Free National Parks, Yay!
In 2017, Canada provided free access to all their national parks to celebrate their park system’s 150 year anniversary. We aren’t ones to pass up “free” and had already taken advantage of the program to visit Waterton Lakes.
With seven free days between events, we headed to Banff and Jasper. There are actually four parks clustered in the area, Banff and Jasper in Alberta, Yoho and Kootenay in British Columbia. We didn’t have enough time to visit them all as well as visit friends in Edmonton.
Entering Canada through Waterton Lakes was the most direct. Don’t forget that dogs need a rabies certificate to enter Canada. Since we had no camping reservations we ended up at Two Jack Main, a rather large campground just outside the town of Banff. It was not as parking lot style as Tunnel Mountain but still larger than we like. It gave us time to get our bearings and pick up some information guides and to get some Canadian money which you need for the smaller campgrounds. We also found the intersection of Moose and Squirrel.
Getting away from town
A frequent visitor to the area suggested we go to Yoho National Park. We tried, but we just missed the last camping site by going around the loop once more. Non-reservation camping in Canada is like playing blackjack. Do you stay with what you’ve got or try for a better spot? Around mid-day people start to grab sites for fear they won’t get one. Lessoned learned, so back to Banff.
The site we found in Banff at Waterfowl Lakes campground was much better than the just missed site in Yoho. It is a large campground but well wooded with some sites nearly on the lake. We grabbed on of those sites so it was a short portage with the kayak. There were also lots of squirrels to torment Martok. There are a number of smaller campgrounds but if it is getting late and you don’t like large parking lot style camps, take a look at Waterfowl.
Dog Friendly Hike to Bow Glacier Falls
Many of the sites in the park are short hikes from the Highway 93. Which means they are crowded. To get away from the crowds, go explore Bow Glacier Falls. The entire hike is ~5.5 miles (9KM). Starting at Num-Ti-Lodge, the trail follows along Bow Lake and then into an alluvial plain and eventually the glacial moraines. The last section is guided by the occasional cairn and the sound of the falls.
Next stop Jasper
Off to play camping roulette again, this time in Jasper. We folded at a small campground (35 sites) on Honeymoon Lake. Not as far north as we wanted but we hit our risk limit and took it. Neighbors from our previous camp ended up next to us for the same reason.
Similar to Banff, there are lots of sites near the road to keep visitors with little time busy. Dogs are welcome at all the stops except the the guided tours onto the Athabasca Glacier at the Columbia Icefield.
So we opted for the hike up to the toe of the glacier, 1.2 miles (2KM). The only challenge was the metal slat bridge at the start of the hike. Martok refused to walk over it so he was walked down and up through the mostly dry creek bed it crossed.
The hike is somewhat depressing as you walk past signs with dates of where the glacier used to extend. The glacier is retreating over 16 feet (5M) per year due to climate change.
How does Vulcan fit in?
On the way back to the states from Edmonton, we discovered there is a town called Vulcan. When all your dogs have had names of Star Trek characters and you have a chance to visit a town called Vulcan, you take it. Yes, we made Martok pose in front of the Starship. He looks so happy about it too.
