time that we didn’t have the camera in the car, so only managed a quick phone snap…

Looks cute…
…but best to be ready!

Seems like a good day for critter spotting as we bumped (almost literally) into these guys later in the day.

Longhorn Sheep
I wonder if I can butt him while he isn’t looking?

But today is about the ascent of Sulphur Mountain – our first decent walk.

Not so much.

After the 2 hour drive to Banff there wasn’t a single parking place to be had near the trail. Well, that’s not strictly true. There was one, but whilst I was being polite and letting the previous occupants manoeuvre out, some (lets say for the sake of argument) gentleman in a pick up shot round and stole it. I was dumbfounded. It seemed very un-Canadian. I imagine that they even have laws about this sort of thing. I looked around for a peace officer to whom I could report a serious breach of parking etiquette, but no luck. Move on Tony, move on…

After a brief pit stop to pick up supplies, we decide to abandon the Banff portion of the day. A Plan B is hatched and we are off to Takakkaw falls. We had planned to visit here anyway and it is on the way back to Kicking Horse.

Pipe dream. Road closed.

Plan C: Emerald Lake. We are nothing if not adaptable. Success! Parking and an opportunity, albeit on a lesser scale, for a walk. I think that the lake lives up to its name. Ethan feels that it should be called Emerald-From-Certain-Very_Specific-Angles Lake. Stickler.

As an added bonus, whilst walking arond the lake we found a trail leading to Takakkaw falls. As the road to the falls sometimes doen’s open until mid-June, this may be our best chance to get there. Its about a 20km round trip. Totally doable!

Consideration will duly be given.